Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government would spray bio-decomposer free of cost on more than 5,000 acres of land to decompose stubble.

Informing about a high-level meeting with officials and experts on Wednesday, the minister said so far, 841 farmers have already signed for the initiative aimed at curbing pollution and promoting sustainable farming practices in both Basmati and non-Basmati paddy fields within the capital.

To address the issue of pollution during the winter season, Rai said the Kejriwal Government is constantly working on a winter action plan holding meetings with different departments for consultations.

“All the departments have been assigned different responsibilities on 21 focus points regarding the Winter Action Plan, under which the Environment Department will prepare a joint action plan. Stubble burning, included in this year’s 21 focus points, also plays an important role in increasing the problem of pollution in the winter season,” he said.

He further said that this year, the government would spray bio-decomposer free of cost on more than 5,000 acres of land to decompose the stubble. “Right now, the farmers are being asked to fill out the forms. If needed, it will be sprayed in more fields. The Pusa Institute is providing bio-decomposer to the Delhi government,” the minister said.

Pointing out that paddy is cultivated in some parts of Delhi, he said, “To prevent pollution from stubble burning in Delhi, the government sprayed bio-decomposer free of cost last year and the result has been quite positive. The spray decomposed the stubble in the fields and thereby increased the fertility of the soil.”

“Another problem faced by the farmers is the time gap between harvesting of paddy crops and sowing of wheat which is short. To address the issue, the government has started the preparations for spraying in time so that there is no delay in the whole exercise and the farmers can get better results,” the minister said.

He informed that the Agriculture Department has been instructed to get the forms for the spraying of bio-decomposer filled by the farmers as soon as possible. These forms include the details of the farmer, how many acres of land he wants to spray, and the time of harvesting of the crop. The farmers will also enter the date of spraying in the form so that arrangements for spraying can be made in their fields accordingly.

“Spraying of bio-decomposer will start from the last week of September. For this, necessary instructions have been given to all the concerned departments,” he added.