The farm fire incidents in Punjab have seen a reduction by nearly 50% as of October 25, as per the data provided by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC).
In total, the state has recorded 2,714 cases till October 25, which is nearly half of the 5,798 cases reported till October 25 last year.
Of the total cases almost 30% (834) have been reported from Amritsar alone followed by Patiala (325) and Tarn Taran (319).
On Wednesday, the state reported 398 active fire events. Amritsar recorded 79 cases, Ferozepur 61 while Patiala recorded 47 cases on Wednesday. Whereas on the same day (i.e. October 25), in 2021, 76 active fire events were captured. In 2022, there were 181 active fire events in the state.
“This time in Malwa districts, there are a lot of ex-situ bailers working. Due to the high price of coal, the industry has extensively used paddy straw as fuel. Thus, some farmers had minted good money. Now, many farmers have purchased bailers and are selling stubble as a fuel to the industry”, an agriculture department official said.
He said that this year all ex-situ and in-situ machinery was provided to the farmers much before the harvest which has also made the difference. “But the biggest factor is that farmers have started getting money by selling straw,” he said.
In Amloh in Fatehgarh Sahib district, the industry is slated to use nearly 4 lakh metric tonnes of paddy straw as fuel, out of which 2.2 lakh tonnes will be procured by a private company by engaging nearly 1,000 farmers. This will handle paddy straw of nearly 2 lakh acres of area. Usually, a one-acre crop produces 2.5 tonnes of paddy straw.
Till October 25, Punjab has procured nearly 30% of the paddy procurement target and nearly 40% of the crop has been harvested. So far 55.88 lakh tonnes of paddy has arrived in mandis to date. The total procurement target is 182 lakh tonnes.
GFX
Farm fire tracker
Incidents on October 25 398
Total cases till Oct 25 2,714
Cases on Oct 25, 2022 5798
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