Act responsibly, don't burn paddy straw, farmers told

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 31

Additional Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan today urged farmers of the state to act responsibly and not burn paddy straw in larger interest of the people.

“Punjabi farmers are known globally to be hardworking and willing to adopt innovative techniques of farming.”

She stated this while addressing farmers during an awareness session on “Impact of stubble burning on human health”. “It’s a known fact that when a farmer burns paddy straw, it affects human health and there is a need to check this trend,” Vini added.

“Under the Mission Tandrust Punjab the state government in a bid to save our environment is providing subsidy to farmers on farm machinery for in-situ management of paddy straw. This subsidy is give for purchasing Super SMS to be fitted on combine harvesters, happy seeder, zero till drill, paddy straw chopper, paddy straw multure, and reversible hydraulic MB plough. Farmers must take full advantage of this initiative,” Vini said.

Speaking on the occasion Deputy Commissioner (DC) Pradeep Kumar Agrawal said, “With an aim to check paddy straw and stubble burning in the state, the Punjab Government is taking several steps, including providing agri machinery to farmers for paddy straw management.” “Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has also launched a mobile app named ‘i-khet’ last year. Till date, thousands of farmers have availed its benefit,” the DC added.

“This app developed by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre includes information of all those machines of Ludhiana district that are used for paddy straw management. This mobile app can be downloaded on android-based phones from Play Store. It provides information on district, block and village level in both English and Punjabi. This app enables farmers to access agriculture machinery/equipment for in-situ management of crop residue,” the DC said.

Noting that such burning causes irreversible damage to the texture of soil, natural environment and human health, the DC asked all departments concerned to intensify their campaign to educate farmers about the menace.

“Farmers can search information about nearest agri machines, including location, owner name and contact number, besides others on the mobile app. On contacting such owners, this machine can be further put to use by farmers,” the DC added.

“In district Ludhiana, details of around 3,000 such machines associated with the Agriculture and Cooperation Department and other machines are also added in the app,” the DC said.

While appealing to farmers keeping in view the 550th Parkash Purab celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev, chief agriculture officer, Dr Baldev Singh, said, “Farmers should not burn paddy straw this year.”

Professor, Community Medicine, CMCH, Dr Shavinder Singh, gave a presentation on ill effects of stubble burning on human health. Progressive farmer Jagdev Singh Bhamaddi also addressed the gathering on the occasion.