Centre provides Rs 486-cr subsidy to manage stubble burning issue

The Centre will provide a subsidy of Rs.486.64 crore to farmers in Punjab and Haryana for procuring machinery and tools that will prevent stubble burning and help them to use paddy straw as mulch for the wheat crop and vegetables planted for Rabi season.

A sub-committee on prevention of stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, under the air-pollution task force of Prime Minister’s Office, has recommended the subsidy, which was approved by the Supreme Court on Monday.

The sub-committee said that in-situ management or use of paddy straw for the Rabi crops was the most cost-effective method to prevent stubble burning and the resultant toxic air pollution.

The sub-committee has asked Agriculture Ministry and state governments of Punjab and Haryana to make sure that these machines are procured and placed in fields by September, when farmers begin clearing fields for the next sowing season.