Chandigarh, October 13:- Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shyam Singh Rana said that nodal officers had been appointed at the village level to prevent farmers from burning paddy stubble, and a “Parali Suraksha Force” had also been constituted in all districts.
The steps taken by the Haryana government have also been appreciated by Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav.
Rana shared this information while presenting Haryana’s position from Chandigarh through video conferencing at the “Ministerial-Level Inter-Ministerial Meeting on the Issue of Crop Residue Burning Management” organised by the Central Government today. Director of the department Amit Khatri and Additional Director Pradeep Meel were also present on the occasion.
In the meeting held in Delhi, besides the two Union ministers, the agriculture ministers of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi also joined from their respective states through video conferencing.
Shyam Singh Rana said that the state government was continuously supporting farmers by raising awareness about not burning stubble and providing assistance through modern technologies and financial incentives. He said that a total of 66,050 modern machines had been made available for crop residue management in the state’s fields. In addition, an estimated incentive amount of Rs. 440 crore had been earmarked for managing the state’s 3.7 million acres of paddy area, under which farmers were being provided an incentive of Rs. 1,200 per acre.
He further said that, with the objective of promoting environmental conservation and water saving, farmers adopting Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) were being given an incentive of Rs. 4,500 per acre. Farmers replacing paddy with alternative crops under crop diversification were being provided incentives ranging from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 10,000 per acre.
Providing details of the strict monitoring system at the field level, Shyam Singh Rana said that 20 drones had so far been deployed to monitor fields, and 30 additional drones would be deployed soon. Due to strict regulations and awareness campaigns in the state, only seven incidents of crop residue burning (AFL) had been reported so far. Of these, one incident recorded in Hansi district was accidental, and a challan of Rs. 5,000 was issued in accordance with the rules. The remaining incidents had occurred in non-agricultural areas.
The Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister further said that, to strengthen the technical and administrative system, 79 “PM 2.5” sensors had been installed across the state. In addition, a total of 8,535 nodal officers had been appointed at the village level to ensure ground-level monitoring, and a special “Parali Suraksha Force” had been constituted in all districts.
He also urged the Central Government to bear 60 per cent of the incentive being provided by the Haryana government to farmers at the rate of Rs. 1,200 per acre under the stubble management scheme. This, he said, would prevent an additional financial burden on the state government and help bring more farmers under the scheme.
The Agriculture Minister appealed to all farmers of the state to avoid setting stubble on fire and instead make maximum use of government schemes, incentives and agricultural equipment to help keep the environment clean and protect soil fertility.
