Stubble Burning and its Effects

One of the important environmental issues that is very much in discussion recently is “Stubble Burning”. This is very important as per the exam syllabus because the environment section covers an important part of the general awareness section. Students need to cover all the dimensions of this topic and revise it regularly. Kindly bookmark this article for future use.

Stubble Burning :

• Stubble is the remnant part of the plant rooted in the ground.
  
• After harvesting the rice fields, the farmers cut off the precious tops and leave the rest in the fields. This does not bring any benefit to farmers.
  
• Stubble burning is the purposeful burning of crop residue (stubble) from a field and prepare the field for the next harvest. Leaving stubble in the field attracts termites and other pests that can damage subsequent crops. This is usually required in areas using combined harvesting methods that leave crop residues. 
  
• Stubble burning has been practiced by farmers all over the world, but in India, it is mainly done in Punjab, Haryana, and the Indian Gangetic plains of the UP.
  
• Punjab and Haryana harvest rice between the first and last week of October. The farmer then sows wheat from the first week of November until he is in mid-December. So in October, after the half (rice) harvest, the stubble is burned to prepare the fields for the next rabi (wheat) harvest.
  
• Likewise, after rabbi wheat is harvested in the first week of April, usually from April to May, the burning of the stubble takes place and the fields are prepared for the half (rice paddy) harvest. is prepared.
  

Reasons for Stubble Burning  :

1. Agricultural mechanization: Mechanized harvesting extracts rice grains, leaving only large residues. Manual harvesting is not an option for farmers due to the huge labor costs and time-consuming work.

2. Lack of Awareness: Farmers are unaware that they are burning soil-friendly insects and organic matter, causing significant losses of nitrogen, DAP, and potassium. Farmers believe that if not burned, this debris will float in the seedbed’s transplant-ready paddy fields, leaving it in the delicate seedlings and damaging the crop when strong winds blow. 

3. The alternative is expensive: The Punjab government uses tractor-mounted “happy seeders” to cut rice stumps and sow wheat seeds at the same time, but many farmers, feel that the prices and rents for these machines are exorbitant.  So you keep your stubble burning. To use the Happy Seeder machine, farmers must pay Rs 1,000 per acre to rent the machine and an additional Rs 2,000 for diesel.

4. Reduced use of stubble: In the past, farmers used stubble as hay to keep animals and homes warm, and even used it for cooking. However, the use of this stubble is now obsolete. Also, rice straw is considered unsuitable for animal feed due to its high silica content (this applies to non-basmati rice varieties).

5. Government policies: Some government policies, such as the Punjab Sub-Soil Water Conservation Act of 2009, have had an unintended effect on promoting stubble burning.

Impact of Stubble Burning :

1. Air pollution :

• Agricultural residue burning is a major source of air pollution in parts of northern India, deteriorating air quality. The burning of stubble by farmers in Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab in northern India is believed to be a major contributor to air pollution in Delhi and its surrounding areas. 
  
• Studies show that the incineration of crop residues produces approximately 149 million tons of carbon dioxide, more than 9 million tons of carbon monoxide, 0.25 million tons of sulfur oxides (SOX), 1.28 million tons of particulate matter (PM ), and 0.07 million tons of carbon dioxide were released. It contributes to a lot of greenhouse gas emissions.
  
• Stubble fires in Punjab and Haryana contribute to Delhi’s winter haze and about 40% of fine dust particles on the surface.
  
• It also contributes to the winter smog that occurs in the region. 

2. Soil fertility :

• The heat from burning rice straw penetrates about one centimeter into the ground, raising the temperature to 33.8-42.2 degrees. This kills the bacterial and fungal populations that are important for fertile soil.
  
• The dissolution capacity of the upper soil layer also decreased.
  
• Burning crop residues destroy other microorganisms and their organic matter present in the top layer of the soil. The absence of “friendly” pests intensifies the wrath of “enemy” pests, making plants more susceptible to disease.
  

Measures to be taken to control Stubble Burning :

1. Dual Strategy: Both in situ (onsite) and ex-situ (elsewhere) solutions should be effectively implemented as described in the CAQM framework.

2. Short-term solution: Give farmers easy and affordable access to machinery that manages straw intelligently. Remove stubble with a machine like Happy Seeder. Governments need to make these machines available to farmers and economically viable.

3. Use of Harvested Stubble: Instead of burning stubble, you can use it in several ways, including, “Rice bio parks” where farmers could convert stubble into products such as paper, cardboard, and animal feed.

4. Government incentives: Governments should also subsidize or encourage industries involved in converting stubble into commercially viable products. Governments may also consider reinterpreting the MSP system so that farmers who burn crop residues do not benefit from the system.

5. Improving Agricultural Machinery: We should strive to improve the combined harvesters that farmers use to harvest their crops. Machines in use today leave huge amounts of residue. The technology used in such machines should be improved to leave minimal residue.

6. Short-term rice cultivars: One of the things the scientist at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has done is breed the Ludhiana short-term rice cultivar. These require him 13 to 37 days less time to mature than Pusa-44 and yield about the same. This gives farmers enough time to clear the fields for the next harvest.

7. The long-term solution: It must be crop diversification away from rice. Plant alternative crop seeds and encourage farmers to switch from rice to corn, fruits, vegetables, and cotton in the long term.

8. Farmer education: Farmers will find it difficult to forget the practice of burning stubble, so they need to be educated about its negative effects and offered an attractive alternative.