News Analysis India

Tag: crop

  • Stubble burning: More than 700 farm fires recorded in Punjab .

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: More than 700 farm fires have been recorded so far in Punjab despite the state authorities making several efforts to curb the practice of stubble burning.

    According to data from the Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, the state witnessed four farm fire incidents—two in Amritsar and one each in Ludhiana and Kapurthala on Monday.

    From September 15 till October 10, a total of 718 farm fire incidents have been recorded, as per the data.

    On the same day in 2020 and 2021, the state had witnessed 244 and 150 farm fires, respectively, according to the data.

    The farm fires continued despite the state government assuring more crop residue management machines and launching massive awareness programmes against stubble burning.

    The stubble burning incidents are expected to rise in coming days as paddy harvesting got delayed by at least 10 days because of rains last month.

    A few days ago, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had even held meetings with various farmer bodies and had told them that his government was making all-out efforts for the management of paddy stubble and had urged the farmers to support it for the same while stressing the need for protecting the environment.

    Mann had also said that a total of 1.22 lakh crop residue management machines had been made available for farmers in the current season.

    A mobile app had also been developed whereby farmers could come to know about the availability of machines for the management of paddy straw within a radius of two-three kilometers.

    However, farmers have been demanding Rs 6,000 per acre for stubble management.

    Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is one of the reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November.

    As the window for rabi crop wheat is very short after paddy harvest, farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue.

    Punjab generates around 180 lakh tonnes of paddy straw annually.

    The state recorded 71,304 such fire incidents in 2021, 76,590 in 2020, 55,210 in 2019 and 50,590 in 2018 with many districts including Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Amritsar witnessing large number of stubble-burning incidents.

    CHANDIGARH: More than 700 farm fires have been recorded so far in Punjab despite the state authorities making several efforts to curb the practice of stubble burning.

    According to data from the Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, the state witnessed four farm fire incidents—two in Amritsar and one each in Ludhiana and Kapurthala on Monday.

    From September 15 till October 10, a total of 718 farm fire incidents have been recorded, as per the data.

    On the same day in 2020 and 2021, the state had witnessed 244 and 150 farm fires, respectively, according to the data.

    The farm fires continued despite the state government assuring more crop residue management machines and launching massive awareness programmes against stubble burning.

    The stubble burning incidents are expected to rise in coming days as paddy harvesting got delayed by at least 10 days because of rains last month.

    A few days ago, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had even held meetings with various farmer bodies and had told them that his government was making all-out efforts for the management of paddy stubble and had urged the farmers to support it for the same while stressing the need for protecting the environment.

    Mann had also said that a total of 1.22 lakh crop residue management machines had been made available for farmers in the current season.

    A mobile app had also been developed whereby farmers could come to know about the availability of machines for the management of paddy straw within a radius of two-three kilometers.

    However, farmers have been demanding Rs 6,000 per acre for stubble management.

    Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is one of the reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November.

    As the window for rabi crop wheat is very short after paddy harvest, farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue.

    Punjab generates around 180 lakh tonnes of paddy straw annually.

    The state recorded 71,304 such fire incidents in 2021, 76,590 in 2020, 55,210 in 2019 and 50,590 in 2018 with many districts including Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Amritsar witnessing large number of stubble-burning incidents.

  • Punjab to conclude procurement from May 5 as wheat arrivals decline

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: In the wake of a “drastic decline” in wheat arrivals across Punjab, the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs has decided to conclude the procurement of the crop in the mandis across the state.

    Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister, Lal Chand Kataruchak on Tuesday said that the closure of mandis in the state shall be done in a phased manner starting from May 5. The notification in this regard would be issued by the Punjab Mandi Board, he said, as per an official statement here.

    The minister thanked farmers, arhtiyas (commission agents), labourers, transporters and government officials involved in the month-long exercise of procurement of wheat in the state. He expressed satisfaction with the pace of purchase and the speedy disbursal of MSP dues directly into the bank accounts of farmers.

    This, he said, happened despite the challenges posed by the inclement weather which had resulted in shrivelling of grains in most parts of the state.

    Following a spurt in global wheat prices, most states had witnessed a drastic drop in government purchase of wheat, but once again Punjab led the nation in contributing the largest quantity of wheat into the central pool, he said.

    The state has purchased more than 93 lakh tonnes of wheat so far, he added. There has been a rise in demand for the crop in the international market because of the Russia-Ukraine war and the purchase of wheat by private traders has increased.

    Speaking about the “delay” in relaxation of norms for shrivelled grains, he said that the Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India had decided to send a second set of officials to take samples from the mandis to ascertain the extent of the problem of shrivelled grains.

    A target of 132 lakh tonnes of wheat purchase was fixed before the start of the procurement of the crop from April.

    Punjab’s wheat output was expected to be impacted this season because of the adverse impact of the early onset of the summer season followed by a sudden rise in temperatures, officials had earlier said.

    Wheat growers at many places in the state reported drop in yield and shrivelled grains due to the early onset of summer and heat waves.

    According to the crop cutting experiments carried out by the state agriculture department recently, there was an average drop of five quintals per hectare in the wheat yield. The state had witnessed 48.68 quintals per hectare as wheat yield last year. Punjab’s overall wheat output last year was around 171 lakh tonnes.