It is good news for the farmers of the state as the Yogi Adityanath government will now be paying money to them for agricultural wastes.
The chief minister has directed the Agriculture department to increase the income of farmers and also to reduce their cost. On his initiative, a bio-coal production unit has been set up in Risia Bazaar town of Bahraich district, according to official sources.
The trial of the fuel briquette pellet manufactured from agro-waste has also been completed in the plant and agricultural wastes like paddy straw, corn stalks and sugarcane leaves are being bought at the rate of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 per quintal from the farmers of the region, an official said on Sunday.
About 10,000 quintals of agricultural waste has been bought from the farmers so far.
The unit has received an order for supply of 1,000 tons of pellets per day by the Unchahar unit of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
The fuel briquette pellet unit has also provided direct and indirect employment to over a hundred persons. At the same time, the farmers are getting an extra income for their agricultural residue.
Agriculture Produce Commissioner Alok Sinha said here on Sunday that it was just a small effort to increase the income of farmers.
"This, however, will be a major relief for the problem of stubble burning and management of agricultural residues. We are motivating others to set up such units in the state for manufacturing pellets from agricultural residues," Sinha said.
An official said that two proposals from Shahjahanpur and one each from Pilibhit, Ayodhya, Basti and Gorakhpur had been received to set up similar plants and training was being imparted on manufacturing pellets from agricultural residues as this causes no harm if these are mixed with coal.