Farm fires may rise as baler assn refuses to collect paddy stubble

QUOTE (NOT IN COPY): QUITTING ONLY OPTION

“In 2009-2010, we were getting Rs170 per quintal to manage paddy straw. After 10 years, the biomass plant owners have reduced the rate to Rs125 per quintal. There are a number of miscellaneous expenses that we have to bear… We’re left with no option but to quit work.”

– Charanjit Singh, president, balers’ association of punjab and haryana

Sameer Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 20

The paddy harvesting season is round the corner and with barely any comprehensive strategy in place to contain farm fire incidents this year either, the situation is expected to turn from bad to worse.

Courtesy: Miffed over not being provided remunerative prices by biomass plant owners, the Balers’ Association of Punjab and Haryana have announced that they won’t be collecting paddy stubble from fields as a result the threat of increase in farm fire incidents hence air pollution looms large over the state. Baler is a farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop residue (paddy stubble) into compact bales (gatta) so that they are easy to handle, transport and store.

Managing paddy straw will again be a Herculean task for farmers in the state and their worries have aggravated this season after balers announced that they would not be cutting, collecting or transporting stubble from fields to biomass plants. If balers stick to their decision then many farmers will be forced to burn paddy stubble in their fields.

Charanjit Singh, balers’ association president, said, “The prices of diesel and petrol have skyrocketed now. Besides, there are a number of other miscellaneous expenses, including labour, transportation and storage among others, which we have to bear. The rates of baler machinery and its spare parts have also increased manifold over the year. We are left with no other alternative than to quit work. And if we continue to operate as per the current rates then leave aside taking care of the input cost, we will be on roads in a few years from now.”

Notably, the state government had announced that it would provide a compensation of Rs 2,500 per acre to farmers for not burning the paddy stubble, but it failed to do so.

Balwinder Singh, association secretary, said, “In 2010, diesel was sold for Rs 22 per litre that has gone up to Rs 100 now. During the same period, a baler machine’s price has increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 16 lakh now. Citing moisture content or other excuses, owners of biomass plant owners impose heavy cuts on the rates of paddy stubble.”

There are approximately 800 balers in Punjab and around 500 in Haryana.

Balkaran Singh Brar, state president of Kul Hind Kisan Sabha, said, “The government must take serious note of the issue. It must provide Rs 200 as bonus for every quintal of paddy stubble. Also, farm machinery on subsidised rates must be provided via cooperative societies to farmers so that they can manage paddy stubble in a hassle-free manner.”