STUBBLE BURNING

The stubble burning is a practice in which farmers burn the leftover residues after the crop has been harvested. The age-old practice has become a menace as it has led to increased air pollution in the nearby areas. The stubble burning is not the only reason for air pollution but it is something that if this practice is completely abandoned could help in reducing the effects of air pollution on a large scale. 

The major reason behind stubble burning is the short time available between rice harvesting and the sowing of wheat as delay in sowing wheat affects the wheat crop. Between the harvesting of the paddy crop and the sowing of the next crop, there is only a two to three weeks time window left. Crop residue burning is practiced by the farmers to prepare the land for the next cultivation. 

The Supreme Court has directed the governments of affected regions to ensure that stubble burning is "forthwith" stopped as an immediate measure to protect the lives and health of people. "Pollution is not a political game where one state shifts the blame to another depending on the ruling political dispensation... this [Pollution] is a murder of the health of  the people . You see children in Delhi suffering from health issues ," Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.

One of the many causes of stubble burning is the lack of availability of stubble removal equipment like super-seeders and balers at the right time and the burnt is mostly faced by small and marginal farmers. Farmers should be incentivized for crop diversification to encourage farmers to shift from paddy to other crops which reduce the leftover residues. Ex-situ management of stubble through procurement of straw from farmers and its transportation with the help of the state government could help in reducing the stubble burning problem.

Government initiative to produce CAG from stubble in the state, which will provide income as well as employment would incentivize farmers to sell their stubble to the state governments. This effort will also lead to the production of pure organic fertilizer, contributing to the promotion of green energy and better health outcomes. Setting up ethanol plants that use the degraded waste of the farms to create organic fuels would help in solving the stubble problem.

Farmers are aware of the problems caused by the burning of stubble but still, they burn because they lack options. The stubble is a problem for them if they keep lying on the farms. They take space to keep the stubble and if they are not taken by various government agencies on time it is another problem because they reduce their value after a short time. Even if the government is paying them an incentive to not burn the stubble what will they do of the leftovers?

Therefore there should be a mechanism to solve this problem. The government should create space to store the stubble. Subsidizing the machines and threshers which are used in separating stubble from crops by the farmers. A single body to buy stubble from the farmers and sell it to the agencies that require them. Research and development in stubble management. Creation of a parallel economy which is run by the stubble such as handicraft items, livestock fodder, packing and card-boards making, and other products which could be produced by stubble. Also incentivizing farmers to move towards other crops other than wheat and paddy which are the largest producers of stubble bales.