Fire incidents continue to rise as farmers reluctant to shun old ways

Amritsar, October 7

Despite the government running extensive awareness drives for the last many years and providing hundreds of machines on subsidy, it has failed to motivate farmers to shun the practice of burning crop residue as is evident from the large number of farm fire incidents reported from the district.

As per data released by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), the district has reported a total of 537 farm fire incidents till date.

However, a physical verification of the spots revealed that there was no fire on at least 91 places, claimed district officials. The PRSC reported 18 fire incidents in the district on Saturday. The incidents of farm fires during this season were first reported on September 16.

A farmer on the condition of anonymity said, “Those who do not cultivate a third vegetable crop in between the harvesting of paddy and sowing of wheat can easily manage stubble without burning as it gets time to decompose. For vegetable growers, there is no time as they usually sow the crop a day or two after harvesting paddy.”

The farmers said this year many of them had used baler machines and the crop residue was removed from fields after making bales. “Even after baler machines cut the crop residue and makes bale, there is still a significant part of the plant that remains in the field,” said another farmer.

Chief Agriculture officer Jatinder Singh Gill said, “A change is gradually coming. The department is not only creating awareness and providing baler machines on subsidy but has also imposed fine on those farmers, who have burnt crop residue.”

He said, “The farmers need to understand that crop residue can be managed. By burning it they are harming the soil health of their fields.”