To make Punjab a “zero stubble burning state”, the Punjab Agriculture Department has initiated a massive drive to provide more than 25,000 agro-machines or farm equipment to farmers for in-situ management of paddy residue with a subsidy component of Rs 250 crore during the current fiscal.
The State Agriculture Director Sukhdev Singh Sidhu on Sunday said that the Department had already sanctioned about 430 applications of Cooperative Societies and Panchayats on priority for Balers and primary sowing machines.
In the first phase, sanctions of agro-machines have been issued to 246 Panchayats and 185 Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) at a subsidy of 80 percent to establish Farm Machinery Banks (FMBs) to be used as Custom Hiring Centres, said Sidhu.
“Subsidy ranging from 50 to 80 percent is being offered to the farmers under the scheme with 80 percent subsidy to cooperative societies and farmers groups while 50 percent is for individuals. The machinery portal is being reopened from August 2-4, 2021, only for Panchayats, Cooperative societies, and FPOs to give them one more opportunity to avail the benefit of these subsidized agri-equipments,” said the
Director.
The State Government has focused on delivering state-of-the-art machines to farmers including Super SMS, Happy Seeder, Paddy Straw Chopper, Shredder or Mulcher, Hydraulic Reversible Mould Board Plough and Zero Till Drill.
The Agri Director said that in order to supply the requisite machinery to farmers, the Agriculture Department has fully geared up to complete the task of distribution of these implements well before paddy harvesting season.
Sidhu added that the Agriculture Department has already initiated Information Education Communication (IEC) activities to educate farmers about the ill-effects of paddy straw burning, adding that the Department organized 1,015 Training-cum-Awareness Camps for awareness against stubble burning and promotion of DSR techniques. “This awareness campaign is primarily aimed at imparting training to farmers and practical demonstration of equipment for In-Situ Crop Residue Management,” he said.
At the same time, he also urged the farmers to make optimum use of subsidized agri-machinery to do away with the practice of stubble burning thereby ensuring health and hygiene of the people besides preserving the environment of the State.
Notably, the paddy has been brought down to 27 lakh hectares of land in Punjab.
76,622 SUBSIDIZED AGRI-MACHINES DELIVERED UP TO LAST YEARS
During the past three years — 2018-2019, 2019-20, and 2020-21, as many as 76,622 specialized equipment or machines including Balers have been provided to farmers and Custom Hiring Centres across the State on 50 to 80 percent subsidy for In-situ and ex-situ management.
Out of 76,622 machines, as many as 49,196 machines have been provided to the 19,834 Custom Hiring Centres in Panchayats or Cooperative Societies and other CHCs established by farmers as groups or societies and remaining 27,426 to Individual Farmers.