Govt asks farmers to adopt new methods to tackle crop residue

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today appealed to farmers not to burn crop residue and asked them to adopt new methods to manage it, including using the waste for biogas production.

Highlighting the government's support to the farmers for addressing the crop residue, he said a provision of Rs 1,151.80 crore for two years has been made under a scheme for states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-NCR.

The central government is providing 50-80 per cent subsidy for crop residue management machineries, which help farmers in mixing crop residue with soil to make it more productive, the release said, quoting the minister as saying at an event here.

Farmers groups are being provided financial assistance at 80 per cent of the project cost for establishing Farm Machinery Banks for custom hiring of crop residue management machinery.

Under the sub mission on agricultural mechanization, 40 per cent subsidy is given on straw rake, straw baler, loader, etc.

That apart, the government's agri-research body ICAR's two centres, one at Ludhiana in Punjab and Anand in Gujarat, have developed and installed a plant for biogas production using paddy straw, he said.

According to the minister, the management of crop residue in the field will help the soil become more fertile thereby resulting in the savings of Rs 2,000 per hectare from the farmer's manure cost.

By making palette from crop residue, the minister said that it can be used for power generation.

Through this, crop residue is collected and bales are made out of it so that it's easy to carry to crop residue palette and power generation plants, he said.

The minister also shared that the Central Electricity Authority till August this year has produced 114.08 megawatts of electricity from waste.

From this year, NTPC has started producing electricity from waste in its Badarpur plant. Wind energy and solar power are also being promoted, he added.