Gurgaon: Kaithal has reported the highest number of agricultural fires in Haryana this season, at 1,066, followed by fatehabad (938), Karnal (848), Kurukshetra (518), Ambala (267), Yamunanagar (148) and SANSA (148), according to Data from Haryana Space Applications Center (Harsac).
Kabupas with small rice planting areas, such as Palwal (101), Panipat (99) and Sonipat (70), have also witnessed the incidence of propellers.
Data showed 4,753 cases of fire stumps in the state between September 15 and November 10, which were significantly lower than 7,083 recorded in the same period last year – a drop of almost 33%.
However, this can change, the experts said.
Since the rain lingering until October this time, agricultural fires began to be late and the next few weeks could see an increase as a farmer cleaning their fields for sowing season.
In the last 24 hours, around 200 active fire locations (AFL) have been reported in the state.
“The number of agricultural fires from October 1 to November 6 is lacking when we see data from the last four years.
But after November 6, the fire has increased.
This happened because of the long rainy season this year.
The area might witness a surge in agricultural fires in the next two weeks , “said Anumite Roychowdhury, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Science and Environment Center.
Meanwhile, state agricultural officials, said the effort was carried out to provide subsidized machinery to farmers to manage plant waste.
The agricultural service official in Kaital showed that the number of active fire locations in the district fell from last year 1,418.
“AFL satellite data retrieval is not true all the time.
Also, the fire that has been picked up by a very small satellite that is not spread in 1 hectare or 2 hectares,” said Karam Chand, Deputy Director, the Ministry of Agriculture, Kaital.
Chand added that the surge in agricultural fires is not possible as “all the seeds have been sprinkled for the next harvest now”.
Aditya Pratap Dabas, Deputy Director, Ministry of Agriculture, Karnal, said officials had worked very closely with farmers for plant residual management.
“We have successfully reduced the incidence of agricultural fires so far despite having 1.7 lakh hectares of rice cultivation land, the highest in Haryana.
Until now, we have imposed a fine of Rs 11 Lakh and submitted 72 firs,” he added.
Daba said the actual number of events that burned mounts in Karnal could be less than 848 reported by Harsac as “nearly 200 agricultural locations taken by satellites not identified” by their team.
He added that he did not expect more agricultural fires in the coming days because “wheat has been sprinkled at 50% of the ground”.
Dr.
Virender Singh Arya, Director, Harsac, said the agency that worked on the active agricultural fire incident this year had a standard methodology.
“All agents have been directed to monitor agricultural fires from September 15 to November 30 throughout the country, which will enable us to get a clear picture.
Fires begin later this year and we analyze data every day,” he added.
According to Haryana government data, the total area under the country in the country was 34 lakh hectares last year.
This year, the area where cultivation has occurred has been reduced to 30.4 lakh hectares.
Agricultural officials, therefore, hopes that the burning stump incident will remain low this time compared to last year.