Muktsar: Stubble mulching beneficial for kinnow orchards, say growers

Archit Watts

Muktsar, December 20

The paddy crop residue is proving beneficial for kinnow growers. The fruit growers say that paddy stubble mulching not just helps them to reduce water evaporation, but also works as a fertiliser in orchards.

Some fruit growers, who are using this technique, said they collect or buy paddy stubble during the crop harvesting season and do mulching in March after selling their fruit.

Balwinder Singh Tikka, a state awardee kinnow grower from Abul Khurana village said, “During the peak summer season, sunlight evaporates 75 per cent water and the plant uses the remaining 25 per cent of water in the orchard. The paddy straw mulching around the kinnow plants is very useful. It works as an insulator and helps us in maintaining the moisture level of the soil. Further, it controls weeds and improves the fertility of the soil as well. We use it on the kutcha paths made in the orchard too.”

Similarly, Kisan Union (Sher-e-Punjab) spokesperson Ajay Wadhwa said, “We face shortage of canal water every year and the underground water in our area is unfit for usage, but this environment friendly technique reduces the requirement of water by nearly 50 per cent. The paddy stubble increases the carbonic content in the soil. However, it increases rats in the orchard too. The rodents can be controlled by either mulching the chopped paddy stubble or by spraying some rodenticide.”

He added, “The state government should provide us paddy stubble by taking just freight charges. It will not just help in controlling the pollution as a number of paddy growers still burn the crop residue, but will be beneficial for us too.”

Kuljeet Singh, Assistant Director, Horticulture, Muktsar district, said, “The paddy stubble mulching is beneficial for kinnow orchards. Some growers have successfully tried it. If the fruit growers use chopped stubble then they don’t even face the issue of rodents in their orchards.”

Helpful in managing paddy stubble

The state has nearly 1,15,000 acres under the kinnow crop this year. If the paddy stubble mulching is done by a majority of the fruit growers, it can reduce the number of stubble burning incidents. Notably, the state this year has witnessed a total of 36,663 stubble burning incidents.