Farmers Movement Archive

Custom hiring centres gaining popularity among farmers in Jalandhar: Deputy Commissioner

Jalandhar, October 3In order to ensure environment remains clean and pollution free by controlling stubble burning, the custom hiring centres being sponsored by the state agriculture department are playing a pivotal role in offering high-tech machinery to farmers for the management of crop residue.The high-tech equipment mostly required for managing crop residue in the fields including happy seeder, rotavator, paddy cutter-cum shredder, mulcher and zero till drill are being provided on rental basis to the farmers who cannot afford to purchase such equipment due to its high cost.Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said, “The centres are providing modern machinery to even common farmer with objective in-situ management of crop residue and sowing the next crop by using equipment while the stubble is still standing and letting the straw mix in soil and work as manure”.He said during 2018-19, the government had established 43 custom hiring centres for paddy straw management which has now increased to 750 this year. He said the rise in number of custom hiring centres reflect these are gaining popularity among the peasantry.He said as per government’s guidelines the custom hiring centres had been asked to not to charge rent from small and marginal farmers. He said in Jalandhar, about 13,000 small and marginal farmers cultivating on 15,000 hectare are being given priority by centres for machines.He also told that the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare was already running an intensive campaign to make the farmers aware about the harmful effects of burning of paddy straw on the environment and human health and it might worse the Covid situation in the district.He appealed to the farmers that they should come forward and adopt effective methods for its management through latest techniques.Meanwhile, Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Surinder Singh said these machineries help the farmers to decompose the stubble in the fields rather than resorting to burning which would save the environment and improve the soil health.He told that the state government was making every effort to provide these machines to each farmer through these centres in wiping out the stubble burning menace completely from Punjab.Dr Singh said, “Around 2,000 nutrients can be saved if the straw gets mixed in soil adding that equipment like happy seeder, rotavator, paddy cutter-cum shredder, paddy chopper-cum shredder and mulchers, which are easily available in the centres.

The Tribune

2020-10-04