NEW DELHI: The Pusa decomposer, a bio-enzyme developed by the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) to decompose stubble, may get some traction this winter as over 25,000 farmers in Punjab and Haryana, covering more than 5,00,000 acres, have enrolled with a company to use it to manage their paddy stubble during post-harvest period in October-November.
Stubble burning episodes every year contribute to deterioration of air quality in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas. Such episodes are mostly reported from Punjab and Haryana where farmers resort to this method to quickly prepare their farms for sowing wheat.
The company, nurture.farm – an integrated technology-led solutions provider for sustainable agriculture globally – has partnered with IARI and IIM Rohtak for developing and scaling the solution under Phase I of the initiative as a pilot project where farmers will get the solution free of cost.
“We have planned to scale up the operations to end stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana in the next three years,” said Dhruv Sawhney, COO and business head, nurture.farm.
Asked how can the company provide free of cost solution to all farmers covering 5.7 million acres of land under paddy in both the states, Sawhney told TOI on Friday that digitally onboarding of farmers for this operation would help company offer different technology-led solutions to them for sustainable farming.
“The efforts will generate carbon credits (from reducing emissions if farmers stop biomass burning and adopt other sustainable practices in farming) and enable market linkages. The entire value chain down the road would be a win-win situation for both farmers and service providers once this model is successful,” said Sawhney.
The Pusa decomposer decomposes stubble within 20-25 days after spraying and turns it into manure, improving the soil quality. Since use of Happy Seeder (a tractor-operated machine for in-situ management of paddy stubble) continues to be an expensive method for majority of the farmers, the cost-effective decomposer can be a popular alternative. One packet of four capsules of Pusa decomposer, costing Rs 20, can be used to make 25 litres of solution that can be used in one hectare (2.5 acres) of land.
“Partnering with IIM Rohtak, we have developed an entire ecosystem where the farmers can register for the service via our nurture.farm app and avail our large spraying machines to decompose their stubble. Offering the service free of cost incentivises the farmers to adopt practices that ensure sustainable outcomes, which is the core of all our services at nurture.farm,” said Sawhney.
The IARI has, so far, licensed its technology to 12 companies for mass multiplication and marketing of the Pusa Decomposer. In addition, the Institute has produced about 20,000 packets of Pusa decomposer at its own facility for use by the farmers.
Last year, Pusa decomposer was provided for use in 5,730 hectares of areas in different states – Uttar Pradesh Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal and Telangana.
“Stubble burning is a major cause of environmental and economic concern. By devising a framework to produce, procure, and make the Pusa spray available at the grassroots level, we are confident about putting an end to this unhealthy practice. We are excited to embark on this journey of sustainability and to track its impact on the environment, health, and the farm,” said Dheeraj Sharma, Director, IIM Rohtak, on partnership with nurture.farm for developing and scaling the solution in Punjab and Haryana.
The company has plans to deploy around 700 spraying machines in both the states.
