Over 10,000 farmers evince interest in joining Haryana's initiative against stubble burning

Similarly, reservation of 70 per cent has also been made for small and marginal farmers for hiring equipment from CHCs. "As many as 2,265 beneficiaries have so far been selected under the scheme, including 1,714 individuals and 551 who would hire implements from CHCs," Kaushal said.

More than 10,000 farmers have evinced their keenness to join the Haryana Agriculture Department's initiative against stubble burning by applying for agricultural implements under the crop residue management scheme, Sanjeev Kaushal, additional chief secretary of the department, said on Thursday. This follows a recent decision of the Haryana government to give preference to small and marginal farmers in hiring machinery from Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) and providing equipment to individual beneficiaries under the scheme, he said.

He said online applications had been invited from individual farmers and societies till August 21. "As many as 10,967 farmers applied for 13,611 implements, against a target of 3,561 implements. This includes 2,300 applications for hiring equipment from CHCs, and 11,311 applications from individual beneficiaries," an official statement quoted Kaushal as saying.

In the individual category, beneficiaries are being selected by the District Level Executive Committee through an online lottery in which there is 70 per cent reservation for small and marginal farmer, he said. Similarly, reservation of 70 per cent has also been made for small and marginal farmers for hiring equipment from CHCs.

"As many as 2,265 beneficiaries have so far been selected under the scheme, including 1,714 individuals and 551 who would hire implements from CHCs," Kaushal said. The committee is carrying out selection of beneficiaries in villages falling under red and yellow/orange zones on priority basis.

The zones have been identified on the basis of incidences of crop residue burning last year. A comprehensive plan to the tune of Rs. 1,304.95 crore has been approved for crop residue management to prevent stubble burning in the state.

The Centre has provided Rs 170 crore to the state under the plan this year. Haryana government has been taking all possible measures for management of paddy straw in-situ (in the field), including distributing equipment for crop residue management, establishing CHCs and establishing a dedicated control room at state headquarters at the Directorate of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Kaushal said.

As per Indian Council of Agricultural Research's data, the initiatives taken by the Department led to a sharp 68.12 per cent decline in actual fire locations in 2019 as compared to 2018, he said. Farmers in agrarian states of Haryana and Punjab have in the past few years set paddy residue on fire despite a ban on this practice. Many violators have been slapped with fines and others booked for stubble burning, which leads to increase in air pollution and smog.