Punjab wants to reduce crop burning by gradually ceasing to cultivate paddy

Punjab wants to reduce crop burning by gradually ceasing to cultivate paddy

The Union government has been directed by the court to think about lowering the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Punjabi paddy and giving other traditional crops the same amount.

The Punjab administration informed the Supreme Court that crop burning may decrease if the state gradually phased out rice production by lowering crop incentives and encouraged farmers to grow other crops.

The state administration informed the court that while paddy farming is not even eaten in the state, it is causing a significant decline in Punjab's water table. The Punjab government's proposal was accepted by the highest court, which then requested that the federal government look into the possibilities of providing a minimum support price for additional crops in addition to paddy.

The abuse of Punjab's minimum support price (MSP), which is provided by the federal government, was also brought to light by the supreme court. The ruling states that "paddy grown in surrounding States is then brought into Punjab to claim MSP and then offered under the MSP policy" .

According to the directive, stubble is a result of a certain kind of paddy that is farmed in Punjab, and crop burning is caused by both this and the growing season. "A thorough examination is necessary. Therefore, we question whether this type of rice should be grown at all, and we think not in Punjab because of the ongoing issues with the specific type of rice grown there and the growing season," the order stated.

A significant contributing reason to contamination is the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009, which the court has also ordered Punjab to investigate. In order to prevent water from evaporating, the legislation, which was introduced to save groundwater in the state, requires paddy to be transplanted after June 10.

In court, it was stated that farmers now have a very little window of time to harvest rice and get the land ready for the wheat crop because of this statute. Farmers use stubble burning as a means of clearing the land.

"Paddy is not a normal crop as submitted. The directive said that we must convert to alternate crops in order to avoid this issue the next year. The court noted that only in the event that the MSP for paddy is denied can the switchover take place.

Other recommendations from Punjab

Observing that farmers are burning stubble just for financial gain, the Punjab government proposed using technology to provide them a free alternative. The farmers are hesitant to acquire the costly equipment that the state government has bought and is prepared to provide them at a discounted price. Therefore, the state's attorney general proposed that the national government pay the remaining fifty percent of the machine's cost and the governments of Delhi and Punjab split the remaining fifty percent between them.

"We do believe because when the Centre provides so many other payments, there is no reason why such expenses should not be borne," the judge said.

In the 1985 MC Mehta case, the orders were passed. In an effort to protect the environment, the highest court has issued several decisions prohibiting the government and other parties from engaging in certain activities.