Farmers burning stubble won’t get ₹6,000 benefit, can’t sell at MSP: Mohan Yadav

BHOPAL: Farmers in Madhya Pradesh will forfeit their annual ₹6,000 assistance under the Chief Minister Kisan Kalyan Scheme, as well as their ability to sell their produce to the government at the Minimum Support Price (MSP), if they are booked for stubble burning, according to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. The decision will take effect on May 1, according to the chief minister, who announced it during a meeting to review the tax department's operations on Thursday.

The action comes after the state reported a significant increase in stubble burning cases across the country following the wheat harvest. Madhya Pradesh has the most number of crop residue burning incidents, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab. According to government data, Madhya Pradesh reported 24,953 occurrences of crop residue burning as of April 24.

"Madhya Pradesh is primarily an agricultural state." The practice of burning crop residue after harvest causes significant environmental damage, including air pollution and soil erosion. "Stubble burning destroys essential nutrients in the soil and reduces its fertility," he stated at Thursday's meeting, according to a statement released by the government's information and publicity department.