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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Punjab farmers want to stop burning stubble that causes Delhi pollution -- but they have few options -Banalata Sen

Punjab farmers want to stop burning stubble that causes Delhi pollution -- but they have few options -Banalata Sen

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published Published on Nov 2, 2018   modified Modified on Nov 2, 2018
-Scroll.in

Providing them machinery to remove loose straw and expanding the industries that use crop residue could help tackle the problem, says a new study.

It is that time of the year. Delhi’s air is becoming poisonous and, once again, Punjab’s farmers burning paddy straw are being blamed for it. But few bother to ask why these farmers dispose of their crop residue in such a polluting way even though the risk to their own health is obvious. The short answer: most do not have much of a choice.

A study conducted by Indian and Swiss researchers from the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Kheti Virasat Mission and Ranas Mosler in four districts of Punjab between June and October found that the farmers are willing to stop burning straw if they can manage it otherwise.

 The most common reasons for burning paddy straw, the study found, include insufficient time for field preparation between harvesting and sowing, the lack of a minimum support price for crops other than rice and wheat, a labour shortage, a lack of access to suitable machinery and the absence of industries that could utilise straw.

The study, which covered 710 farmers, found that 56% of them completely or partially burn paddy straw. While income does not seem to determine whether a farmer burns straw or not, two-thirds of the burners are indebted compared to only half of the non-burners. Moreover, the non-burners are more confident about managing residue without burning, with the availability of machinery at the village level probably an important factor influencing their perceived confidence.

The study also found other challenges in managing straw that compel the farmers to burn it. Since many farmers employ combine harvesters that reap, thresh and winnow paddy at one go, they are left with standing stubble as well as loose straw. They have been encouraged to adopt incorporation – plowing the crop residue back into the soil – as a sustainable solution for straw management. But incorporation of loose straw with standing stubble poses its own problem: it creates a microenvironment that is susceptible to pathogen infection. But they can incorporate standing stubble, one of the farmers surveyed said, if the government provides them machinery that removes the loose straw.

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Scroll.in, 1 November, 2018, https://scroll.in/article/900152/punjab-farmers-want-to-stop-burning-stubble-that-causes-delhi-pollution-but-they-have-few-options


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