34% decline in farm fires in Sangrur

Sangrur, November 26

Despite being labelled as worst affected by stubble-burning, Sangrur has witnessed 34 per cent decline in cases of farm fires as compared to the last year’s incidents. Many farmers blame the government for not providing required machinery and alternatives to tackle the problem of crop residue.

Agriculture Department officials said farmers had completed almost 99 per cent sowing of wheat in the district. Till last evening, Sangrur district witnessed a total of 5,239 incidents of stubble-burning, while the count on November 24 last year was 7,997 while. In 2020, the district had witnessed 9,705 stubble- burning cases.

“Like me, there are many more farmers, who used machines to manage stubble without burning. The number of such farmers is increasing every year and it’s the reason that number of farm fires have come down in our district,” said Kulwant Singh, a farmer from Benra village.

Sangrur Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) Harbans Singh said they tried their best to convince farmers against burning crop stubble.

“The district has witnessed 34 per cent decline in stubble-burning incidents. It shows that many farmers listened to our requests to not to burn crop residue. We are hopeful that next year, the majority of farmers would manage stubble without burning it,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal said various campaigns had led to a decline in stubble- burning cases in district.