Stubble Burning
About:
- From the final week of September to November, which also happens to be when the southwest monsoon departs, Stubble (parali) burning is a technique used to eliminate rice crop leftovers from the field so that wheat may be seeded.
- Burning stubble is a practise used to dispose of the straw waste that remains after the harvest of crops like rice, wheat, etc. In locations where combined harvesting leaves agricultural residue behind, it is frequently necessary.
- Although Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh are the areas where it is most frequently performed, it is a practise observed throughout North West India in the months of October and November.
Why is it still being used today?
- For a variety of reasons, Indian farmers have burned stubble for many years.
Among them are:
- For starters, disposing of crop waste is less expensive.
- Another is the use of mechanical harvesting, which results in 1- to 2-foot-tall stubble that takes 1.5 months to degrade biologically.
- Farmers burn the rubbish instead of waiting for it to decay because they need to prepare the ground for the next harvest.
What Concerns Are Raised by the Burning of Stubble in India?
- Burning pollutes the environment by generating poisonous pollutants like carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide (CO), and methane (CH4) (VOC).
- As a result of these pollutants permeating the environment, smog eventually forms, degrading the air and endangering human health. This is one of the main factors contributing to Delhi’s air pollution.
- The soil becomes toxic when the husk is burned on the ground because it loses its fertility and minerals. It produces heat that seeps into the soil, exacerbates erosion by evaporating moisture, and kills beneficial microbes.
- Crops are now more susceptible to illness as a result of the loss of “friendly” pests, which has increased the wrath of “enemy” bugs. The ability of higher soil layers to break down has also decreased.
- Climate Change and Stubble Burning: Farmers must quickly clear their fields between the kharif and rabi crops due to the reduced harvest season brought on by climate change. Burning removing the excess stubble after harvest is the easiest solution.
- Increased Burning and Backing: In the decades that followed, legislative advancements included the provision of energy and fertiliser subsidies as well as the liberalisation of access to agricultural financing. These changes significantly increased crop yields and agricultural output, which in turn increased the frequency of stubble burning. Alternatives to Burning Stubble
- In-Situ Stubble Treatment: The use of bio-decomposers and zero-tillage agricultural residue management are two examples.
- Off-site or ex-situ (off-site) One kind of treatment is the use of rice straw as cattle feed.
- the application of technology, such as the Turbo Happy Seeder (THS) machine, which can plant seeds while removing weeds and stubble from the area. The field can then be mulched using the leftover stubble.
What is the other related initiatives?
- The state governments of Punjab, the National Capital Region (NCR) States, and the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) have created thorough, trackable action plans to address the issue of air pollution based on the framework established by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).
What does Chhattisgarh’s Model entail?
- The Chhattisgarh government created the Gauthans as a part of a cutting-edge project.
- Every town has a gauthan, a five-acre plot where all the leftover stubble is collected by parali daan (donations from the public) and transformed into organic fertiliser by combining it with cow manure and a few natural enzymes.
- Additionally, this programme has given young people in isolated locations employment opportunities.
What actions are necessary as a result?
- It is necessary to emulate initiatives like the MGNREGA to collect and compost burnt stubble. Regulation of Post-Harvest Management at the Local Level and Incentive
- Farmers who reuse and recycle their stubble may receive government incentives.
- Wheat stubble can be used to feed cows. The Tudi, a product made from wheat sorghum, is recognised as the greatest dry feed for cattle due to its excellent nutritional value.
- technical assistance
- Pusa Bacterium The Indian Agricultural Research Institute created the Pusa microorganism, which enhances soil quality by speeding decomposition and converting stubble into compost in just 25 days. This is merely one of the many solutions created to prevent stubble burning.
- The Happy Seeder, a tractor-mounted equipment that “cuts and lifts rice straw, sows wheat into the bare soil, then spreads the straw over the sown area as mulch, is an alternative to burning the stubble.
- Stubble can be recycled and used once again to create cardboard and paper. It can also be utilised as manure.
- For instance, the Nandi Foundation bought 800 MT of extra grain from farmers outside of Delhi’s Palla hamlet and turned it into manure.
- Crop waste can be used for a variety of different things, like the gasification of charcoal to produce energy or as a source of industrial raw materials to make bioethanol.
