Rampura's farmer Darshan Singh Sidhu is an example for the paddy cultivators in state to follow. He hasn't put paddy stubble/straw in his fields on fire since 2011. Instead of burning the paddy reside, he has been managing it well leading to increased soil fertility, lesser agriculture inputs and higher income.Caring for the environment, Sidhu sowed paddy variety 126 and Lajwab basmati. While the paddy 126 variety roots are densely packed that of the Lajwab basmati are loosely packed. He adds that many farmers have been complaining of densely packed roots making it harder to harvest or chop the stubble. "The Straw Management System (SMS) installed combines come as savior for such varieties," he says.Sidhu had sown 126 variety paddy's nursery on June 1 and on June 15 he had sown the nursery of Lajwab Basmati on June 15. Till October 10 he had harvested both the varieties and prepared his fields for the next crop. The paddy was harvested using SMS combine. Thereafter, he used chopper machine to break straw into pieces.Next the disc harrows were used to plough straw back into the fields and water was been left standing to enable the straw to decompose.
He will leave his fields fallow for next one month during which the straw will break down into manure making soil richer in its nutrient contents. He ended up saving on fertilizers and did not create pollution caused due to burning of paddy stubble/straw.He added that in last 7 years not only the fertility of soil has increased albeit very lesser amounts of pesticides are needed to combat any pest attack. In the last season he used pesticide only once on paddy. After harvesting paddy, Sidhu sows potatoes and this year plans to sow wheat in 14 acres of his land. While the other farmers use 3 to 4 bags (each bag has 50 kg) of urea, Sidhu has used only 7 kg urea his potato crop last year and earned yield higher than other farmers. Till April Sidhu will start cultivating vegetables from which he makes good income.He appealed farmers not to burn paddy stubble and rather plough it back into the fields. Burning stubble snatches away highly nutrient fertilizer, which otherwise nature gives free in abundance.