Karnal to supply paddy straw to ethanol plant

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, October 22

The ethanol plant of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) in Panipat will utilise around 2 lakh tonne of paddy straw of Karnal district, which has been seeing the highest stubble-burning cases in the state.

The plant will begin the processing from April 2022, but the authorities will start collecting the straw this season. The agency that will collect the stubble from the farmers will be finalised soon.

Since the plant has the capacity to utilise around 2.20 lakh tonne of straw, around 20,000 tonnes will be taken from farmers in Panipat district. Karnal district administration and IOCL senior officials held a meeting on Thursday, chalking out the plan for the smooth supply of straw to the plant.

The company will not pay the farmers for the straw, but the initiative will help them save the expenditure incurred on straw management.

Karnal district has 13 clusters, and Class-1 officers have been deputed to monitor each cluster, Deputy Commissioner, Karnal, Nishant Kumar Yadav said.

“The government is extending support to farmers for stubble management, but some are still burning it, adding to the air pollution. The plan to collect paddy straw from farmers and utilise it in the ethanol plant will help check the menace of stubble burning,” said the DC. Karnal generates around 6 lakh tonnes paddy straw in a season, of which 2 lakh tonne is used in nine industrial units, while 2 lakh tonnes is decomposed in the soil by farmers. The remaining 2 lakh tonnes will now be utilised by the IOCL, said the DC.

Karnal is leading the state in stubble burning, reporting 494 farm fires this season (from September 15) till Friday. Haryana has reported 1,508 cases.