Chauhan, Bhagirath Singh

Kaur, Simerjeet

Mahajan, Gulshan

Singh, Rajbir

University of Queensland eSpace

CORRESPONDENCE 
 
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 114, NO. 12, 25 JUNE 2018 2419 
Issues and strategies for rice residue management to unravel winter  
smog in North India 
 
Rice is the most popular kharif food crop 
grown in North India. In Punjab, 75–80% 
of area under rice is machine-harvested 
and based on harvest index, 18–20 mil-
lion tonnes of rice straw production is 
estimated. Approximately 95% of paddy 
straw and 25% of wheat straw are burnt 
every year in Punjab, making the state 
the major culprit for greenhouse gas 
emissions. The emissions from wheat 
crop residues in Punjab are relatively low 
compared to those from paddy fields. 
Residue burning in agricultural fields of 
North India is a major source of smoke, 
smog and particulate pollution. With the 
onset of winter months, the decrease in 
temperature results in a temperature 
inversion, favouring the accumulation of 
pollution near the earth’s surface, in 
combination with high relative humidity 
and other meteorological parameters like 
calm winds typical of post-monsoon 
months. The smoke that arises from the 
burning results in the emission of toxic 
substances, including PM2.5, CO2, CH4, 
CO, NOx and SOx in the atmosphere. 
These emissions have several atmos-
pheric, biospheric and ecological impli-
cations1.  
 A study conducted by the Agricultural 
Development and Rural Transformation 
Centre at the Institute for Social and 
Economic Change, Bengaluru, reported 
that harmful effects of this smog account 
for Rs 76 million of health hazards in ru-
ral Punjab only. The vast cloud of smoke 
in the form of smog resulting from rice 
residue burning in October not only 
poses a serious threat to human health, 
but also to soil and environmental qual-
ity. Although a legal ban was imposed on 
stubble burning in 2005, the practice still 
continues due to proper non-implemen-
tation of the ban. Farmers opt for burning 
as it is a quick and easy approach for dis-
posal of residue and for cleaning the 
fields for sowing the next crops like 
wheat, potato, etc. After rice harvest, the 
sowing window period for the subse-
quent wheat crop is narrow. Most of the 
farmers in North India grow Pusa 44, a 
late maturing variety. Therefore, for the 
early vacation of fields, they practice 
burning of rice straw. An alternative use 
of paddy straw needs a change in the 
mindset of farmers with technology in-
novations along with a huge investment 
of time, money and energy. 
 The new hope in this direction are the 
recently released rice varieties (PR-121, 
PR-126, HKR-47, HKR-47 and HKR-
127), especially in Punjab and Haryana, 
that are now not only contributing yield 
almost at par with the earlier released/ 
popular long-duration varieties like Pusa 
44, but mature 2–3 weeks earlier; 
thereby, yielding more per unit area, time 
and inputs, and showing better resource 
use efficiency. These recent varieties  
vacate the fields by mid-October, provid-
ing farmers enough time for residue man-
agement and timely sowing of the 
succeeding wheat crop. Among newly 
released varieties, PR-121 has emerged 
as the most popular among farmers of 
Punjab, occupying more than 7 lakh ha 
(30%) during kharif 2016, while the area 
under the long-duration variety Pusa 44 
has come down to 20%. Fire incidents 
are still reported more in the area where 
Pusa 44, a long-duration variety, is 
grown, because farmers have a narrow 
window for wheat sowing. The Act 
regarding transplanting date, i.e. not to 
transplant paddy before 10 June, also 
helped in decreasing fire incidents by 
discouraging farmers to grow long-
duration varieties like Pusa 44. 
 Farmers are well aware of the envi-
ronmental ill-effects of residue burning, 
but are forced to do so in the absence of 
any compensation and easy alternatives. 
Farmers need to be provided with a sub-
sidy on farm implements like the Happy 
Seeders, rotavators, straw reapers and 
balers for managing straw in a sustain-
able manner, as these are expensive and 
require heavy machinery for working. 
The cooperative approach for such heavy 
machinery may be promoted for effective 
residue management. 
 Research is underway to evolve rice 
varieties that may have low silica con-
tent, lodging tolerance and high harvest 
index so that these varieties can easily be 
decomposed and will strengthen rice 
residue incorporation practices. The fine-
tuned Happy Seeders are now available 
that have overcome problems of loose 
straw and crop emergence, and can  
easily incorporate the rice residue in the 
field. 
 In conclusion, burning of rice residue 
although is a regional incident, its impact 
is not bound to a specific area, therefore, 
issues need national concern and north-
ern states like Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, 
and Uttar Pradesh should act together to 
mitigate the menace. 
 
 
1. Gupta, P. K. et al., Curr. Sci., 2004, 
87(12), 1713–1717. 
 
 
RAJBIR SINGH1 
GULSHAN MAHAJAN2,3 
SIMERJEET KAUR2 
BHAGIRATH SINGH CHAUHAN3,* 
 
1ICAR, Agricultural Technology  
 Application Research Institute,  
Ludhiana 141 004, India 
2Punjab Agricultural University,  
Ludhiana 141 004, India 
3The Centre for Crop Science,  
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and  
 Food Innovation,  
The University of Queensland,  
Gatton, Queensland 4343, Australia 
*e-mail: b.chauhan@uq.edu.au 
 
 
 


Issues and strategies for rice residue management to unravel winter smog in North India

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Issues and strategies for rice residue management to unravel winter smog in North India

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