Collecting, baling paddy straw may be solution to stubble burning: New Holland

Farm machinery maker New Holland on Friday said collecting and baling paddy straw using machineries like balers are preventing over 1.5 million tonnes of crop residue from being burnt in India every year.

Since last two years, the company is demonstrating a method of collecting and baling paddy straw and stubble in northern states using its machineries like rotary slasher, RKG 129 gyro rake and BC5060 small square baler, it added.

As a result in 2017, New Holland said, about 1,000 tonne of paddy straw and crop stubble were baled in Kallar Majri in Patiala district, Punjab, preventing more than 1,500 tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In 2018, 1,500 tonne of straw were collected, preventing more than 2,250 tonne of CO2 from entering the earth's atmosphere.

"Farmers here slashed, collected and baled the paddy straw and stubble and sold it to the local biomass plant to generate electricity for nearby rural communities," the company said.

Also, in October 2018, a second straw management project started at the request of the Department of Agriculture in Haryana. Here, too, the aim was to convert crop residue into an energy source, as well as animal feed and compost and the results were again impressive.

In the district of Panipat, 769 tonnes of paddy straw were baled, preventing 1,166 tonnes of CO2 emissions, and in the district of Fatehabad, 327 tonnes of paddy straw were baled, preventing the emission of 496 tonnes of CO2.

With these success stories, New Holland Business Head of Crop Solutions Sandeep Gupta said, "Each New Holland BC 5060 baler has the ability, in every paddy season, to bale enough straw to produce electricity for 950 rural homes for a whole year. This shows how the wider adoption of straw management could make a big, positive difference to India's air quality".

New Holland balers are now preventing more than 1.5 million tonnes of crop residue from being burnt in India every year, as well as bringing additional income to farmers and clean energy to their communities, he added.

Elaborating on the three-step process, the New Holland said in the first step, after harvesting, the stubble is cut to ground level using a rotary slasher.

In the second step, the New Holland RKG 129 gyro rake is used to pack the crop residue into windrows. And in the third step, the straw is turned into bales by the New Holland BC5060 small square baler, it added.

The New Holland, a subsidiary of Italian-American industrial vehicles maker CNH Industrial, sells tractors and harvester. It has two manufacturing units, one plant manufacturing tractors in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, while another one for harvester in Pune, Maharashtra.