CHANDIGARH: From waste to wealth – that’s easier said than done. Ask Gurpreet Singh Kuthala (26), a farmer from Ferozepur Kuthala village in Punjab’s Malerkotla district. He’d tell you how he has earned his money by selling paddy straw, which most farmers consider a liability, to be burnt quickly for the next crop to be sowed within 15-20 days. For Delhiites, it’d mean some riddance from poisonous air.
What the young farmer does is sell the straw bales to a biogas plant that produces sustainable energy and fertilizer. Last year he earned around Rs 16 lakh by selling 12,000 quintals paddy straw bales. This year he hopes to earn over Rs 1 crore by selling 28,000 quintals of straw.
Kuthala bought ex-situ machines, a straw rake and a baler provided by the Punjab government on a 50% subsidy. Kuthala cultivates 40 acres of agricultural land most of which is on lease. He then signed a contract with Sangrur RNG Biogas Plant, Panjgaraian, to supply 12,000-quintal paddy straw bales.
This season, the young farmer with the help of his friend Sukhwinder Singh has bought four new machines to supply 18,000-quintal paddy straw bales at Rs 160 per quintal plus Rs 10 per bale transportation to the
Sangrur plant.
Kuthala says he will store around 20,000 quintal bales from his own land and other villages and will supply them to paper mills and bio-CNG plants in the offseason.Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian has urged all farmers to take inspiration from Kuthala and be a part of the state government’s anti-crop residue burning campaign.