NO STUBBLE BURNING CASE IN TALWARA BLOCK

HOSHIARPUR: With cases of stubble burning garnering flak across the state, farmers of Talwara block district standout for adhering to government guidelines and not setting paddy straw on fire.

As per official data, not even a single case of stubble burning has come to light in the 32 villages of the block where paddy was sown on approximately 1,650 hectares of land.

A farmer, Dilawar Singh, said, “We cultivated paddy on wheat fields without burning the stubble and got a good harvest. We also saved on the cost of manure.”

Some farmers such as Sita Ram of Talwara and Karam Chand of Lolota village said they sold the stubble to dairy farmers, mushroom growers and apple packaging traders and earned additional profit.

Others mixed the residue with soil to enhance its fertility. Manohar Singh of Rakrihar said ever since he stopped burning the residue, the fertility of his field had increased. “I mixed the residue with soil, which reduced my dependency on fertilizers. Paddy yield also increased considerably”, he said.

Deputy commissioner Isha Kalia said the farmers who adopt healthy agricultural practices will be honoured by the administration. She said the agriculture department provided machinery to farmers at subsidised rates to dissuade them from burning crop residue. The equipment could also be borrowed from farm machinery banks, she said.

Chief agriculture officer Vinay Kumar said the awareness campaign was producing encouraging results.