CM orders pre-audit of straw mgmt scheme

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today ordered a first-of-its-kind social pre-audit of the Crop Residue Management (CRM) Scheme for supplying farm equipment on subsidy to farmers.

The social pre-audit by the Agriculture Department would nail the lies being propagated by certain vested political interests.

The machinery aims to ensure scientific disposal of paddy straw during the kharif season.

Not a single farmer had questioned the quality of the machines/equipment being supplied under the scheme.

the pre-audit would seek to make the scheme more efficacious, broad-based and farmer-friendly with the ultimate goal of making the state free of pollution triggered by stubble burning. Suggestions and objections would also be invited from all stakeholders for this purpose.

The Centre has been running the scheme for the past two years for distributing machinery among farmers and cooperative societies for effective in situ management of the paddy straw.

Under the scheme, farmers from Punjab have been given a subsidy of nearly Rs 460 crore on 50,815 farm machines. The Centre has already listed around 180 manufacturers from Punjab to ensure supply of farm equipment/machinery in this regard.

During the current year, the government intends to give Rs 300-crore subsidy on 23,500 such machines.

As many as 7,000 farmers would be given the machines at 50 per cent subsidy, while 5,000 cooperative societies, panchayats and farmers’ groups would be given the machines at 80 per cent subsidised rate.

The state-of-the-art equipment or machines required for in situ management of paddy include super straw management system on combine harvesters, happy seeder, paddy straw chopper/shredder, mulcher, RMB plough, zero till drill and super seeder to ensure zero burning of paddy residue in the open fields.

To further improve the paddy management system, the department had also decided to provide mechanised equipment, needed for ex situ management of paddy straw, on subsidy

Rs 460-cr subsidy by centre

Under the scheme, farmers from Punjab have been given a subsidy of nearly Rs460 crore on 50,815 farm machines. The Centre has already listed around 180 manufacturers from Punjab to ensure supply of farm equipment and machinery in this regard.