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: 73
 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]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
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Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

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: 74
 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]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

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]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

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-The Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But a new machine &amp;mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &amp;mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &amp;mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &amp;mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&amp;rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.&lt;/em&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindustan Times, 22 November, 2012, http://www.hindustantimes.com/editorial-views-on/Edits/The-right-alternative/Article1-963005.aspx&#039;,
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The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But a new machine &amp;mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &amp;mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &amp;mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &amp;mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&amp;rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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&lt;br /&gt;
The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But a new machine &amp;mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &amp;mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &amp;mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &amp;mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&amp;rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.&lt;/em&gt;
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-The Hindustan Times

The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in..."/>
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                <strong>The right alternative -Ridhima Gupta and E Somanathan</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-The Hindustan Times<br /><br />The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.<br /><br />This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.<br /><br />But a new machine &mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.<br /><br />But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.<br /><br />The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.<br /><br />Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.<br /><br />Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.<br /><br />A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.<br /><br /><em>Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.</em></div>               </font>
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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0f11060a35-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0f11060a35-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67f0f11060a35-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0f11060a35-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0f11060a35-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0f11060a35-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67f0f11060a35-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67f0f11060a35-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
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</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67f0f11060a35-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
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-The Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But a new machine &amp;mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &amp;mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &amp;mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &amp;mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&amp;rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.&lt;/em&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindustan Times, 22 November, 2012, http://www.hindustantimes.com/editorial-views-on/Edits/The-right-alternative/Article1-963005.aspx&#039;,
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The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But a new machine &amp;mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &amp;mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &amp;mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &amp;mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&amp;rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-The Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But a new machine &amp;mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &amp;mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &amp;mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &amp;mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&amp;rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.&lt;/em&gt;
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The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in...&#039;
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-The Hindustan Times

The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in..."/>
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                <strong>The right alternative -Ridhima Gupta and E Somanathan</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-The Hindustan Times<br /><br />The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.<br /><br />This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.<br /><br />But a new machine &mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.<br /><br />But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.<br /><br />The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.<br /><br />Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.<br /><br />Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.<br /><br />A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.<br /><br /><em>Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.</em></div>               </font>
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-The Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But a new machine &amp;mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &amp;mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &amp;mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &amp;mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&amp;rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.&lt;/em&gt;
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The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But a new machine &amp;mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &amp;mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &amp;mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &amp;mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&amp;rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
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-The Hindustan Times&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But a new machine &amp;mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &amp;mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &amp;mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &amp;mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&amp;rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.&lt;/em&gt;
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The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in...&#039;
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-The Hindustan Times

The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in..."/>
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                <strong>The right alternative -Ridhima Gupta and E Somanathan</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-The Hindustan Times<br /><br />The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.<br /><br />This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.<br /><br />But a new machine &mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.<br /><br />But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.<br /><br />The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.<br /><br />Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.<br /><br />Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.<br /><br />A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.<br /><br /><em>Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.</em></div>               </font>
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-The Hindustan Times<br />
<br />
The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.<br />
<br />
This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.<br />
<br />
But a new machine &mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.<br />
<br />
But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.<br />
<br />
The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.<br />
<br />
Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.<br />
<br />
Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.<br />
<br />
A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.<br />
<br />
<em>Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.</em>
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-The Hindustan Times<br />
<br />
The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals.<br />
<br />
This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat.<br />
<br />
But a new machine &mdash; Happy Seeder (HS) &mdash; can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients.<br />
<br />
But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm.<br />
<br />
The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work.<br />
<br />
Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable.<br />
<br />
Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog &mdash; putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials &mdash; have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don&rsquo;t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced.<br />
<br />
A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine.<br />
<br />
<em>Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.</em>
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-The Hindustan Times

The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in...'
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The right alternative -Ridhima Gupta and E Somanathan

-The Hindustan Times The smog that nearly choked Delhi in November was caused due to the burning of post-harvest rice stalks in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. Every year, rice is harvested using combine harvesters, which leaves a residue in the field. Earlier, harvesting was done by hand and the people who worked on the fields would take out the stalks and use them as food for animals. This practice is now done by using tractors. The use of harvesters leads to a problem: the seeder machines that plant wheat in November get clogged by the residue and so farmers burn the residue, the cause of the smog, before attempting to plant wheat. But a new machine — Happy Seeder (HS) — can help farmers to plant wheat seed without it getting clogged by the residue. It is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch. This helps in preserving soil moisture and conserving nutrients. But is it worth promoting? To answer this, one of us, surveyed 92 farmers in Punjab who used HS last year in some parts of their land, while using the conventional machine on the rest of the farm. The average yield of wheat on plots that used HS was 43.3 quintals/hectare while the average yield on the conventional plots was 43.8 quintals/hectare. So it does work. Is HS cost-effective? The average cost of preparing a field for sowing wheat using HS was Rs. 6,225/hectare while it was Rs. 7,288/hectare using conventional methods. The conventional method is costlier because those fields were ploughed, which is not the case when HS is used. The per-hectare profit from wheat when HS is used is Rs. 40,548, about Rs. 500/ha more than the Rs. 40,024 profit from conventionally tilled plots. Thus, the new technology is profitable. Other ways of stopping farmers from burning smog — putting a ban on burning and appeals from government officials — have been tried in Punjab and Haryana for a few years now. But they have failed because farmers don’t have any cost-effective alternative and they are politically too powerful to be forced. A major government push to popularise HS (perhaps 50% subsidy) could lead to the adoption of the new machine. Ridhima Gupta is a PhD student in economics and E Somanathan is Professor of Economics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. The views expressed by the authors are personal.