AMBALA: The government has imposed a complete ban on burning of residue after harvesting paddy, said Ambala deputy director of agriculture (DDA) Girish Nagpal.
The farmers are being told not to burn the paddy residue and instead they should use the straw reaper, reaper binder, happy seeder, straw baler, and rotavator and other machines and mulch the residue within the field, he added.
“Instead of burning the paddy stubble, the farmers can now sell the loose residue at Rs 1,200 per ton and stacks or bundled residue at Rs 1,800 per ton to Naraingarh Sugar Mill to earn extra income. For more information, they can contact Verve Renewables Private Limited at 7206110441. The sugar mill has an established power plant inside its premises and it is using the paddy residue for the generation of electricity which is being sold to the government,” said Nagpal.
The officials added that the farmers are being regularly appealed that burning paddy residue not only reduces the fertility of land, but also has adverse effects on the environment.
When asked about how much paddy residue will the Naraingarh Sugar Mill intake from the farmers or whether there will be any limit, Nagpal said, “We have called a meeting with the officials of the sugar mill on Wednesday and further details and figures will be provided once the meeting is over.”
The officials of the agriculture department are also spreading awareness about crop residue management (CRM) through various campaigns like painting competitions among school students, flash mobs and dance performances by school students, street plays and prabhat pheri (early morning rallies) at village and city level. The officials said that school students, agriculture department officials, villagers, panchayat members are being mobilised to spread the awareness about the ill-effects of stubble burning and on how to properly manage the crop residue. “This awareness drive has received a positive response at both village as well as urban level and it is making an impact as we have recorded a drop in the incidents of stubble burning so far as compared to the past year,” Nagpal concluded.