'Steps taken for reduction in paddy straw generation yielding positive results'

NEW DELHI: Steps taken towards reduction in paddy straw generation are yielding positive results with the total paddy area and straw generation reduced compared to last year, the government claimed on Friday.

"The total paddy area in the states of Haryana, Punjab and eight NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh have come down by 7.72 per cent during the current year as compared to last year.

"Similarly, total paddy straw generation from the non-basmati variety is likely to be reduced by 12.42 per cent during the current year as compared to the previous year," a release from the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) said.

Both Central and State governments of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have been taking measures to diversify crops as well as to reduce the use of PUSA-44 variety of paddy.

"Burning of paddy straw from the non-basmati variety of crops is the prime concern. Crop diversification and moving away from PUSA-44 variety with short duration High Yielding Varieties are part of the framework and action plan for control of stubble burning," the release said.

As per data received from the state governments of these states, the total amount of paddy straw generated this year is likely to come down by 1.31 million tonnes (from 20.05 million tonnes in 2020 to 18.74 million tonnes in 2021) in Punjab; by 0.8 million tonnes (from 7.6 million tonnes in 2020 to 6.8 million tonnes in 2021) in Haryana, and by 0.09 million tonnes (from 0.75 million tonnes in 2020 to 0.67 million tonnes in 2021) in the eight NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh. (IANS)

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