Pollution levels in northern India have started to worsen, especially in Delhi, after several incidents of stubble burning were reported in the Indo-Gangetic region, namely in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh states.
Stubble or farm burning, along with dust, industrial and vehicular emissions, and incineration, have been primarily blamed for the decline in the Air Quality Index (AQI) for the last few years, especially during the onset of winter.
An AQI from zero to 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 satisfactory, 101 to 200 moderate, 201 to 300 poor, 301 to 400 very poor, and 401 to 500 severe. In Delhi-NCR, it has been ranked as poor.
It is estimated that the agricultural state of Punjab produces around 20 millions tonnes of paddy residues, and its neighboring state Haryana produces around 7 million tonnes. In general practice, it is burned by farmers in their fields.
The issue of stubble burning was first raised in 2016, when the air quality sharply declined across Delhi-NCR. Ever since, the federal government, along with state governments, have worked on all sorts of ways to improve the quality.
However, so far, no step has proved effective.
Krunesh Garg, Member Secretary of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, told Sputnik: “Although the government is working on the issue and finding a plausible solution on how to stop stubble burning, it will take 4 to 5 years to find a proper solution to the problem.”
Vinay Kumar Sehgal, professor and principal scientist at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and the head of the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS), said that until 14 October only 15 percent of the land under paddy cultivation had been cleared out rather than the 25 percent at the same period last year and the lapse is because of a delay in harvesting, caused by the untimely rains in October. However, he added that the worst is yet to come and numbers are expected to rise by the end of October or beginning of November.
CREAMS collates data from each state in terms of the actual farm fires before sharing it with the Union Environment Ministry and the Commission for Air Quality Management.
State governments in both Punjab and Haryana have red-marked 15 districts that reported a maximum number of crop-burning incidents, and will keep a strict watch of these districts.
'Nobody Wants to Cause Pollution, But We Are Helpless,' Farmer Union Leader Says
This year, the Indian government is counting on the practice of mixing stubble in soil. The country has procured 150,000 machines, of which approximately 90,000 are provided to Punjab and 60,000 to Haryana. A machine costs INR 150,000 ($1,810) after subsidy.
However, speaking to Sputnik, Kulwant Singh, a Punjab-based farmer union leader, said: “This is not a feasible solution as most of the farmers - about 70 percent - own small plots.
“Even if the government provides subsidies for these machines, farmers cannot afford to buy them. Most of these farmers' annual profit of earning is INR 150,000,” he added.
"Most farmers are demanding suitable monetary compensation for the expenses incurred by alternative methods of disposing of crop residue. Nobody wants to burn crops and cause pollution, but we’re helpless. It’s the only effective and cheap option for us," Singh explained.
No Feasible Solutions at the Moment
In Punjab, those who burn crops will be issued with police warnings. However, the farmers' group has threatened mass protests if the government files any complaints.
Nirbhay Singh, leader of the Kirti Kisan Union, believes the government needs to come up with a viable solution and then ask farmers to stop burning crop residue.
"The government is talking about many things from machines to scientific methods, such as a decomposer spray. But they are not feasible.”
He also emphasized the need for crop diversification (growing more than one crop in the area), though “this doesn't sound practical on the ground”: Singh assumed that farmers would only opt to farm alternative crops if there were a market for them or at least the minimum support price (MSP).
"Earlier this year, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government asked farmers to grow Moong dal [a type of lentil], promising to buy it from them directly. But 80 percent of it was [eventually] sold to private dealers at a very low rate. Such incidents make it tough for farmers to trust [what local officials say],” Singh added.
This year, between 15 September and 19 October, a total of 1,875 cases of stubble burning were reported. The numbers are fairly low compared with last year's total of 2,389 and 2020's 5,562.
In 2021, Punjab reported 71,304 farm fires between 15 September and 30 November, and 6,987 stubble-burning incidents were reported in Haryana. Uttar Pradesh reportedly had 4,242 cases that year.
In 2019, the Supreme Court ordered one-off cash compensation to farmers who got rid of their residue without burning, but the scheme was a failure as the government did not have adequate funds.
Traditional Patterns Should Change
Federal Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has taken a small step by opening Asia's largest Compressed Biogas plant in the Sangrur district of Punjab which is expected to cut CO2 emissions annually by 150,000 tonnes.
According to the Haryana government, this year it expects 1.3 million metric tonnes of crop residue to be consumed in 29 plants producing ethanol, paper, and cardboard. These plants will also store residue.
Dr Adarsh Pal Vig, chairman of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, told Sputnik that a lot of solutions are now emerging in markets, which farmers will adopt in the longer run.
"We’re trying to change decades-old traditions, [but] it is also a social and psychological problem, where the behavior and attitude of farmers also need to be tackled."
He suggests that the government should encourage and motivate those farmers who are not burning residue.
"Meanwhile, they also needed to identify and speak with farmers not adopting these means,” he concluded.