Land under stubble management increases to 62.5%: PAU study

It was 50.61% in 2018 & 16.03% in 2017.

Even as there has been a sudden spurt in farm fire incidents this year, the land under stubble management has increased considerably.

According to Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), the percentage of farm land on which stubble was managed sans burning has improved from 16.03 per cent in 2017 to 50.61 per cent in 2018 and 62.58 per cent in 2019.

Meanwhile, both last year and this year, the percentage of land where the stubble was burnt till October 25 has been over 20 per cent. This is despite early harvesting of the crop this year.

The prevalence of short duration rice varieties, such as PR 121 and PR 126, on more than 70 per cent of parmal rice area is another favourable feature. These varieties have less biomass and short duration, making them highly amenable to paddy straw management. The advent of super seeder, which has been approved by the PAU this year, can improve the situation further by providing the farmers with more options for straw management.