With an aim to bring the stubble burning to zero level in the state, the Punjab government has formulated an action plan worth Rs 500 crore to provide farmers with the latest CRM machinery on subsidy while employing other strategies to manage the paddy straw efficiently.
Gurmeet Singh Khudian (photo:Facebook)
With an aim to bring the stubble burning to zero level in the state, the Punjab government has formulated an action plan worth Rs 500 crore to provide farmers with the latest CRM machinery on subsidy while employing other strategies to manage the paddy straw efficiently.
Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said on Sunday that the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department has invited online applications from the state farmers to avail subsidies on the procurement of Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines. The applications can be submitted through online portal agrimachinerypb.com from April 22 to May 12, 2025.
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Encouraging the farmers to take advantage of the scheme, Khudian said the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Punjab government is offering a 50 per cent subsidy to individual farmers and an 80 per cent subsidy to farmer groups, cooperative societies and Gram Panchayats for the purchase of CRM machines.
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This initiative aims at making CRM machinery more accessible to farmers, promoting its adoption and ultimately contributing to a cleaner environment, he added.
The agriculture minister said the subsidy would be available on CRM machinery include super SMS, Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, Surface Seeder, Smart Seeder, Zero till Drill, Baler, Rake, shrub master or Rotary Slasher, Paddy straw chopper, shredder or mulcher, crop reaper, hydraulic reversible mould board plough.
Dr Basant Garg, Administrative Secretary, Agriculture Department, said that Punjab witnessed significant progress in crop residue management. The state government distributed 17,600 subsidised CRM machines to individual farmers, cooperative societies, and panchayats during the previous season.
Additionally, 1,331 Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) were 0stablished to facilitate CRM practices. These efforts resulted in a 70 per cent decrease in fire incidents during the previous season compared to 2023, with only 10,909 incidents recorded compared to 36,663 in 2023.
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