Stubble burning down 83% this year so far but the days ahead look hazy

There has been an 83 per cent drop in incidents of paddy stubble burning between September 15 and October 5 across India, with Punjab and Haryana seeing considerable slump, compared to last year. How far this trend will be maintained needs to be observed since excessive rains in September have dela­yed harvesting of the paddy crop in several major growing states.
 
“The paddy stubble in several areas is still wet. Incidents of stubble burning will be fewer this year due to increased awareness among farmers and the use of decomposers,” said A K Singh, director, Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI).
 
Till mid-September, paddy acreage in Punjab was 2.55 per cent lower than last year, while it was higher in all other states where paddy stubble burning is rampant.
 
S K Chaudhuri, deputy director-general, natural resource management at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), also feels incidents of stubble burning will be fewer this year.
 
"Due to late rains, moisture in the soil is  good at present. We believe the bulk of paddy harvesting in North India will begin around Dussehra. With decomposers, wheat sowing can commence from November 15," said Chaudhuri.
 
What is paddy stubble?
 
Many farmers use modern harvesters to reap their crops since these are faster and do not affect grain quality. But the downside is the huge amount of stubble generated, which is as high as 5-6 inches in the case of paddy crops.
 
Deploying manual labour or other machines to weed them out is both time-consuming and expensive for the farmer who resorts to a cheaper and quicker way of dealing with waste - by burning it.
 
Machine and non-machinery solutions
 
Over the years, funds have been allocated to subsidise machines, such as happy seeders, to put an end to the problem. Despite being subsidised by the government, a happy seeder is a heavy investment and requires high horsepower tractors for deployment.
 
Decomposers
 
One cost-effective and easy way to eliminate stubble burning is the use of decomposers. These have been in use but this year, a more modern and effective decomposer called the Pusa bio-decomposer has been launched. It promises to decompose the stubble without damaging the soil.

 Last month, the Commission for Air Quality Management had said that Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh (UP) have prepared a detailed action plan to tackle stubble burning in the approaching winter season with greater use of bio-decomposer solutions developed by IARI.
 
What is the Pusa bio-decomposer?
 
It is a bio-enzyme developed by the IARI. It decomposes the stubble, turning it into manure, thus, improving soil health and reducing farmers' input costs in terms of fertilisers for the next cropping cycle. Some 300 grams of Pusa spray are enough to decompose an acre of stubble. Earlier, decomposers were available as capsules.
 
Are there any downsides?
 
Several experts and farmers say the time taken for the stubble to decompose in the fields after using the decomposer is unusually high and farmers have a small window to harvest their standing paddy.
 
However, Dhruv Sawhney, chief operating officer and business head of nurture.farm, which has joined hands with IARI to develop the latest version of decomposers, said newer varieties take 20-25 days to completely decompose the stubble.
 
Stubble burning and the Supreme Court
 
In 2019, the Supreme Court (SC) had directed the UP, Haryana, and Punjab governments to grant financial assistance of Rs 100 per quintal within seven days to small and marginal farmers.
 
To punish farmers is not the ultimate solution; equip them with basic facilities and amenities, the SC had said.