Govt to provide 5,000 combine harvesting machines to farmers

Islamabad:The climate change ministry has urged the Punjab government to provide 5,000 Combine Harvesting Machines (CHMs) to decrease the burning of stubble by the farmers in the rice fields.

According to the details, the Punjab government has provided 500 CHMs last year to the local farmers yielded positive results in the respective areas where the burning of stubble reduced to a considerable level.

An official of the climate change ministry said the federal government has extended its full support to the Punjab government to get funds required to set up ten air quality stations and provide CHMs to the farmers to improve air quality in the province. At the early onset of winter, farmers begin preparing the fields to sow wheat, as part of which they start burning the stubble in their fields. The government hopes that the subsidized farm machinery that eliminates the need to burn fields can improve choking air pollution. The official said that the machines include a shredder that breaks down rice stubble and mulches it into the ground and a seed drill - called the Happy Seeder-that follows to sow wheat through the mulch.

A 2018 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation noted that agriculture-mainly rice residue burning- accounts for 20 percent of total air pollutant emissions in the Punjab province.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said that the provision of 500 CHMs yielded good results so the Punjab government should provide 5,000 more such machines to the farmers next year. “We are trying our best to reduce the burning of stubble in the Punjab province but transboundary pollution will continue to damage air quality. So we want to hold a regional conference involving all stakeholders to address this issue on a permanent basis,” he said.