Stubble burning is not political issue, collective responsibility of everyone: Union Agriculture Minister

New Delhi [India], November 4 : As the air quality deteriorated in Delhi-NCR, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said that stubble burning is not a political issue and asked state governments to work together to curb it.
"Proper management of paddy stubble is the collective responsibility of all to prevent pollution. Concerned State Governments- Punjab, Haryana, U.P. and Delhi were provided more than Rs 3 thousand crore for stubble management by the Centre," he said adding that Punjab was allocated the maximum fund of about Rs 14, 500 crores, while Haryana got Rs 900 crores, UP Rs 713 crores and 6 Crore rupees to Delhi. Out of this, about one thousand crore rupees are left with the states including Rs 491 crore with Punjab alone.
The minister said that the PUSA decomposer, developed by the agri-research body ICAR, is effective in controlling stubble burning, and appealed to state governments as well as farmers to make use of more such machines.
Notably, Under the guidance of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the Pusa Decomposer developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) for efficient management of paddy stubble with the aim of better and optimum utilization by the farmers was held in Pusa, Delhi today.
Tomar said that more important than a political discussion on paddy straw is to discuss its management and how to get rid of it.
"The problem of stubble burning is serious and on this issue levelling allegations and counter-allegations are not justified. Be it the Central or State governments or farmers, everyone has the same objective that agriculture should flourish in the country and there is prosperity for farmers," he said addressing a day-long event on 'Pusa decomposer'.
He further said that a comprehensive solution to this problem is possible with the optimum utilization of 2.07 lakh machines made available to the states for stubble management with the assistance provided by the Centre.
"The technology of decomposer has been transferred by Pusa Institute to other companies including UPL, through which it is being produced and made available to the farmers. Through these, the use and demonstration of Pusa Decomposer in the last 3 years have been done in Uttar Pradesh in 26 lakh acres, 5 lakh acres in Punjab, 3.5 lakh acres in Haryana and 10 thousand acres in Delhi, which have yielded very good results. This decomposer is cheap and easily available across the country," the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday remarked that pollution is not Delhi's but North India's problem, urging the Centre to take specific steps to relieve the region from the problem.
Kejriwal also said that the Delhi government is mulling whether the odd-even scheme for vehicles should be implemented. He went on to announce that the primary schools in Delhi will be shut from Saturday onwards till the pollution situation in the National capital improves.