Dhaliwal said that students were future scientists and their role was crucial in eliminating the menace by sensitizing the farmers. (File)Punjab agriculture and farmers welfare minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal Wednesday launched an awareness campaign involving the students of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) for persuading the farmers to shun stubble burning and adopt crop residue management practises.
Dhaliwal 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 to apprise them about ill-effects of stubble burning. He said that they must not get disheartened if they face any resistance. 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.