TURNING CROP WASTE INTO CLIMATE SOLUTIONS: INDIA’S BILLION-TONNE OPPORTUNITY

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Picture Courtesy:  THEHINDUBUSINESSLINE

Context

India faces a major crisis due to the annual burning of over 500 million tonnes of crop residue, a practice driven by economic need that links farm distress, severe air pollution, climate change, and public health issues, highlighting the need to convert this agricultural byproduct into a resource for a sustainable circular economy.

What is Crop Residue?

Crop residue refers to the plant materials that remain in an agricultural field or orchard after a crop has been harvested. Key examples include:

• Paddy and wheat straw
• Sugarcane trash and bagasse
• Cotton and maize stalks
• Mustard and soybean residue

Types of Crop Residue

• Field Residues: Materials left directly on the ground after harvest, including stubble (the lower part of the stem still attached to the soil), stalks, leaves, and seed pods.
• Process Residues: Materials left after the crop is processed into a usable resource, such as husks, seeds, bagasse (from sugarcane), bran, and molasses. 

Once considered mere "waste," it is now recognized as a valuable natural resource for soil health, energy production, and industrial use. 

Why Do Farmers Resort to Burning?

The decision to burn crop residue is driven by a combination of economic, technological, and logistical factors:

• Economic Rationale: Burning is the quickest and cheapest way to clear fields for the next cropping cycle (Rabi season), which is vital given the limited time between harvesting paddy and sowing wheat.
• High Cost of Alternatives: Small and marginal farmers often find the operational cost of alternative management technologies, such as Super Seeder or Happy Seeder machines, too high.
• Logistical Hurdles: Collecting, transporting, and storing bulky, low-density biomass for off-field use (ex-situ) is often economically unviable without strong support.
• Lack of an Organised Market: A significant gap exists in market linkage and supply chain infrastructure for aggregating residue and connecting farmers with industries like bioenergy plants.

The problem is acutely acute due to factors like high cropping intensity, MSP-driven monoculture of rice and wheat, and the widespread use of combine harvesters that leave behind stalks. 

The crisis is geographically concentrated, with states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra being major contributors to residue burning.

What are the Impact of crop residue burning? 

Environmental Costs

• Air Pollution: It is a primary driver of the severe winter smog in North India, releasing Particulate Matter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide, and other toxins.
• Climate Change: Burning releases greenhouse gases (GHGs), including methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), along with short-lived climate pollutants like black carbon.
• Soil Degradation: It destroys essential soil nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium), reduces organic matter, and harms beneficial microbial populations, leading to increased fertilizer dependency.

Health & Economic Costs

• Public Health Crisis: Air pollution from stubble burning is linked to a rise in respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, and reduced life expectancy. A Lancet study estimated that pollution contributed to over 17.18 lakh deaths in India in 2022.
• Productivity Loss: Poor air quality leads to lost workdays and reduced economic productivity, impacting the entire region's economy.

The Opportunity: Creating Value from Agri-Residue

Managing crop residue effectively represents a major opportunity to advance India's economic, energy, and climate goals. This can be achieved through two primary approaches: in-situ (on-field) and ex-situ (off-field) management.

Value Creation (Ex-Situ Management)

 Bio-Energy

• Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG): Upgrading biogas to replace fossil CNG in transport.
• Biomass Power: Co-firing in thermal power plants to reduce coal use.
• Bio-ethanol: Second-generation (2G) ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass.

Reduces fossil fuel import bill, enhances energy security, and cuts GHG emissions.  

Bio-Products

• Biochar: A carbon-rich soil conditioner that improves soil health and sequesters carbon.
• Packaging: Production of biodegradable cutlery and packaging materials.
• Building Materials: Manufacturing of particle boards, panels, and paper pulp.

Promotes a circular economy, provides alternatives to single-use plastics, and supports carbon farming.

Soil Solutions (In-Situ)

• Mulching: Using machinery like the 'Happy Seeder' to sow wheat directly into fields with paddy residue cover.
• Composting: Decomposing residue to create organic manure.

Improves soil moisture, reduces weed growth, enhances soil organic carbon, and cuts fertilizer costs for farmers.

Government Initiatives

National Bioenergy Programme

Launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), it provides financial assistance for biomass power projects, CBG plants, and briquette manufacturing. The programme has been extended until 2025-26.

SATAT Initiative

(Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation) aims to establish 5,000 CBG plants, creating a market for biomass by guaranteeing offtake of CBG by Oil Marketing Companies.

Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management

A central sector scheme providing financial assistance to farmers and Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) in Punjab, Haryana, UP, and Delhi to purchase crop residue management machinery like Happy Seeders and Super Seeders.

PM-PRANAM Scheme

(PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth) indirectly supports residue management by promoting the balanced use of chemical and alternative fertilisers, including organic manure derived from composted residue.

Challenges 

Supply Chain & Logistics: High costs of collection, aggregation, and transportation of bulky biomass.

Economic Viability: Lack of a stable and remunerative price for crop residue for farmers.

Technological Gaps: Need for more efficient and affordable decentralised processing technologies.

Behavioral Change: Overcoming the long-standing practice of burning requires sustained awareness campaigns and strong incentives.

Way Forward  

Strengthen Biomass Supply Chains: Promote Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and cooperatives to act as local aggregators, supported by viability gap funding.

Develop a Robust Market: Mandate co-firing of biomass in thermal power plants and create a formal market for biochar and other bioproducts, linking them to carbon credits.

Provide Targeted Financial Incentives: Link Minimum Support Price (MSP) or provide a direct cash incentive to farmers who verifiably adopt sustainable residue management practices.

Invest in R&D: Focus on developing cost-effective, scalable technologies for both in-situ and ex-situ processing at the village or block level.

Conclusion

Converting crop residue from a pollutant to a resource requires overcoming challenges in governance, market design, and economic alignment, not just technology. Rewarding farmers financially for sustainable residue management can simultaneously alleviate rural distress, boost energy security, improve public health, and advance Net Zero 2070 goal. 

Source: THEHINDUBUSINESSLINE