An Express series | Burning issue: Paddy stubble a boon for many in Punjab

“We set up our plants over a decade ago. Our plants – which are located in Muktsar and Abohar having a capacity to generate 6 MW and 8 MW of power, respectively, – have not only generated power from the straw but also facilitated hundreds of farmers – who have been demanding Rs 3,000 per acre from the government for long so that they can clear the stubble through machines – by clearing the stubble from their fields which otherwise would be burnt. And non-burning of fields is improving their soil health,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) B S Jangra of Malwa plant said, adding that this will also help farmers during wheat sowing as they do not have to prepare the field for wheat sowing.

Also, these plants are providing direct and indirect employment to more than 9,000 people for at least 45 days during paddy harvesting season.

“Around 100 baler machines, which make bales of stubble in the field, are pressed into service. Each baler requires around 100 people who collect bales from different fields, and then transport them in their tractor trolleys to our storage place. A single baler covers 30 to 50 acres daily depending on the land and quality of paddy stubble. And in a single day, a baler makes around 300 bales of around 425 kg each,” he said.

Lehragaga (Sangrur district)-based Compressed Bio Gas Plant (CBG) having a capacity of 33 tonnes/day and consuming 1.1 lakh metric tonnes of paddy stubble annually has been operating for the past couple of months and is currently running at its 1/4th capacity as the formal inauguration of the plant will take place in October during the paddy harvesting season.

“This is the largest CBG plant in Asia and first in the country which is owned by a Germany-based Verbio company. We decided to set it up here because Punjab has a huge potential for it where raw material is available in abundance and also our country is importing about 50% of its total demand of CNG,” Ashish Kumar. CEO-cum-MD of the CBG plant in India, said, adding that this gas can be used in vehicles, industry, and for commercial purpose which means it can even replace LPG gas for cooking purpose.

In future when the plant runs at full capacity, it will manage stubble of around 100 villages, he said.

“We are also preparing bio manure in the plant which is very useful to improve the soil health and it can curtail the use of chemical fertilisers to a large extent. The government should support such plants by motivating farmers to use organic manure. Also, the government can help them by laying the pipeline for the supply of this gas towards its potential market, as transportation of it in the city areas costs them a lot because their plant is located in the rural area where there aren’t much takers for it,” he said, adding that these plants are a boon for the environment, soil health and the country itself.

At present, 10 Bio Mass Power Plants are operating in the state having a capacity to generate 3 MW to 18 MW of power and are consuming stubble from 36,000 metric tonnes to 1,62,000 metric tonnes per plant annually. These plants are collectively generating 91.5 MW of power by utilising 8.76 lakh tonnes of paddy stubble, while several paddy stubble boilers – which cost 2-3 times more than the conventional boilers – have been set up in various industries – including sugar mills, paper mills, and distilleries – and utilising 3.03 lakh tonnes of stubble.

Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) member secretary Krunesh Garg while speaking to The Indian Express said that by the end of this year, the stubble usage will be increased from the current 12.91 lakh tonnes to 21.06 lakh tonnes in all such paddy-based industries and this consumption will touch 48.80 lakh tonnes by the end of next year as more power plants, ethanol plant and 42 more CBG plants are in the pipeline.

He said that they are motivating all fuel-consuming industries to install paddy stubble-based boilers by replacing the old ones. Even though these boilers are costly, one gets the returns in less than two years. They are good for the environment as well, he added.

“Along with in situ (incorporation of stubble into the soil), we need multiple ways of ex situ management of stubble because there is a small window of time between the paddy harvesting and wheat sowing. And with different ex situ methods, the fields can be cleared before the wheat sowing,” he said. All these stubble-based plants are environmentally friendly due to relatively lower CO2 and particulate emissions, and it displaces fossil fuels such as coal, said an official of the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA).

In most of the power plants, stubble is being purchased at Rs 150 to Rs 250 per quintal. Punjab produces 200 lakh tonnes of paddy stubble. In 2021, 52% of the total paddy stubble produced was burnt in the fields.

Khanna-based Varinder Kumar, Chairman of Shree Ganesh Edible Oil Private Limited, said that they have two power plants, including 2.99 MW unit which was set up long ago and 15 MW unit which will be operational from next month. After the second unit starts functioning, they will be able to manage stubble of around 2 lakh tonnes. “The stubble is quite cheaper than the coal, as it costs us Rs 3,000 per tonne after bearing all expenses like transportation and storage, while the imported or Indian coal costs 4-5 times more per tonne,” he said, adding that the government should appreciate efforts of such plants so that more and more people come into this business.

Farmer Bir Dalvinder Singh of Kalar Majri, a village which has shunned burning of stubble around six years ago, said, “Six years ago when he came in contact with the Khanna-based power plant, he motivated the farmers of his village to make use of this plant. Today more than 80% of stubble of his village is collected by this power plant, while the remaining is managed through in situ.” Singh, a software engineer-turned-farmer, added, “The company people come every year in time and collect the stubble. Our government should set up more and more power and gas plants which will solve the problem of stubble clearance from the fields.” Singh was honoured by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Department of Agriculture, New Delhi, for stubble management.