Sustainable Approach to Tackle Stubble Burning in India

Table of Contents

• What is stubble burning?
• Reasons behind Stubble Burning in India
• Effects of Stubble Burning

• • Air Pollution
  • Less Fertile Soil

• Alternatives to Stubble Burning
• Farm Machinery to Tackle Stubble Burning

• • Straw Reaper
  • Mulcher
  • Hay Rake and Baler
  • Happy Seeder and Super Seeder
  • Zero Till

• Government Initiatives to control Stubble Burning
• Conclusion

What is stubble burning?

In agriculture, the crops residue that remains after grain harvesting is known as stubble. Stubble burning is the process of burning the stubble of the crops such as rice, wheat, and other cereal grains that remains after harvesting to clear the field for the next crop. In India, since 2002, the stubble burning has been identified as a serious problem. Farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh burn an estimated 35 million tonnes of crop waste as a low-cost straw disposal practice to reduce the turnaround time between harvesting and sowing for the first (summer) crop and the second (winter) crop.

Reasons behind Stubble Burning in India

• It is an easier method for the farmers as they cannot afford new technology available to handle the crop residue.
• They do not have the other option to utilize the stubble effectively.
• It is less expensive alternative for the farmers.
• Stubble burning prevents pest infestation and helps to get rid of weeds.

Effects of Stubble Burning

Let’s have a look on the impact of stubble burning on different factors:

Air Pollution

Stubble burning is one of the major contributors to air pollution. Due to stubble burning, toxic pollutants like Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Methane (CH4) emits which are very harmful for the people and the environment. Greenhouse gases like CO2, CO, CH4 and N2O leads to global warming. Methane emissions cause the rise in the temperature thus results in the climate change. In India, stubble burning occurs mostly in winter season (October-November) that is why the air is not clean which leads to the deterioration of Air Quality Index (AQI). This can be seen particularly in the cities like National Capital Region (NCR). The air pollution leads to serious health problems like asthma, dust allergy, skin and eye irritation, etc.

Less Fertile Soil

Stubble burning has a negative effect on soil productivity as it burns all the nutrients of the soil after burning of the husks. It transfers heat into the soil, which causes the soil to lose moisture, thus adversely affecting the soil. Organic matter plays a critical role in the soil productivity in nutrient retention which destroys through stubble burning and leads to the soil degradation. It results in the depletion of the nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK). Agriculture is also gets affected due to stubble burning as the pollutants directly or indirectly affect the soil, plants and sometimes leads to the death of the plant.

Alternatives to Stubble Burning

Farmers can switch to the alternatives to stubble burning that can be resulted in environmentally friendly approach and also helps them to earn additional income. It can be used as:

• Cattle Feed (Fodder)
• Compost Manure
• Ethanol Production
• Biofuel and Biogas Production
• Handicraft Making
• Straw Addition in the Soil

Farm Machinery to tackle Stubble Burning

There are several sustainable alternatives to tackle stubble burning like farm machinery which facilitates the management of the crops without burning. Let’s have a look on how farm machinery can help to tackle this serious problem.

Straw Reaper

Straw reaper machine is a chopper machine used to cut and collect the leftover wheat and paddy stubbles to repurpose them as fodder or raw materials for different uses which promotes sustainability and stop the need to burn stubble. With the use of straw, farmers earn additional income and it helps them to participate in saving the environment.

Mulcher

Mulcher is an agricultural implement helps to cut and shred stubbles and convert them into mulch to be left over on the field. It contributes to the overall growth of the soil by enhancing soil health and fertility.

Hay Rake and Baler

Hay Rake is used to collect and hay straws from windrows for later collection. A baler is used after the hay rake makes a row of crop residues left over by a combine harvester. Thus, a baler raked crop residues into bales that are easy to manage, store and transport.

Happy Seeder and Super Seeder

Happy Seeder is an implement used to sow seeds in the field with standing stubbles while Super Seeder is a 3-in-1 solution used for tilling, sowing seeds and covering seedbed and is best recommended for wheat sowing. It directly touches the root of the soil and sow seeds. It is more expensive than happy seeder because of complex mechanism and higher horsepower requirements. Both machineries eliminate the need for post-harvest burning of crop residues.

Zero Till

Zero Till is an important implement that is used to planting seeds directly into untilled soil or soil with minimal disturbance or without disturbing the soil through tillage. It can be done without burning the residue of previous crop. Hence, it is beneficial in preventing stubble burning.

Government Initiatives to control Stubble Burning

Following are the measures and initiatives taken by the government to control stubble burning in India:

• In 2023, Central Government has given funds of Rs. 3,333 crores under the Crop Residue Management Scheme for management of paddy straw.
• The State Governments of Punjab and Haryana advised by Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR and adjoining areas to mobilize the entire state administrative machinery to take all preventive and corrective measure for control of stubble burning.
• The commission is also monitoring the paddy stubble burning incidents and taking up with State Governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh daily.
• A microbial cocktail technology named “PUSA DECOMPOSER” which is the Bio-Decomposer technique for converting crop stubble into compost is developed by Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). These decomposers increase the soil fertility of the crop and is a good alternative for crop burning.
• In some cases, government provides subsidy to the farmers for investing in machinery like hay rake, baler, super seeder, straw reaper, etc.

Conclusion

Stubble burning is a serious problem which is destroying the environment, human health, and soil health. Air pollution causes health issues like respiratory problems, eye irritation, pulmonary diseases, etc. To tackle stubble burning, farmers can use straw for different purposes, like livestock feed and fodder, biofuel and biogas production, mulching, ethanol production, paper industries, and more. Government should take more and more initiatives to give subsidies and schemes to the farmers which help them buying farm implements so they can easily switch to the alternatives of stubble burning.