Punjab readies for paddy harvesting with advanced equipment

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.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare 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 the equipment. Additionally, 1,164 sanction letters have been granted for the zero till drill, 637 for the hydraulic reversible MB plow, 630 for the straw rake, 607 for the bailing machine and 591 for the paddy straw chopper.

The Punjab government devised a Rs 500-crore action plan to equip farmers with machinery and implement strategies to curb stubble burning in the state.