-The Hindu Business Line
Fewer straw-management machines were given out than had been sanctioned
In Punjab most farmers have their homes right in the middle of their farms. When they clear their field in October to prepare for sowing wheat, they burn the rice stalks left in the field and their homes remain engulfed by smog for weeks. So, if there is an alternative to crop burning, farmers will only be happy to go for it.
Then, why aren’t farmers opting for Turbo Happy Seeder — a tractor-mounted machine that allows planting of wheat without the need to burn the leftover straw from the previous paddy crop? Despite the Centre subsidising the cost of Happy Seeder up to 50 per cent for individual farmers and 80 per cent for co-operatives since last year, there are hardly any takers.
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