Suman Sahai
The components
of the 2023-24 budget have been analysed in great detail as every year.
Allocations to agriculture have not been dazzling this time . The Doubling
Farmers Income program which was to achieve its spectacular goal by 2022 has
failed decisively and there was no evidence of further support to this overly
ambitious project. The expectation that big grants would be seen in the
agriculture sector to make farmers happy before the 2024 general election was
also belied. But the possibility remains open of some block buster bonanza for
farmers being announced closer to the elections.
What I would
have liked to see in the agriculture budget though is some allocation for farm
machinery and technology to control or do away with stubble burning. Stubble
refers to the lower portion of the stalk and root of the rice, wheat or any
other crop that is left in the field after the top portion of the crop, which
carries the food grain, has been harvested. The stubble is burnt to remove it
from the field to prepare the field for the next crop.
Finding a
solution to remove crop residues by alternative means is eminently doable and
not supporting it in the budget has been a missed opportunity. The impact of
stubble burning on the environment especially the air quality is colossal for
the 10- 15 days that stubble is burnt post the kharif crop harvest in November-
December.
The harmful
smoke generated from stubble burning has become a plague not just in Delhi
where it receives the most attention but in all of north India. Doctors in
hospitals across regions of north India confirm that poor quality air during
winter is causing great damage to the health of people , especially children.
Respiratory diseases are on the rise and the elderly are highly vulnerable to
the cocktail of pollutants in the smoggy, hazy air. On a recent visit to Goa, I was shocked to
find that the practice of burning crop residues in the field has reached there
as well. This is likely to spread to other agriculture areas. In the absence of
an alternate means of freeing the fields of the previous crop and making them
ready for the next crop, clearing by setting fire to the stubble is the
cheapest and easiest way available to the farmer.
It is surprising
that no serious effort has been made to address this problem since simple
technological interventions exist already. Much of the wheat and paddy harvest
in Punjab, Haryana and Western UP is done by the Harvester Combine, a machine that
cuts the top portion of the plant carrying the grain bearing ëars”.This machine leaves about 12 inches of
the straw in the field . This stubble has to be removed and the economics of
farming is so precarious that the farmers cannot spend extra money on labour to
remove the stubble manually before planting the next crop. Farmers thus have no
choice but to set fire to the stubble to clear their fields.
The easiest most
straightforward solution is to modify the harvester machines to cut the
stem/straw close to the ground, leaving no stubble in the field. Harvester
Combines abroad have this simple feature with an addition. The same machine cuts
all the straw, threshes and separates the grain and rolls up the straw into
bundles. Those who have traveled abroad will have seen such bales of straw
lying in the fields after the machines have removed the grain. Incorporating
this feature is not rocket science and can be easily done in Indian Harvester
Combines.
After years of
worsening air pollution every winter, I would have liked to see some response
in the budget. An incentive or subsidy can be provided to manufacturers of
Harvester Combines so that they can modify their machines to cut stubble at
ground level so no stubble is left to burn. This one-time subsidy would not be
a large one and can be recovered over one or two harvests from the machine manufacturers.
There could be many ways of doing this so that farmers are not made to bear the
cost.
There is another
aspect to this. When farmers have to burn the stubble, they lose in many ways.
They are losing that much straw that can be used as fodder for livestock.
Surplus biomass left post harvest can be used to make hard and soft boards for
use in construction and furnishing interiors, packing material and a valuable
product called biochar to improve soil health. But more on that next time.
Dr Suman Sahai is a scientist and chairperson of the research and
advocacy group Gene Campaign.
The Citizen, 23
Feb 2023
