Opinion: The Clock Is Running Out On North India's Next Big Crisis

To curb stubble burning during the winter months, India and its states will need to act swiftly this year. The unprecedented rain in northern India in early July damaged freshly sown paddy and delayed sowing in states such as Punjab and Haryana. Nationally, over 16 per cent less area was covered under paddy as of the first week of July 2023 compared to the corresponding period last year. Delayed sowing only means a shorter window to harvest and manage crop residue in already time-pressed states like Punjab, where farmers cultivate wheat immediately after paddy harvesting. This perceived crop loss at the start of the Kharif season will likely impact farmers' intent to invest in zero-burn crop residue management (CRM) later in the year. India recently revised its CRM guidelines to facilitate timely residue management. But can it bring down farm fires in Kharif 2023?

Since 2018, India's CRM scheme has largely focused on subsidising in-situ machines to tackle paddy stubble in the field itself, like the Super Seeder. While a few central policies have encouraged the use of crop biomass as fuel for industrial boilers, bio-CNG production and co-firing in coal-fired power plants, they have seen little progress in the last five years due to the underdeveloped supply chain ecosystems and massive costs involved in biomass collection.

This year, for the first time, there has been a shift in preference towards ex-situ methods under the CRM scheme, which involve treating farm waste off-site for energy production. The big plan is to establish biomass supply chain systems under the bilateral agreement between industries using biomass and farmer groups. The centre and state governments will jointly provide financial support of 65 per cent for machinery and equipment to farmer groups, and the remaining 25 per cent and 10 per cent will be contributed by the industry and farmer groups, respectively. This renewed interest in ex-situ methods opens up an opportunity for India's northwestern states to achieve twin benefits — reduce carbon and air pollutant emissions and develop alternatives for fossil fuels.

Here are four strategies for northwestern states to align their action plan with the CRM guidelines quickly and achieve zero stubble burning.

First, states should publish a database of industrial end-users and their annual crop biomass demand. According to the CEEW's estimates, delivering one tonne of biomass bale from the farm to an end-user site located 15-30 km away costs Rs 1,500-2,500, and this cost increases with distance. Decentralised sourcing of biomass within a radius of 5-10 km of the end-user site can considerably reduce interim storage and transportation costs. Access to a periodically updated state-wise database can help optimise biomass storage and logistics. Given that operationalising the supply chain would take nearly 3-6 months, such an information repository can facilitate interested farm groups in identifying and initiating partnerships with industries. Besides, this will allow state actors to prioritise in-situ machines like the Super Seeder in areas where there is a deficit in potential biomass end-users.

Second, institute a state-level committee to regulate the prices of crop residue-based products. The minimum affordable cost for sourcing biomass would vary across the end-user categories. While big players like power plants can afford prices as high as Rs 8,000-10,000 per tonne of biomass pellets (produced from 1.3 tonnes of residue through densification), industries and bio-CNG plants prefer bales at INR 2,500 or lower. According to the latest CRM guidelines, the cost of collected biomass will be mutually agreed upon by the farmer group/aggregator and the industry based on the market conditions. However, setting a price floor for raw biomass and biomass-based products will ensure a minimum viable price for farmers to avoid stubble burning. Similar initiatives are already in progress with the Power Ministry announcing plans to benchmark biomass pellet prices and with Haryana likely to notify a common determined rate for paddy straw procurement this year.

Third, create a pooled fund from the environmental compensation cess collected for a sustained contribution towards the CRM scheme. One of the major changes introduced in the guidelines this year is that the share of fund contribution from the centre has been reduced from 100 per cent to 60 per cent. The guidelines encourage states to contribute the remaining share. This means that for every 4,500 MT biomass collection depot planned under the scheme, the state needs to contribute Rs 60 lakh. To meet Punjab's target to consume around 4.7 million MT of paddy straw under ex-situ methods in FY23-24, the state needs to budget nearly Rs 630 crore. Earmarking a pooled fund can ensure a continued resource towards infrastructure development for crop biomass processing.

Finally, publicise the new CRM interventions. The revised guidelines released on 1 July 2023 had an ambitious timeline of 7 July 2023 for initiating the bilateral agreement with industry and farmer groups and placing orders for machinery procurement. With only 20+ prominent industry players active in the surplus biomass-producing state like Punjab, there should be a targeted outreach strategy to onboard industry players and farmer groups more quickly. This is crucial since such financial-assistance schemes have observed very few takers traditionally due to the thin profit margin in the biomass sector. For instance, the Central Pollution Control Board's one-time financing scheme for setting up biomass-based pellet plants received only a total of eight applications by mid-2023 since its launch in October 2022.

The stubble-burning season will soon be upon us, causing a massive surge in air pollution again. This year, both the centre and states have initiated a collaborative plan of action at the start of the season. Through proactive planning and timely action, Indian states can better manage farm fires and sustain the clear skies witnessed in July year-round.

(Kurinji Selvaraj is a Programme Associate at the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water [CEEW], an independent not-for-profit policy research institution.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.