Karnal farmers to supply 1 LMT crop residue to ethanol plant in Panipat
Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Karnal, August 6
Farmers from Karnal district will supply one lakh metric tonnes (MT) of stubble to Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s (IOCL) second generation (2G) ethanol plant in Panipat. This initiative is a part of the district administration’s efforts to manage crop residue and prevent stubble burning, which contributes to several environmental and health challenges.
Preventing farm fires
- The initiative is a part of the district administration’s efforts to manage crop residue and prevent stubble burning. Farmers in the region supplied nearly 90,000 MT of stubble to collection yards of Indian Oil Corporation Limited last year
- Officials have already held a meeting with all stakeholders, with a focus on awareness and subsidies on agricultural machinery, in order to manage crop residue effectively
To collect the supply, the IOCL has expanded its collection yards from five to six. These yards will temporarily store the crop residue before it is transported to the Panipat plant, where it will be converted into ethanol.
Last year, farmers in the region supplied nearly 90,000 MT of stubble from these centres in the district, of which Bhamberheri depot supplied 13,608 MT, Agaund 13,844 MT, Amupur 19,602 MT, Jamalpur 16,680 MT and Bandrala in Assandh 16,190 MT, said Dr Wazir Singh, Deputy Director, Agriculture.
“Deputy Commissioner Uttam Singh has conducted a meeting in this regard of all stakeholders, focusing on farmer awareness, information, and communication activities. Subsidies on agricultural machinery were also discussed,” said the Deputy Director. Monitoring and enforcement measures, mapping of available crop residue management (CRM) machinery with harvesting schedules, and the establishment of a crop residue paddy straw supply chain under CRM for the kharif 2024 season have also been finalised, Dr Singh added.
The Deputy Director said paddy is cultivated on nearly 4.25 lakh acres — 1.70 lakh acres dedicated to basmati and 2.55 lakh acres to non-basmati. The total paddy cultivation generates around 8.50 lakh MT of straw, with basmati contributing 3.40 lakh MT and non-basmati 5.10 lakh MT. Of this, 1 lakh MT is used as fodder, 2 lakh MT managed in-situ, and 5.5 lakh MT ex-situ, he added.
