Inter-Ministerial Meeting on Management of Crop Residue Burning held
With the holistic approach of all the stakeholders and farmers of the States of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh States, considerable reduction in stubble burning cases have been reported
States need to ensure effective utilization of more than 3 lakh in-situ and
ex-situ management machines already supplied with the financial assistance
under the Crop Residue Management scheme of Department of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
The District Collector of the hot spot districts should take proactive steps
and monitor the situation at ground level to further reduce the paddy stubble
burning.
Focus also should be on creating necessary infrastructure like 2G Ethanol,
Compressed Biogas, Biomass cogeneration, pelleting and Briquetting plants etc.
for ex-situ utilization of parali to make it a viable source of income to
farmers.
States to promote use of powdered form of bio-decomposer in complementary mode
with crop residue management machines for effective in-situ decomposition
An Inter-Ministerial Meeting to address the issues of Management of Crop
Residue Burning has been convened on today under the Co-chairmanship of Union
Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union
Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav. The
meeting was attended by the Ministers of Agriculture of the State of
Punjab, Haryana & Uttar Pradesh, Minister for Environment Forest &
Wildlife Government of NCT of Delhi and senior officers of State
Governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Senior Officers of the
Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR), Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate
Change, Central Pollution Control Board, Commission for Air Quality Management
in Delhi and NCR.
The Ministers of the State Governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh
and NCT of Delhi informed the actions being taken by them to prevent paddy
stubble burning and the various initiatives being implemented to support the
farmers to manage the paddy stubbles without burning. The Minister of
Government of Haryana informed the incentives being provided by the State to
the farmers which include an incentive @ Rs. 1000/- per acre for management of
crop residue by making bales, additional top up of Rs. 500/MT in addition
to above in the clusters identified by Indian Oil Corporation Limited for 2G
Ethanol plant at Panipat, declaring common determined Rate of Paddy Straw
@ Rs 2500/ MT, transportation charges @ Rs. 500 per acre limited to maximum of
Rs. 15000 to Gaushalas for consumption of paddy straw bales, one time grant of
Rs. 7000 per acre under Mera Pani Meri Virasat (MPMV) initiative for
diversification of paddy to other crops, incentive of Rs. 4000 per acre for
Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR).
The burning incidents are reported 35% less in Punjab, 21% less in
Haryana this year as compared to last year 2023 of the same time period.
Further, the States have been advised to strategically plan and handle the
situation by way of deploying all necessary resources by identifying the
hotspot districts where the burning incidents may likely to occur in future.
The Government of India under Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Crop Residue
Management is already extending financial support to the States of Punjab, Haryana,
Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi to address air pollution in Delhi & National
Capital Region due to stubble burning. During the current year, so far,
the funds amounting to Rs. 275.00 Crores have already been released to the
States out of total allocation of Rs. 600.00 Crores. The scheme promotes the
use of in-situ and ex-situ crop residue management machines through financial
assistance to farmers, Cooperative societies, Farmers Producer Organisations
and Panchayats.
The scheme also focuses on creating mass awareness on stubble management
through different States agencies and 3 ATARIs & 60 Krishi Vigyan Kendra
(KVKs) under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Looking into the
advantages of bio-decomposer, provisions have been made under the scheme and
the States have been advised to carry out large scale demonstrations of this
technology on farmers’ fields. With a view to enable efficient ex-situ
management of paddy straw, provisions have been made to establish
techno-commercial projects for paddy straw supply chain with a flexibility in
financial contribution of beneficiary/ aggregator and Industries utilising the
paddy straw. The Government provides financial assistance @ 65% on the capital
cost of machinery costing up to Rs. 1.50 crores and this intervention aims at
establishing a robust supply chain of paddy straw for various end user
industries in biomass power generation and biofuel sectors.
For effective
control of paddy stubble burning during the ensuing season, the States have
already developed a comprehensive action plan at micro level and it is high
time to ensure effective implementation of these plans. It is also necessary
that a suitable mechanism is in place at the State level to ensure effective
utilization of more than 3.00 lakh machines already supplied so far. Extensive
use of bio-decomposer in a complimentary mode with the CRM machines is also
necessary to effectively ensure in-situ decomposition of straw. IEC
activities for mass awareness of farmers through intensive campaigns in the
electronic/print media, social media as well as through Kisan Melas,
publications, seminars, advisories with the involvement of all stakeholders in
this sector should be taken up.
The farmers
having small land holdings may be encouraged to take the advantage of Custom
Hiring Centres and the States should ensure that these farmers get the machines
on rental basis at rates lower than the market rates. The more area may be
brought under Crop Diversification Programmes and alternative crop choices may
be adopted in place of paddy crop. The burning of any waste like paddy straw,
sugarcane trash, industrial waste etc. is increasing the levels of pollution in
the Country and more specifically the problem is acute in Delhi leading to
human health deterioration. Therefore, collaborative efforts in mission mode
may be adopted at State Level to utilize the paddy straw in the farms itself (पराली को खेत में ही खपाओ). If all the actions
within the above framework as already requested are taken at the State level in
a holistic manner, the stubble burning can be effectively controlled.
Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Union Minister
of Environment, Forest and Climate Change appreciated the efforts of the State
Government in bringing down the cases of paddy stubble burning and advised to
work towards mission zero burning.