The Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government has committed to bringing down stubble-burning incidents in the state by over 50% compared to last year. With the paddy harvesting season set to begin soon, the state has readied a detailed action plan for all its 23 districts.
Every October, as the paddy harvesting season begins, a thick layer of toxic smog begins to envelop north-western India, especially the National Capital Region (NCR) including Delhi. The temperatures fall, the wind speed drops, and the concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 particles in the air rises to dangerous levels, worsened by the continuous burning of paddy stubble in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.
The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & Adjoining Areas (CAQM) on Tuesday said that it has reviewed the preparedness of the Punjab government ahead of the harvesting season. CAQM has already held four meetings with the state government and given statutory directions to implement the action plan it has submitted.
What is Punjab’s plan?
Punjab has around 31 lakh hectares of area under paddy and generates around 20 million tonnes (MT) of paddy straw a year. The paddy straw generation from non-basmati crops is about 16 MT. As per last year’s data, the maximum crop waste-burning incidents were reported in the five districts of Sangrur, Bathinda, Firozpur, Muktasar, and Moga, which recorded about 44% of the total fire counts of the state.
The state’s action plan envisages at least a 50% reduction in fire counts in Punjab compared to last year. The target is to completely eliminate paddy stubble burning cases in at least six districts: Hoshiarpur, Malerkotla, Pathankot, Rupnagar, SAS Nagar (Mohali), and SBS Nagar.
The focus will be on effectively utilising crop residue management (CRM) machinery, and using the paddy straw for various industrial and energy-generation projects. As per estimates, Punjab aims to manage around 11.5 MT of paddy straw through in-situ management and about 4.67 MT of paddy straw through ex-situ management. A sizable quantity of straw will also be used as cattle fodder, as per the action plan. The state government has also planned the application of bio decomposers in 8,000 acres of paddy fields.
More Crop Residue Management Machines
Punjab currently has 1,17,672 Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines and around 23,792 Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) have been established in the state. Punjab has further planned to procure more than 23,000 machines in 2023. The CAQM has also asked the AAP-led government for a detailed mapping of the available machines and their optimal utilisation and availability, particularly for small and marginal farmers.
The action plan also encourages the use of mobile apps like i-Khet to facilitate farmers with access to agriculture machinery for in-situ management of crop residue. A Cooperative Machinery Tracker is also in place to ensure the availability of CRM machines, as per the plan.
For ex-situ management, the paddy straw generated would be used in briquette/pelleting plants, bio-ethanol plants, biomass-based power plants, CBG plants, as well as cardboard factories. The government had also issued notifications under section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act for mandatory co-firing of 20% coal with paddy straw-based pellets in brick kilns with effect from May 1, 2023. The action plan also makes provision for identifying land parcels to enhance straw storage capacity.
The government also plans to focus on conducting awareness campaigns and felicitate progressive farmers who have moved away from the burning of paddy straw.
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