Farmers Must Learn More Effective Ways to Get Rid of Stubble

The environmentalist and CEO of Grow-Trees.com says burning stubble has long-lasting effects and affects soil fertility significantly

Many newspaper reports have reported how the pollution in Delhi-NCR, post-Diwali assumed dangerous toxicity levels. The reasons behind the eighth consecutive year of toxic air quality range from stubble burning and vehicular pollution to vehement cracker burning.

Bikrant Tiwari, environmentalist and CEO of social organisation Growtrees says, "What I found most alarming about this report based on a survey (carried out by LocalCircles), was that 70% of people have at least one or more family members who have been impacted by poor air quality. Those suffering could include babies, the elderly and even people with pre-existing medical conditions. Many people are forced to travel out of the city during this time but that is not a sustainable solution to this problem. What about those who cannot afford to travel?"  
   
In winter the heedless bursting of crackers along with stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh which refers to a simplistic method of removing residual paddy crop to make way for fresh rabi crop sowing, does not help matters.  
 
Bikrant under whose leadership GrowTrees has helmed afforestation initiatives and  supported indigenous farming projects across the country says the practice of rubble burning is counter-productive at many levels and not only alters the air quality significantly but also affects soil fertility. He adds, "This practice eventually destroys the soil nutrients and also kills the bacterial and fungal populations that are necessary for soil fertility. Burning also causes a large number of airborne microorganisms to die, which increases pest populations and, in turn, increases crop diseases. Stubble burning also leads to fire accidents and significant property damage."    

So how can we resolve this issue?

Bikrant suggests, " To prevent the carbon stored in grass or biomass from being released into the atmosphere, stubble can be used in a more productive manner by putting it back into the earth i.e. using it for composting purposes. It can also be converted into fodder or organic fertilizer or fuel. Farmers need to be made aware of how burning stubble has long-lasting effects and that there are more effective ways to get rid of stubble before planting the next crop. Burning stubble results in a significant loss of organic carbon, nitrogen, potassium, and sulphur every year. Ideally, it should be utilised to create organic manure. As a result, there will be less need for chemical fertilisers."

 Bikrant says that we also need to take into account, the fact that farmers frequently have no other options besides burning stubble and typically,  lack the necessary equipment to  reduce stubble induced fires. He concludes, "Our project ‘Trees for Farmers’ in Madhya Pradesh involves plantation of timber, fruit, and vegetable species to promote other forms of livelihood. Similarly, we need to create awareness among farmers about the other crops they can plant that can supplement their income so that they don’t have to resort to stubble burning to plant wheat."