Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | All fiddle as crop stubble burns, farmers say solutions out of reach -Mallica Joshi

All fiddle as crop stubble burns, farmers say solutions out of reach -Mallica Joshi

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Oct 12, 2018   modified Modified on Oct 12, 2018
-The Indian Express

Every October, the air quality in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana plummets as farmers set the leftover stubble and loose straw on fire after paddy is harvested using combines. And this time, too, the smoke signals from the fields are ominous

Ambala, Karnal, Patiala:
“A matchbox costs just Rs 2, you know,” says Ram Pal Rana, as he collects and piles up dry straw on one side of his 3-acre paddy field at Uchana village in Haryana’s Karnal, around 130 km from Delhi. In the distance, a plume of white smoke spirals up as the crop stubble and straw on adjacent fields are set on fire.

Every October, the air quality in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana plummets as farmers set the leftover stubble and loose straw on fire after paddy is harvested using combines. And this time, too, the smoke signals from the fields are ominous

Over the last two years, the central and state governments have devised a number of measures to prevent this — from slapping fines on farmers to subsidising equipment that allow seeds of the next wheat crop to be planted with the stubble still on the fields.

However, The Indian Express travelled to villages in Haryana and Punjab, and spoke to farmers and officials in both states, to find a huge gap between government action and ground reality. Several farmers claimed they are yet to get the machines or hear from officials about the dangers of crop-stubble burning.

“It is business as usual here. No one from the government has come to us to have a conversation and understand our point of view. When we are not getting the ideal price for our crop, how can we spend thousands of rupees on hiring these machines? This is simple economics,” says Karamjit Singh, a farmer from Salaru village in Karnal, whose 20-acre farm is dotted with tell-tale black patches.

“Using a Happy Seeder or combine harvester with Super-SMS is just too costly,” he says. Karamjit is referring to the two most popular machines that eliminate the need to burn agricultural waste. Happy Seeder enables wheat to be planted on the field, while simultaneously cutting the standing stubble and spreading it over the sown seeds as mulch cover. Super-SMS is an attachment to a combine harvester, which spreads the loose straw thrown up by the machine evenly across the field, making it easier to run the Happy Seeder. Farmers have the option of hiring these on rent from collectives and private entrepreneurs who are also eligible for the subsidy on purchase.

Please click here to read more.


The Indian Express, 12 October, 2018, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/all-fiddle-as-crop-stubble-burns-farmers-say-solutions-out-of-reach-5398244/


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close