[Answered] “Paddy stubble burning in states neighbouring Delhi, is being seen as one of the reasons for the smog in the national capital. Change to a less water-guzzling crop will help address stubble burning.” Do you agree?

Demand of the question
Introduction. Contextual Introduction.
Body. How stubble burning lead to air pollution? How change to a less water-guzzling crop is important to stop stubble burning?
Conclusion. Way forward.

Stubble burning is a post-harvest practice used to clear fields of paddy crop residue by burning them. This practice mostly carried out in Punjab, Haryana and UP contributes solely to the grave winter pollution in the national capital. For farmers, burning the residue becomes the easiest way of disposing it owing to lack of time, equipments and awareness. But this add up to the already poor air quality in India and is one of the cause of air pollution in India.

How stubble burning lead to air pollution?

  1. Stubble burning, results in emission of harmful gases such as carbon monoxide, N2O, NO2, SO2, CH4 along with particulate matter and hydrocarbons. Each tonne of crop residue on burning releases around 3kg of particulate matter, 60 kg of CO, 1,460 kg of CO2, 199kg of ash and 2kg of SO2.
  2. Also, Crop residue fires in Punjab and Haryana are enhancing concentrations of toxic gases like benzene and toluene, according to research from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER).
  3. Further, Stubble burning releases toxic pollutants like Volatile organic compound (VOC) in air. Also, it leads to spike in Particulate Matter levels, contributing between 12 and 60% of PM concentrations.
  4. Clouds of ash and smoke containing these harmful pollutants from stubble burning travel more than 1000 kms aided by the Westerly winds coming from the Mediterranean region and create an obstinate and non-clearing clouds.
  5. Smog formed of the smoke increase the levels of pollutants by manifolds in the air leading to poor visibility and causing accidents.

How change to a less water-guzzling crop is important to stop stubble burning?

  1. First, paddy consumes a lot of water- 5,000 litres to produce just a kilogram in north India. Crops like rice and sugarcane are water-guzzlers. Since India produces more rice than it consumes, it exports a lot of rice. Thus, it also exports a lot of groundwater.
  2. The rice stubble is one of the cause of today’s air pollution. The states of Punjab and Haryana decreed a few years ago that farmers cannot sow rice until just before the rains. It has meant that farmers have very little time to harvest rice and sow the next crop, wheat, in time for the brief winter rains. The stubble they leave behind, though, is rooted in the ground. It takes a lot less time and money to simply burn it than have it removed manually, or even using a machine.
  3. This happens at a time when the monsoon is receding from northern India, leaving behind depressed air that traps the pollutants. This result in smog overwhelming the region, including cities like Delhi, Meerut, Mathura, and Agra.
  4. Subsidising the machines that can remove the stubble or creating a demand for the stubble in the form of biogas plants are solutions that haven’t yet scaled up.
  5. The long-term plan has to be to make fewer farmers grow rice and wheat. Millets, maize, pulses, some fruits, and some indigenous varieties of rice consume less water, and can help space out the sowing and harvesting season for many farmers. The policy needed for this is crop diversification. Delhi can prevent its annual health catastrophe by creating markets for these nutritious millets.
  6. Another reason is the farming economy. Farmers complain their input costs are too high. Farmers are ready to shift to different crops provided their incomes, and their stability, don’t change. If the government buys more of other crops at fixed prices and in large quantities, working with farmers to make sure they continue to earn profits, crop diversification would have better chances.
  7. At present, the window for paddy harvesting is around 20-25 days, putting pressure on farmers to get rid of the crop residue and prepare the land for sowing wheat. Since Punjab has low groundwater levels and paddy being a water-guzzling crop, it is better to shift from paddy cultivation and grow more water-efficient crops like oilseeds and maize.

The 2014 national policy envisages adoption of technical measures, including diversified uses of crop residue, capacity building and training along with formulation of suitable legislation, to deal with the issue of disposing of stubble. Unless Financial assistance is to be provided by the Centre for boosting farm mechanisation, it is difficult to completely stop stubble burning. States needs to make alternative arrangements for consumption of paddy straw into the soil as per the directions of the NGT.

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