Taking a Principled View can Help to Tackle Stubble Burning

Every year, October brings with it a cloud of smog engulfing the national capital territory (NCT) and its neighbouring states. Cases of Asthma, breathing difficulty and cardiovascular diseases in Delhi NCR, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh (UP) rise around this time as the AQI crosses the 400 mark. The burning of stubble or parali as known among farmers is a major contributor to PM2.5 in the smog. The practice of burning stubble is predominant in the farms of Punjab, Haryana, UP and some parts of Madhya Pradesh. 

The quickest and most economical method from the farmer’s perspective to get rid of the paddy residue and prepare the land for the next crop is to set fire to the straw. Unfortunately this action imposes a cost on the health of citizens far away. Over the last few years, there are various proposed alternatives to stubble burning as a practice to achieve desired results. Unfortunately, they haven’t worked yet.

One approach proposed was to persuade farmers to use seeder machines that extract the stubble and sow the seed, simultaneously. The extracted stubble is deposited back to the soil to mulch and feed the soil with nutrients. However, for most farmers these machines are not affordable. Even if they get around to buying it, the technical knowledge to operate them is an additional burden on time and effort for the farmer. This may explain why a report by CEEW finds that in Punjab, even rental models to make them affordable aren’t working. The logistics of making these machines available has been tough to crack.

Another, more simpler approach is to collect the stubble to turn it into bales of straw to be used as raw materials for cattle fodder, or as fuel to run thermal power plants. Unfortunately, farmers still don’t see stubble as a potential by-product that can make them revenue. There has been limited success for some farms in Haryana to supply stubble as animal fodder to farms in UP. But the fact that more farmers aren’t choosing to take up supplying stubble as fodder speaks to potential costs on time and logistics that don’t make it an appealing prospect.    

In 2022, it seemed like the Indian Council of Agricultural Research made a breakthrough to solve the problem through a Pusa bio-decomposer. It is a fungi-based formula that when sprayed on stubble can decompose it into the soil. Unfortunately, it isn’t fast enough and it delays sowing seeds for the next crop cycle. This solution too isn’t cost efficient to expect farmers to adopt it.  

In finding a solution to the parali problem it is important to view the issue from the farmers point of view. Bans, hefty fines, and imprisonments are poor choices made by state governments. They alienate farmers who are at margin, often in debt, bearing massive risks for little payoffs. Many of them don’t even own the land they cultivate the crops on.   

Any breakthrough in solving this problem will arise when principles are used to solve the problem. 

The first principle level view is to see how more information can affect incentives and actions. Government agencies and civil society have a role to play in disseminating information to show there are more choices for farmers than to just burn their stubble. That seeder machines and Pusa-decomposers exist, or that stubble collected in bales may make for a product in the market for cattle feed is useful information for farmers to make decisions.  

The second principle level view to take is to see the issue as a coordination problem. State governments on their own cannot solve for it. It needs a three way collaboration between all levels of government – central, state, and local governments at the gram panchayat level.  

The third principle view is to identify barriers that prevent emergence of infrastructure that farmers have always required like  better transport, storage, and facilities to process agricultural produce. Stubble is a waste only when it’s not feasible to process and supply it to the market. Someone’s waste can become someone’s raw material like thermal plants, and animal husbandry businesses. If the infrastructure exists, costs and incentives can re-adjust to solve the problem.   Thinking of the problem in the middle and long-term matters. Technology and constant research and development may be able to make breakthroughs to bring the time and money cost of the solutions down. But it’s important to make sure they have the environment to flourish and that farmers see value in adopting it. Agriculture contributes 18.3% to India’s GDP. If the sector gets more productive and innovates it will transform our entire country’s prospects.  

Hopefully in the medium term, there is a breakthrough, till then, we have a task ahead on coping with the oncoming season of poor air quality.