At a time when the government has been trying its best to reduce incidents of stubble burning after paddy harvesting, an initial report has shown a substantial rise in Haryana, mainly in Basmati growing districts, whereas in Punjab it is lower than last year. Nevertheless, the Centre is hopeful of a reduction in cases this year at the end of the season due to various measures initiated by it.

According to the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS), managed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), the total number of stubble-burning incidents in the country has been recorded at 112 during September 15-28, down from 141 in the year-ago period. Uttar Pradesh has 9 cases and Madhya Pradesh 5 this year.

Haryana has recorded 32 incidents, including 11 in Karnal and 7 in Kurukshetra whereas in the year-ago period, only one case was observed in Jind. This year, there were 3 incidents, each in Ambala, Fethabad and Yamunanagar while 2 cases, each in Sonipat and Jind.

On the other hand, Punjab reported 65 cases of crop residue burning against 139 last year. The maximum 54 cases have come from Amritsar district.

Also Read | Bringing an end to stubble burning

Linkage with exporters

“Most of the cases are reported from Basmati rice growing districts. There should be some linkage made with farmers by exporters to check this trend,” said Deep Arora, a farmer and activist in Haryana. He said last year there was great demand by commercial dairy farmers to take the residues which is missing this time.

Addressing a workshop on Clean & Green Solutions for Rice Straw Management, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Friday, S Rukmani, Joint Secretary in the Ministry, said the government is committed to helping farmers to manage stubble.

“We have launched revised guidelines on crop residue management (CRM) and are now promoting ex-situ management of straw, offering financial assistance for the capital cost of machinery through subsidy of up to 65 per cent for projects, while industry will need to contribute 25 per cent towards operational costs,” she said, stressing that stubble can be a source of wealth. There are many uses for paddy straw, but there was no robust supply chain available for these industries, she said.

Also Read | Haryana to expand project to tackle stubble burning to 8 more districts 

Short window

Speaking at the event, S Sivakumar, group head (Agri & IT Business) of ITC, said this is a continuous journey, and the issue of rice straw management is no exception. “Burning stubble seemed like a solution at one time given the short window between harvesting one crop and sowing the next, but burning ruined soil quality and created enormous pollution,” he said.

“We need to understand where gaps exist whether in terms of awareness, cost issues or where investment is holding us back -- each region will face unique challenges that must be overcome,” he said.

Seema Arora, Deputy Director General of CII, said that while much ground has been covered, there is a need to further raise awareness and scale the CRM projects.

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