P .S. Walia
Kapurthala , May 8
Efforts made by the Kapurthala district administration to improve the soil health by encouraging the farmers to dispose off wheat residue in fields instead of setting it fire have shown significant results.
During the last year wheat season 512 cases of stubble burning were reported through satellite till May 7 but during the current season , 37 cases were recorded which turns 475 less than the previous year .
Deputy Commissioner Vishesh Sarangal said that besides giving subsidy on reverse plow, mulcher, rotavator to the farmers for the disposal of stubble, farmers were made aware of the harms of stubble burning by organizing camps in the villages.
He said that the progressive farmers of Kapurthala district have given a positive response to the initiatives of the Punjab government and the district administration and priority has been given to dispose of wheat residue in the fields instead of setting it on fire.
Last year, 47 cases of stubble burning recorded in Sultanpur Lodhi block, 128 cases in Dhilwan block, 281 in Nadala block, 22 in Kapurthala and 34 in Phagwara reported .
On the contrary, 11 cases have been reported in Sultanpur Lodhi , 4 in Dhilwan, 17 in Nadala, 5 in Kapurthala and none in Phagwara during the current season.
It may be mentioned that in order to prevent fire of crop residues during the year 2023, committees were formed at the district level and sub division level in February 2023, in which the chairman of the district level monitoring committee was the Deputy commissioner.
Besides that SSP Kapurthala, ADC (D) , Environmental Engineer PPCB and District Revenue Officer were included as members. Chief Agriculture Officer Kapurthala was nominated as convener of the monitoring committee.
Similarly, monitoring committees were also formed at four sub-divisions, Phagwara, Kapurthala, Bhulath and Sultanpur Lodhi.
CAO Dr. Balbir Chand, the convener of the committee, said that the review meetings were held every week during the wheat procurement season and the agriculture and other related departments were constantly in touch with the farmers to prevent the stubble burning which shows positive outputs .
