More machines to manage stubble, but Punjab farmers still burning it. This is why

From September 15 to November 7, Punjab recorded 29,999 paddy residue burning events, according to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s (IARI) data from NASA satellites. Till November 6, the highest fire counts were recorded in the southern districts of Punjab – 4,815 in Sangrur, followed by 3,005 in Patiala.

According to data with the Punjab Pollution Control Board, 30,000 new crop residue management machines have been sanctioned this year to add to the existing number of 90,422.

Why are farmers burning crop residue?

For farmers, it is easier to set the residue on fire as a quick, inexpensive way to clear the field. Machines involve costs that can cut into their profit margins, even when they are rented from hiring centres or cooperative societies.

Since the machines themselves are expensive (super-seeders can cost more than Rs2 lakh), the Union government currently provides a subsidy of 50 per cent to individual farmers and 80 per cent to farmers’ groups or cooperative societies purchasing crop residue management machinery, including super-seeders, mulchers, and happy seeders.

While small farmers (with land up to 5 acres) and marginal farmers (with land up to 2.5 acres) can rent machines free of cost from custom hiring centres or cooperative societies, the machines are tractor-mounted, and using them involves fuel, the cost of which is high.

A farmer in Punjab’s Barnala district, for instance, said that a farmer who owns around 5 acres of land would produce around 100 quintal of paddy, which he may sell for a minimum support price of around Rs2,000. But the expenses of growing the paddy could amount to around Rs1,25,000, he said.

A super-seeder, which can remove the standing stubble, plough it back into the soil, prepare the field for the next crop and sow the seeds, uses fuel at the rate of around 7 litre per acre of land, and is mounted on a larger tractor. The price of a litre of diesel in Punjab is close to Rs90.

Apart from setting the field on fire, some farmers now prefer another option.

For farmers who are reluctant to spend on machines and fuel, the preferred option is to sell or give away the paddy straw to industrial units for use in generating energy. Some of these units deploy balers, a machine which converts the paddy straw into neat packages that can be transported from the field. Some such units also purchase the straw at a price of around Rs145 per quintal.

While more such units are using paddy straw this year, their number is still limited compared to the quantity of paddy straw generated each season. Krunesh Garg, Member Secretary, Punjab Pollution Control Board, said that the state is seeing a 33 per cent increase in ex situ management of paddy straw. While 12 units are using paddy straw for their industrial boilers, 10 biomass power plants are also using paddy straw, he said.

What about the PUSA bio-decomposer?

The bio-decomposer is a microbial solution being used in Delhi for the third consecutive year. It was also to be used on around 5,000 acres of land in Punjab by the Aam Aadmi Party government.

The solution was to be sprayed to help decompose the stubble. However, it can take around 20 to 25 days for the stubble to decompose to an extent that it can be ploughed back into the soil and seeds can be sowed. A farmer in Patiala said that the bio-decomposer is not a practical solution, as there is only a small window between the harvest of paddy and sowing of the rabi crop before the winter sets in.

Can financial incentives help?

The AAP had suggested paying farmers a financial incentive of Rs2,500 per acre to manage stubble. The proposal was for the Delhi government and Punjab government to pay Rs500 each and the Union government to contribute Rs1,500. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai earlier said that the Union government had not agreed to provide this amount.

For smaller farmers, the incentive may have helped pay for refueling tractors to operate stubble management machines, according to a farmer who owns around 1.5 acres of land in Patiala.