Palwinder Singh, resident of Gurdaspur, is one of those farmers who bought a ‘baler’ last year and then started making bundles of straw and selling them to businessmen. Baler is a machine used in agriculture, which is attached to a tractor and collects the stubble in the fields and makes it into bales. “Last year we sold 1,400 tonnes of stubble and this year we are expecting to sell 3,000 tonnes,” Palvinder said. He collects stubble from nearby villages and then supplies it to a power generation company in Pathankot.
Palvinder said he and his partners have received all their investment amount within a year and are expected to have a turnover of Rs 15 lakh this year. He sells stubble at the rate of Rs 180 per quintal. Gurpreet Singh of Malerkotla is another farmer, who is earning from paddy straw with the help of baler. “Last year, I sold stubble worth Rs 20 lakh and saved Rs 7-8 lakh after deducting all expenses,” Gurpreet said. He sold 1,200 tonnes of stubble last year and this year he aims to sell 5,000 tonnes of stubble.
