Seven cases of stubble burning on a surface in the district of Jalandhar

In the area, wheat harvesting has not even officially started yet, yet reports of stubble burning are already beginning to surface. Nevertheless, the department of agriculture has used satellites to monitor the instances. In the district, seven instances have been documented. The blocks Adampur, Jalandhar West, Jalandhar East, Nurmehal, and Bhogpur are the ones from which instances were recorded.

One of the biggest challenges facing department officials is controlling stubble burning. Every year, there is an increase in stubble burning instances rather than a decline. Only 33 instances were recorded from the area in 2021, compared to over 500 cases last year and over 555 cases in 2022. The number of instances has sharply increased in the last two years. Burning paddy residue was the only issue the government was worried about in the past; however, now days, they are also concerned about burning wheat stubble.

Although there hasn’t been a recorded instance of stubble burning in Bajra village in Kartarpur tehsil for the last five years, the farmers there still used to do it. Officials from the Agriculture Department also confirmed that the community had not received any reports of stubble burning in a number of years. As previously said, Sarpanch Avinash Kumar is quite stringent about stubble burning. I report to the police and the department anybody attempting to burn their agricultural residue. But over time, the farmers have come to terms with the reality that it is illegal to burn stubble. He added that the environment’s protection was the main goal of this.

The Agriculture Department has taken the initiative to address the issue by posting films on social media platforms of farmers who have abstained from burning stubble for a number of years.

In addition to the films, these farmers’ contact details were provided so that anybody who wanted to talk to other farmers who were already using alternative stubble management techniques about them. Videos have also been posted by the Agriculture Department on the “Safal Kisan” YouTube channel.