News Highlight
To control stubble burning and reduce air pollution during winter, the Delhi government will spray a bio-decomposer free of charge.
Key Takeaway
- A bio-decomposer capsule, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, turns into a solution through a week long process, after which it decomposes straw and stubble into manure.
- The Delhi Government first used the solution in 2020 and then again in the following year.
What is stubble burning?
- Stubble is called the remaining part of paddy, which has its roots in the earth.
- Stubble burning is the act of intentionally setting fire to crop residue (stubble) to remove it from the field so as to prepare the field for the next crop.
Reasons for stubble burning
- Reduced Use of Stubble:
- Earlier, stubble was used by farmers as hay to keep animals or homes warm, and even for cooking. However, these uses of stubble have now become outdated.
- The Mechanisation of Agriculture:
- Mechanised harvesting extracts the rice grains, only to leave behind a huge residue. Manual harvesting is not an option for farmers because of the huge labour charges and the increased time is taken.
- Lack of awareness:
- Farmers are not realising that they are burning the soil’s friendly insects, and organic matter, and causing considerable loss of nitrogen and Potassium.
- Alternatives are expensive:
- The Happy Seeder is a tractor-mounted machine that cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat into the bare soil, and deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch.
- To use a ‘happy seeder’ machine, farmers have to shell out Rs. 1000 per acre of land as machine rent and a further Rs. 2000 for diesel.
Effects of stubble burning
- Air Pollution:
- Open stubble burning emits large amounts of toxic pollutants into the atmosphere, which contain harmful gases like methane (CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOC), and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
- The process of burning farm residue is one of the major causes of air pollution in parts of north India, deteriorating the air quality.
- Stubble burning by farmers in Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab in north India is considered a major cause of air pollution in Delhi and its adjoining regions.
- Soil Fertility:
- Burning husk on the ground destroys the nutrients in the soil, making it less fertile.
- Heat Penetration:
- Heat generated by stubble burning penetrates into the soil, leading to the loss of moisture and useful microbes.
- Lung diseases:
- Pollution from stubble burning significantly reduced lung function and was particularly harmful to women, children, and the elderly population.
Initiatives to control Stubble Burning:
- Government funding:
- Under a 100% centrally-funded scheme, in-situ residue management machines are given to individual farmers at a 50% subsidy and to CHCs (custom hiring centres) at an 80% subsidy.
- The Turbo Happy Seeder machine:
- The Turbo Happy Seeder (THS) machine can uproot the stubble and also sow seeds in the area cleared. The stubble can then be used as mulch for the field.
Way forward
- Utilising Crop Stubble:
- Instead of burning the stubble, it can be used in different ways, like cattle feed, compost manure, roofing in rural areas, biomass energy, mushroom cultivation, packing materials, fuel, paper, bio-ethanol, industrial production, etc.
- Farmer’s Education:
- Farmers have a difficult time unlearning the practice of stubble burning, and they should be educated about its ill effects and also offered attractive alternatives.
- The long-term solution:
- The long-term solution has to be crop diversification away from paddy. Encourage farmers to sow alternate crops and shift them away from paddy to maize, fruits, vegetables, and cotton.
- Government Incentives:
- The government should also subsidise or incentivise the industries that are engaged in converting stubble into economically viable products.
- Chhattisgarh Model:
- An innovative experiment has been undertaken by the Chhattisgarh government by setting up gauthans.
- A gauthan is a dedicated five-acre plot, held in common by each village, where all the unused stubble is collected through parali daan (people’s donations) and is converted into organic fertiliser by mixing with cow dung and a few natural enzymes.
Pic Courtesy: GPI
Content Source: The Hindu