Chandigarh, Sep 14 (PTI) Punjab's agriculture department on Tuesday said it has sanctioned 31,970 agri-machinery and equipment for farmers, primary agriculture cooperatives societies and others for paddy straw management.

Director Agriculture Sukhdev Singh Sidhu said the department has already given approval to applications received from PACS, Panchayats, Customer Hiring Centres and individual farmers for purchasing of 31,970 agri-machines like super seeder, happy seeder, paddy straw chopper etc to combat the stubble burning menace.

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Sidhu, in a statement here, said the department is fully geared up to complete the task of distribution of these implements well before paddy harvesting season.

He informed that 76,626 paddy straw management machines had been given on subsidy to farmers in the last three years.

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The director further said Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Tarn Taran, Moga and Mansa were also identified as hotspot districts, where most of paddy stubble burning cases were reported in the past.

He said that the state government was also making all out efforts to deploy a special task force for enforcement and regulatory measures in these districts so as to ensure the prevention of stubble burning incidents in the ensuing paddy harvesting season.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)