Chandigarh, June 26 : To minimise stubble burning, Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Khudian on Wednesday said a Rs 500 crore action plan for providing machinery has been prepared for the paddy harvest this year.

He said the department has received 21,511 applications from farmers, co-operative societies, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and panchayats to avail subsidies on Crop Residue Management (CRM) machinery during the Kharif season.

The farmers have applied for 63,697 machines.

Individual farmers can avail 50 per cent subsidy on the cost of CRM equipment, while 80 per cent subsidy is for co-operative societies, FPOs and panchayats.

Under the scheme, the minister said super SMS harvester, super seeder, surface seeder, smart seeder, happy seeder, paddy straw chopper, shredder, mulcher, hydraulic reversible mould board plough and zero-till drill for in-situ management and baler and rake in ex-situ machines are being made available on a subsidy.

A total of 1,30,000 CRM machines have been provided to farmers from 2018-19 to 2023, Khudian said, adding the Agriculture Department would also launch an information education and communication campaign to educate and train farmers about technologies for the management of biomass.

He asked department officials to ensure transparency and strict action would be taken against violation of rules and regulations.

/IANS