Crop fire incidents on the rise

Crop fire incidents on the rise
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 20
As incidents of fire in agricultural fields have been increasing with the rise in temperature, the Agriculture Department has come up with an advisory for the farmers.

Though no concrete solution to this problem has been devised so far, the department claims that their advisory would definitely help check the problem to some extent.

"Keeping the fire incidents in mind, we have some suggestions for the farmers which will definitely reduce the chances of spark," said Ajay Khajuria, director, agriculture.

He added, "A small spark can reduce the ripe and mature crop to ashes. We have been spreading awareness among the farmers by giving them knowledge in fields and are also planning to publish advertisements in newspapers".

Khajuria said they had suggested some dos and don't for this purpose.

Speaking further about these suggestions, he said, "It has been learnt from the past incidents that farmers stack their crop under electricity wires, which is the major reason of fire. So, they should avoid this practice to save their crop".

"The farmers should not make heaps more than 6 m in height and keep a distance of minimum 20 ft between two heaps."

During the harvesting time, the farmers should store water in the fields so that in case of fire, they can have something in their hand to douse the flames, he added.

Besides, in case of fire, the farmers should immediately call 101 for calling fire emergency.

He further maintained that some incidents of fire also happened due to the burning of the crop residue in the fields. "So, the farmers should shun this practice as it is very harmful for their fields," said Khajuria.

Agriculture Dept issues advisory

Dos

n Keep sufficient gap between two stacks, at least 20 ft

n Keep night vigil

n Store adequate water in fields to douse the flames

n Immediatly call "101' or '100', in case of an emergency

n Keep green branches available in fields to douse the flames

Don’ts

n Smoke near mature crops in the fields

n Operate any chullah near stacks or dry grass

n Carry any inflammable material in fields

n Stack under electricity wires

n Prepare stacks/heaps more than 6 m in height and 20,000 kg of weight