Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Fazilka burns least paddy straw

Hindustan Times, Page 2, Chandigarh Edition

FEROZEPUR: Fazilka has recorded least straw-burning incidents in the state. It earned a round of applause on Tuesday. Karan Avtar Singh, Punjab principal secretary for science and technology and environment (pointing), during his special visit to a field in Fazilka district on Tuesday.
Karan Avtar Singh, principal secretary of science, technology and environment, shared the figures with a gathering of progressive farmers and horticulture experts during his special visit to Farmers' Training Centre at Zamindara Farm Solutions. The principal secretary applauded Zamindara Farm Solutions for its contribution in making farmers aware of the consequences of burning crop stubble after harvest. The venture won praise for promoting better agricultural tools such as Happy seeder and roller to straightway sow wheat without burning up the residue of paddy to clear the field.

The Jawala Bhai Nathu Ram Charitable Trust, led by Vikram Ahuja, won accolades for its campaign of administering oath to farmers about not burning paddy stubble in the interest of the environment. It educated farmers about the demerits of unsustainable methods of preparing new fields. Farmers of Fazilka, Mamdot, Ferozepur, Gidderbaha, Zira, and surrounding areas joined the campaign.

"Fazilka's Zamindara Farm Solutions is a blended value business based on technical knowledge coming from the Cereal System Initiative for South Asia (CSISA)," said Vikram Ahuja. "Farmers realise at last that by not burning the wheat or paddy straw, they save a huge amount of water because the fields, after days of burning, require hours of watering for the soil to recover the moisture for the sowing of paddy or wheat."
Many farmers who had stopped burning of s t raw shared their experiences with the principal secretary. "Four years ago, I tried sowing wheat with the help of Happy seeder," said Raj Krishan, a progressive farmer from Rana village. "Better results got me to prepare more than 22 acres of field without burning up any straw." Ferozepur's deputy commissioner, Basant Garg was present.

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