Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh

In a public meeting held in the RMP Inter College’s playground in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district yesterday (September 20), farmer leader Rakesh Tikait announced that on October 1 the farmers who are protesting the farm laws since last year, will launch a separate stir to demand compensation for not burning the parli (paddy stubble).

“Farmers are being exploited under the garb of preventing stubble burning. They will demand that the district authorities buy the stubble at Rs 250 per quintal (100 kilogrammes),” he said. Tikait heads Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the coalition of more than 40 farmer unions that have been protesting against the three farm laws which were passed in September, last year.

Stubble-burning in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh has become an annual menace in Delhi. Smoke from the burning stubble seriously aggravates the national capital’s air pollution. The air quality in Delhi deteriorates to alarming levels in the harvest months from October to December due to millions of farmers burning the stubble. 

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The harvesting of the paddy crop is to commence from October 1, and according to  Tikait, protests will be organised across the country to raise the issue of stubble burning that follows the harvest, in order to clear the fields and ready them for the next crop.

Stubble-burning – the easier and cheaper option 

Meanwhile, farmers say that the burden of saving the environment is being thrust upon them despite their economic vulnerabilities.

Trying to rid the land of burning without burning is expensive business, besides being time consuming, Rajendra Singh, a farmer from Lakhimpur Kheri district’s Atkhona Salarpur village told Gaon Connection.

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“Stubble burning is actually the easiest and the most cost-effective option for farmers. If the government wants us to refrain from burning it then it should also think about the costs sustained in treating this paddy residue in an environment-friendly manner,” Rajendra Singh said.

“Apart from the cost of employing manual labour to collect the stubble, we also have to spend extra diesel in order to plough the field. The tractor takes longer to negotiate the paddy residue left behind in the soil.  The longer it takes the tractor to plough, higher is the amount of diesel consumed. Who will pay for it,” Rajendra Singh demanded to know.

If they don’t burn the stubble, it takes farmers almost twice as long to plough an acre of field. 

Meanwhile, in his address to the cultivators, Tikait also spoke about the nationwide strike on September 27. 

The strike was announced by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on September 5 and is expected to witness the suspension of functioning of shops, government offices, public transport and farmers’ markets.

While appealing to the farmers to intensify their agitation against the farm laws, Tikait also instructed that all demonstrations must adhere to peaceful measures.

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“The rivalries between political parties shall not be allowed to affect the farmers’ stir. Also, shuffling the chief ministers of the states will have no effect on our struggle against the farm laws,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tikait warned, “If the district  authorities fail to buy the stubble, the farmers will dump it outside the homes of the District Magistrates, ADM (Additional District Magistrate) and the local patwari (rural revenue officer).” 

Read the report in Hindi

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