Chandigarh, 20 October, 2024: Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today called on the government to establish a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for stubble and directly purchase it from farmers and strongly condemned the government’s actions against farmers who burn stubble, urging them to reverse what he described as an anti-farmer decision.
“Farmers take such steps under compulsion. Instead of imposing fines on farmers, filing FIRs against them, and red-listing them, the government should work on a solution to this,” he said.
Hooda noted the numerous beneficial products that can be made from stubble, stating, “Many things can be made by buying stubble, such as fuel, bio-thermocol, ethanol, bio-bitumen, pallets, pulp, fertilizer, bricks, and it can also be used for electricity production.”
Addressing questions from the media at his residence, he explained that stubble burning contributes only a small fraction to overall pollution. “The real cause of pollution is factories, vehicles, and dust. Therefore, the government should either dispose of the stubble properly or buy it from farmers,” he stated.
He expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of machines the government has promised to provide for stubble disposal, pointing out that their limited availability hampers small farmers.
“The machines are not proving to be effective, and the number available is very few. Small farmers are unable to use them effectively,” he noted. He added that using these machines requires multiple visits for a single task, saying, “Machines have to be called into the field several times for one job. First, different machines are needed to cut the paddy residue, then to collect it, and finally to make bales. After that, it also takes a long time to lift it. By then, the time for sowing the next crop is over.”
Hooda stressed the need for the government to pay attention to these practical aspects so that the real problems facing farmers can be better understood. Earlier, a delegation of farmers met with him and presented a memorandum, requesting the government to purchase paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal, as it had previously promised.
