AGRICULTURE DEPTT URGES FARMERS NOT TO BURN WHEAT STRAW
Ludhiana, May 9, 2019: Chief Agriculture Officer Ludhiana Dr.Baldev Singh has appealed to the farmers not to burn wheat straw. He said that if the wheat straw is not set on fire, the fertile strength of the land in the fields can be retained. He said that when the wheat straw is set on fire, it also kills useful insects, microorganisms etc that are beneficial for the crops and it also leads to financial as well as environmental loss.
He said that in Ludhiana district about 2.50 lakh hectare wheat is being cultivated. Nearly 77 percent of the wheat straw is converted into husk, 9 percent of the straw is suppressed in the ground and 11 percent of the wheat straw is burnt despite the fact that it is full of nutrients.
He said that about 12 tonnes per hectare of grains are produced during the wheat paddy cycle, which take out about 300 kg nitrogen, 30 kg phosphorus and 300 kg potash from the soil and these nutrients remain in some quantity in the wheat straw.
Dr Baldev Singh stated that by burning the wheat straw, around 0.94 lakh tonnes of nitrogen, 0.48 lakh tonnes of phosphorus and 2.6 lakh tonnes of Potash, gets destroyed when farmers burn paddy and wheat straw. He said that the National Green Tribunal has completely prohibited from burning of crop residue and if anybody violates it, legal action will be taken against them.