9-Dec-2022: Increasing Problem of Stubble Burning

To support the efforts of the Governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi to address air pollution and to subsidize machinery required for in-situ management of crop residue, a Central Sector Scheme on ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi’ is being implemented from 2018-19. Under this scheme financial assistance @ 50% of the cost of machinery is provided to the farmers for purchase of crop residue management machinery and financial assistance @ 80% of the project cost is provided to the Cooperative Societies of Farmers, Farmers Producers Organization (FPOs) and Panchayats for establishment of Custom Hiring Centres of crop residue management machinery. During the period from 2018-19 to 2022-23, funds amounting to Rs. 3,138.17 crores have been released for these States and more than 39,000 Custom Hiring Centres(CHCs) have been established and more than 2.30 lakh crop residue management machines have been supplied to these CHCs and individual farmers of these four States.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has developed Pusa bio-decomposer, a microbial consortium of fungal species (both in liquid and capsule forms) for rapid decomposition of paddy straw. Use of this consortium accelerates process of paddy straw decomposition in the field itself. The Ministry of Power has brought “Revised Policy for Biomass Utilization for power generation Through Co–firing in Coal based Power Plants” which mandates co-firing of 5-7 % of suitable biomass pellets along with coal in coal based power plants. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has notified Bioenergy Programme which promote the conversion of biomass and other waste material into other useful forms of energy. The Oil Central Public Enterprises have set up Second Generation (2G) ethanol bio-refineries for production of ethanol using agricultural crop residue as feedstock. Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT)initiative of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas involves extracting economic value from bio-mass/waste including rice straw to generate Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) as an alternative, green transport fuel. In December 2022, the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has constituted a committee to examine the issues of paddy straw collection, storage, densification and transport to the various units utilizing the paddy straw and suggest solutions for establishing supply chain at appropriate locations.

19-Oct-2022: Inter-Ministerial Meeting on Parali Management held

An Inter-Ministerial meeting under the co-chairmanship of Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying on the issue of Parali Management of crop residue burning in Delhi NCR, was held today.

Discussions were held regarding status of implementation of the respective action plans of the NCR States and NCTD, utilization of machinery for in-situ and ex-situ management, extensive use of bio-decomposers for in-situ management of paddy straw, arrangement for supply of paddy straw to various industrial, commercial, bio-energy and other applications, facilitation of farmers, aggregators, manufacturers, entrepreneurs for setting up of paddy straw baling / raking operations, storage, pelletizing and transport infrastructures, co-firing in Thermal Power Plants (TPPs), using non-basmati Parali as Fodder in Fodder deficient areas in Gujarat and Rajasthan among others.  Monitoring and control action taken by States on the reported fire incidences etc. were also discussed.

MoA&FW made a brief presentation on the actions taken by DoAH&D for Management of Crop Residue Burning. He highlighted that the status of Parali management in Haryana is significantly better than that in Punjab. 9 out of 22 districts in Punjab and 4 out of 22 district in Haryana are major contributors of stubble burning in these states. So, these 13 districts need to be focused upon more.  Sangrur, Moga, Tarn Taran and Fatehabad are among them. Till 15th October, the trend for fire events was less as compared to last year but now it has started growing rapidly, especially in Punjab. Early harvesting is the reason for high fire counts in Amritsar and Tarn Taran. It was also apprised that the coverage of land for the application of Pusa decomposer is less in Punjab which needs to be promoted and enhanced.

Representative of Ministry of Power informed that it has mandated 5% blending of biomass pellets with the coal for co-firing in Thermal Power Plants (TPPs). The co-firing also helps to prevent CO2 emissions. Till now, 0.1 million MT CO2 emissions have been prevented.

Chairman, CAQM informed that they have prepared a detailed framework for in-situ and ex-situ management of parali and the States have been advised to implement the same to contain stubble burning. It was mentioned in the meeting that in spite of several meetings and efforts by CAQM, the steps taken by Punjab are inadequate.  

It was mentioned in the meeting that one of the main concerns is the delayed delivery of CRM Machines in Punjab and Haryana. The NCT of Delhi and NCR States are expected to utilize the funds effectively and for the maintenance of the provided CRM machines. Pusa decomposer application needs to be promoted. A proper supply chain management also needs to be developed by the States for utilization of pellets in TPPs.

 For reducing the paddy straw generation, promotion of basmati variety and crop diversification are effective ways to reduce the menace. The State’s Comprehensive Action Plans to curb air pollution need to be strictly implemented. There must be a coordinated ecosystem for collection, aggregation, storage and transportation of the paddy straw for effective ex-situ management of parali, as discussed in the meeting.

It was informed that efforts of ISRO and MoA&FW have helped to get the accurate data on co-firing by TPPs.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of Punjab was asked to enhance the application of Pusa decomposer and control the increasing rate of Active Fire Events in Amritsar and to ensure 50% reduction in cases of Active Fire Events in the State in comparison to last year.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of Haryana reported a 55% reduction in Active Fire Events in the state in comparison to last year. With the help of Remote sensing monitoring and experts from Haryana Agriculture University (HAU), the farmers are being trained about the desired farm practices and prevention of stubble burning.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of UP was advised to carry on with their positive efforts and ensure maintenance of progress achieved so far in the field of parali management.

Chief Secretary, NCT of Delhi informed about the increase in the coverage of land area under Pusa application coverage.

Minister of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry & Dairying mentioned that there is a shortage of fodder in various part of the country and suggested that an efficient system is essential to be developed for transportation of the stubble available in NCR region to the fodder deficient regions.

Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare further informed that an event on Pusa decomposer application is being organized on 4th November 2022 for educating the famers about the details. The event is likely to include an open discussion with the scientist of ICAR.

Speaking during the meeting Shri Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said that it is heartening to note that Government of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have done remarkable work towards control of stubble burning. They have implemented the framework in the States which includes in-situ management, ex-situ management, effective monitoring and enforcement and IEC activities which have resulted in less events of stubble burning.

Shri Yadav expressed concern that Government of Punjab had not been able to take coordinated actions to contain stubble burning in the state. He reiterated that the State had been provided sufficient number of equipment and farm machineries under CRM scheme of MoA&FW and also adequate funds have been provided yet there has not been sufficient progress in implementation of the action plan.

HMEF&CC stated that sufficient number of machineries have been distributed for parali management. He further directed Government of Haryana to ensure 24 hour supply of electricity in Sonipat, Panipat, Faridabad and Gurugram.

HMEF&CC hoped that coordinated actions will lead to significant improvement of air quality in the region.

The Senior officers of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, CAQM and Chief Secretaries and officers from Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, NTPC etc. attended the meeting.

13-Oct-2022: Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change releases guidelines for grant of financial support for establishment of paddy straw pelletisation and torrefaction plants

Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, presided over a workshop to kick start an initiative to tackle stubble burning.  The Minister released CPCB Guidelines for grant of one-time financial support for promoting establishment of paddy straw based pelletisation and torrefaction plants. These plants, once set up, would utilise a sizeable portion of the unmanaged paddy straw and help address the issue of crop residue burning and the resultant air pollution.

Speaking at the workshop, Shri Bhupender Yadav said that the Government has taken various steps to tackle the issue of stubble burning and a large quantity of paddy straw is now being managed through in-situ and ex-situ management options. Statutory directions have been issued to thermal power plants to co-fire biomass based Pellets, Torrefied Pellets/Briquettes (with focus on paddy straw) with Coal (up to 5-10%) and to industries operating in NCR other than GNCT of Delhi to switch over to PNG or biomass fuels during 2022. These have led to a large demand for biomass based pellets, though supply is on lower side due to slow/ limited growth of aggregators/ suppliers. Thus, CPCB guidelines would bridge a crucial gap in the biomass supply chain.

The guidelines give preference to units proposing to install equipment that is made in India.   Preference is also given to those units which have agreement with farmers located in NCT of Delhi, States of Punjab and Haryana and NCR districts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, to ensure assured supply of paddy straw.

Union Minister expressed that Paddy straw burning in Northern regions of India has emerged as one of the major causes of air pollution during winters, especially in Delhi-NCR. Under CPCB guidelines, individuals/entrepreneurs/ companies, interested in setting up pelletisation and torrefaction plants, using only paddy straw generated in the NCT of Delhi, States of Punjab & Haryana, and NCR districts of Rajasthan & Uttar Pradesh can submit an application for obtaining a one-time grant on capital investment.

The Minister urged the farmers to avoid stubble burning and promote its utilization being a valuable resource. He also urged agricultural entrepreneurs or Agripreneurs to apply for availing grants under the guidelines. He said that it has a potential to create employment among the rural youth.

Emphasis was laid on the need for collaborative efforts of State Pollution Control Boards/Committees, and other concerned agencies for effective implementation of guidelines.   The Minister expressed confidence that the positive momentum created from the State Environment Ministers’ Meet will help in executing a collective and cohesive approach in managing air pollution.

Under the guidelines, a maximum grant of Rs. 14 lakh per Ton/hr. for non-torrefied pellet plant and Rs. 28 lakh per Ton/hr for a torrefied pellet plant is being provided under the guidelines, with an overall cap of Rs. 70 lakhs for the former and Rs. 1.4 crore for the latter. A corpus of Rs. 50 crores has been earmarked for utilisation through the guidelines. Assuming complete utilization of the corpus, over 1 million metric tonnes of paddy straw based pellets are expected to be generated every year. With supplemental efforts by other stakeholders, the guidelines are expected to enhance paddy straw utilization in power plants and industries, catalyse rural economy and further the spirit of entrepreneurship.

The Ministry has also granted 190 Environment Clearances (EC) so far for Grain based Ethanol production projects aggregating 34368 KLPD and all these projects have been granted EC in a record time of around 45-50 days, the Minister said.  The Minister said that the first 2G Ethanol Plant in Panipat, which the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation two months ago, is expected to utilize ~2 lakh metric tonnes of paddy straw every year.

Senior officials including Chairman, Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), Director General of Forests, Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Chairman of SPCBs, Representatives from NITI Aayog, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Power, Deputy Commissioners of NCR districts and Punjab, NTPC, industries and agriculture departments in the State Govts. of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP and GNCT of Delhi, NCR State Pollution Control Boards, DPCC and other major stakeholders such as pellet manufacturers and manufacturing associations were also present in the workshop.

14-Dec-2021: Utilization of Stubble

To support the efforts of the Governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi to address air pollution and to subsidize machinery required for in-situ management of crop residue, a Central Sector Scheme on ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi’ is being implemented from 2018-19. Under this scheme financial assistance @ 50% of the cost of machinery is provided to the farmers for purchase of crop residue management machinery and financial assistance @ 80% of the project cost is provided to the Cooperative Societies of Farmers, Farmers Producers Organization (FPOs), Registered Farmers Societies and Panchayats for establishment of Custom Hiring Centres of crop residue management machinery. During the period from 2018-19 to 2021-22, funds amounting to Rs. 2440.07 crores have been released for these States and more than 39000 Custom Hiring Centres(CHCs) have been established and more than 2.00 lakh crop residue management machines have been supplied to these CHCs and individual farmers of these four States.

Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi developed a bio-decomposer for accelerated decomposition of paddy straw to utilize it for increasing fertility of soil. The State Governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi during 2020-21 have used this Pusa decomposer for paddy stubbles decomposition in more than 5.50 lakhs hectare area.

The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has not signed any LoU or MoU with any international/national chemical companies to convert the residue into efficient usage of it through mixing it in the soil through fixation and microorganism enhancing techniques. However, IARI New Delhi has licensed their Pusa decomposer technology for its manufacturing to Sanguine Seeds which is an Indian subsidiary of UPL.

3-Mar-2020: Biomethanation of rice straw to solve stubble burning

The following steps are being taken to solve the problem of stubble burning, namely:-

1. In an all India coordinated project, efforts are on to produce bio-gas for kitchen use and quality manure for fields using bio-methanation of rice straw by anaerobic digestion method. Six domestic level paddy straw based bio-gas plants have been installed in Punjab for field trials and further study is in progress.
2. R&D project has been supported on refinement and demonstration of an integrated process technology for conversion of crop residues into ethanol and methane for use as transport fuels.
3. A major focus on agriculture waste/stubble management (waste to wealth), alternative to burning, has been taken up under waste management technologies programme and proposals are being considered.

7-Mar-2018: Cabinet approves promotion of agricultural mechanization for in-situ management of crop residue in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for in-situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi.

The total outgo from the Central funds would be Rs. 1151.80 crore (Rs. 591.65 crore in 2018-19 and Rs. 560.15 crore in 2019-20).

Components of the Scheme:

1. Establish Farm Machinery Banks for Custom Hiring of in -situ crop residue management machinery. Financial assistance @80% of the project cost will be provided to the cooperative societies of the farmers, FPOs, Self Help Groups, Registered Farmers Societies/ Farmers Group, Private Entrepreneurs, Group of Women Farmers.
2. Financial Assistance to the farmers for Procurement of Agriculture Machinery and Equipment for in -situ crop residue management. Financial assistance @50% of the machinery/ equipment will be provided to individual farmer for crop residue management.
3. Information, Education and Communication for awareness on in-situ crop residue management. Financial assistance will be provided to the State Government/ KVKs, ICAR Institutes, Central Government Institutes, PSUs, etc. for the activities to be undertaken towards information, education and communication. The activities will involve mass awareness campaigns through short and long films, documents, radio and TV programmes, demonstration camps at various levels, capacity building programme, advertisement in print media, star campaigning, award for Village/ Gram Panchayat for achieving Zero Straw Burning, panel discussions on Doordarshan, DD Kisan and other private channels, etc.

Beneficiaries:

1. Respective State Governments through District Level Executive Committee (DLEC) will identify various beneficiaries and location - specific agricultural equipment depending on the farming system and will identify and select beneficiaries for establishment of Farm Machinery Bank for Custom Hiring and procurement of machines on individual ownership basis to avail the benefit in transparent and time bound manner.
2. The State Nodal Department / DLEC may tie up with the Banks for credit requirements of the beneficiaries. Name and details of selected beneficiaries will be documented at district level indicating Aadhar/UID numbers and the financial assistance will be paid through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

Implementing Agencies:

1. At the Central level the scheme will be administered by Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare.
2. A National Steering Committee headed by Secretary, DAC&FW will formulate the policy and give overall directions and guidance to the implementation of the scheme by the State Government and will monitor and review its progress and performance.
3. Executive Committee chaired by Additional Secretary will oversee the activities of the scheme.
4. At the State level the nodal implementing agency will be the Department of Agriculture of the concerned State Government. State Level Executive Committee (SLEC) chaired by Principle Secretary (Agriculture)/ Agriculture Production Commissioner shall oversee the implementation of the scheme in their State through regular meeting and will provide inputs to Executive Committee for appropriate policy formulation. The SLEC shall ensure that no crop residue burning takes place in the farmer field.
5.  The District Level Executive Committee shall be responsible for carrying forward the objectives of the scheme for project formulation, implementation and monitoring in the districts and will constitute Surveillance Committees involving farmers group / progressive farmers to mobilize farmers for not burning the crop residue and will also ensure active participation of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
6. The DAC&FW will empanel the manufacturer of machines and equipment, identified for in-situ management of crop residue along with their costs.

Background: As per budget 2018-19 announcement, a special scheme to support the efforts of the Governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi to address air pollution and to subsidize machinery required for in-situ management of crop residue, a new Central Sector Scheme (100% Central share) in this regard in the States of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi for the period 2018-19 to 2019-20 has been proposed.