Stubble burning: Punjab farmers cite helplessness
■ Despite the ban on stubble-burning that is choking Delhi and other areas in northern India, farm fires continue
Gharuan, Mohali, Nov. 4: Despite the ban on stubble-burning that is choking Delhi and other areas in northern India, farm fires continue around this Punjab village, just 20 km from the state capital Chandigarh. “We are helpless,” says a farmer, citing the cost of equipment meant to tackle crop residue without burning it. The 35-year-old did not wish to be named, fearing action by enforcement agencies against the practice in Punjab and Haryana that is seen as a major cause of the spike in pollution levels in Delhi and the National Capital Region. The farmer, who cultivates four acres of land he has taken on contract, said he cannot afford any delay in getting his fields clear of stubble from the previous crop before sowing the next one.
“If we do not burn the residue, wheat sowing will be delayed and that will ultimately affect the yield,” he said.
He said buying specialised equipment like “Happy Seeder” and other machines described as paddy straw chopper, super straw management system or rotavators is not economically viable for a small farmer like him.
Happy Seeder costs about `1.50 lakh and requires a 65 horsepower tractor. Together, they will cost him an unaffordable `8 lakh, he said. Such equipment should be rented out by cooperative societies, he added.
Happy Seeder is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts paddy straw, sows wheat, and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch.
Mehar Singh Theri, a leader of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur), demanded `200 per quintal as government bonus on paddy for pollution-free management of stubble.