Putting An Abrupt Stop To Crop Burning Is An Impossible Aspiration

The dark stillness of the fields after sunset is broken by the brillia­nce of fire. On a patch of land, some two kilometres from the highway near Shahbad, a town in the Kurukshetra district of Haryana, a solitary farmer uses his pitchfork to scoop tufts of burning stubble and spread the fire. 바카라�I have to burn the field today,바카라� he says. 바카라�Tomorrow바카라�s prediction shows rain. I had planned to not burn my field this year and employ labour to remove the stubble, but then came this warning. If the stubble gets wet in rain, I won바카라�t be able to plant wheat next week!바카라� He politely declines to tell us his name. He doesn바카라�t want to get into trouble. They바카라�ve been imposing fines for crop burning.

Although the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order banning crop burning across India came in 2015, the pressure to combat this practice was put on Delhi바카라�s neighbouring states only after pollution in the city reached near apocalyptical proportions in the winter of 2016. Researchers have put a major part of the pollution blame on crop burning.

This year, the Centre allocated Rs 1,151 crore for tackling the problem of crop burning in four states바카라�Punjab, Haryana, UP and Delhi. The sum is to be used for the next two years for making alte­rnative methods of crop residue management work. The aim is to mechanise residue management, especially for paddy, which is harvested in October, so that farmers don바카라�t have to burn it. The Punjab and Haryana governments have used these funds by providing subsidies on specialised farm equipment to farmers.

The strategy looks fine on paper, but putting an abrupt stop to a longstanding practice seems to be an impossible aspiration. The res­ult is that hardpressed for alternatives, farmers in Haryana and Punjab are being penalised for burning their paddy stubble.

바카라�The NGT바카라�s plan had looked reasonable at first. They had done their calculations: the number of machines that would be required to take care of paddy stubble. They had called farmers바카라� unions to discuss the matter,바카라� says Nek Singh, a farmer from the Nabha district of Punjab and the senior vice president of Bharatiya Kisan Union-Rajewal. 바카라�But hardly any equipment has reached farmers in Punjab,바카라� he adds.      

Nek Singh has stopped burning stubble since he could aff­ord to spend money on equipment, but he feels those farmers still burning stubble are being pressurised unnecessarily. 바카라�Despite the subsidy, the stubble management machines cost a lot. And what바카라�s more, the companies making them increased their rates once the subsidy was announced,바카라� says Nek Singh. Even with the equipment in place, the costs of operation go up for the farmer. 바카라�Suppressing stubble through mac­hines costs two, three thousand rupees more per acre.바카라�

Taking into account factors like the rapidly rising diesel prices, the decision to not burn stubble comes with significantly added cost for farmers, many of whom are already debt-ridden. 바카라�Let them come and fine, how many will they fine!바카라� says Balvinder Singh of Mandwal village in Patiala district, Punjab, who바카라�s burning his field next to NH 44 in broad daylight. 바카라�If we had the reso­urces, we would have not burned our fields. Look around, who wants to do any of this?바카라� he adds. Balvinder echoes the sentiment of many farmers who have to still burn their stubble. And given the added costs that the alternatives carry, the fines바카라�at Rs 2,500 for less than 2.5 acre바카라�are actually a cheaper way out, if at all levied.

On the other end is Surjeet Singh, a big farmer from Sadhugram village in Patiala district. He바카라�s a model farmer who has been using alternative ways of stubble management since 2001. 바카라�I started searching for alternatives since 2001, and after many attempts, was successful. You can say that the Happy Seeder was literally inve­nted in my fields바카라� says Surjeet Singh. The Happy Seeder is the main machine which provides an alternative to burning on which the government has given a 50 per cent subsidy to individual farmers. Farmer collectives are being given an 80 per cent subsidy on the same. Surjeet Singh says even he hasn바카라�t received the subsidy amount for his happy seeder yet.

A complete end to crop burning will, of course, require more time and will have to happen organically. Reports suggest that it is on the decl­ine since 2016. According to Punjab agriculture officials, there were 80,879 cases of stubble burning in the state during the paddy season in 2016. This number fell to 43,814 cases in 2017. 바카라�We hope to achieve a 100 per cent result in Punjab next year with regard to crop burning,바카라� says K.S. Pannu, agri­culture secretary, Punjab. As for the pollution blame from Delhi, he says: 바카라�This year crop burning has reduced further, but already, Delhi바카라�s air quality has reached alarming proportions. There is a problem in such diagnoses.바카라� Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had tweeted photos of crop burning in Punjab and Haryana on October 20 saying the states did nothing for their farmers and that Delhi would ­become a gas chamber soon as a res­ult. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi바카라�s air pollution levels for 2017 were also better than they were in 2016. Hence, the cut in crop burning might already be helping. But Delhi바카라�s pollution is a bomb that has exploded only after years of ticking and crop burning is just one of the factors responsible.

Text by Martand Badoni; Photographs: Tribhuvan Tiwari