Every year, during the months of October-December, farmers in northern India (predominantly Punjab and Haryana) burn huge amounts of rice crop residue, which leads to an increase in particulate matter (PM) levels and thus, a rise in global warming levels. This practice is largely responsible for Delhi’s air pollution due to which the residents are more prone to respiratory diseases. In addition to this, this practice also leads to the deterioration of soil.

Even now, multiple farmers in Punjab and Haryana are burning the wheat stubble. This issue needs to be addressed immediately, especially because long-term exposure to air pollution could contribute to a higher number of COVID-19 fatalities. 

I, Raghav Pardasani, along with several other students, have witnessed the tangible damage that stubble burning brings. Last year, our home city was enveloped by thick smog; the newspapers talked about the shortening of life expectancy of people in Delhil; our schools were closed due to the growing pollution. The burning of stubble affects us, and it threatens our present and future. 

We demand a more proactive approach.

After due stakeholder consultations with farmers, environmentalists, and agricultural experts, we believe that that the government should:

1. Promote Crop Diversification to reduce the area under Rice Cultivation:

Ever since the Green Revolution, Punjab has seen an exponential rise in area under rice cultivation, which has led to a gradual depletion of groundwater and deterioration of soil quality.  Although the Agricultural Policy for Punjab 2013 strongly suggested shifting at least 1.2 million hectares from rice cultivation, this number has been increasing every successive year since 2013 because of the high MSP of rice. 

Thus, the government should provide incentives for growing alternative crops such as maize, cotton, pulses, fruits, and vegetables, such that the economic returns from growing these crops exceed those growing rice and wheat.  The government could also promote the cultivation of the Basmati variety of paddy, as well as short-duration varieties of rice.

 

2. Address the financial, technical, and behavioral challenges associated with the use of machines such as Happy Seeder:

The Happy Seeder incorporates the stubble back into the soil and simultaneously sows the seeds of wheat. Despite the provision of the subsidy, the farmers have to pay the entire price of the Happy Seeder, so many of them (especially small and marginal farmers) seek loans. They are often exploited by not getting 100% of the subsidy and end up being charged sky-high rates of interest on the loans.

The government should lower interests on loans and take action against corrupt middlemen who do not provide the entire subsidy to the farmers. 

The government must identify farmer representatives in each village to promote peer-to-peer learning, which could potentially encourage other farmers to use Happy Seeders. The government should also work on improving the efficiency of the Happy Seeder and other agricultural equipment, which will also accelerate its use.

 

3. Develop mechanisms to promote the ex-situ use of rice stubble

The government should also extensively promote machines for the ex-situ management of rice crop residue.  With the help of these machines, farmers could clear the stubble and use it to feed the cattle, produce compost, biomass, and/or fertilizers. They could even generate additional income from selling the straw to industries (such as the packaging industry) who make products out of crop residue. 

These efforts would be successful only if we generate awareness within farmers about the environmental dangers associated with stubble burning. Additionally, they can be enlightened about the profitable nature of other alternatives, such as the in-situ and ex-situ use of stubble.

Eradicating stubble burning is the need of the hour. Let us come together to save our planet.

-Raghav Pardasani along with Shagun Jain, Shreya Biswas, Khushi Girdhar, Pranav Dudani, Divyansh Jain, Smridhi Patnia, Navya Nayer, Suhani Malik, Angad Singh Ahuja,  Yuv Garg, Hardik Sardana, Shyla Basu, Armaan Sadana, Rohan Nagpal, Radhika Modi, Tanmay Awasthi, Kunal Ahuja, Isha Agarwal, Charvi Mendiratta, Vedika Goel, Navya Goel, Shraddha Pandey, Ananya Goenka,  Anupam Mukherjee, Shubham Malik, Achintaya Chhabra, Aditya Chugh, Vriti Gujral and Vaibhavi Marwaha.