What do we do with this evil paddy straw?

Focusing on Punjab’s perspective, it’s evident that the lack of tangible steps to tackle the root cause of the problem—paddy straw burning—continues to plague the region. Despite financial subsidies, awareness campaigns, and meetings conducted mostly as a response to legal pressures, a comprehensive solution is yet to be implemented. The blame game between authorities and the farming community only exacerbates the issue. The farmers, often considered the culprits, are indeed the first to suffer from the toxic smog they inadvertently contribute to.

The reality is that farmers burn straw due to a lack of viable alternatives. Lighting fires to clear fields results in immense agricultural losses, impacting soil fertility and biodiversity. While initiatives like providing machinery or suggesting alternatives like balers or happy seeders have been proposed, they fall short in addressing the core issue—what to do with the baled straw sustainably.

Contrasting this with Denmark’s approach to a similar problem decades ago offers valuable lessons. Denmark, faced with analogous challenges, embarked on a journey to become a global leader in straw utilization technology. Through government incentivization of renewable energy and collaboration with industries, Denmark successfully converted straw into energy, significantly reducing their reliance on fossil fuels.

The success of paddy straw-based power plants in Punjab, employing Danish technology, demonstrates the potential for such strategies in addressing the region’s predicament.

The urgency lies in transitioning from discussions, subsidies, and threats towards a unified, collaborative approach involving all stakeholders. Learning from successful models, like Denmark’s, offers a blueprint for transforming the crisis into an opportunity for innovation and sustainable change.

While financial incentives and machinery provision have been proposed, the essential question persists—what do we do with the collected straw? It’s not a suitable animal fodder, nor is soil incorporation an easy solution.

Surprisingly, there’s been a lack of comprehensive studies on the efficacy of the machinery distributed or an analysis of data from remote sensing centers. The absence of post-4 p.m. data collection, a time when most farmers set fires, raises concerns about the accuracy of reported decreases in incidents. The role of existing biomass plants in mitigating this crisis remains ambiguous. The government’s failure to engage in meaningful dialogue with industries further compounds the issue.

As a concerned citizen, born into a farming family and professionally involved in the biomass industry for over 16 years, I’ve sought solutions worldwide. Drawing from this experience, I propose vital steps to tackle this pervasive issue in Punjab.

Firstly, a top-down approach involving the entire political spectrum is crucial. Similar to Denmark’s model, a comprehensive “Punjab Paddy Straw” policy needs collaborative drafting involving all stakeholders. Policies crafted in closed offices without real stakeholder input have historically failed. Embracing the fact that this problem demands immediate attention is imperative.

Industries, particularly PSPCL, need incentives to adopt Danish technology for utilizing paddy straw in power plants. There is no other industry which uses paddy straw in such large quantities as the paddy straw-based power plants and these can be put up in every district thus taking care of this problem.
Despite concerns about burdening PSPCL, the actual impact on power costs would amount to a marginal increase, approximately 2-3 paise per unit. This minimal cost increase is a small price compared to the health and environmental toll of the ongoing crisis and is substantially less than the expenses incurred in purchasing power at inflated rates.

The key lies in a collaborative policy, industry incentives, and a collective acknowledgment of the urgent need to resolve this critical issue for the benefit of Punjab and its residents.

(The writer is the president of the Biomass Association of Punjab)