The government of India’s northern state Punjab has banned the cultivation of a particular rice variety within the state in a bid to curb air pollution in the national capital, particularly during the winter months.
The farmers growing Pusa44 used to indulge in burning its stubble, which was said to be one of the main causes of air pollution in Delhi during winter months.
The Punjab government said incidents of stubble burning would come down by at least 50 percent after banning the growing of Pusa44.
Farmers in Punjab usually burn Pusa44 stubble in October-end to quickly clear their farmlands to grow wheat. As per official estimates, rice is grown on nearly 3.2 million hectares of land every year.
The ban is supposed to come into effect from the next year, but the farming community is already up in arms against the state government’s decision, saying it would result in financial losses for them.
