By Seema Paul and Priya Shyamsundar

North India is once again in a public health emergency with air pollution levels hovering high above the danger mark. New Delhi, downwind of Punjab and Haryana, is most severely impacted, with a thick layer of smog choking its citizens. With over 4,000 primary schools closed last week and delays in every form of transportation contributing to significant economic losses, we are facing a crisis that simply cannot be ignored. Crop residue burning contributes to nearly a quarter of Delhi’s air pollution in winter.

India’s food security has benefited hugely by advances in agricultural technologies and new high-yielding rice wheat systems. Over time, this has taken a toll on the region’s water supply and as an adaptive measure, a few years ago the government mandated the timing of the rice planting season to coincide with the monsoon rains. This has left farmers a short window of about 15-20 days to harvest their rice, dispose of rice residue and plant the subsequent wheat crop.

In northwest India alone, rice residue amounts to nearly 33.9 million tonnes, and sustainably disposing it in the short window of two weeks before the next crop is a daunting task that requires labour, time and capital. The farmer’s quick fix for some time now has been to light a match and clear their fields.

Any solution to this problem must be in the interest of farmers and address technical, economic, behavioural and financial barriers. Currently, the most common practices of utilising rice residue include electricity generation, production of bio-oil and on-farm use such as incorporation and composting. Less than 15% of the total rice residue in northwest India is being utilised through these various options, clearly indicating a need to find more viable, affordable and scalable solutions.

To this end the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), at the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has compared several alternatives. A recent NAAS Policy Brief concludes that in-situ solutions that can turn the crop residue into a mulch layer over the seeds of the next wheat crop are the most cost effective, quickest to implement and sustainable solutions.

One promising technology is the Happy Seeder, a tractor mounted implement that acts as a no-till seeder. Coupled with a spreader, it deposits the mulched rice residue around the seed in one simple operation. The technology can increase profits of farmers by lowering equipment and labour costs and reducing fuel, fertiliser and herbicide requirements, while modestly increasing yields. It is a win-win for farmers and the environment as it improves soil health by retaining nutrients and saves water by up to 1.45 million litres per hectare through reduced evaporation and eliminating pre-sowing irrigation. This makes it ideal for Punjab and Haryana where declining water tables are a serious concern.

However, purchasing this can be prohibitive for a small farmer as it costs nearly Rs 1.3 lakh. Further, it needs to be coupled with a spreader which doubles the cost. Small farmers, particularly, cannot afford to buy and have to rely on agricultural service providers to provide the spreading and seeding service for a fee. This service model is slowly growing and has the potential for success, but would possibly require additional incentives, such as low interest loans for agricultural service providers.

Currently, only 1,000 Happy Seeders are in operation in Punjab and Haryana. There is a need to stimulate demand by communicating the business case for this technology, specifying costs and benefits to farmers themselves.

We also need to address behavioural and cultural habits from years of tilling the land. Simultaneously, targeted awareness campaigns through diverse media platforms would aid the farmer. More than 15 manufacturers currently produce Happy Seeders and its design has significantly improved. The manufacturers could be incentivised to ramp up production through financial mechanisms such as purchase guarantees.

Eliminating crop burning from agriculture is among the most cost effective and achievable solutions in the near term to tackle air pollution while benefiting farmers. If this source of pollution is successfully tackled, the nation’s self confidence in tackling other sources will also grow.

Seema Paul is Managing Director of The Nature Conservancy’s India Program. Priya Shyamsundar is Lead Economist at Nature Conservancy