Ambala district sees rise in in-situ crop residue management

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, November 21

A considerable increase has been witnessed in the in-situ management of the paddy crop residue in Ambala this year.

DROP IN FARM FIRES TOO

The Haryana Space Applications Centre has reported 296 farm fires in the district this year against 804 last year. Of these, 56 cases have been confirmed on the ground and over Rs 1.47 lakh as environmental relief has been recovered from the violators - Dr Girish Nagpal, Deputy Director, Agriculture

As per the information, farmers have adopted the in-situ management methods on around 30,000 acres this year as compared to last year’s 5,000 acres.

However, a fall has been witnessed in the ex-situ crop residue management. Last year, around 1,500 farmers had sought incentive for not burning residue on around 10,000 acres. But this year, just 236 farmers have got themselves registered for not burning residue on 1,786 acres so far.

An official said due to the low availability of balers and the issue of ‘proof of sale’, which was required to get the incentive, a majority of the farmers had shifted to in-situ crop residue management. Meanwhile, Deputy Director, Agriculture, Dr Girish Nagpal said: “A fall has been registered in the number of farm fires this year and the prime reason is the interest shown by the farmers in the in-situ crop residue management. Under this method, the crop residue is mixed in the soil. Around 30,000 acres have been covered so far and it is likely to increase further. In the long run, the technique will improve soil health and the farmers’ requirement to use fertilisers will decrease. The farmers who manage the residue on an individual level should get the bills from the industry/ aggregator/machine operators and produce it to get the incentive of Rs 1,000 per acre for the ex-situ measures.”

Deputy Commissioner Vikram Singh, however, said: “Efforts are being made to educate farmers about the ill-effects of burning crop residue. Campaigns are being run at the village level and rallies were also organised by government school students on Thursday to motivate the farmers to not to burn the residue.” 

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