Stubble no trouble for these change agents
‘Why burn crop waste when you can make money out of it’
Every year, environmentally-sound disposal of paddy residue turns into a point of discord. As the issues boils over, there are always people who offer workable, green solutions. HT profiles some of these pioneers, who have built-up profitable businesses, where everybody saw trouble
MEHMA SAWAI (BATHINDA) : For farmer Gurshiwender Singh, 38, management of paddy waste turned out to be a golden opportunity to increase his income. Last year, he earned ₹31 lakh in around 50 days by selling stubble to a biomass generation plant.
Gurshiwender, of Mehma Sawai village, around 35km from district headquarters, says he sells organic waste to a private biomass generation plant at Sedha Singh Wala village and made a profit of ₹7 lakh in 2019.
“After Sukhbir Agro Energy Limited set up a biomass energy generation plant in Bathinda in 2017, I invested in one baler, which cost ₹15 lakh and availed a 40% subsidy. Now, I have two bailers and six tractors and collect paddy straw from Mehma
Sawai and three other adjoining villages. The biomass plant management pays ₹130 per quintal. Last year, I had supplied 24,000 quintal of dried crop waste,” says Gurshiwender. He supervises stubble management over 8 acre. “The technology is inexpensive and farmers have to pay a nominal price for safe disposal of crop residue. The government should promote multiple biomass plants in each district,” he says.
Gurshiwender’s family owns six acre and he cultivates rice over another 10 acre of leased land, employing 100 people.
He adds, “I charge ₹500 per acre, the same amount that a farmer pays to a straw-reaper operator and for setting crop residue on fire.”