As the harvesting of paddy (rice) begins in parts of Punjab, the six-month-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is set to face the daunting challenge of tackling the perennial menace of stubble burning, with farmers indicating Have given. That they will continue to burn paddy stubble until the government adequately compensates them for the expenditure on alternative methods of crop residue disposal.
Every year closer to the autumn season, stubble burning continues to be a contributing factor to air pollution, especially in the northern region of the country, and the AAP, which is in power in Delhi, has over the years blamed Punjab for its air pollution. held responsible. Autumn month. This year, however, with AAP governments in both the states, resorting to counter-allegations may not be an easy course for the party.
burning incidents
While paddy is yet to be harvested in Punjab, 14 incidents of stubble burning have been reported so far. Government data based on satellite imagery shows that till September 16, 14 cases of farm fires have been reported in Amritsar (11) and Tarn Taran (3) districts of the state in the current kharif season.
According to government data, 71,246 cases of fire were reported in Punjab in the year 2021. In 2020 such cases were 76,590 while in 2019 there were 52,991 such incidents. In 2018, Punjab witnessed 51,766 incidents of stubble fires, while in 2017 there were 50,845 incidents of farm fires.
The Punjab government is hopeful that the problem of stubble burning will be brought under control to a large extent this season, but many farmers are standing against the union government and demanding a fair monetary compensation for the expenditure on alternative methods of crop residue disposal. Seeking compensation. Also, the organizations have cautioned the government against taking any stern action against farmers for burning stubble.
government damages
“The state government should first come up with an alternative and then refrain from burning stubble by farmers. We are not in favor of stubble burning, but should be a viable alternative. Farmers have to burn stubble, not because of their will but because of compulsion. The Punjab government had initially said that they were considering paying Rs 2,500 per acre to paddy growers, suggesting that the Center would pay Rs 1,500 per acre, while the Punjab and Delhi governments would bear Rs 1,000 per acre. But the Centre, they say, does not agree. If the Center does not agree, then let it be, you governments should pay that amount. Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta (Dakonda), told that the government has been in power for six months and they were well aware of the issue of stubble burning, but so far no concrete solution has been seen on the ground. Hindu,
“We should be given a bonus of at least ₹100 per quintal on paddy or ₹2,500 per acre in respect of the ban on stubble burning,” Mr. Singh said.
Shri Singh said that farmers have no option but to defer the ban on stubble burning. “We will not allow officials to enter villages while farmers burn crop residues,” he said. In Punjab, sanctions and action against people who burn stubble are regulated under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. The farmers of Punjab face the challenge of managing around 20 million tonnes of paddy straw every year. It is estimated that more than 15 million tonnes of paddy straw is burned in open fields to clear land for sowing wheat or other crops.
burning process
The paddy crop, which is harvested with combine harvester machines, leaves a stubble on the field; To destroy this stubble, many farmers find crop residue burning as the most ‘effective and cheap’ way to prepare their fields for sowing the next winter crop. The short time between harvesting the paddy and sowing the wheat crop—about three weeks—is one of the primary reasons farmers resort to stubble burning. In Punjab and Haryana, the paddy crop is usually harvested from the second fortnight of September to the beginning of November. The sowing of wheat crop generally starts in the first week of November and lasts for more than one and a half months.
Kirti Kisan Union leader Nirbhay Singh said that the farming community does not want to pollute the environment in any way. “The long-term solution to the problem of stubble burning is to move farmers away from water-stressed paddy and promote crop diversification. But farmers will go for other crops only if the governments give an assured price and market for alternative crops. A few months back, the newly elected AAP government urged farmers to grow moong dal and promised to buy the entire crop. But, what happened on the ground was that the farmers sold about 80% of the total crop to private traders at throwaway prices. How do we trust the government? Not only this, the government also announced an incentive of Rs 1,500 per acre to farmers adopting DSR (Direct Seeding) technology for rice cultivation. But till now the farmers are waiting for the incentive amount.
Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the Punjab unit of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, said, “We do not support stubble burning but governments should find a long-term solution. If strict action is taken against the farmers who burn stubble, then the government will have to face strong opposition. New scientific methods such as decomposer spray most agricultural equipment have not been successful. Subsequent governments have failed to find a solution to the problem and don’t expect much from the AAP government, at least for now.
On September 16, Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal held a meeting with the district agriculture officers and discussed the control of stubble burning and preparing a blueprint for implementation at the district level.
He said that concrete steps were being taken to stop the practice of stubble burning in the state like providing agricultural equipment on subsidy to the farmers, conducting awareness campaigns and adopting some innovative scientific methods like decomposer spray. He also directed the senior officers not to give leave to any officer or employee of the Agriculture Department till November 7.