The Union Government has approved 20 hi-tech balers for straw management of paddy in Moga district. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) committee has been constituted under the supervision of the local Deputy Commissioner to purchase these vehicles.
A spokesman of the district administration said a special award of Rs 3 crore had recently been released to the district administration by the Union Government for the management of paddy straw. The baler machines will be purchased from these funds.
President of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Qadian) Nirmal Singh Manunke and farm activist Gulzar Singh Ghal Kalan had asked the district administration to purchase these balers from internationally accredited companies with state-of-the-art technology. “The capacity of the baler machines to make bales of crop residues, particularly the paddy straw, must be high so that maximum area could be covered to benefit more farmers,” they said.
The district administration had already given instructions to the committee in the interest of farmers to procure these balers machines by calling e-tenders to maintain transparency, the spokesman added.
It may be mentioned that farmers could not buy good quality heavy duty baler machines because of its high cost. The machines to be purchased by the district administration could be used collectively by the farmers through the cooperative societies or the village panchayats on rent. The farmers could earn profits by selling the bales of crop residues to bio-energy plants and other industries.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/centres-nod-to-equipment-for-straw-management-304266