Vol. 12, Issue 1 (2023)

Author(s):
K Jaisimha Reddy and Shivanand Goudra

Abstract:
Harvesting of various crops generates a substantial amount of residues on and off the farm. In India, around 500 Mt of crop residues are generated annually. Cereals generate the most agricultural residues (352 Mt), followed by fibres (66 Mt), oilseeds (29 Mt), pulses (13 Mt), and sugarcane (12 Mt). Cereal crops (rice, wheat, maize, millets) produce 70% of crop wastes, whereas rice alone contributes 34%. The problem is more severe in the irrigated Indo-Gangetic plains, particularly in the mechanized rice-wheat system of the northwest India (Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand plains and Western UP). The major constraints in the rice-wheat cropping system are less time available between rice harvest and sowing of wheat and also shortage of labor. This leads farmers towards mechanical harvesting, resulting in burning of huge amount of crop residues in the field itself. Crop residue burning leads to loss of plant nutrients such as N, P, K and S, impacts soil physicochemical, biological and microbial properties by elevating soil temperature, and also causes emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O causing global warming. Various technological interventions to reduce crop residue burning include incorporation of crop residue into soils through adoption of conservation agriculture practices, promotion of use of crop residue for preparation of bio enriched compost/vermicomposting, use of crop residue for cultivation of mushrooms, diversification of the use of crop residues as fuel for power plants, production of cellulosic ethanol, and incentives for the purchase of happy seeder/turbo seeder/shredder/baling machines and extending subsidy to the farmers for hiring resource conservation machineries from Custom Hiring Center/Agriculture Service Center etc.