Over 25,000 farmers in Punjab and Haryana, covering more than 5,00,000 acres, have enrolled for the programme
nurture.farm, an integrated technology-led solutions provider for sustainable agriculture globally and a part of the OpenAg network of UPL, announced the programme to end stubble burning practices in the states of Punjab and Haryana by replacing the matchstick with a spray service for the PUSA decomposer, a bioenzyme developed by the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI). It decomposes the stubble within 20-25 days after spraying and turns it into manure, further improving the soil quality. The company has signed up over 5,00,000 acres in this programme and onboarded more than 25,000 farmers who will be availing of this sustainable agriculture practice free of cost.
Jai Shroff, Global CEO, UPL, said, “We are excited about the initiative, and we believe this will go a long way in benefiting both the farmers and society-at-large. Our commitment to sustainability remains unparalleled. Through OpenAg, UPL is creating a network that changes the way a whole industry thinks and works and will help make the agricultural process more sustainable.”
Dhruv Sawhney, COO and Business Head, nurture.farm said, “Partnering with IIM Rohtak, we have developed an entire ecosystem where the farmers can register for the service via our nurture.farm app and avail our large spraying machines to decompose their stubble. Offering the service free of cost incentivises the farmers to adopt practices that ensure sustainable outcomes, which is the core of all our services at nurture.farm.”
The protocol verification and oversight of the project have been developed in collaboration with IIM-Rohtak. Prof Dheeraj Sharma, Director, IIM Rohtak said, “By devising a framework to produce, procure, and make the PUSA spray available at the grassroots level, we are confident about putting an end to this unhealthy practice. We are excited to embark on this journey of sustainability and to track its impact on the environment, health, and the farm.”
When practised for a while, it considerably increases the soil’s nutrient health and microbial activity, ensuring better yield at reduced input costs for the farmers and organic produce for the consumers. nurture.farm plans to scale up the operations to end stubble burning in the states of Punjab and Haryana in the next three years.
