Going green an option too, Sangrur farmers show the way

Parvesh Sharma

Sangrur, November 10

Amidst the high number of stubble-burning cases being reported in the state every day, some farmers have begun sowing wheat on the fields where crop residue was not burnt.

Lot of techniques available now

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The organic carbon content of my land increased from 2007 to 2019. There are many techniques available now which farmers can adopt. Daljinder Singh, Farmer, Chathe nakte village

Many have not burnt crop residue

There are many farmers who have not resorted to farm fires. I have also been appealing to farmers to learn the latest techniques to prevent stubble-burning. Jitendra Jorwal, Deputy commissioner

Daljinder Singh, a farmer from Chathe Nakte village, has been sowing wheat through a technique he learnt from YouTube since 2019.

“After harvesting paddy, I scatter wheat seeds on the stubble, followed by fertiliser and use mulcher machine to cut paddy. I learnt about the technique on YouTube. Initially, I adopted it over 2 acres and now, I am sowing wheat in 17 acres with this technique,” Daljinder said.

He said he had not burnt stubble since 2012.

“For first two years, I used a rotavator and switched to super seeder in 2015. Now, I use the technique of mulching after scattering wheat seeds on paddy stubble,” he said.

“In 2007, the limit organic carbon of my land was 0.3, while in 2019, it increased to 0.9. I am planning to get testing done again. There are many techniques available now which farmers can adopt if they want to shun burning crop residue,” Daljinder added.

Like him, there are other farmers in district as well who have shunned the practice of setting farms on fire after harvesting paddy. They have also shown the way for sowing wheat in unburnt fields.

Another farmer from Kanoi village, Jagdeep Singh, has sown wheat in 38 acres by using super seeder and other techniques. He shunned the practice of stubble-burning in 2006.

“The wheat crop I sow on my land has started sprouting, while many farmers have turned their fields black. There is an urgent need to launch long-term awareness campaigns in the district as short-term campaigns have failed to convince farmers against stubble-burning,” he said.

Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal said the police and administration teams had been trying to convince farmers for not setting fields on fire, adding: “There are many farmers who have not resorted to farm fires. I have also been appealing to farmers to learn the latest techniques to prevent stubble-burning.”