At a time when most farmers and farm organisations in Punjab are seeking financial assistance to manage paddy stubble to prevent burning, a group of small and marginal farmers in Gurdaspur district has shown that collective action can yield sustainable and cost-effective results. By establishing a Custom Hiring Centre (CHC) under the Crop Residue Management (CRM) scheme, these farmers have created a model of community-led environmental stewardship to help tackle the state’s persistent stubble-burning problem.

The Sahari Custom Hiring Centre — operated by around 250 members of Young Progressive Farmers’ Producer Organisation (FPO), mostly small and marginal from Dhaliwal block in Gurdaspur — manages crop residue for over 150 small and marginal farmers, and hundreds of medium and large-scal

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