Farmers not opting for harvesters with straw mgmt system

MUKTSAR: Despite strictness, combine harvesters without the straw management system are operational in Punjab. The agriculture department had also announced to give ₹50,000 subsidy to combine owners for getting the attachment fitted on their machines.

Agriculture officials and PAU experts say the straw management system attached to combine harvesters enables the machine to shred the straw in small pieces and scatter it behind the tail of the machine. Experts say it would help in checking the burning of crop residue by farmers as they would be able to sow wheat using a happy seeder without having to bury the residue to clear the fields.pau experts also say that by adopting this method, wheat yield will also increase requiring fewer dozes of fertiliser.

Angrej Singh, a combine owner who had attached the system to his machine by shelling out ₹1.3 lakh, says no farmer is willing to hire his machine. While a combine owner charges ₹800-₹1,000 per acre for harvesting with the old-technique machine, the cost goes up to ₹1,500 if a combine fitted with straw management system is used.

Government officials say there are 7,500 combine harvesters in the state of which only 7% have straw management system.

Muktsar deputy commissioner Sumeet Jarangal said the district administration was urging the farmers as well as combine owners to adopt the new technique. “From the next season, no machine without straw management system will be allowed to operate,” he said.