Managing stubble not costly for this farmer

Minna Zutshi

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 13

Even as farmers are complaining about financial burden and practical difficulty in managing paddy stubble, this farmer says desisting from stubble-burning has actually saved his money and also restored the fertility of land. He is 34-year-old Harpreet Singh of Talwandi Khurd village in Ludhiana. Brimming with confidence, Harpreet says it is a wrong notion that managing stubble is a costly affair. “In fact, managing stubble without burning has many advantages. The most obvious is protection of environment from toxic gases that stubble burning releases. Besides, stubble incorporated back into soil increases its fertility,” he says. Burning stubble causes death of hundreds of birds and small animals, apart from numerous insects, he adds.

Due to narrow time window between paddy harvesting and wheat sowing, farmers burn paddy stubble so that the field is cleared for the sowing of wheat. They harbour a misconception that stubble-burning is an inexpensive method. Unfortunately, farmers don’t realise that stubble burning also kills many farmer-friendly insects (mitr keedey), says Harpreet, vouching for the stubble management techniques. He cites his own case. Growing leguminous crop jantar to improve soil fertility, using tillage machinery like rotavator, making use of plough and mulcher and also using Happy Seeder, his 40-acre land is a fertile ground for experimentation with stubble management techniques.

Out of this 40-acre land, he owns eight acres, while 32 acres are on lease. On 15 acres, he has sown potato crop, which he says is doing well. “By incorporating stubble into soil, I saved money on buying potash that comes to around  Rs 1,600 per acre. Had I burnt the paddy stubble, I would have had to add more fertilisers and also potash,” he says.

For those who think that paddy straw management entails additional financial cost, he again illustrates his point through his own case. He owns only S-SMS, he says. He has been taking plough, mulcher and rotavator on rent from a cooperative society. “I have used plough, rotavator and Happy Seeder. I’m trying to figure out which machinery and technique yield the best results. But one thing is certain – Farmers must say ‘No’ to stubble-burning and the government should give monetary incentives to those who refrain from burning the stubble.”