india

Updated: Sep 25, 2019 07:49 IST

At least 117 incidents of stubble burning have been reported in Punjab in just two days as the first phase of harvesting of paddy, primarily of the basmati varieties, started in the state.

The Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, Ludhiana, which began monitoring farm fires from Monday onwards on the direction of the state agriculture department, detected 55 and 62 farm fires on Monday and Tuesday.

Of these, Amritsar in the Majha region alone saw 79 such incidents, the highest among all districts, followed by Taran Tarn (22). A couple of cases each were detected in Kapurthala, SAS Nagar, Sangrur and Moga districts.

The climate of the Majha belt is considered conducive for the growing of basmati. The PUSA 1,509 variety of the crop has started reaching the grain markets of Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts which have a significant area under the crop. The variety is sown by farmers in areas where vegetables are cultivated on a large scale.

Nearly 1.41 metric tonnes of paddy, mainly Basmati, has arrived in the grain markets across the state. The procurement of paddy by government agencies is yet to begin.

Nearly 43,000 stubble burning cases were reported during the paddy harvesting season last year. Farmers say tackling paddy straw is a costly process, and successive governments have failed to find a permanent solution to the annual problem. Around 2.9 million hectares of land is under paddy cultivation in the state.

A Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) official said farm fire incidents are likely to increase, with the Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday restrained the two state governments from imposing fines on farmers for burning straw.

PPCB chairman Satwinder Singh Marwaha said, “We have held meeting with vice-chancellors of five universities in the state and will make farmers aware through NSS {National Service Scheme} volunteers. We will form 5,000-6,000 groups of students who will visit the villages and urge farmers to shun stubble burning and educate them on its adverse consequences to the soil. We will not impose any fine as per the HC orders.”

State agriculture department director Sutanter Kumar Airi could not be contacted for comment.