‘Cultural shift, will take three years’

Kahan Singh Pannu, agriculture secretary and the state nodal officer to check stubble burning, says Punjab has achieved its goal of sensitising farmers. In an interview to Vishal Rambani, he says he is sure that there will be no burning of the paddy residue in three years. Excerpts:

Has Punjab’s drive against stubble burning failed as the number of fire incidents is almost equal to last year? Pannu:

No, it has not failed. Though the number of incidents is almost equal to last year, the area under stubble burning is 20% less than last year and 50% less than 2016. The air quality index (AQI) is half of what was recorded last year. The rain in September-end delayed harvest and many farmers burnt paddy straw from November 5 to 11 to clear their fields for sowing wheat. Had there been no rain in September, Punjab would have seen far less stubble burning.

Why didn’t farmers heed to your advice?

Stopping farmers from paddy straw burning is like a cultural shift. There is colloquial expression, ‘Dabb ke wah te rajj ke kha (Toil hard and enjoy the fruit of the labour)’. This is the Punjabi farmer’s mindset. He sows wheat after clearing all paddy residue. Now we are asking them to sow wheat without removing paddy straw. No farmer wants to experiment on his entire land as a failure could mean an end to the earnings of the season.

The NGT has grilled Punjab again on paddy straw burning.

I have told the National Green Tribunal that it’s for first time that a majority of big farmers have shunned this practice and marginal farmers are talking about this illegal practice.

Did subsidised machinery help farmers handle straw?

We distributed 25,922 subsidised machines at a cost of Rs 269 crore. Small and marginal farmers are keenly watching those who opted for direct sowing after mulching the paddy in fields. Next year, they will adopt this practice. I’m optimistic that in three years there will be no, or minimal fields on fire.