HDFC Bank and CII have launched a crop residue management project in Punjab to prevent stubble burning. The project will focus on two blocks, Jagraon and Khanna in Ludhiana district, and will aim to propagate the adoption of improved biomass management methods among farmers.
HDFC Bank and CII, in collaboration with the District Administration of Ludhiana, organized two workshops to spread awareness on the prevention of stubble burning in Jagraon and Khanna. Around 500 farmers attended the workshops, where they were trained on the adoption of environment-friendly methods of stubble management.
The workshops were inaugurated by Ms. Manjeet Kaur, SDM Jagraon, at Jagraon and by Tarunpreet Singh Sond, MLA Khanna and Baljinder Singh Dhillon, SDM Khanna at Khanna.
In addition to the workshops, the initiative will also provide farm machinery to farmer co-operative societies to address the machinery requirements of small farmers. The project will also promote better straw management techniques through baling, aggregation, and supply of straw to nearby industries. Small village-level plants will also be set up to process straw into pellets and organic fertilizers.
Nusrat Pathan, Head-CSR, HDFC Bank, said that the initiative aims to help Punjab farmers adopt better stubble management practices and shift to more environment-friendly methods. Awareness and better supply of modern machinery will go a long way in keeping our surroundings clean and green, she said.
Mr Chandrakant Pradhan, Lead – Climate Change, CII said that when farmers recycle stubble in the soil instead of burning it, it improves the farm ecology in multiple ways. CII is facilitating a public-private partnership to galvanize the adoption of environment-friendly practices in the farm sector so that the stubble burning problem can be solved in the long term.
The project is a part of HDFC Bank’s CSR initiatives under the aegis of Parivartan. Parivartan has so far cumulatively impacted over 34 lakh lives in Punjab.HDFC Bank spent Rs 820.89 crore on CSR initiatives in FY23, reaching over 9.93 crore beneficiaries.
CII has adopted 430 villages in Punjab and Haryana to create awareness and promote sustainable agricultural practices. This is the first time CII is partnering with HDFC Bank on this issue.
