-Firstpost.com Ludhiana: North India’s smog problem — a cause of much tension between states — seems to have left politicians, farmers and even experts stumped. In Punjab, the government’s measures to tackle stubble-burning have reaped little dividend, as the farmers, many of them debt-ridden, say that at the end of the harvesting season, they are still left with no option but to set paddy straw on fire in order to clear their...
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Stubble burning: Delhi at risk of another smog attack as Punjab farmers have little alternative but burn straw India -Arjun Sharma
-Firstpost.com Late sowing, lack of government incentive to remove stubble mechanically have often led farmers in Punjab and Haryana to burn paddy stubble during autumn to immediately prepare the fields for wheat cultivation. Consequently, the stubble burning occurs on such a huge scale that it even engulfs Delhi in a canopy of smog: thus causing serious pollution for days and health issues. Ludhiana: For two winters, Delhi has made international headlines for...
More »Punjab labour shortage: Rising scarcity of farm workers pushes up production cost, inclination towards machine farming -Arjun Sharma
-Firstpost.com Ludhiana: Free meals, payment in advance, free liquor to ease aching limbs after a hard day’s work. Migrant labour in Punjab, mainly from Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, the mainstay of the state’s agriculture sector, has never had it so good. The problem, however, is the decreasing availability of this labour. Ask Baljinder Singh, a farmer with a 10-acre holding in Dakha village. Come sowing season in mid-June, Baljinder...
More »'Rationalising subsidies, improving infrastructure could revive agri-sector' -Kiran Pandey
-Down to Earth For every million rupees spent on agricultural research, 328 people are pulled out of poverty. In contrast, the same amount spent on power subsidies brings only 23 people come out of poverty. The message is clear. With the Union elections only a few months away, the Centre should prioritise capital investments over populist subsidies to deliver on its promise of strengthening the farm sector. This is important, especially when the...
More »The 'Happy Seeder' in search of helping hands -Preeti Mehra
-The Hindu Business Line A campaign and fundraiser are trying to persuade farmers in Haryana and Punjab to opt for technology instead of using the polluting method of crop stubble burning in the sowing season this winter October-November are the cruellest months for people living in the National Capital Region. A heavy smog slowly drifts in and hangs in through the winter, sending particulate matter (PM) levels soaring to a hazardous degree....
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