category Regional, chandigarh, , tags Regional, chandigarh, , DW BUREAU Chandigarh Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said stubble management is the need of the hour and asserted that his government has taken concrete steps to reduce the incidents of paddy straw burning in the state. We will leave no stone unturned to transform the stubble burning challenges into wealth creating opportunities, he said while addressing a workshop organized on the topic Parali-Ek Punji: Efficient Paddy Stubble Management - Need of the hour . An official statement quoting Khattar said stubble burning cases reduced by 40 per cent in Haryana. An incentive amount of Rs 2,500 per tonne on stubble along with other subsidies is being given by the state government to the farmers, he said. Khattar said the Haryana government s new policies aimed to create a conducive environment for private investment in paddy straw-based biomass power projects, compress biogas plants, waste-to-energy plants, brick kilns, packaging materials, biofuels, etc., to constructively utilise the stubble. He said crop residues are being utilized through various machines and decomposers. Through all these initiatives, we are ensuring that the income of the farmers can be increased through the stubble, he added. Haryana through its ambitious Meri Pani Meri Virasat scheme, the government is promoting crop diversification which has substantially supported in conserving water and benefited the farmers at a large scale, said the CM, adding that the farmers have started opting for crops that consume less water. Khattar said to control stubble burning, the state government has implemented a framework that includes in-situ crop residue management, ex-situ management, effective monitoring, enforcement, and a wide reach of information education and communication (IEC) activities is also being ensured. The state government has also formulated a special framework for stubble management to reduce pollution, added the CM. He said incentive and subsidies on straw management equipment are given to the farmers for making stubble bales. Besides this, farmers are being given a 50 per cent subsidy on equipment for crop residue management and an 80 per cent subsidy on custom hiring centres, he said. The farmers should support the state government for this noble cause by not burning the paddy straw. It is the need of the hour for protecting the environment of the state, Khattar said. He also said that two lakh metric tonnes of paddy straw will be consumed in the bio-gas plant to be installed in Panipat and more such initiatives are on the cards. (editor dailyworld.in)