A group of farmers at Diwala in Samarala have taken it upon themselves to keep paddy straw burning at bay in their village and the neighbouring ones.
For this, they have set up a farmers’ collective, ‘Sanjhi Kheti Group’, which helps farmers manage paddy straw without having to burn it or spend huge amounts.
Collective’s member Sukhjeet Singh says that he has been involved in crop residue management since 2018. The collective owns machines that help in in-situ management of the crop residue.
Agricultural development officer Sandeep Singh said that panchayats of many of the villages in the area were honoured by the agriculture department for being free of paddy straw burning.
According to Samrala Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) agriculture engineer Karun Sharma, there are two ways of managing crop residue, in-situ and ex-citu management. In in-situ, the residue is taken care of within the field and in ex-situ, it has to be carried outside, he said.
He said the KVK adopted four villages, including Diwala, in 2018 under a Centre-sponsored project on crop residue management.
Sharma said that a Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) study in 2021 found that the organic matter in the field of Diwala village was found to have increased by 20%.
He added that the KVK adopts four villages every year.
“At present, there are around 24 villages under the KVK. Once a village is brought into the fold, the centre picks up 25 farmers and trains them in a five-day camp,” he said.
“These farmers then go to their communities and inform others about the benefits of stopping farm fires. At present, villages like Jatana, Begowal, etc., around Diwala are doing very well in this regard,” he went on to add. Sharma added that besides adopting villages, the KVK also holds regular camps on village, block and district levels, where the farmers are educated about the benefits of not burning paddy straw.
In Diwala, the farmers’ collective owns two happy seeders, a rotavator, a plough and a super straw management system.
Happy seeders, or smart or surface seeder, are machines used in mulching methods of in-situ management that can sow the wheat crop without having to remove the straw. Plough is used in the incorporation method, where the straw is mixed with the soil.
The collective allows the farmers to manage straw just at the price worth the cost of diesel used. Now, a bigger collective, ‘Samrala Producer Company’ has applied for a ₹30 lakh project with the agriculture department. They are hoping to buy new and better machines from the funds.
“We have applied for an 80% subsidised project to procure new machines,” farmer Sukhjeet said. He added that they are planning to buy a couple of machines that can help in ex-situ management, such as rake and baler.
Baling is the process of compressing the straw and making bundles, which can then be taken to factories and elsewhere.
Jagtar Singh from Bathinda’s Kumal Kalan, who has been procuring paddy straw from the farmers and then selling it to the manufacturing units since 2016, says he collects around 42,000 to 43,000 quintals of straw every season and earns around over ₹10 lakh.