Will North India breathe easy this November?

Lions always burn such relics.

Two years ago, he saw some farmers in his village experimenting with the Happy Seeder – a tractor-mounted machine that shreds paddy straw and deposits them (as mulch) into the sown area. These machines were promoted as an alternative to burning the remains.

He didn’t feel encouraged to use them. Wheat fields faced attack from rodents and insects like pink stem borer. The layer of mulch deposited by the machines provides shelter to the rodents. The mulch also raised soil temperatures, making pink stem borers ideal for hatching.

It is also not easy to rent another version of Crop Residue Management (CRM) machine. Super seeders, which harvest paddy straw and incorporate them into the soil (as opposed to depositing them in the sown area), require large tractors of more than 60 horsepower. They consume more fuel, and are also expensive.

This year, Singh tested the Smart Seeder—an improved version with features of both Happy Seeder and Super Seeder.

“A tractor of 50-55 horsepower will be enough for this. And the technicians suggested us to use insecticides beforehand with urea (to deal with the pest problem). Unlike Happy Seeders, the straw is properly mixed and pressed into the soil. I was happy with the results and am looking forward to rent it out from the Kisan Samaj this season,” Singh said.

What farmers like Singh make this season will determine how foggy November is in the Indo-Gangetic plains, including the national capital. According to the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modeling from Space (CREAMS), a research initiative of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, stubble burning has started in Punjab with 192 burning incidents till October 1. While the burning of residue starts only in late September, it picks up in late October. The first and second weeks of November are the worst. The data from CREAMS shows that by the end of November, the incidence of burns reduces.

Stubble burning may contribute more than 50% to Delhi’s air pollution during the first week of November, shows data from System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), a research initiative of the Ministry of Earth Sciences. .

Punjab is the most important state in terms of stubble burning. Of the 92,047 fire incidents recorded by CREAMS in six states (Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi) between September 15 and November 30, 2021, more than three-fourths were in the land of five rivers.

While people living in towns and cities of North India would expect more and more farmers to use CRM machines, there are several hurdles. Does economics work?

cost equation

I have been using Happy Seeder for the last two-three years,” said Malkit Singh, another farmer from Ludhiana district. He cultivates paddy and wheat in seven-eight acres.

If farmers hire a happy seeder to prepare the field for the next crop (wheat) after harvesting paddy, it may cost 1,000 per acre, Singh said. If they rent it along with the tractor, the cost may add up 2,500 per acre. it will be at least He said 1,000 more if they choose a super seeder.

However, the cost of using these machines is not much different from the traditional method of stubble burning – money is spent on preparing the field before sowing, after burning the residue. that cost will be approx Malkit Singh said that 4,000-5,000 per acre if one rents a tractor with necessary equipment.

Singh’s estimate is high but the cost of farm preparation depends on the local agro-climatic or soil conditions. In some cases, soil hardens when stubble burns and may require extensive plowing with multiple tractor operations. Mohit Sharma, researcher at the CII-ITC Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CII-ITC CESD), a research institute, said this adds to the cost of fuel.

The loss of soil nutrients, necessitating greater use of fertilizers, is another long-term cost to farmers.

A recent report by CII-ITC CESD, led by Sharma, also estimates that the cost of farm preparation in terms of burning residue is comparable to that of management with machines. The farmers who burnt the stubble spent 2,900 in 2020. In comparison, those who opted for machines spent in the range of 3,200-3,600, depending on the method of residue management. The survey was conducted among about 1,800 farmers from 172 villages in Punjab and Haryana. The survey found an improvement in wheat yields and a reduction in diesel consumption for those who opted for management with machines.

So, if renting out machines is not particularly heavy on the pocket and also eco-friendly, why are farmers not adopting them?

Not enough machines?

More than 50% of the paddy straw produced in Punjab was burnt in 2020. At 71,304, the number of fire incidents in the state between September 15 and November 30 was also higher last year, down from 83,002 during the same period. in 2020.

The farmers of Punjab are well aware that burning of residues damages their lungs as well as affects the quality of the soil.

“Farmers are not burning stubble for profit. They are doing so out of compulsion.”

The market price of Super Seeders is approx. 2-3 lakhs, and Happy Seeders have 1.5-2 lakhs. Also these machines are not useful after October-November season. Therefore, unlike tractors or other farm equipment, farmers have less incentive to buy them.

The Central Government made these machines available at subsidized prices from 2018-19 onwards. The rate of subsidy is 80% for cooperative societies, farmer societies or panchayats and 50% for individual farmers.

Despite subsidies, access to the machines is limited. For example, Singh’s village has two-three happy or smart seeders and two super seeders. But, these machines are often shared across several villages. This limits their timely availability. Farmers in Punjab have 10-12 days to clear and prepare the fields for sowing of wheat after the paddy harvest.

During 2018-19 and 2021-22, Punjab Government deployed 13,540 Happy Seeders and 26,305 Super Seeders. In all, 90,442 CRM machines, including Mulcher, Zero Till Drill, Happy or Super Seeder with Rotavator, have been delivered during this period. Punjab Agriculture Director Gurvinder Singh informed that 32,000 more machines will be installed this season. This would mean availability of around 10 CRM machines per village.

Singh does not believe that the availability of machines is an issue, as these machines can individually cover 80-90 acres of land in an average of 15 days. Had Singh’s estimate been correct, these machines would have been enough to cover the entire paddy area of ​​70-75 lakh acres last year itself (assuming maximum utilization with minimum loss in transportation and logistics). By this year, coverage should be easily obtained.

Need: Mindset Pivot

As indicated by Hardeep Singh, not all machines are equally liked by the farmers. Their choices change over time, and the words of fellow farmers greatly influence the choice.

Happy Seeder was started about five years ago in Punjab. The government deployed a substantial number of them in 2018-19 and 2019-20—the number has come down in the last two years.

“Many farmers in my village complained of sundhi (pink stem borer) after using Happy Seeder. This increased the cost of pesticides and resulted in loss of yield for their wheat crops, discouraging them from using machines in future,” said Malkit Singh.

Sukhjit Singh thinks there is a way. He suggests late sowing of wheat for farmers who face the pest problem, especially in the southern districts of Sangrur and Patiala where temperatures are a few notches higher. Singh, who cultivates 30 acres, has been using various CRM machines since 2018.

Super seeders, meanwhile, also solve the pest problem. Despite high fuel consumption, these machines are preferred by farmers for their better straw mixing efficiency, which reduces the chances of pest attack. However, as mentioned earlier, a super seeder requires tractors of more than 60 horsepower, which is less common among farmers in Punjab. This makes renting difficult.

Gurvinder Singh thinks that the lack of adoption is more due to psychological constraints than the availability of machines. “Farmers can manage the residue with the machines already available,” he said. He was referring to traditional machines like mulcher, rotavator etc. The combination of these machines is actually used by farmers to achieve in-situ management, shows CII-ITC CESD survey, though less preferred than happy and super seeders.

CII-ITC CESD researchers also recommend behavior change communication to change mindsets and promote sustainable practices. In the 172 villages in which the researchers are working, the proportion of crop burning has decreased from 51% in 2019 to 13% in 2020, with a corresponding increase in residue management practices. Interventions in these villages included capacity building, equipment support and a shared rent model.

compensation matters

In July, the Delhi and Punjab governments proposed a cash incentive of 2,500 per acre to farmers for not burning the residue. its, 500 each was proposed as contribution from Delhi and Punjab; 1,500 were requested from the central government, which rejected the proposal. Both Delhi and Punjab are ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

It is not yet clear whether the Delhi and Punjab governments will proceed with less incentives 1,000. A Delhi government spokesperson told Mint that the plan is “very” in the pipeline, and both governments are working out modalities.

Be that as it may, there is a strong demand for “compensation” on the ground. Three farmers’ union leaders from three different districts spoke to Mint, who were candid in their demand for compensation 5,000—twice the offer 2,500—to reimburse the cost of CRM machines to the farmers.

Points to consider: subsidies or incentives are easy to introduce; Do not cancel it. Therefore, experts suggest more permanent solutions.

Pusa Bio-Decomposer, which has been promoted extensively by the Delhi government in the last two years, is being run on thousands of acres of land in Punjab this time. Developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Decomposer converts crop residue into manure.

However, thousands of acres are also negligible in comparison to the total sown area for paddy, which is 74 lakh acres. In any case, the decomposition period is 20-25 days, which is much longer than the window of a typical Punjab farmer.

So, we come to the million-dollar question: What happens to the air in Delhi and the rest of northern India this season?

“So far the recovery has been slow, and this year may only be gradual. I hope it was more drastic,” said Mohit Sharma.

The National Green Tribunal, in an order passed in 2015, prohibited the burning of agricultural residues in any part of the National Capital Territory, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Any person violating the instructions shall be liable to pay environmental compensation. But the government has been lax so far, Sukhjit Singh said. “If the government strictly enforces the ban (or challan), the farmers themselves will find a way to burn the stubble.”

Until something like this happens, those living in North India should restrain their hopes of a clean November.