A thick layer of smog enveloped Delhi’s morning sky today (3 November), a sign of the city choking again. According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Air Quality Index (AQI) at Anand Vihar in the National Capital was recorded in the ‘severe’ category at 8 am.
Noida logged an average AQI of 422 (‘severe’), while in Gurugram, the air quality was ‘very poor’ with an average AQI of 399.
Every year before winter sets in, Delhi’s air turns toxic in the month of October and November. One of the reasons for these unbreathable conditions in the National Capital Region (NCR) is stubble burning by farmers in Punjab and Haryana.
Why do farmers resort to stubble burning in these months? Is the problem recent? What can be done to incentivise the farmers to stop burning the crop residue? We explain.
Why does stubble burning happen?
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana usually harvest paddy crops between the first and last weeks of October. After which, farmers sow wheat crops from the week of November until the middle of December, writes A Amarender Reddy, the principal scientist at the ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, for The Wire.
Due to the high level of farm mechanisation in Punjab, there has been an increase in the menace of rice straw, say experts.
With a short period of only 10-15 days between the rice-harvesting season and the beginning of sowing wheat, farmers resort to burning the stubble- left-over straw- to get rid of the paddy residue, Reddy elaborates.
The smoke from burning stubble in Punjab and Haryana travels to neighbouring Delhi and thus contributes to its notorious winter pollution. AFP File Photo
The smoke that billows from burning crop residue travels to neighbouring Delhi and thus contributing to its notorious winter pollution.
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Is stubble-burning problem recent?
Between 15 September and 1 November, Punjab reported 17,846 cases of residue burning, ThePrint cited the satellite data from ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute.
This was 18.5 per cent more than in 2021 during the same period.
This year, due to two prolonged spells of rain in late September and October, paddy harvesting was deferred by a week in parts of Punjab and Haryana.
Principal Economic Advisor to the Indian government, Sanjeev Sanyal explained how the farmers in Punjab have delayed their Kharif cropping cycle.
“This year’s Economic Survey had used satellite photos to illustrate the problem. Punjab farmers have shifted their Kharif cropping cycle by three weeks. As shown below, 15 years ago, they sowed by mid-June and harvested by mid-October – hence ready for Rabi sowing by early November,” he tweeted.
Sharing an image of the Kharif crop sowing cycle from 2021 in Punjab’s Moga district, Sanyal said the sowing of Kharif crops (rice, bajra, cotton, etc.) only begins in early July. “This means that crops are still standing in late October and have to be hurriedly harvested in early November. This means that there is just a week to clear the land for Rabi sowing – hence crop burning,” he added.
This delay can be attributed to the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009, which prohibits farmers from sowing the nursery of paddy before 10 May.
The act was aimed at postponing the planting of rice seeds in order to reduce the amount of water required to harvest them. Before it was enforced, farmers used to harvest paddy seeds in April, reports LiveLaw.
However, it was found that in April and May around 4,500 litres of water is needed to cultivate one kg of rice as compared to mid-June when just 1,500-2,000 litres is required for planting rice seeds.
Now, as the window has reduced for planting the next crop, burning the residue of the paddy has become the quickest way for the farmers to clear their fields.
Alternatives to stubble burning
Anumita Roychowdhury, head of Clean Air Programme at the Centre for Science and Environment, has spoken against penalising farmers for stubble burning and has called for providing them with viable alternatives.
“There are three main solutions to stubble burning: in-situ treatment of stubble, ex-situ treatment, and changing cropping pattern. The last one being the deeper and more fundamental solution. For in-situ management, the government is currently giving equipment to farmers to mix the stubble back into the soil, so that they do not have to burn it, but everyone is not getting these machines,” she told The Hindu last year.
Experts have said alternatives can help in reducing incidents of farm fires. AFP (Representational Image)
Despite the government encouraging farmers by providing subsidies to buy equipments like mulching and seed drilling machines to dispose of crop residue, farmers view the alternative as too expensive, Indian Express reported last year.
The in-situ management involves raking the debris of the crop back into the soil.
According to the Indian Express report that studied crop residue management in 171 villages in Punjab in 2019, it was found that farmers preferred “ex-situ management equipment such as balers over in-situ machinery such as the Happy Seeder and the Super SMS (Straw Management System): They prefer to remove the paddy stubble from the field rather than working it into the field.”
The Happy Seeder is a “machine mounted on a tractor that removes the paddy straw while simultaneously sowing wheat for the next harvest”, as per BBC. It is billed as “eco-friendly, fast and effective”, however, farmers say it is too expensive to afford.
Gurminder Singh, a farmer in Patiala, says stubble burning can be checked if every farmer is provided with a seeder, reports ThePrint.
“Farmers are the first people to be affected by the pollution caused by stubble burning but we are already running in losses, how can we not try to save money? If we all get Super Seeders, no one will burn stubble,” ThePrint quoted him as saying.
Some agriculture department officials have claimed that seeders have been subsidised for farmers. “We have given machinery worth Rs 15-20 crore with subsidies to the farmers this season. This includes Super Seeders, Happy Seeders, among others,” Dr Amarjeet Singh, agriculture department officer from Sangrur, told ThePrint.
Another way to discard stubble is a bio-decomposer developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) which converts crop residue into manure in 15 to 20 days. However, farmers say this is not a feasible option as they do not have so much time between crops, BBC reported in 2020.
As per experts, financial rewards can be offered to farmers to dissuade them from burning stubble. Food policy analyst Devinder Sharma suggests cash incentives to farmers can help in tackling the probelem, as per Mongabay-India.
Agricultural economist Ashok Gulati emphasises that the problem of stubble burning can be tackled by subsidising crops other than paddy.
“Policy and money should incentivise farmers in the region to plant more fruits and vegetables,” he told BBC in 2020.
He added that since “vegetable and fruit crops don’t leave stubble, it’ll bring down the number of open fires”.
With inputs from agencies
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