Agro equipment firm introduces technique to end crop burning

New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) Farm machinery maker New Holland Agriculture has introduced straw management techniques -- a combine harvester that can be used with other implements -- which will not just eliminate need of crop-burning but preserve nutrients in soil for future plant growth.

Its machinery such as tractors, combine harvesters with chopper, rakes, balers, happy seeders, shredo mulchers and MB ploughs can be effectively used in the fields, enabling farmers to manage the crop residue instead of burning it, the Italy-based company said on Wednesday.

"The techniques enable paddy straw and other crop residues to be collected for use as biomass fuels and alternate uses," it said in a release.

In just one paddy season, each New Holland baler can help produce electricity for around 900 rural homes for one year, it added.

The project was initiated by Punjab's Agriculture Department in Kallar Majri village in Patiala district to encourage the use of these technologies, it said.

Bimal Kumar, Sales and Marketing Director of New Holland Agriculture, said in Punjab and Haryana alone approximately 35 million tonnes of paddy straw and stubble was burned every year.

"Since starting this project, 1,000 tonnes of crop stubble from 400 acres of farm land in Kallar Majri village has been baled and the practice of burning crop-residue and stubble has been fully eliminated," the release quoted him as saying.

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