Discourage farmers from stubble burning: PPCB to Agri Dept

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, April 18

After it faced strong opposition from a farmers’ union post-paddy harvesting season last year, the Punjab Pollution Control Board is relying on the Agriculture Department to sensitise farmers to discourage wheat stubbles burning this time.

Harping on the use of Happy Seeder Machines, a unique technique which is used for sowing wheat without any burning of paddy residue, the Agriculture Department is organising camps in the rural area to showcase the successful use of this machine and the resultant high yield of wheat in the farms where the machine was used.

Speaking at one such awareness camp at Pindi Blochan village of Faridkot, Dr Jagdish Grover, Associate Director at Krishi Vigyan Kendra sought to make the farmers aware about new machine. “We are organizing camps at the fields where the farmers sowed the wheat crop using Happy Seeder, without burning the paddy residue. The average yield of these farms is on high side, said Dr Grover.

Happy Seeder is the new eco-friendly technology which also saves water. For sowing wheat on time the burning of paddy residue decreases the soil fertility and is harmful for human beings. With the burning of rice residue gases produced creates very harmful situations for our environment.

With Happy Seeder, there is sowing wheat crop just after rice harvesting, so the farmers opting for long duration wheat and rice varieties. It save minimum one irrigation as the sowing of the wheat is possible in residual moisture after harvesting of paddy. Crop residue helps in moisture and temperature conservation and improve soil health.

So far lack of suitable machinery was a major constraint to direct drilling into the heavy stubbles in intensively cultivated irrigated rice-wheat cropping systems.