Meet Gurbachan who makes others shun stubble burning

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 15

At a time when pollution has reached the alarming level, choking many cities in north India because of stubble burning, a farmer in Tarn Taran village has set an example for others to follow.

Meet 57-year-old Gurbachan Singh, a resident of Burj Deva Singh. Well aware of the fact that the fertilisers have a short-term effect on productivity and a longer-term negative impact on the environment, he has been practicing organic methodology in his fields for the past 18 years. He claims to have not burnt stubble.

Taking it as his life’s mission against stubble burning, he even made the family of his son’s in-laws take a pledge to shun stubble burning before marriage. “They endorsed it. Now, my daughter is going to get married soon. I have decided to gift her a machine, known as Happy Seeder. The mulch it leaves enriches the soil. The machine costs Rs 1.7 lakh but the government now offers 50 per cent subsidy,” he says.

Happy Seeder is a tractor-mounted machine that has capability to cut and lift the previous crop (in this case the rice straw) and sow a new (wheat) crop in its place. It also deposits the straw over the sown area.

Gurbachan claimed he never used synthetic inputs, like pesticides and fertilisers, and relied only on techniques like crop rotation, farm manure and crop residue to maintain the soil health. This escalated his yield to 32-34 quintal per acre from 28-29 quintal per acre.

“Pesticides and fertilisers destroy fertility of the soil as it kills the crop friendly insects too. I educate others as well. At least 80 per cent of the farmers in and around his village have stopped burning stubble,” he says. Farmers from Alipur, Harike, Buh Hthar, Buh Havellian and Thathian Kurd have adopted Gurbachan’s technique.

Gurbachan Singh’s contribution has been acknowledged by Tarn Taran Deputy Commissioner (DC) Pardeep Sabharwal. “We have spared 600 equipment like happy seeders, zero tilling machines and rotavators on rental basis to farmers through co-operatives. We charge just Rs 200 for Happy Seeder and Rs 100 for rotavator,” he said.

Sukhdev Singh of Thathian Khurd village said if crop residue is mixed in soil for two to three years, farmers will not need fertilisers after that.

Endorsing it, Ranjit Singh of Burj Puhla village says, “Now, I save at least Rs 10,000 per acre as my expense on pesticides is nil.”