Rice residue burning in Northern India: an assessment of environmental concerns and potential solutions - a review

Environmental alarms like climate change and rising air pollution levels in north India, particularly in the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), draw attention to the severe issue of Rice straw burning. Straw burning is the common practice in Punjab and Haryana's Indo-Gangetic plains. Large-scale burning of residues (straw and stubble) is a severe problem that emits Green House Gases (GHGs) while polluting the air, posing health problems, and eliminating micronutrients from burned-out field. Residue management has been a problem for the paddy farmers and as time changes, it is necessary to update their practices. For the disposal of rice residue, farmers are constrained by an insufficient technology base and a lack of viable economic solutions. Technical solutions are available, classified mainly as on-site (in situ) and off-site (ex situ) solutions, the in situ solution includes a variety of machines that can be used to incorporate or mulch residue efficiently. While ex situ management allow collecting the residue from field for various applications such as energy production, briquetting, composting, paper and cardboard making, and for mushroom cultivation. Farmers in North India are not aware of the prolific alternatives for managing stubble and, therefore, consider burning as the best option. Therefore, extensive awareness programs are needed to inform farmers about economic options and the effects of stubble burning. Zero till drill, happy seeder and super Straw Management System (SMS) are recommended for the farmers, and need to be supplied in sufficient quantity to evade residue burning in these regions. Meanwhile, alternative technology for straw management constitutes an active area of research, area-specific and crop-specific applications need to be evolved. All stakeholders i.e., farmers, researchers, extension agents and policy makers need to be engaged in understanding and harnessing the full potential of using crop residues with conservation agriculture for sustainability and resilience of Indian agriculture.