Stubble Burning: Some Sustainable Management Practices to Overcome

 

Stubble Burning

 Stubble burning is the deliberate lighting of the post-crop straw on fire. Burning paddy and wheat straws by farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and some areas of Uttar Pradesh has been recognised as a major contributor to air pollution in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). Farmers in Punjab and Haryana burned about 23 million tonnes of paddy straw in their fields in late September and early October each year after the crop was harvested because they thought it was a cheap method of waste disposal and would shorten the time between harvesting and preparing the land for the following crop (Wheat, mustard, gram, etc.).

The smoke from burning straws creates a cloud of pollutants that can be seen from space and has been referred to as a "poison cloud" in Delhi, leading to the declaration of an emergency about air pollution. The Delhi Government was fined Rs. 2 lakhs by the NGT (National Green Tribunal) for failing to submit an action plan offering incentives and infrastructure support to farmers to deter them from burning crop leftovers and avoid air pollution. When paddy is harvested with a combination harvester and thresher, a sizable portion of the crop is left behind in the field as straw and stubble that does not mix with soil.This limits how farms can prepare the area and plant wheat as a subsequent crop. In addition, residual straw and stubble land does not disintegrate due to the limited window of 10-15 days between paddy harvest and wheat sowing season, and farmers view its clearance as an uneconomical activity. Farmers' shortsighted actions include burning the paddy stubble on the ground so that it can be used for practical farming activities. Out of the 35 million tonnes of paddy stubble generated last year, farmers in Punjab and Haryana burned around 40% of it, according to one estimate.

A farmer burns paddy stubbles in a field on the outskirts of the Ahmedabad

Hazardous Effects of Stubble Burning-

1.The burning of stubble poses a serious threat to the air quality of the exposed environment. Air quality is considerably affected by agricultural burning due to the emission of aerosols and gaseous pollutants.

2.Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) as well as other micronutrients are removed from the soil by burning the stubble. Additionally, it raises the soil's temperature to around 42 degrees Celsius, killing or displacing significant soil microorganisms at a depth of roughly 2.5 cm. This results in an additional cost for restoring soil fertility through the use of fertiliser or compost.

3.Emissions from stubble fires have a direct effect on weather and climate through the release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) which may potentially lead to global warming. It is reported about 10% of the total annual greenhouse gas emissions in the world are contributed by the agricultural sector.

4.The development of a nation's economy is impacted by air pollution in addition to its effects on human health and the ecosystem. The amount of tourists visiting Delhi has decreased by about 25–30% in recent years as a result of the state's economy being negatively impacted by rising air pollution levels.

Management Practices to reduce Stubble Burning -

The main administrative bodies that regulate emissions and promote air quality in India are the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and its subsidiaries at the state level, which are the Board's main administrative body’s coordinates to monitor and control environmental pollution. In India, although both the center and state governments have encouraged alternatives, for example by promoting the use of new machines and technologies, farmers have been reluctant to adopt them. Some of the key practices that have to be adopted for sustainable management of the crop residue by the farmers are as below:

Decomposing of the Straw-The crop stubbles (if managed properly) could provide immense economic benefits to the famers and protect the environment from severe pollution.

1.Pusa Bio-Decomposer: The ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa has developed a ‘Pusa Decomposer’, a microbial capsule that can decompose straw in the field within 10-15 days of application. This works on stubble with soil and changes straw into manure by accelerating the decomposition process and making it easy to plough the soil. It costs less than Rs 1,000 per acre. 

Pusa Decomposer

 

2.Use as fodder -In India, it has been common practice to use paddy straw as feed for livestock. However, only 7 percent of rice and 45 percent of wheat stubble are been used for animal feed in Punjab. Some primary survey shows farmers use dry fodder in form of wheat husk and hay fodder as feed which costs Rs. 350-500 per quintal and if the paddy stubble is used, it costs just Rs. 100 per quintal.

fodder

 3.Use machinery like the Happy Seeder to remove the stubble. The government should make these machines available and economically viable for farmers.

4.Bio-fuel Production -Farm2Energy, a startup that claims to have found the solution to stubble burning, urges the farmers of Punjab to take a vow to not put paddy stubble on fire and convert it into biofuel instead. The organization offers a fully mechanized solution to paddy straw burning. It provides an integrated biomass supply solution for the advanced biofuels, biopower, and bio-based products industries, by processing paddy straw, corn stover, sugarcane trash, and wheat straw, and wheat silage.

 5.  Biomass power plants-The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has actively supported the biomass power sector, including provisioning for a high feed-in tariff of Rs.8/ KWh, but created capacity is relatively low. A sharp decline in solar and wind tariffs seems to act as constraint. The costs of establishing a year-round “bankable” supply chain for paddy straw bales is another deterrent.