JEYPORE: AT a time when the cattle are struggling for fodder across the tribal region round the year, thousands of tonnes of paddy straw were left to rot in different villages of Koraput district. Lack of interest among the farmers to use and store this agro-waste is said to be the main reason behind the dumping.
Despite generating huge amount of paddy straw, farmers are yet to realise its potential in terms of manure and as a profitable raw material for various industries. While about 10 per cent of paddy straw is used as animal fodder, the rest is mostly burnt in the fields or left to rot in the district.
According to reports, farmers have geared up for kharif paddy harvesting in Jeypore, Kundra, Boipariguda, Lamataput, Borrigumma, Kotpad, Koraput, Dasmantpur and Narayanpatna. Farmers said rice straw is a huge problem for them because they follow mechanised agriculture. “When you harvest paddy by a combine harvester, it leaves a significant length of straw on the field. So crop residues in combine-harvested fields are burnt. Increasing labour cost and low demand for the straw are the other reasons farmers prefer setting fire to their vast swathes of paddy fields after they have harvested the crop. As a result, 90 per cent of generated straw goes waste,” a farmer said.
With the crop cutting work going on in full swing, heaps of straw are found dumped near village roads in the district. Sources said around 10,000 tonne paddy straw are processed every kharif season in the district. Of this, earlier about 15 per cent were used for roofing in kutcha houses and 20 per cent for cattle fodder. Mostly, the paddy straw processed by threshing machines lies unused except for cattle fodder. Similarly, the demand for paddy straw has decreased in rural areas due to implementation of several housing schemes.
As over 50 per cent village houses have been converted into pucca houses, villagers are not taking interest for storage of the agri-waste, said J Ramesh, a farmer of Bamunigaon.
Meanwhile, environment experts have appealed to the district administration to create awareness among the farmers to preserve paddy straw for animal fodder and manure.