New Delhi, Aug 11 (IANS): A low cost capsule, the Pusa Decomposer Technology developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) for crop residue management, has been provided to the farmers of 25 states covering over 10,000 hectares of land during 2020-21.

"During 2020, Pusa Decomposer was provided for 5,730 ha area to the governments of Uttar Pradesh (3,700 ha), Punjab (200 ha), Delhi (800 ha), West Bengal (510 ha), Telangana (100 ha) apart from the Confederation of Indian Industry (100 ha) and NGOs and farmers (320 ha)," Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

IARI has licensed this technology to 12 companies for mass multiplication and marketing of Pusa Decomposer. In addition, ICAR-IARI has produced about 20,000 packets of Pusa Decomposer at its own facility for use by the farmers.

In-situ application of Pusa Decomposer on paddy residue was demonstrated at the farmers' fields in several villages of Punjab and Haryana, the minister said, adding that a slogan of "jalana nahi, galana hai" has been publicised among the farmers.

A field visit at farmers' fields in Delhi was organised in association with the Delhi government for the scientists of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, and Haryana Agricultural University (HAU), Hisar, along with the progressive farmers of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab to assess the decomposition of paddy straw using the Pusa Decomposer, Tomar informed the House.

Besides, regular interactive sessions with farmers through online meetings, webinars, WhatsApp groups have been conducted to make them aware of this technology and to wean them away from stubble burning.

A weekly You Tube channel of IARI named 'Pusa Samachar' also regularly ran a programme on Pusa Decomposer technology for the benefit of the farmers, the Lok Sabha was told.