Growing crisis due to stubble smoke

Venkatesh Dutta

The Union Ministry of Agriculture formulated the National Policy for Management of Crop Residue in the year 2014, which had set several objectives for the management of stubble with the use of technology. But so far no significant progress has been made on this front.

Like every year, this time again the crisis of air pollution is deepening again in Delhi and the surrounding states including the National Capital Region. The big reason is also the same, burning of stubble. This crisis has deepened in the last fortnight. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh get very less time to harvest the monsoon sown paddy and sow the next crop.

Therefore, from October 15 to November 15, the incidents of stubble burning increase. During this paddy crop is harvested and the leftover residue needs to be cleaned for sowing of wheat. About two to 25 million tonnes of paddy husk is produced during the harvest. Most of the farmers resort to burning paddy straw to clear the fields quickly. NASA’s satellite ‘Modis’ is also giving continuous pictures of the burning fields of North India from space.

As pollution increases in winter, so does the gap between farmers and policy makers of the country. Smoke from stubble burning is one of the sources of Delhi’s air pollution. Other sources include dust, smoke from industry and vehicles etc. The share of stubble burning in Delhi’s pollution varies from five to fifty-five percent depending on the speed and direction of the wind.

The problem is not confined to Delhi alone, but extends to the entire Gangetic plain. A huge cloud of pollution covers the whole of North India with haze. Farmers burn stubble twice a year – in summer and at the beginning of winter. When they do this in the summer, the hot air scatters it quickly. But other times, in October and November, falling temperatures and low wind speeds cause the smoke to spread far and wide.

The crisis of stubble burning has created massive public health challenges. Its smoke pollutes large parts of North India and affects the health of millions of people. Air pollution makes people more vulnerable to other infections and slows the recovery of their health. The heat released by burning the straw penetrates the soil up to one centimeter. It damages the micro-organisms present in the top layer of fertile soil as well as its biological quality. Due to the destruction of friendly insects, the outbreak of enemy insects increases, as a result of which the chances of diseases are more in the crops. The solubility of the upper layers of the soil also decreases.

In the last few years, the central and state governments have taken several steps to deal with the stubble crisis. The seriousness of this crisis can be gauged from the kind of activism shown by the Supreme Court regarding this crisis and the instructions given to the governments from time to time. But even after all this there has been no significant change in the situation.

Though the states took steps like banning stubble burning, imposing fines on farmers, these steps did not yield any concrete results. Although the governments claim that the incidents of stubble burning have reduced compared to earlier, the reality is that a large number of farmers are still burning stubble, even if they have to face fines and punishment.

The Union Ministry of Agriculture formulated the National Policy for Management of Crop Residue in the year 2014, which had set several objectives for the management of stubble with the use of technology. But so far no significant progress has been made on this front. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on December 10, 2015 had banned stubble burning in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

Crop residue burning is an offense under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Air Pollution Control Act 1981. In 2019, the Supreme Court ordered states to pay Rs 2,400 per acre to every farmer who chose not to burn stubble. The Punjab government accepted that it could not pay so many farmers. Since farmers are an important vote bank, governments have shown little interest in imposing sanctions and heavy fines.

The central government introduced a new law through an ordinance to curb air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region. Through this ordinance, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) was dissolved and a new commission was created in its place with more than twenty members. The Air Quality Management Commission Act in the National Capital Region and adjoining areas, was passed by the Parliament in August this year. The Act empowers the Center to set up a commission to monitor air quality in and around the capital.

The Air Quality Management Commission consolidates all bodies under it, including the Supreme Court-monitored Environment Pollution Authority. The commission has bought about 1.5 lakh machines to cut the stubble in the fields. A bio-degradable ‘Pusa Decomposer’ developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute converts crop residues into compost in fifteen to twenty days. This decomposer contains a pack of four capsules costing twenty rupees which produces an enzyme capable of acting on the components of paddy straw. Straw with active fungus decomposes in twenty-five days.

But some farmers say that they do not have that much time between crops, so there is no option but to burn the stubble. The commission has directed eleven thermal power plants within 300 km radius of Delhi to use crop residue as fuel. It will be in the form of straw-bullet which has the potential to reduce coal consumption by up to ten percent. But the fundamental question is how to collect paddy straw and build a supply chain.

Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have led the country’s Green Revolution. These states have increased crop production by adopting modern technology and high yielding varieties of seeds. Wheat and rice have replaced other coarse cereals in North India. Growing so much paddy in North India always causes problem.

Its topography is not favorable for the crop. It takes a lot of water to grow paddy. It should be grown in areas with high groundwater, which Punjab does not have. Such intensive farming has not only caused air pollution, but has also had other disastrous consequences. The water level is depleting rapidly in these states. In such a situation, the only way out is that farmers adopt diversification of crops to get out of the wheat and paddy cycle. Only then will the way out of the stubble crisis be found. For this India needs another agricultural revolution.