Marginal farmers rue delay in wheat sowing

Sameer Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, November 10

Alleging lack of proper arrangements and high-handedness of the authorities, marginal farmers said wheat cultivation had been getting delayed in this season. Farmers said while fear of getting booked had kept them away from burning paddy residue till now, the crucial time for sowing wheat had been running out.       

In the past few days, the administration has acted tough on farmers involved in the practice of stubble burning. A number of cases has been registered against them. As a result, farmers with more land have managed stubble without burning it as they have adequate resources. But, marginal farmers have found themselves caught in the time warp.

“Our hands are tied. We cannot afford to take the risk of burning the stubble now. We even delayed harvesting a bit and now after scores of cases have been registered against farmers in our neighbouring villages, it would be a big task for us to show courage to burn paddy residue at this stage,” said a farmer. 

“There could not be a bigger gross mismanagement on the part of the government and the administration as on the one hand they do not want us to burn paddy residue and on the other they do not have proper mechanism in place to lift it from our fields. The machines used to lift the residue are quite less in numbers. As a result, the residue has been lying unattended in the fields for weeks now, delaying the sowing of wheat,” said a group of marginal farmers from Mehma Sarja village. 

Beant Singh, a farmer from Goniana block, said, “We are neither allowed to burn paddy residue nor the administration has proper mechanism to ensure the lifting of the residue on time. Tardy lifting of paddy residue and contractors’ pick-and-choose approach have been delaying the sowing of wheat. The farming community, especially marginal farmers, has to bear the brunt.” 

The farmers attributed the delay in wheat sowing to mismanagement of the government. They demanded the authorities must provide adequate compensation to the farming community for the same.