The Punjab Government has decided to conduct a special one to one contact with farmers, who have burnt paddy straw this year, to make them aware about the hazardous effects of this practice on one hand and soliciting their views/suggestions to eradicate it on the other hand.Presiding over a meeting of the senior Agriculture Officers of the state to review the progress of campaign after harvesting of paddy here at Kisan Bhawan, the Secretary Agriculture Kahan Singh Pannu said that due to vigorous campaign launched by the state government, majority of farmers have shunned the practice of burning paddy straw this year, which is a very welcome matter. He thanked the farmers for the same and appreciated the role played by officers of various dept in effectively conducting the campaign.He said that many of the farmers who resorted to straw burning were those who were either not made aware by the agriculture department or who were not able to get the machinery for incorporation of paddy straw into soil, therefore these farmers must be personally contacted and acquainted about the ill-effects of paddy straw burning besides apprising them about the procedure to avail the subsidy offered by the state government for purchasing modern equipments for management of paddy straw.
The Secretary Agriculture pointed that during the survey, the farmers who had burnt the paddy straw this year, would be asked to give their valuable inputs/suggestions to control the menace of paddy straw burning in the larger public interest. To educate these farmers, the state government would organize demonstration camps-cum-exhibitions in those fields where the farmers have successfully grown wheat crop by mixing paddy straw into soil without burning.The Secretary further said that those farmers who set an example by refraining from burning of paddy straw must be suitably honored by the district administration. Meanwhile, it was also informed in the meeting that out of total 8000 combine harvesters, nearly 5000 have been equipped with Super Straw Management System which had helped to check the burning paddy straw to considerable extent adding that the remaining ones would also be equipped with these machines very soon.On the occasion, the Director Agriculture Dr. Jasbir Singh Bains also apprised about the other activities being undertaken by the department.