BATHINDA: With less than three months left for start of paddy harvesting season, when Punjab witnesses thousands of field fires, the state agriculture department has prepared an action plan for crop residue management and has sent a Rs 474-crore proposal to the Union government.
The state government already has Rs 212 crore in its kitty under 100% centrally-funded crop residue management (CRM) scheme and wants Rs 262 crore more in the next three months. The department has decided to go in for multi-pronged strategy, from providing subsidy on CRM machines to setting up custom hiring centres (CHC) and roping in progressive farmers and experts from the Punjab Agriculture University to support the campaign.
The proposal of Rs 474 crore prepared by the department includes providing subsidy from 50% to 80% on 32,100 machines. Earlier, subsidy of over Rs 910 crore has been provided for 90,422 machines.
Out of this, the proposal is to provide subsidy on 2,000 super straw management systems (SMSs), 6,000 happy seeders, 2,000 paddy straw shredders/mulchers, 2,000 reversible mould board ploughs, 7,000 super seeders, 2,000 zero till drills, 2,000 balers, 2,000 rakes, 2,000 shrub master, 2,500 smart seeders and 2,600 other machines like rotavators and rotary slashers.
The 300 CHCs and FPOs will be formed with machinery of up to Rs 5 lakh to be provided at 80% subsidy. A sum of Rs 15 crore has been earmarked for information, education and communication (IEC) activities to make farmers aware of the ill effects of stubble burning and the availability of machines. The state government is taking up the issue with central government to approve the proposal.
Punjab agriculture director Gurvinder Singh, speaking to TOI, said the main focus, apart from providing subsidy on machines, was to change the mindset up of farmers. “For this, we have prepared video clips of progressive farmers, who are practicing agriculture without putting fields on fire. These clips will be shown to farmers at public places where they will be sharing the experiences and benefits of not burning stubble. The guidance will also be made by experts from agriculture department and the Punjab Agriculture University.,” he said.
