New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS): The Punjab and Delhi governments have joined hands to combat stubble burning by managing the straw in the fields by spraying Pusa bio-decomposer on 5,000 acres in Punjab as a pilot project.

In a press statement on Thursday, Punjab Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said high-level meetings were held in New Delhi on the issue.

Earlier, Dhaliwal had met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal regarding the management of the pollution caused by stubble burning in New Delhi, who assured full support to him.

Later, he held deliberations with his Delhi's counterpart Gopal Roy. He said this project would be done jointly by the governments of both states.

The minister said under the process, Pusa bio-decomposer will be sprayed on the stubble following which the stubble gets mixed in the soil hence the farmers will not need to burn the stubble.

The Punjab government has made adequate preparations to prevent the pollution caused by paddy stubble under which various types of equipment are being provided to the farmers on subsidy, awareness drives and surveillance teams have been formed in all districts.

Targeting the Union government for turning down cash incentive proposal to farmers for not burning stubble, he called the step anti-farmer, anti-Punjab and said that the state government had proposed to give Rs 2,500 per acre to paddy growers.

He said a massive awareness drive would be launched in the rural belt of Punjab comprising officials of the Rural Development and Panchayat to persuade farmers to manage the stubble.