CSE demands subsidy for buying equipment to put paddy straw

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has advocated subsidy to farmers in Punjab and Haryana for buying equipment that allows them to put the paddy straw back into the ground instead of burning it.
A delegation of CSE also had a meeting with officials of Punjab and Haryana governments yesterday in this regard and pressed for subsidy.
"It's very clear that farmers have no alternatives to burn biomass because the subsidy which is needed for the equipment allows them to put the paddy straw back into the ground does not exist.
"The farmers have no option. So the question now is to get the large subsidy programme where you can subsidise the equipment that is needed, but that has not been done. In our meeting with Punjab and Haryana, we have said we will take up this year. But at the moment, the entire effort is to try and stop the burning as much as possible," CSE Director General Sunita Narian said here.

The national capital has been witnessing alarming levels of pollution with smog affecting the visibility. Apart from the vehicular traffic, the burning of crops in neighbouring states is also been cited as a major reason for this.
Punjab and Haryana governments have already declared the burning of paddy as illegal, but this has to be publicised more, Narain said.
"They have also said that burning of paddy will lead to a penalty... We have asked the governments of Punjab and Haryana to publicise this and that farmers should not do it," she added.