Barnala farmer cutting input costs, saving environment by not burning stubble

5 Dariya News

Barnala 15-Nov-2018

To cut the agri inputs to enhance profits, a farmer from Barnala district has been continuously sowing wheat without burning paddy stubble in his fields. Kulwant Singh Malhi, resident of village Malhian on Barnala-Moga highway, adopted innovative ways for the management of crop residue on his 60-acre farm with the help of happy seeders machines.Kulwant Singh Malhi said that from the last couple of years, he had never set stubble on fire and positive results of this environment friendly practice have also been started pouring in while harvesting of wheat. He added that despite of increase in the yield, it also eliminates problem of weeds from wheat crop due to the mulching of paddy stubble.Malhi said, “After sowing wheat directly in the paddy fields with the help of happy-seeder machines, we have also reduced the quantity of chemical fertilizers. The mulching of stubble also helps to control the germination of weeds like ‘Gulli-Danda’.” He added that as the stubble de-compose in the fields, it automatically became organic fertilizer for the crop which also helping them monetarily.The farmer also asserted that the natural covering of crop residue also helps to retain the moisture in the soil which also lessens the requirement of watering the fields on frequent intervals. He added that other farmers should also refrain themselves from burning crop residue for sustainable agriculture.Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Barnala Mr. Dharam Pal Gupta also recently visited the farm of Kulwant Singh Malhi to appreciate his efforts. Mr. Gupta said that he has become inspiration for several other farmers which was a positive sign to conserve the natural ways of agriculture. He added that these types of environment friendly practices will also help us to retain the atmosphere fit for human habitation in the future.