Punjab to introduce 24,000 crop residue handling machines, Punjab Agriculture Minister

Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khadian announced on Wednesday that the Punjab Agriculture Department plans to distribute 24,000 crop residue management machines during the upcoming harvest season to reduce stubble burning in the state. .

Khadian said the department has received a remarkable 158,394 applications from farmers seeking subsidy for Crop Residue Management (CRM) machinery. He also informed that the department will offer various tools including Super SMS, Happy Seeder, Paddy Straw Chopper, Mulcher, Smart Seeder, Zero Till Drill, Surface Seeder, Super Seeder, Crop Reaper, Shrub Master. (mixing crop residues in fields), as well as balers and straw rakes for off-site residue management of paddy residues (using straw as fuel).

As reported by Khadian, in the last year, incidents of paratha burning have come down by 30 percent in the state. The department has prepared an action plan worth Rs 350 crore to provide Crop Residue Management (CRM) machinery subsidy for the upcoming 2023 Kharif season.

Applications were invited through an online portal to ensure transparency and simplify the subsidy application process. Khadian also said in a statement that the agriculture department is actively working to set up custom hiring centers in every block, where CRM machinery will be available to small and marginal farmers.

He noted that the state government is providing 80 per cent subsidy for setting up these custom hiring centers on purchase of CRM machines, and individual farmers can avail 50 per cent subsidy.

First Published: 22 Sep 2023, 12:27 IST