Indore: Rs 15,000 fine soon on stubble burning

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Burning of stubble in the fields can soon attract a fine ranging from Rs 2,500 to Rs 15,000. Now, the farmers are harvesting wheat with combined harvester machines, due to which crop residues, that is, stubble, is left in the field. Later, farmers burn the stubble, which causes environmental pollution and cause an adverse effect on soil health and life.

Deputy director, agriculture, SS Rajput said that, after stubble is burnt, the surface temperature of the soil becomes 60-65 degrees Celsius. In such a condition, beneficial bacteria and friendly insects which are found in the soil are destroyed. These micro-organisms make fertilisers soluble in the fields in the form of elements and make them available to plants.

In the notification issued earlier by the ministry of environment, there is a provision of fine of Rs 2,500 for burning stubble on less than two acres of field, Rs 5000 for a field size of two acres to five acres and Rs 15,000 for a field more than 5 acres. Rajput appealed to farmers not to burn stubble, but plough them through rotavator and agricultural machines and mix it in the field or prepare straw by running straw-reapers and feed the straw to animals.