Thanking you for providing me the moment to elaborate my idea with the hindu.
In 2015, the NGT was forced to stop the practice of stubble burning after thick smog enveloped the northern skies with the onset of autumn yet again, and acute respiratory problems were reported to be worsening in the national capital. The NGT banned the burning of paddy straw in four States — Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — and Delhi.
In its order, the tribunal fixed a penalty for burning paddy residue. The fine for small land owners with less than two acres indulging in crop burning is ₹2,500. For medium landowners holding land over two acres but less than five acres, it is ₹5,000. And those with over five acres have to cough up ₹15,000 for every instance of crop burning.
The NGT also ordered the State governments to take punitive action against persistent offenders. It also directed the four States and Delhi to make arrangements to provide machinery free of cost to farmers with less than two acres, ₹5,000 to farmers with medium-sized land holdings, and ₹15,000 to those with large land holdings for residue management.
Jagdish says he hasn’t received the amount to which he is entitled. “What then are my options?” he says. “To engage labour or machinery will cost me somewhere between ₹4,000 and 5,000 an acre, which I can’t afford.” The NGT order has only added to his woes, he says — the burden of an agricultural loan he had borrowed from banks and commission agents is already weighing him down. “Farming has become a loss-making venture,” he laments.
Such sentiments among farmers are commonplace. According to State government data, there are around 18.5 lakh farming families in Punjab. Around 65% of them are small and marginal farmers. Of the 5.03 million hectares of area constituting Punjab, around 4.23 million hectares are under cultivation. As the State mainly follows a rice-wheat cropping pattern, it contributes 60% to the wheat bowl and 40% to the rice bowl of the central pool. Around 75% of its population depends directly on agriculture.
Harpreet Singh, 30, is from Dharamgarh village in Mohali district. He says he is ready to face the legal consequences of defiance. “Time and cost are both crucial,” he says. “I have to prepare my land to sow wheat in the next few days. If I engage machine or labour, both of which are difficult to find, for clearing the paddy straw, it will be a time-consuming effort. It will delay my sowing of wheat and I will have less yield. Besides, it’s expensive.”
Harpreet has three acres in his joint family farm. “Farmers of my village have decided to collectively burn the residue. I’ll go with them,” he says
Paddy is grown on an average area of around 30 lakh hectares in Punjab. After wheat, it is the biggest crop in the State. It is sown as monsoon arrives and its harvest starts from October first week. This is when trouble begins. After harvest, around 19.7 million tonnes of paddy straw is left on the fields and has to be disposed of to make way for wheat. Of this, 70-75% of paddy straw is burnt in open fields to clear the land for sowing wheat or other crops — it is the quickest and cheapest way of getting rid of the residue.
Besides disregard for the ban, with the support of several farmers’ unions, farmers have also cautioned the State government against taking stringent action against them. Several unions have made it clear that if police cases are registered against them, the government will have to face the consequences in the form of large-scale agitations.
“We don’t want confrontation, but if we are pushed, we will not sit quiet. Instead of asking us not to burn the residue, the State government should first fulfil its duty. As directed by the NGT, it should provide us machines and equipment,” says Avtar Singh Korjiwala of the Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta (Dhakonda).
In 2015, the NGT was forced to stop the practice of stubble burning after thick smog enveloped the northern skies with the onset of autumn yet again, and acute respiratory problems were reported to be worsening in the national capital. The NGT banned the burning of paddy straw in four States — Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — and Delhi.
In its order, the tribunal fixed a penalty for burning paddy residue. The fine for small land owners with less than two acres indulging in crop burning is ₹2,500. For medium landowners holding land over two acres but less than five acres, it is ₹5,000. And those with over five acres have to cough up ₹15,000 for every instance of crop burning.
The NGT also ordered the State governments to take punitive action against persistent offenders. It also directed the four States and Delhi to make arrangements to provide machinery free of cost to farmers with less than two acres, ₹5,000 to farmers with medium-sized land holdings, and ₹15,000 to those with large land holdings for residue management.
Jagdish says he hasn’t received the amount to which he is entitled. “What then are my options?” he says. “To engage labour or machinery will cost me somewhere between ₹4,000 and 5,000 an acre, which I can’t afford.” The NGT order has only added to his woes, he says — the burden of an agricultural loan he had borrowed from banks and commission agents is already weighing him down. “Farming has become a loss-making venture,” he laments.
Such sentiments among farmers are commonplace. According to State government data, there are around 18.5 lakh farming families in Punjab. Around 65% of them are small and marginal farmers. Of the 5.03 million hectares of area constituting Punjab, around 4.23 million hectares are under cultivation. As the State mainly follows a rice-wheat cropping pattern, it contributes 60% to the wheat bowl and 40% to the rice bowl of the central pool. Around 75% of its population depends directly on agriculture.
Harpreet Singh, 30, is from Dharamgarh village in Mohali district. He says he is ready to face the legal consequences of defiance. “Time and cost are both crucial,” he says. “I have to prepare my land to sow wheat in the next few days. If I engage machine or labour, both of which are difficult to find, for clearing the paddy straw, it will be a time-consuming effort. It will delay my sowing of wheat and I will have less yield. Besides, it’s expensive.”
Harpreet has three acres in his joint family farm. “Farmers of my village have decided to collectively burn the residue. I’ll go with them,” he says
Paddy is grown on an average area of around 30 lakh hectares in Punjab. After wheat, it is the biggest crop in the State. It is sown as monsoon arrives and its harvest starts from October first week. This is when trouble begins. After harvest, around 19.7 million tonnes of paddy straw is left on the fields and has to be disposed of to make way for wheat. Of this, 70-75% of paddy straw is burnt in open fields to clear the land for sowing wheat or other crops — it is the quickest and cheapest way of getting rid of the residue.
Besides disregard for the ban, with the support of several farmers’ unions, farmers have also cautioned the State government against taking stringent action against them. Several unions have made it clear that if police cases are registered against them, the government will have to face the consequences in the form of large-scale agitations.
“We don’t want confrontation, but if we are pushed, we will not sit quiet. Instead of asking us not to burn the residue, the State government should first fulfil its duty. As directed by the NGT, it should provide us machines and equipment,” says Avtar Singh Korjiwala of the Bhartiya Kisan Union Ekta (Dhakonda).
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