Experts for ban on reaper machines to check menace

Kulwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service
Moga, October 10

Demanding a ban on the use of reapers, farm experts have claimed that it will help control air pollution because farmers use reaper machines to cut stubble for burning it after the harvesting of paddy crop.

The farmers are using stubble shaver or reaper because it’s an easy and cheap process in the absence of any stringent law to check the practice.

The situation of air pollution becomes alarming after the harvesting of paddy crop in October-November every year. No solid technical way out has come up, so far, without putting an extra financial burden on the small and marginal farmers to solve the problem.

General secretary of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta) Sukhdev Singh Kokri said, “We demand a bonus of Rs 200 per quintal for straw management in an eco-friendly manner. The poor farmers, who are already debt-ridden and are committing suicides, cannot afford to spend huge amounts on straw management”.

Nirmal Singh Manuke, president of the BKU (Kadiyan), has asked the government to continue power supply during the paddy harvesting season.

Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar a state-award winner agro-scientist said: “Decomposing straw in soil returns most of the nutrients and helps conserve soil’s nutrient reserves for a longer period and reduces the growth of weeds during the fallow period”.