Even as the Central Government has refused to lend a helping hand to the state for incentivizing the state’s farmers who manages their stubble, Punjab Government has decided to distribute as many as 56,000 machines under in-situ management of stubble this season — taking the total tally of machines to 1,46,422 as 90,422 machines were already given to the farmers from 2018-2022.
The State Government would take every possible step to stop stubble burning in the upcoming paddy harvesting season, said the state Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Sunday.
Dhaliwal, addressing a press conference in Ludhiana, said that 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. “After September 15, from Class-IV to Director-rank officer of Agriculture Department, including myself, will stay in the field and visit door-to-door for sensitizing the food growers against stubble burning,” he said.
The Minister said that a massive awareness drive would be launched in the state’s rural belt in the coming days comprising officials of Rural Development and Panchayat, Environment departments, NGOs, students of schools and colleges and others to exhort the farmers for adopting in-situ crop residue management wholeheartedly to manage the stubble.
Lashing out at Union Government for turning down cash incentive proposal to farmers for not burning stubble calling it as “anti-farmer” and “anti-Punjab”, Dhaliwal said that the State Government had proposed to give Rs 2,500 per acre to paddy growers suggesting that the Centre will pay Rs 1,500 per acre while Rs 1,000 per acre will be borne by Punjab and Delhi governments.
Coming down heavily on the previous governments, the Minister said that several farmers failed to get the benefit of subsidy on agricultural implements and a scam of Rs 150 crores had been surfaced. Its report has been handed over to the Chief Minister, and nobody will be spared, he added.