Chandigarh: Punjab agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said the AAP government has provided Rs 1,325.35 crore in farm machinery over the past four years, facilitating the deployment of 94,456 Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines across the state. He said the initiative has contributed to a nearly 90 per cent decline in farm fire incidents, which fell from 49,922 in 2022 to 5,114 in 2025.Khudian said farmers already procuring 22,763 CRM machines for the 2026-27 cycle with nearly Rs 201 crore in subsidy. This marks a 73% increase compared to the 13,147 machines supplied during the entire previous year, he said.Providing a year-wise breakdown of the drive, the agriculture minister said that a subsidy of Rs 279.96 crore was disbursed in 2022-23 for 27,250 machines, Rs 168.88 crore in 2023-24 for 13,179 machines, Rs 259.81 crore in 2024-25 for 18,117 machines and Rs 415.7 crore in 2025-26 for 13,147 machines.Khudian appealed farmers to make optimum use of the subsidised machinery to protect the environment and public health. He said the early procurement of over 22,000 machines for the 2026-27 cycle ensures Punjab is fully prepared well in time, while enabling farmers to manage paddy straw scientifically without burning.Khudian said 75% of Custom Hiring Centre (CHC) funds have been earmarked for Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) to empower small and marginal farmers, while Rs 6 crore has been allocated for bio-decomposer application under a massive IEC campaign.
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