Now, farmers of 31 UP dists to get free bio-decomposer
The ‘bio-decomposer’ also increases soil fertility and reduces the use of fertilizers
In an effort to stop farmers from burning crop residues and check the air pollution, UP government has decided to make available bio-decomposer to farmers of 31 districts free of cost. The aim of the exercise is to motivate them to transform the crop residue into compost that they can use for their Rabi crops, officials said.
Additional chief secretary (agriculture) Devesh Chaturvedi, in a communiqué sent to all divisional commissioners on October 27, informed that based on latest satellite imagery, so far 419 incidents of stubble burning have come to light in the state while in 2019-20 during the same period 506 such incidents were reported.
Deputy director (agriculture) Vinod Kumar Sharma said that though incidents of stubble burning occur in West UP area, including districts of Mathura, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur and Rampur, but a proposal has also been sent to the government from Prayagraj for getting this
This year, half-a-dozen incidents of stubble burning have been reported in Prayagraj district.
bio-decomposer.
This ‘bio-decomposer’ is basically a liquid formulation. The solution, when sprayed in the fields, can decompose crop residue and turn it into manure. The solution increases soil fertility and reduces the use of fertilizers, he explained.
According to officials, there are two kinds of waste after harvesting: One is the straw left behind after threshing and taking out the grain. And the second is the stubble which is left attached to the ground after harvesting. The burning of both of them is broadly termed as stubble burning.
Both the Supreme Court (SC)
and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) have expressed in the past and ordered the state governments to initiate steps to stop the practice of stubble burning by farmers.
There were 34 cases of stubble burning in Prayagraj last year. In all these cases, the district administration had filed a case against the farmers and also recovered fines from them. This year, already half-a-dozen incidents of stubble burning have come to light in the district. On October 27 alone, the district administration lodged FIRs against four farmers.
Additional chief secretary (agriculture) in his latest missive has instructed officials to intensify Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities for creating awareness among farmers on the ill-effects of stubble burning using special vans as well as holding village level meetings with farmers in this regard, Sharma said.
In accordance with these instructions, already efforts are underway to make the farmers aware. “Besides using IEC vehicles, we are also conducting village-level seminars.Now instructions have also been given to make farmers aware by beating the drums in the traditional way to tell the ill effects of the stubble burning practice,” he said.