Crop Residue - Environmental Hazard

Introduction – Crop Residue Burning and Problems 

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Stubble burning refers to the use of a controlled fire to clear the crop residue that remains in the paddock after harvest and could more accurately be called crop residue burning.

It must be noticed that these crop residues play an important role as the primary infection source of many disease for succeeding crops, because the crop residue contain diseased plant portion, on which pathogenic agents have multiplied to a large extent.

It is mainly carried out in north- India

North India produces a large quantity of wheat and paddy to ensure for the food security of the country. The region produces an equally large quantity of crop residue. Wheat straw is considered a good fodder and is separately harvested using harvester combined with the help of tractor-operated machines.

Open burning of husk is of incomplete combustion in nature which produces large amount of toxic pollutants, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compound and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Clouds of ashes and smoke travels more than thousands of kilometres and create obstinate and non-clearing clouds. Delhi’s pollution problem has been rising. One of the major reasons attributed is stubble burning in rural areas around Delhi.

Smog formed from the smoke can increase the levels of pollutants by manifolds in the air, making it difficult to breathe. After being released in the atmosphere, these pollutants are mixed in the surroundings. Mixing with other gases causes physical and chemical transformation that eventually adversely affects the human health. Frequent crop residue may contribute to the formation of the brown clouds and affects the local air quality, atmospheric visibility and earth climate.

Government’s policies

The National Green Tribunal has fixed the environment penalties according to per incident for landowners with less than two acres.

Recently in Punjab has set up a paddy straw challenge fund of 1$ million for scientists around the world to present technological solutions on crop residue management. Large- scale production of ethanol from paddy straw is also being explored.

Further, the central government-owned Hindustan petroleum corporation Ltd early this year announced the setting up of India’s first second generation ethanol bio-refinery in Bathinda at a cost of 600 crore.

Substitute to crop residue

Baling can remove the bulk of cut straw from the paddock, but it leaves behind weed seeds. It can cause soil compaction from the extra vehicle traffic in the paddock, and is only viable if there are reliable markets for the baled straw.

Burying crop residue by ploughing uses of fossil fuel and is not good for soil quality.

A way forward

Therefore, merely asking farmers to stop the practice will not be the sustainable solution. There is a need to find a mechanism to commercialize the crop residue. For example, use of crop residue as input for biomass, to be used along with coal it its power plants. The government can incentivize the greater use of biomass through power purchase agreement.

Another solution is the use of rotovators, the machines which spread the crop residue in to the soil, which can improve soil fertility. Harvester machines can be combined with the straw management system and government can subsidize the sale of such machines to make them more affordable.