Dhaliwal launches massive awareness campaign against stubble burning

Ludhiana, September 28, 2022: Punjab Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Wednesday kick-started a massive awareness campaign involving the students of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) for persuading the farmers to shun the stubble burning and adopt crop residue management wholeheartedly for making state free of this menace.

Accompanied by MLAs Hardeep Singh Mundian, Daljit Singh Grewal, Karambir Singh (Dasuya MLA), Jasvir Singh Raja Gill (Tanda MLA), PAU vice-chancellor Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, the Cabinet Minister said that youths had huge responsibility on their shoulders to make Punjab a pollution free state and they must make sincere efforts in reaching to each farmer of the village to apprise them about ill-effects of stubble burning. He said that they must not get disheartened if they face any failure as failures are pillars of success. He asked the students to take inspiration from the lives of martyrs and ensure the state was free of environmental hazards by awakening the peasantry. Expressing concern about the environment, he said that Punjab had polluted its own air, water and soil while filling the country's godowns by producing grains.

Dhaliwal said that students were future scientists and their role was crucial in eliminating the menace by sensitizing the farmers. He said that for managing the stubble in the fields, Pusa bio-decomposer will be sprayed on 5,000 acres in Punjab as a pilot project.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Satbir Singh Gosal said that paddy stubble burning could pose a serious danger to environment and human health. He asked the students to persuade the farmers to avail the benefit of crop residue management program offered by the state government which would enhance the fertility of soil in an organic way and save the environment.

On this occasion, Head of Agricultural Machinery Power Engineering Department Dr. Mahesh Kumar Narang, gave a presentation about stubble handling machinery. Head, Department of Soil Science Dr. RK Gupta gave a presentation on the benefits of plowing stubble in the field.