Stubble -burning cases see five-fold rise in Jalandhar district

Tribune News Service

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, May 3

Paddy stubble burning has always remained an issue in the state, but now wheat straw burning cases are also on the rise. In Jalandhar alone, according to the official data, as many as 166 cases of stubble burning have been reported, which were only 33 last year, which means there is a fivefold increase this year in stubble-burning cases.

Camps are organised from time to time for farmers where they are made aware of the overall negative impact and effects on the soil of stubble burning. Surinder Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer, Jalandhar

The situation has emerged even though paddy sowing is far away and farmers have enough time to manage stubble without burning. Rising numbers of stubble burning are alarming. Experts say stubble can be cultivated in land, but farmers are burning it because they find it easy and no cost is involved. It has become a habit now, they say.

Officials said it is not advised at all, but most farmers want to resort to easy methods even as stubble can also be managed easily. Agriculture Department officials say that because of this, accidents were also reported in some parts of the state. “Smoke emanating from the fields blocked the view of commuters resulting in head-on collisions between vehicles,” they said.

Surinder Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer, Jalandhar, said camps are organised from time to time for farmers where they are made aware of the overall negative impact and effects on the soil.

Experts say stubble burning by farmers kill friendly worms in the soil too and also make the soil infertile. “If we want to protect our environment, it is very important to stop burning stubble,” the experts said.

Lakhwinder Singh, a farmer from Turna village in Phillaur, who sows wheat on eight acres of his land, said he cultivates stubble directly into the land. “We often ask others to follow the same and not indulge in stubble burning,” he said.

A farmer from Nurmehal said it was an easy way out. “Also, I saw other farmers burning stubble, so I did the same,” he said. Asked if he was willing to manage stubble by opting for some other options advised by the Agriculture Department, he said he would see if other farmers opt for the same.

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