Fire being set to dry grass after harvest

Mancherial : The practice of farmers burning dry grass after paddy harvest has become a threat to the environment. Due to the gradual decrease in livestock farming in villages, the need for grass storage is decreasing. Moreover, large paddy stick stalks are left in the fields as harvesting is being done with ma-chines.

Farmers are burning the dry grass and stalks in the fields for the cultivation of the next crop. This is causing serious damage to the soil as well as the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, agricultural officials are watching this happen and turning a blind eye. Many people accuse farmers of setting fire to paddy stick stalks due to lack of awareness. There is criticism that the concerned officials are not conducting awareness programmes for farmers at the field level.

People are angry that the district agricultural officials are negligent. Experts criticise that agricultural officials are limited to information from daily newspapers, and that the district agricultural machinery is too busy organising awareness programmes for farmers in villages at the field level.