NEW DELHI: Gopal Rai, Minister of Environment, Forest and Wildfire, Government of Delhi, said the government would spray bio-decomposer solution on almost 5,000 acres of rice fields in Delhi this year to reduce stubble burning. The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) created a bio-decomposer solution that speeds up the decomposition of stubble by converting it into manure over the course of 15 to 20 days, decreasing the requirement to burn the stubble off the fields as is done every year in the winter. The spraying of the solution will begin in the first week of October, according to Rai, who on Tuesday toured the institute’s production facilities. He added that the government will use the bio decomposer that the institute developed in powder form.
Representatives from the revenue and agriculture departments have been roped in to form 21 teams for the spraying process. The government would spray the solution for free on all the basmati and non-basmati paddy farms inside Delhi, according to Rai.
Over the past three years, the Delhi government has pushed for the use of a bio-decomposer solution as an alternate method of addressing the issue of stubble burning. In Delhi, the solution was sprayed on almost 4,300 acres of land owned by 844 farmers last year, while 1,935 acres owned by 310 farmers were treated in 2020. One of the 15 areas of emphasis in the AAP government’s winter action plan to reduce air pollution this year is controlling stubble burning.