Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will initiate the process of preparing the Pusa Institute developed bio-decomposer solution on 24 September for spraying free of cost on Delhi’s farms to prevent
stubble burning. The solution will be ready for use by October 5.

Giving this information on Monday, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the Union Environment Minister was approached for a meeting with him and the CM in this regard, but the Central minister had so far not given time. Rai appealed to him to take cognisance of the grave issue.

He said the smoke caused by stubble burning would engulf the entire North Indian region as it happened every year. If the states do not act fast, they will not be able to use the bio-decomposer solution in
time.

He informed that the Kejriwal government was fully prepared with its mechanism to spray the bio decomposer and farmers just needed to fill a form to get the spraying done. The entire process will be monitored by scientists and experts of the Pusa Institute and the Agriculture Department of the Delhi government. A 25-member committee will look after the implementation of the process in Delhi.

Rai said, “The Delhi government is constantly holding meetings with various concerned departments to work on the Winter Action Plan for curbing air pollution. We are certain we will finalise the Winter
Action Plan by 30 September.”

“Last time when we were preparing to spray the bio-decomposer on stubble, several farmers told us that the preparations should have started a little earlier so that they could sow the next crop on time.
Then we had begun preparing the spray solution on 5 October. However, this time, the Delhi government will start preparing the solution on 24 September. The solution will be prepared at the Horticulture
Department Nursery in Kharkhari Nahar. The preparations will take place centrally at this location and by 29 September we will double the quantity of the solution. By 5 October, the bio-decomposer will be
ready to be sprayed. We will provide the spraying solution from this location to wherever it is required in Delhi.”

Rai informed that last year, the bio-decomposer was sprayed on almost 2,000 acres of farmland of the non-basmati paddy crop. During the audit, the farmers reached out to us asking for the solution to be
implemented over the harvester-cut basmati paddy crop as well. So, this year it has been decided that irrespective of the paddy being basmati or non-basmati if the crop has been cut using harvesters and
there is stubble leftover in the fields, the government will spray the bio-decomposer solution over the farms for free.

“About 10 litres of spray is required for an acre of land. For this much spraying to be done, four capsules developed by the Pusa Institute are needed. The capsules are mixed with 250-gram jaggery (gud) and 150-gram flour (besan). The mixture is then cooked and stored for five days after which the quantity of the solution is doubled. About Rs 25 lakh was spent last year, but this year, since the area has doubled, the cost will also be double. But it is an extremely cost-effective solution.” Rai added.