New Delhi, October 23: As the winter is about to set in, the air quality in the national capital has already started deteriorating. Stubble burning, notably has been a pertinent issue that contributes to the issue of pollution, sometimes also leading to political tussles between the opposition and the Central government.

Experts, however, have pointed out that stubble burning, though is a serious issue that needs to be addressed, is not the only reason behind the air pollution in Delhi, and there are multiple other factors within Delhi that contribute to the menace. The issue of the rise in air pollution contributed by stubble burning is practice of burning crop residues on farm fields, leading to massive emission of smoke, considered very hazardous for air quality. Delhi Air Pollution: Environment Minister Gopal Rai Writes to Centre for Urgent Meeting on Cloud Seeding To Combat Pollution in National Capital.

According to experts, farmers resort to stubble burning, because the gap between the two harvests is very small, and the farmers lack facility to deal with the issue. Meanwhile, the air quality in Delhi has already plummeted to 'very poor' quality. According to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), the Air Quality Index (AQI) of 385 was recorded on Tuesday morning.

At a Consultation Workshop titled 'Climate Resilient Agriculture in India: Opportunities and Challenges' held in Delhi on Tuesday, several climate experts and scientists discussed the underlying issue of stubble burning and suggested solutions to counter the issue. The event was organised by Climate Trends, a research-based consulting initiative, in collaboration with the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI). Sagnik Dey, Professor at the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, IIT Delhi, cited data to show that 50 per cent of the whole air pollution in Delhi occurs due to internal factors. "We need to move beyond the state vs state debate" and work for a proper regional action plan and a sustainable solution, he said at the event. Delhi Air Pollution: Centre Imposes GRAP Stage II in Delhi-NCR Amid Deteriorating Air Quality, These Restrictions Will Be Enforced.

He pointed a pertinent point that though, the contribution of stubble burning to air pollution is "well established", it amounts to only 6-8 per cent of the overall air pollution in the national capital in the whole year. The Professor also pointed out some key impacts of stubble burning, adding that people living close to stubble-burning states have a 15 per cent higher chance of getting hypertension. he also outlined that the children who are exposed to pollution fires are at increased risk of growth failure.

Speaking to ANI, Sagnik Dey said, "During the months of October and November, the contribution of stubble burning in air pollution is around 25-30 per cent. But, if we talk about the whole of the year, the contribution of stubble burning is only 6-8 per cent maximum." He said there are many other issues like vehicular pollution, industrial pollution, and construction road dust, that impact the air quality. "Curbing the issue of stubble burning is important, particularly in this critical period, but there are many other sources too, and we should work towards that throughout the year. We can't achieve clean air only through stubble burning," he said.

Dey called on to provide practical solutions to the farmers to solve the issue of stubble burning. On being asked about solution for the long-term sustainable plan against air pollution, the professor said, "The government needs to implement the Action Plan. We need to address the transportation sector, we need strict compliance from industries not just from Delhi but in the entire region. There is a need to move towards green energy.

Lindeen Shukla Principal Scientist, Microbiology, ICAR-IARI, also threw light on the matter, while calling for providing easy solutions to the farmers. "The issue of stubble burning is also happening in not just Punjab and Haryana, but also in other states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. It happens because the farmers have no alternative, we need to give them small solutions to cope with the crop residues," she said at the event.

TK Das, Principal Scientist, Agronomy, ICAR-IARI, during his address, suggested that the crop residue holds a lot of nutrients and can be brought into use by turning it into compost, animal fodder, and can even be used for electricity generation. He said that crop residue can also be turned into biofuel, biochar, and bio-oil. He also highlighted the importance of residue retention, saying it can give help in moisture conservation, smoothening of weeds and temperature moderation.

Rabindra Nath Padaria, Joint Director (Extension), ICAR-IARI, while speaking to ANI, elaborated on some of the policy initiatives in the direction. "Gradually, the farmers are becoming aware. The steps taken by the central government, through providing them with machinery is helping the farmers. There is a scheme of custom hiring centres, where farmers can buy the equipment from the block level. Another method is selling crop residue as animal fodder in other states. This is also promoting entrepreneurship among the farmers," he said. "The stubble has to be mulched, and used back as part of the soil, through the process of mulching. The other way is to cut the stubble," he said.

Aarti Khosla, Director of Climate Trends told ANI, "We analysed the fire counts in Punjab and Haryana for the last five years. It is very evident that instances of fire count in Haryana have not reduced a lot. But, the amount of fire in Haryana is much less than the amount of fire in Punjab. In Punjab, there are districts like Gurdaspur, and Sangrur, where there has been a reduction in fire counts, farmers have resorted to organic farming, and they have stayed away from burning their fields. The amount of fire and number of fields in Punjab is so much, even when the percentage of farmers resorting to stubble burning has reduced, the overall fire count has remained very high."

According to the analysis by Climate Trends, through satellite imagery, the stubble burning has reduced in both Punjab and Haryana. Though the fall in Punjab is more than in Haryana, the total fire count being much higher means that the former state still remains in a worse situation. In Haryana, the state's fire counts dropped from 14,122 in 2019 to 7,959 in 2023, with fire activity consistently higher from September to December. In Punjab, the fires peaked at 95,048 in 2020 and decreased to 52,722 in 2023, but the post-monsoon period remains the most fire. Fire incidents in Punjab and Haryana contributed to a 103-unit increase in Delhi's AQI, underscoring the urgent need for coordinated fire management and air quality interventions across states.

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