Why Patiala's farmers are reluctant to use crop waste management machines

This year the Punjab government has distributed 29,000 rotavators, Happy Seeders and Super Seeders to farmers

Mukhtiar Singh has a Happy Seeder harvesting machine sitting in a garage at the 40-acre farm that he manages in Naraingarh village in Nabha, Patiala. The tractor-mounted machine cuts and lifts the paddy straw, thereby avoiding the need for stubble burning.  But when he harvested the paddy crop on his farm this year, Mukhtiar Singh decided to give the machine a miss.

“This machine was bought for almost Rs 1,80,000, but after using it last year, I haven’t moved it an inch this time,” says Singh. The Happy Seeder not only cuts paddy stubble — simultaneously, it also  levels the