‘I am a friendly insect… you try to kill me’: Mann to farmers at PAU

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann recently expressed that he does not support filing of FIRs against farmers for stubble burning. He emphasized that paddy growers should be given a cash incentive for not setting their crop residue on fire. The remarks came as the paddy harvesting season in Punjab begins. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is a major contributor to air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region.

Many farmers resort to burning their fields to quickly clear the crop residue before the Rabi crop (wheat) follows in October and November. Mr. Mann highlighted that Punjab's contribution to the central pool of paddy is 180 lakh metric tonnes, but the Centre does not consider the amount of stubble in that quantity. He urged the Centre to give financial incentives to farmers for managing paddy stubble instead of registering FIRs.

Mr. Mann also pointed out that farmers themselves do not wish to burn paddy stubble as the smoke affects them directly. He expressed displeasure with the blame directed towards Punjab for air pollution, questioning if it's only their smoke in the air.