Empower farmers to adopt eco-friendly ways

Bishwa Bhaskar Choudhary

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EVERY October-November, stubble burning hits the headlines due to its link with air pollution in north-western India, especially Delhi. This practice poses a serious threat to the environment and human health. It leads to the loss of biodiversity of agricultural lands and the deterioration of soil fertility. Estimates show that burning 1 tonne of paddy straw can result in the loss of around 5.5-kg nitrogen, 2.3-kg phosphorus, 25-kg potassium and 1.2-kg sulphur (other than organic carbon) content from the soil, apart from the loss of beneficial micro-organisms that are essential to maintain soil fertility.

Stubble burning

Globally, residue burning is significantly higher in Asia compared to other continents. The rice-wheat growing belt of South Asian countries is a global hotspot of stubble burning and the same is true for India. The north-western states, especially Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, witness the burning of paddy straw by farmers.

As per studies, over 500 million tonnes (MT) of crop residue is generated annually in India. The generation of crop residue is highest in Uttar Pradesh (60 MT), followed by Punjab (51 MT). Among various crops, cereals generate maximum residue (352 MT), followed by fibres (66 MT), oilseeds (29 MT), pulses (13 MT) and sugarcane (12 MT). Among cereals, rice alone contributes 33% to the crop residue.

Most of the farmers in the rice-wheat growing region of the country use combine harvesters for planting and harvesting the crops. These harvesters generate a huge amount of stubble (around 9 tonnes per hectare) consisting of tall stalks, up to 30 cm high, which are difficult to incorporate into the soil.

The stringent Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, enacted in 2009, prevents the farmers in Punjab and Haryana from planting pre-monsoon paddy crop during April-June and they can only grow paddy around mid-June. Consequently, while they were able to harvest paddy by early October before the Act came into force, they are now only able to do it between late October and mid-November. This leaves them a shorter time window to harvest as well as prepare the field for the rabi crop (wheat), which is why they burn stubble instead of choosing eco-friendly options.

Further, paddy straw is not a preferred livestock feed in north-western India due to its high silica content. The bulky and fluffy nature of rice residue also makes it very difficult for storage. Earlier, brick kilns were one of the largest consumer of rice straw but, since 2019, due to implementation of the law regarding the utilisation of fly-ash for the manufacturing of bricks by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the consumption of straw has been reduced drastically.

The government’s response to stubble burning has ranged from a blanket ban with steep fines to subsidies on alternative technology for in-situ management of crop residue. Ever since the Central Sector Scheme on promoting in-situ management of crop residue was launched in 2018, the Union Ministry of Agriculture has spent around Rs 3 billion for distributing over two lakh subsidised machines to farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi at a subsidised cost (offering a 50% discount to individual farmers and 80% discount to self-help groups). However, the majority of the farmers in the region, mostly small and marginal, continue to resist the use of in-situ machines for a number of reasons — mostly expenses and efficiency-related.

Other praiseworthy efforts that have been tried include the use of the bio-decomposer, making use of paddy straw for generating biogas, or using crop residue pellets with coal for power generation. However, all these interventions have failed to bring the desired results.

It is important to understand that crop residue burning has bigger socioeconomic roots rather than agricultural or waste management ones. Educating and empowering the farming stakeholders are crucially important steps to make a significant impact. Farmers need continuous handholding by trained personnel at the village level for effective implementation and success of any interventions for curbing the menace of stubble burning. The mindset of the farmers needs to be changed by educating them about the cost-benefit aspects of utilising crop residue on agricultural land. Therefore, awareness campaigns should always run parallel to the implementation of a practical solution that empowers them not only technically, but also economically.

Assist small farmers

The focus should be on individual small-scale farmers who do not have the capacity to implement a long-lasting solution. The local government, the municipality, or a farmers’ association have to fill this void and need to assist them through equipment rentals and waste transportation at the minimum possible cost.

Phasing out paddy and promoting crop diversification in states such as Punjab and Haryana are a pressing requirement to move farmers away from unsustainable on-farm practices like stubble burning. Crops such as maize and pulses are not just water-efficient and well suited for the region, but they would also support livestock by ensuring a regular supply of fodder. This would create a functional circular economy around crop residue which is absent in the case of paddy due to high silica content. Strengthening the market infrastructure and information system and initiating better procurement policies for maize and pulses should be policy focus areas.

Lastly, the approach of seeing stubble burning only through the prism of the agricultural sector, even though it touches upon many other sectors, such as environment, health, education and energy, would not help much, as exhibited by the slow progress of previous governmental interventions. There is a need to embrace nexus thinking, which promotes a higher-level integration that goes beyond disciplinary boundaries, for managing crop residue. The success of compost or biogas is the best example to explain how nexus thinking can help while combating crop residue burning.

The author is a scientist at ICAR-Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi. Views are personal

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