Recycling of Rice Straw Helps Control C02 Emissions in North Western India

The biomass management project of
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) implemented in North Western states
helped recycle 25000 tonnes of rice straw back into soil and prevented the
release of 115 tons of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) into the air. The usual
practice is to burn the rice straw and that causes the release of smoke and
dust in the atmosphere.
The report of CII’s Crop Residue
Management project of 2017-18 under ‘Cleaner Air, Better Life’ for biomass
management in North Western states was released recently.
As per the report, the project
led to avoidance of environmental impacts on local, regional and global scales
and also led to nutrient savings worth more than INR 1 crore. It improved the
farmer’s resilience to adverse impacts of climate change due to water
conservation, improved farm biodiversity, and resilience of crops to extreme
climatic events.
About 30 kilo tonne CO2e of GHG
and 13 tonne BC which would have otherwise been released into the atmosphere
are estimated to be fed back into the soil, a portion of which will be
sequestered into the soil for hundreds of years. Also, the project led to
avoidance of estimated, 140 tonne volatile organic compounds, 82 tonne ammonia,
39 tonne oxides of nitrogen and 6 tonne oxides of sulphur, which could have
impacted the ambient air quality across Indo-Gangetic Plains.
Agricultural burning in North
Western States (Punjab, Haryana and Delhi) costs the Indian economy a whopping
USD 30 million every year due to health impact. It exacerbates climate change
as emitted Black Carbon (BC) is considered the second most potent global
warming agent after CO2. Burning also adversely impacts farm level biodiversity
and leads to over consumption of irrigation water and diesel for farm
operations.
CII worked with the Ministry of
Environment Forest & Climate Change to design a plan of action for biomass
management (CII-NITI, 2018) in North Western States. A subsidy scheme was
launched by the Central Government to support North Western States in their
efforts to curb crop residue burning. CII galvanised the industry action on
Crop Residue Management (CRM) in 2018 which led to adoption 19 villages in
Punjab.
CII Foundation, along with local
partners in Punjab, engaged with farmer community to demonstrate solutions in a
highly participatory manner. These villages were made free of burning in 2018
by using behaviour change communication and farmers were provided technical
handholding for adopting sustainable agricultural practices. This impact report
on CRM project is prepared by CII’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable
Development (CESD) under its ‘Cleaner Air Better Life’ strategy for diverse
stakeholders to design strategies for improving air quality in India.
Going forward, there is a need to
communicate the true cost of burning to farmers, strengthen farmers capacity
for planning and undertaking sustainable agricultural practices, and address
local factors which hinder in-field management of rice straw. Also, the biomass
management ecosystem needs to be strengthened with workable models of ex-situ
solutions. CII’s project for ‘Cleaner Air Better Life’ continues to work on
this issue.
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