Haryana makes straw management system mandatory for harvesting paddy

Haryana Pollution Control Board has made it mandatory for farmers in the state to attach ‘super straw management system’ with their combine harvesters while harvesting paddy. The attachment of the straw management system with the self-propelled combine harvesters in the state would contain the “cause of air pollution arising from the burning of paddy straws by the farmers in open field. Typically, farmers in Punjab and Haryana use only combine harvesters for kharif paddy, which leaves stubble over a foot high. Harvesting this stubble manually is labour-intensive and time-consuming, leading farmers to resort to burning the residue. Burning of stubble from the harvested crop leads to severe smog in parts of north India, especially Delhi