Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh:
Ahead of the paddy harvesting season, the Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department has made advanced arrangements to further curtail paddy straw burning incidents in the state. The department has proactively issued 6,377 sanction letters for 11,052 Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines so far to help the farmers for managing paddy straw effectively.
Disclosing this here today in a press communiqué, cabinet minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said that 5,534 CRM machines have already been acquired so far by farmers to efficiently manage the paddy straw. Of these, 4,640 machines were purchased by individual farmers, 745 by registered farmer groups, 119 by cooperative societies and 30 by farmer producer organisations.
He further informed that the Super Seeder machine leads the pack among CRM machines, with 4,945 sanction letters issued for this equipment. Additionally, 1,164 sanction letters have been granted for the Zero Till Drill, 637 for the Hydraulic Reversible MB Plough, 630 for the Straw Rake, 607 for the Bailing Machine and 591 for the Paddy Straw Chopper.
Punjab Government devised a Rs 500 crore action plan to equip farmers with machinery and implement strategies to curb stubble burning in the state, said the Agriculture Minister.