Farmers Movement Archive

Young farmers go for straw management, say happy with yield

Jalandhar October 4 Knowing that stubble burning can lead to a rise in severe respiratory problems among people and can exacerbate the Covid-19 situation, young farmers in Jalandhar have started adopting alternate techniques to shun the practice of straw burning. Sukhjinder Singh of Rajowal village, who had been managing the straw in 15 acres for past three year with mulchers, RMB plough, etc, said he had been witnessing a good yield of wheat crop with lesser amount of fertilisers. He said he demonstrated the technique to fellow farmers in the village and explained them the harmful effects of stubble burning on the environment, soil and also yield. He said this year, he had procured super seeder and would sow wheat by harvesting the stubble in fields. Singh revealed that around 20 to 25 farmers of the village have already booked his machine which would help reduce cases of straw burning. Gurmeet Singh, a farmer of Cholang village who has been decomposing the stubble in fields for past five years, said more peasants joined the anti-stubble burning drive after they saw him getting a good wheat yield. Singh said he had been apprising others about damages caused by stubble burning to the soil health and environment. The farmer said he owns super seeder, happy seeder, rotavator and mulcher and fellow farmers (owning around 150 acres area of his village) would be using this technique to manage stubble. Tarsem Singh of Basti Peer Daad is one of the farmers who managed straw in two acres last year and would be using super seeder in the entire 10-acre holding to sow wheat as it resulted in high yield. He said he had already booked the machine from a custom hiring centre to manage the stubble. Chief Agriculture Officer Surinder Singh said during 2019-20, of the 1.71-lakh hectare area of paddy, paddy straw was managed in about 1-lakh hectare area through in-situ processes. He said numbers of farmers are setting examples in successful management of paddy straw and the Agriculture Department was planning to honour them for their pivotal role in the war against the stubble burning menace.

The Tribune

2020-10-05