CACP chairman visits PAU to discuss stubble burning issue

Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) Chairman Vijay Paul Sharma today visited the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) here to discuss the issue of paddy straw management.
The talks stressed on providing incentives to farmers who refrained from stubble burning and managed it using various alternatives, a PAU release said.
Since residue management involves additional costs, the Punjab government had requested the CACP to provide incentives to farmers who refrain from stubble burning, it added.
According to the release, Vijay Paul Sharma said paddy straw management was a challenge and was causing severe pollution, and resulting in land degradation.
For straw management, he referred to three essentials, including research which provides need-based technology, efficient agricultural engineers to develop machinery, and effective transfer of technology to encourage farmers to make use of the recommended technology.

"We have come to PAU to solve the problems of the farmers," Sharma said.
Notably, thick smog, mainly caused by stubble burning, had enveloped parts of Punjab and neighbouring Haryana for several days during October-end and early November last year, adversely affecting normal life.