ICARgives Rs 4 cr to HAU to check stubble-burning
Deepender Deswal
Tribune News Service
Hisar, August 17
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has sanctioned Rs 4 crore to Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture (HAU) University to check environment pollution owing to burning of crop residue.
Vice-Chancellor Dr KP Singh said recently that the university had come up with an action plan to deal with the issue that had been a cause of worry for the government. The project will be implemented through Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) of the university located in Ambala, Bhiwani, Fatehabad, Hisar, Jind, Jhajjar, Karnal, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Rohtak, Sonepat, Sirsa and Yamunanagar districts. Each of these KVKs will adopt two villages for making them pollution-free,” the VC said.
He added that they would purchase machines useful in crop residue management. “For each KVK, two happy seeder, paddy straw chopper / shredder / mulcher, sharb master / cutter-cum-spreader, one each of reversible mould board plough and zero till drill will be purchased. These machines will be installed on custom hiring centers in the adopted villages where scientists will organise 100 demonstrations for the farmers about residue management techniques during the rabi season crops,” the VC said adding that 28 lakh metric tonnes of crop residues are burnt every year in Haryana.
Haryana produces about six million tonnes of straw in about 13 lakh hectares of agriculture land under crops.
He said two five-day courses would be organised in each district with 25 farmers in each group. Rural women, school and college students will also be made aware about straw management by organising essay, painting and debate competitions.
The VC said ethanol and biogas (biofuel) will be prepared at the laboratory level. Briquettes of paddy residue can be used in brick kilns while its pallets can meet the household needs of fuel. Paddy straw will also be used for making vermi compost. In addition, organic manure will be made from it by thawing with the help of micro-organisms. By heating the paddy straw at high temperatures, biochar (a type of raw coal) will be made by the pyrolysis method. It will also be used for growing mushrooms and in the animal feed by finishing it with machines.
