Delhi & Punjab AAP Govts Collaborate to Combat Stubble Burning

The AAP governments of Punjab and Delhi have joined forces to combat stubble burning, and a pilot project to manage crop residue will be launched soon. A bio decomposer will be sprayed on 5,000 acres in the state as part of the project, according to an official statement released on Thursday.

Punjab Agriculture and farmers welfare Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal stated that high-level meetings on the issue were held in New Delhi. Dhaliwal met with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday to discuss the management of pollution caused by stubble burning. Later, he met with Delhi's Environment Minister, Gopal Rai.

The pilot project will be launched jointly by the governments of both states, according to the statement. According to the Punjab agriculture minister, a Pusa bio decomposer will be sprayed on stubble, after which the crop residue will be mixed into the soil. He stated that the Punjab government has made adequate preparations to prevent paddy stubble pollution. Farmers are receiving subsidized equipment, and awareness and surveillance teams have been formed in all districts.

Targeting the Union government for "turning down" a cash incentive proposal to farmers for not burning stubble, he said the state government had proposed giving paddy growers Rs 2,500 per acre, with the Centre bearing Rs 1,500 of the proposed amount. He stated that a massive awareness campaign will be launched in Punjab's rural belt, involving officials from the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat and the Punjab Pollution Control Board, to persuade farmers to manage stubble.

Dhaliwal urged farmers to work with the government to protect the land, air, and water so that future generations can live in a clean environment. Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is a major contributor to the national capital's alarming increase in air pollution levels in October and November. Farmers set fire to their fields to clear away crop residue before planting wheat and potatoes. Punjab produces approximately 20 million tonnes of paddy straw each year.

Scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute developed a Pusa bio decomposer, a microbial solution that can decompose stubble and turn it into manure in 15-20 days, in 2020. In 2020 and 2021, the Delhi government provided it free of charge to farmers in the capital to manage stubble in non-basmati rice fields.