Lok Sabha Question No. 269 (STARRED), answered on 2023-08-08
Subject: Crop Residue Management
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Kotha Prabhakar  Reddy, M.K. Vishnu Prasad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 269

TO BE ANSWERED ON 08 th  August 2023

## CROP RESIDUE MANAGEMENT

## * 269.  SHRI KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY: DR. VISHNU PRASAD M.K.:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE d`f"k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government provides incentives to the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) for supporting farmers with regard to Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether  the  KVKs  have  taken  measures  to  provide  alternate  crop  residue management  solutions  to  farmers  in  Northern  India  during  the  winter  season  to discourage stubble burning;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (e) whether KVKs have carried out assessment surveys for location-specific technology or knowledge modules in regions facing the issue of stubble burning; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE d`f"k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k ea=h (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a) to (f)

: A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) to (f) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 269 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08 th  August 2023 REGARDING 'CROP RESIDUE MANAGEMENT'

(a) to (b): Yes, Sir. To support the efforts of the Governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi to address air pollution and to subsidize machinery required for management of crop residue, a Central Sector Scheme on 'Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization  for  In-Situ  Management  of  Crop  Residue  in  the  States  of  Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi' has been implemented from 2018-19. Under this  scheme, during the last five years, funds amounting to Rs. 3138.17 Crores have been released to the States and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) out of which the vital share of Rs. 1426.45 Crores has been released to the State of Punjab. The State of Punjab has utilized Rs. 1225.47 Crores and have an unspent balance of Rs. 201.00 Crores.

The Government provided Rs. 67.97 crore including 1163 machines to Krishi Vigyan Kendras  (KVKs)  to  support  farmers  by  creating  awareness  amongst farmers with suitable alternatives of crop residue management (CRM) under 'Information,  Education  and  Communication  (IEC)'  component  of  the  Central  Sector Scheme on 'Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and National Capital Territory of Delhi' since 2018-19. The IEC component is implemented by 60 KVKs including 22 KVKs of Punjab, 14 KVKs of Haryana, 1 KVK of Delhi and 23 KVKs of Uttar Pradesh.

The activities  under  IEC  component  include  organization  of  awareness  programmes, demonstrations and hands-on training to farmers on different CRM Machineries namely, Happy Seeder, Super Seeder and Smart Seeder for direct seeding of wheat  without burning  the  rice  residue;  Reversible  Mould  Board  Plough  for  incorporating  the  paddy stubble in the field for production of vegetable/ potato; and other farm machinery like Zero  Till  Drill,  Shrub  Master/  Cutter-cum-Spreader,  Mulcher/  Chopper,  etc.  for in-situ residue management.

KVKs  organized  3898  awareness  camps  involving  about  2.99  lakh  farmers,  1342 training  programmes  for  46,568  farmers,  1.22  lakh  demonstrations  and  349  Kisan Melas  involving  7.9  lakh  farmers.  Further,  KVKs  also  mobilized  more  than  2.0  lakh school and college students against residue burning. Besides, social media (WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube), print media and mKisan portal have also  been extensively used  for providing technical advisory services to the  farmers for crop residue management.

(c) to (f): The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has developed Pusa Decomposer,  a  microbial  consortium  of  fungal  species  (both  in  liquid  and  capsule forms)  for  rapid  decomposition  of  paddy  straw.  Use  of  this  consortium  accelerates process of paddy straw decomposition in the field in about 20-25 days. The KVKs have conducted  8803  demonstrations  on  farmers'  field  and  awareness  programmes  to promote Pusa Decomposer for management of crop residue.

KVKs made a survey to assess different technologies for crop residue management to find  out  their  location  specificity  to  tackle  the  issue  of  stubble  burning.  Assessments indicate  that  higher  yield  of  wheat  was  obtained  as  a  result  of  sowing  of  wheat  with Happy  Seeder  and  Super  Seeder  in  the  standing  stubble  and  helped  in in-situ management  of  paddy  residue.  Awareness,  Demonstrations  and  capacity  building programmes are carried out based on the findings of assessments. The efforts made through above Central Sector Scheme resulted into about 56% reduction in incidences of residue burning in the year 2022 compared to that of 2016.

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