Stubble burning by farmers is not defiance but a low-cost straw disposal method that also reduces the turnaround time. The solution lies in this fact
As India’s air pollution levels have expanded geographically over time and increased so much in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh that an average person is now losing an additional 2.5 to 2.9 years of life expectancy, a data of ministry of agriculture showed that 95,278 incidents of stubble burning have been reported so far since this January. The cases have declined during the monsoon period.
The data showed that 10,765 incidents reported in January; 10,111 in February; 10,646 in March; 39,254 in April; 21,970 in May; 2,036 in June; 273 in July; 68 in August and 155 in September. Maharashtra has reported 2,516 incidents in January, 2,308 in February, 1,713 in March, 915 in April and 519 in May. Madhya Pradesh has reported 416 incidents in January, 226 in February, 5,183 in March, 20,690 in April and 2,367 in May. Chhattisgarh has reported 2,230 incidents in January, 1,710 in February, 526 in March, 230 in April, 214 in May and 783 in June.
Bihar reported 2,618 incidents in April and 378 in June. Haryana reported 132 incidents in January, 234 in February, 1,934 in April, 1752 in May. Uttar Pradesh reported 828 incidents in January, 1,269 in February, 447 in March, 7,227 in April and 2,369 in May. Punjab reported 1,183 in April, 9,940 in May and 328 in June.
As per the data, Punjab witnessed an increase of 44.5 per cent incidents of stubble burning in 2020 despite getting 46 per cent of the total funds from the central government for checking crop burning residue. Punjab saw 76,590 incidents of fire in 2020 as compared to 52,991 instances in 2019 which indicates an increase of 44.5 per cent as compared to the earlier year. Haryana in the year 2020, the total active fire events reported was 5,000 while in 2019, it was 6,652 which indicates a decrease of 25 per cent.
The stubble burning in Delhi and its neighbouring states-Haryana, Punjab and Western Uttar Pradesh has not started yet. Stubble burning is essentially a common practice followed by farmers in order to get their fields ready for sowing wheat. This usually happens ahead of the winter season. After the paddy is harvested, there is very little time for farmers to sow wheat, which makes it an urgent task for farmers. While some alleviating measures have been taken by governments, these are never enough as every year Delhi witnesses unusual levels of smog during the months of October and November. This makes it important for the government to diagnose and address the fundamental issues which arm twist the farmers to burn paddy straw every year.
Paddy stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh is a fact, but farmers have no choice. They are compelled to burn paddy stubble in the short time they have. These farmers work on a paddy-wheat cycle. Since wheat is a rabi crop, farmers are compelled to harvest paddy and sell it as well as make sure the field is ready for the next round of sowing. This process takes around 15 days. The straw was once removed manually during the harvest and used as cattle feed or to make cardboard, but now most farmers rent a combine harvester which leaves up to 80 per cent of the residue in the field. Farmers say they donot have the time or money to store the straw or plough the stubble back into the ground. For these farmers, burning the paddy straw is an easy way out.
This act of farmers is not defiance. Instead, the burning process is a low-cost straw-disposal method that also reduces the turnaround time for them. However, the resultant smoke travels all the way to the national capital due to the winds. This smoke adds to the already existing suspended particulate matter (SPM) and other things that clogs lungs.
Every year, pollution in Delhi and the National Capital Region is invariably blamed on crop stubble burning by farmers from neighbouring states-Haryana, Punjab and West Uttar Pradesh. Although their stubble is only one of many sources of Delhi’s air pollution. Others include dust, industrial and vehicular emissions, and incineration. Weather plays a role too. Farmers burn stubble twice a year - in summer and at the onset of winter. The first time they do it, the warm breeze disperses it quickly. But the second time, in October and November, plummeting temperatures and low wind speed spread the smoke far and wide.
According to the government data, stubble burning is a potential source of Green House Gases (GHGs) and other chemically and radioactive important trace gases and aerosols such as CH4, CO, N2O, NOX and other hydrocarbons. It is estimated that upon burning, Carbon (C) present in rice straw is emitted as CO2(70 per cent of Carbon present), CO (seven per cent) and CH4(0.66 per cent) while 2.09 per cent of Nitrogen (N) in straw is emitted as N2O. Besides, burning of crop residue also emits large amounts of particulates that are composed of a wide variety of organic and inorganic species. Many of the pollutants found in large quantities in biomass smoke are known or suspected carcinogens and could lead to various air borne/lung diseases. Besides, it is estimated that burning of one tonne of paddy straw accounts for loss of 5.5 kg Nitrogen, 2.3 kg phosphorus, 25 kg potassium and 1.2 kg sulphur besides, organic carbon.
In Delhi, the PM10 (Particulate Matter-10 describes particles that can be inhaled, with diameters that are generally 10 micrometres and smaller) and PM25 levels are 4-5 times higher than the national average, according to a detailed study carried out by IIT-Kanpur, and submitted to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee and Department of Environment way back in 2016. Industries alone further add to almost 90 percent of Sulphur Dioxide to Delhi’s pollution. And Carbon Monoxide is contributed at the rate of almost 83 percent just by the vehicles.
According to the University of Chicago’s Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report, in India, home to 22 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities, toxic air kills more than one million people each year. According to the report, more than 480 million people or about 40 per cent of its population living in the Indo-Gangetic plains in the north where pollution levels regularly exceed those found anywhere else in the world by an order of magnitude. Residents of northern India are on track to lose more than nine years of life expectancy if pollution levels of that of 2019 persist as the region experiences the most extreme levels of air pollution in the world, it said. In 2019, India’s average particulate matter concentration was 70.3 microgram per cubic metre (?g/m3), the highest in the world and seven times the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) guideline of 10 ?g/m3, the report said.
The smoggy air cloaking India’s cities often contains dangerously high levels of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5. These pollutants have been linked to lung and heart disease and are known to impair cognitive functions and the immune system. PM2.5 air pollution caused around 54,000 premature deaths in New Delhi in 2020, according to an analysis by Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
(The writer is a Special Correspondent, The Pioneer. The views expressed are personal.)