Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday expressed concern over the rising trend of farmers in Bihar setting agricultural residue on fire and warned the cultivators burning stubble that they will be deprived of the facilities provided by the State government.
Underscoring the adverse impact of stubble burning on the environment, he instructed agriculture department officials to launch a campaign to end the practise.
“Farmers burning stubble (crop residue) in their fields will be deprived of facilities being given by the State government,” Mr. Kumar said while inuagurating a two-day international conference on “Crop Residue Management” here.
The event was organised jointly by the State’s Agriculture Department and Bihar Agriculture University, Sabour (Bhagalpur).
The State government is providing every possible help to the farmers in the State, he said adding power is supplied to them at a rate of 75 paise per unit. In addition, the State is giving ₹60 as subsidy on every litre of diesel.
Earlier, the practise of stubble burning was prevalent in Delhi and Punjab causing bad impact on Delhi’s environment, he said while adding that the custom has now gained prevalence in some parts of the State.
‘Adverse impact’
“Farmers need to be convinced that stubble burning not only has its adverse impact on productivity but also has its effect on environment...Farmers need to be convinced that the proper use of stubble will increase their income too,” the Chief Minister said.
Kisan Salahkars (agriculture advisors) and representatives from agricultural institutions should convince the farmers about the ill-effects of burning stubble/crop residue and create awareness among them against it, he said.
