- Title: Punjab farmers adopt greener methods to fight pollution
- Date: 22nd November 2024
- Summary: JAITU, PUNJAB, INDIA (NOVEMBER 21, 2024) (REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS OF DRONE SHOTS OF FARMER CUTTING CROPS USING TRACTOR-OPERATED SHREDDER SEEDER SHREDDER BLADES ROTATING VARIOUS OF FARMER DRIVING TRACTOR WITH SHREDDER SEEDER ATTACHED (SOUNDBITE) (Punjabi) FARMER FROM DOD VILLAGE IN PUNJAB STATE, RANJIT SINGH, SAYING: “We are sowing wheat using the mulching technique here. T
- Embargoed: 6th December 2024 08:24
- Keywords: Bathinda Farmers India Jaitu KVM Kheti Virasat Mission New Delhi clean farming environment fire global warming harvesting haze health mulching pollution seeding shredder seeder smog smoke stubble burning tractor
- Location: JAITU, PUNJAB, INDIA
- City: JAITU, PUNJAB, INDIA
- Country: India
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Pollution,Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA001168522112024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Farmers in a tiny Indian village of Punjab are quietly ushering in a change from the polluting, choking way of getting rid of their farm stubble to a cleaner, greener and healthier way of farming.
Every year, the onset of winter in northern India coincides with farmers burning paddy stubble to clear fields - a practice that stokes air pollution in the region around New Delhi.
For the past fortnight, the Indian capital has turned into a virtual gas chamber, recording hazardous levels of air pollution and causing a massive outcry over the unabated stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab.
In Jaitu village of Punjab, nearly 400 km from New Delhi, farmers are closely working with Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM), an NGO committed to promoting clean and organic farming, to transition from the traditionally polluting way of burning farm residue to mulching.
With the help of innovative shredding and seeding machines attached to the tractors, they do mulching - a process where machines tied to the tractor spray seeds as well as put down a layer of stubble on top to help maintain the moisture and preserve the soil's fertility.
Some of the farmers who have made the leap to this method said they first tried mulching on a trial basis about two to three years ago on small tracts of land, and encouraged by their healthy harvest, they have increased their use of mulching multi-fold now.
Baljinder Singh, a farmer who has adopted mulching for the past three years, said: “Even the farmers want to do away with burning farm residue, nobody wants to set it on fire. People are trying alternatives but mulching so far is the best one.”
And seeing them, several other farmers are following suit.
However, there is still a large number of fence sitters who are still sceptical of the overall results of this process and would wait some more before taking the plunge.
Shortage of machines to help farmers with mulching is another bottleneck that KVM is currently facing and hopes to address while going forward.
“Mulching is needed because our environment is getting harmed. When farmers burn residue, there is so much pollution and the first victim of that is the farmer himself, along with his family members," said Gora Singh, a worker with KVM who has been holding the hands of farmers in the region to help them navigate to cleaner farming methods.
"Hence, we spread awareness among the farmers to not burn and adopt the mulching technique instead, to save their farms from fires, protect the environment and prevent spoiling the quality of their soil," Gora Singh added.
(Production: Bhushan Kumar, Sunil Kataria, Shung Sin Tan) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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