GOI and PAU team conduct field visit on day two of workshop on paddy straw management

Ludhiana, June 12, 2023: A field visit was conducted as a follow-up to the Workshop on 'Paddy Straw Management and Action Plans' that commenced yesterday at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Rukmani, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, Government of India and Arvind Nautiyal, Member Secretary of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), New Delhi, along with their team members, visited Dashmesh Mechanical Works in Malerkotla to witness a demonstration of in-situ crop residue management machines. Senior officers from PAU also accompanied them.

At Malerkotla, the team was shown the latest agricultural machinery by the award-winning company, especially for use during in-situ management of paddy straw. Later, the team visited VERBIO India Private Ltd. in Lehragaga, Sangrur to view the compressed biogas plant. The plant produces compressed biogas (CBG/BioCNG) from agricultural residues, primarily paddy stubble normally burnt by farmers after the paddy harvest. It has the capacity to consume 100,000 tonnes of agricultural residue per year, and a production capacity of 33 TPD (tonnes per day) of BioCNG (CBG) and 650 TPD (tonnes per day) of bio-manure.