Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Punjab's agriculture minister said that farmers will receive 56,000 machines for controlling paddy stubble and the state government would take all necessary steps to prevent stubble burning during the upcoming paddy harvesting season.
The agriculture department would distribute 56,000 machines under the in-situ management of the stubble scheme this season, bringing the total number of units to 1,46,422, according to Dhaliwal.
According to him, farmers received 90,422 machines between 2018 and 2022.
Dhaliwal further said now small farmers would also get machines like super seeder, happy seeder, zero drill as 500 such equipment will be sent to 154 blocks of the state.
He said after September 15, officers in the agriculture department with ranks ranging from class IV to director, including himself, will remain in the fields and make door-to-door visits to educate farmers about not burning their stubble.
In the upcoming days, a significant awareness campaign will be launched in Punjab's rural areas, involving representatives from the rural development, panchayat, and environment departments, NGOs, students from high schools and colleges, and others.
The goal of the campaign is to urge farmers to adopt in-situ crop residue management (mixing crop residue in soil) passionately to manage the stubble.
He solicited support of farmers to wipe out the threat of stubble burning.
Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is one of the reasons behind disturbing increase in air pollution levels in the nation's capital in October and November.
Before cultivating wheat and potatoes, farmers quickly remove crop leftovers from their fields by setting them on fire. Each year, Punjab produces about 185 lakh tonnes of paddy straw.
The minister criticised the Centre and called it "anti-farmer and anti-Punjab" for rejecting a financial incentive proposal to farmers for not burning stubble. The state government had proposed to give Rs 2,500 per acre to paddy growers suggesting that the Centre would pay Rs 1,500 per acre while Rs 1,000 per acre will be borne by Punjab and Delhi governments.
Attacking the previous governments, Singh said that several farmers were left to get the benefit of the subsidy for agricultural equipment and a scam of Rs.150 crore had raised.
The Punjabi government had previously declared that it had initiated an investigation into the Rs 150 crore scam in supply Crop residue management equipment to farmers during the previous government.
