Punjab doesn’t need paddy straw management but paddy replacement

When the issue of paddy straw burning caught national imagination after the smog hit Delhi, farmers of Punjab, Haryana and parts of UP were blamed for it. Though a lot of noise was made, little was offered as solution. Whatever is being discussed or even being demanded is a solution only to straw management not to the root cause.

I think, and let me say it very clearly without using any euphemism, Punjab needs a complete shift in its thinking and only then it can discuss the solutions or raise demands before the Union government. Punjab does not need paddy straw management but a replacement of paddy.

Punjab needs to get rid of paddy cultivation at the earliest. Paddy is not a natural crop for Punjab and its continuous production in the state has come at a huge ecological cost. An even bigger ecological disaster is staring at Punjab as its cultivation continues.

Earlier, when the farmers were encouraged to grow paddy, there used to be a variety of crops based on soil type, availability of water, and local market. However, monotony in the cropping pattern has finished all the diversity in the agricultural practices. Water resources of Punjab have been ruined not only by overexploitation of its underground water but also by pollution its rivers and seasonal water channels.

A lot of data from the Central Ground Water Board and other government agencies already makes it clear that situation of underground water table is alarming, to say the least. Rural folk can tell you the same thing without looking at any government data. When hand pumps go dry in the villages, they know that Punjab is losing even its drinking water, forget extra water for irrigation.

Punjab is on the verge of becoming barren. It drives its names from its water and now it is grappling with crisis of water scarcity and pollution. Not just rivers, even the underground water is polluted.

The state and central governments need to help the farmers by providing them infrastructure for marketing of alternate crops. The production of paddy has reached the current levels only due to the desire and efforts of successive Union governments. Now it can be replaced only by active support of the Centre.

Till the government offers solutions to replace paddy, the following solutions to manage the straw should be adapted:

The best solution is to plough the paddy straw back into the fields. But this comes with extra cost, which should be borne by governments. Managing straw should be treated part of the production process and its cost factored in into the MSP or it should be paid over and above the MSP. After all if the government feels that farmer should be paid the entire costs of the paddy production, then why not managing this too.

The second solution is to ensure that straw is used for power production. For this too, the cost of collecting the stubble and transporting it to the biomass plants should not become burden on farmers. Not levying any extra costs on farmers to manage the straw is the single biggest factor to be kept in mind here.

The straw collection can also be done by using MNREGA workers. It would generate employment too. Alternates like making gas for use in kitchens should be worked out and promoted.

Author is an environmentalist and a member of the Punjab Pollution Control Board

(As told to IP Singh)