Biomass plants offer ray of hope for rest of harvest season

These plants are playing a significant role in solving the problem of stubble burning and curbing the resultant pollution. MK ARAVIND, Muktsar DC

Muktsar With another week of paddy harvesting, including basmati, still left, biomass plants that use the stubble as raw material to convert it into electricity, plan to buy it in increased quantity over last year. These plants store the stubble and use it as per their plant requirement. This could be the faint ray of hope that the state has against worsening air pollution and smog.

Narinder Bhullar, general manager, at one such plant in the private sector at Channu village, said, “Our target is to purchase 1.25 lakh tonne. We have purchased 40,000 tonne. At our Ferozepur plant, we have already purchased 80,000 tonne against 36,000 tonne we bought last year. For our Faridkot plant too, we have already bought 60,000 tonne against just 40,000 tonne we purchased in 2018.”

Manager of another biomass plant at Gulabewala, Dinesh Bhardwaj said, “We purchased 6 lakh quintal of stubble last year. This year, we have already purchased 4.5 lakh quintal and plan to buy a total of 6.5 lakh quintal this year.” Muktsar deputy commissioner MK Aravind told HT over phone, “These plants in Muktsar are playing a significant role in resolving the issue.”

BALING COST OF ₹1,200 AN ACRE FORCES HANDS OF FARMERS

One of the major deterrents to the plants storing even more quantity of stubble is the rent, between ₹1,000 and ₹1,200, that farmers have to pay to convert the stubble into bales.

Not all farmers can individually afford a ₹14-lakh baler machine. Big farmers and other associations who do manage to buy the baler end up earning a huge profit as they sell bales at around ₹130 a quintal, with each acre yielding about 20 quintal, giving the ‘value’ of the baled stubble at around ₹2,600 an acre.

Ghurbhagat Singh, Muktsar general secretary, Bharti Kisan Union (Ughrahan), said, “Those who manage paddy stubble without burning it should be provided suitable compensation. Baler owners are charging rent from farmers; the service should be free.”