What is the issue?
- The practice of burning crop residue is harmful.
- As kharif harvesting season is approaching, the government is contemplating a new incentivise based approach to address this.
Why is stubble burned?
- There is usually an urgency to plant the next crop.
- So, farmers generally do not have time to let the previous crop’s residue (stubble) to decompose in the field to turn into compost.
- The high labour cost makes harvesting the stubble to clear the fields undesirable.
- Burning them in the field itself is the quickest and the cheapest way to get rid of them.
- Most farmers, therefore, prefer to defy the ban on burning and pay the penalty for it - which is usually less than the removal cost.
What are its implications?
- About 35 million tonnes of crop waste is burnt in Punjab and Haryana alone.
- This releases enormous amounts of particulate matter, ash and environment and health injurious gases such as carbon monoxide.
- These contaminants contribute majorly to air pollution in north India, including the national capital region of Delhi.
- This happens during the early winter months of November & December which coincides with the kharif harvesting season.
How has the government handled this situation?
- Monitoring - Delhi High Court recently ordered concerned governments to use satellite imagery to prevent burning.
- But despite collection of penalties imposed by governments, preventing burning has not been effective.
- Rewards - Environment Pollution Control Authority – EPCA has conceived a new reward mechanism for not burning stubble.
- EPCA is trying to get bio-power producers and other waste utilising industries to purchase this crop residue for use as supplementary feedstock.
- The response from companies seems fairly encouraging with “National Thermal Power Corporation” - NTPC as well as some private entities having expressed willingness.
- NTPC seems ready to even harvest stubble on its own cost and then pay the farmers an amount for the stuff collected.
- Hence, instead being a legally barred activity requiring penal action, it is now expected to be viewed as an additional source of income.
What are some noteworthy possibilities for the future?
- Mechanisations - Machines that can gather the stubble and sow seeds in one go are already available.
- Some machines sow without even the removal of previous residue.
- Such technologies need to be encouraged regardless of their high costs.
- This is possible by facilitating the emergence of a vibrant services sector that provide such equipments to farmers.
- Targeted Subsidising – Some states are already offering up to 40% subsidy currently on versatile machinery.
- Such production enhancing incentives for bio-power producers and farm machinery manufacturers could also be considered.
- The Centre should also contribute to this effort along with states as this would help protect both the environment and human health.
Source: Business Standard
