Haryana to take help of `happy seeder' to fight stubble burning problem

CHANDIGARH: Haryana agriculture and farmers welfare minister Om Prakash Dhankar has directed the officers to launch a special drive of demonstration plots to encourage the farmers to adopt sowing of wheat through happy seeder machine in paddy growing districts.
The happy seeder is an implement which allows sowing of wheat in fields that still have rice stubble.It helps in sowing of wheat without burning of rice stubble, thus preventing burning of paddy straw and helping maintain fertility of soil. It costs around Rs 1.15 lakh.
It was informed in a meeting chaired by Dhankar that a subsidy of Rs 50,000 is given on happy seeder machine by the state agriculture department. The department has 28 happy seeders of its own, whereas 65 happy seeder machines have been made available to farmers on subsidy. The minister suggested that happy seeders might be taken on rent from farmers having these machines, so as to get soing done by others.
While reviewing the issue of paddy stubble, Dhankar stressed the need to get a long term scheme prepared with the help of scientists to find a permanent solution to the problem of paddy stubble. He said that help of scientists of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar or Indian Council for Agricultural Research could be sought.
Principal Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, Dr Abhilaksh Likhi apprised the minister that a seminar-cum-workshop would be organized at Indian Council for Agricultural Research, New Delhi so as to prepare a long term scheme to sort out this issue.