Karnal: Agriculture Dept teams inspect residue management machines

Karnal, June 20

The Agriculture Department conducted a comprehensive physical verification of farm machinery related to straw management on Thursday. These machines were distributed to farmers under the Crop Residue Management Scheme. The primary objective of today’s exercise was to ensure operational condition of these machines and their physical presence with the farmers.

Machines given at 50% subsidy

• In 2023, 765 machines, including straw balers, straw rakes, super seeders, happy seeders, zero till drills, straw choppers, MB plows, crop reapers and super SMS were distributed to farmers to assist them in crop residue management.
• The Agriculture Department will provide a subsidy of Rs 13,45,61,045 through DBT for nine types of machines in 2023-24.
• The government has provided strict guidelines and offers these machines at 50 per cent subsidy to farmers to help them manage residue and cut down on stubble burning.
• As many as 95 stray balers and 82 rakes have been verified till now.

In 2023, a total of 765 machines, including straw balers, straw rakes, super seeders, happy seeders, zero till drills, straw choppers, MB plows, crop reapers and super SMS were distributed to farmers to assist them in crop residue management.

Deputy Director of Agriculture (DDA) Wazir Singh providing details of the verification process, said the physical inspection took place at New Grain Market, Karnal, and Grain Market, Assandh. As many as 95 stray balers and 82 rakes have been verified till now, he said.

Two teams were formed for the verification process, each comprising an SDO, an assistant agriculture engineer, a subject matter specialist, a junior engineer and a block agriculture officer.

These machines were distributed on subsidy. The government regularly raises awareness among farmers to maximise the use of such machines to protect the environment and increase their income. Dr Wazir said the Agriculture Department will provide a subsidy of Rs 13,45,61,045 through DBT for nine types of machines in 2023-24.

“These machines are used for managing crop residues leftover after harvesting, turning them into useful resources. After paddy harvest, farmers often burn the residue, which increases pollution and is extremely harmful to health. The government provides strict guidelines and offers these machines at 50 per cent subsidy to manage this residue and cut down on stubble burning. Crop residue is also beneficial for the soil, but burning it destroys essential soil’s nutrients,” he added.

Dr Wazir said that last year, the district witnessed a considerable reduction in stubble burning cases. There were only 123 cases during the paddy season in 2023 compared to 301 in 2022.