PM 2.5 modelling during paddy stubble burning months using artificial intelligence techniques

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Evaluating the Potential for Smoke from Stubble Burning to Taint Grapes and Wine

It has been well established that bushfire/wildfire smoke can taint grapes (and therefore wine), depending on the timing and duration of exposure, but the risk of smoke contamination from stubble burning (a practice employed by some grain growers to prepare farmland for sowing) has not yet been established. This study exposed excised bunches of grapes to smoke from combustion of barley straw and pea stubble windrows to investigate the potential for stubble burning to elicit smoke taint. Increased levels of volatile phenols (i.e., chemical markers of smoke taint) were detected in grapes exposed to barley straw smoke (relative to control grapes), with smoke density and the duration of smoke exposure influencing grape volatile phenols. However, the sensory panel did not perceive wine made from grapes exposed to low-density smoke to be tainted, despite the presence of low levels of syringol providing compositional evidence of smoke exposure. During the pea stubble burn, grapes positioned amongst the burning windrows or on the edge of the pea paddock were exposed to smoke for ~15–20 and 30–45 min, respectively, but this only resulted in 1 µg/kg differences in the cresol and/or syringol concentrations of smoke-affected grapes (and 1 µg/L differences for wine), relative to controls. A small, but significant increase in the intensity of smoke aroma and burnt rubber flavor of wine made from the grapes positioned amongst the burning pea stubble windrows provided the only sensory evidence of any smoke taint. As such, had vineyards been located immediately downwind from the pea stubble burn, it is unlikely that there would have been any smoke contamination of unharvested grapes.

Stubble burning: Root cause, impacts and its management in Indian scenario

The practice of purposefully setting fire to the residue that remained after harvest of rice and wheat crop is increasing periodically. Stubble burning has become one of the challenging issues in India in recent times. Government has been consistently instructing farmers not to burn the crop residues, instead asking them for in-situ management. Farmers are citing various complications in stubble management which pulling them to setting up fire to the stubble. Rice straw burning generates life threatening greenhouse gases which causes air pollution injury. Particulate matter (PM2.5) levels in the capital state of India (New Delhi) have been exceeded by 14 times than threshold level because of episodic agricultural fires in the neighbouring states namely Punjab, Haryana. A very limited study has been done so far on this complete issue despite of its importance. The present review tried to expose root cause, impacts on ecosystem and management strategies of stubble burning especially in India. There are plethora of possibilities in managing residue in sustainable ways including in-situ residue management, mushroom production, livestock feed, composting, biochar preparation, bio-thermal power plants and paper industries. Mechanical and effective method of in-situ management has been come into existence in the form of happy seeder. Depending on the land holding farmers can follow any of the said methods and manage their residue in sustainable way by overcoming the constraints thereby reducing the impacts on ecosystem.

Farmers’ Attitude towards Custom Hiring Centers: An Exploratory Study in Punjab

Stubble burning is a major threat to environment in trans- gangetic plain region, where there exists bright prospect to reap the benefits of custom hiring centers by leveraging the suitable farm machinery helpful in overcoming the stubble burning issue. Present study was conducted in Punjab state and three districts namely, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Moga were selected purposively due to highest stubble burning cases in last five years. From each district two block were selected randomly. Subsequently, three villages from each block were randomly selected. Finally, from each village 20 respondents were selected randomly constituting of total 360 farmers. Two scales were constructed exclusively for the study in order to measure the attitude of farmers towards custom hiring centres (CHCs) and elicitation of perception regarding stubble burning. Results indicated that majority of the respondents had favorable attitude towards CHCs, followed by 22.78 per cent of respondents having neutral attitude towards CHCs and only 8.89 per cent of respondents has unfavorable attitude towards CHCs. CHCs were not sufficient in number to cater the high demand during the peak seasons. Those machines which are of least demand should be replaced by machines with high demand. Majority of the respondents agreed that crop residue burning has a negative effect on plant health, air, human health, animal health, biodiversity, vehicular traffic and soil health. It was found that less than half (47.23%) of the respondent had high level of perception.

Crop Residue Management in India: Stubble Burning vs. Other Utilizations including Bioenergy

In recent studies, various reports reveal that stubble burning of crop residues in India generates nearly 150 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), more than 9 million tons of carbon monoxide (CO), a quarter-million tons of sulphur oxides (SOX), 1 million tons of particulate matter and more than half a million tons of black carbon. These contribute directly to environmental pollution, as well as the haze in the Indian capital, New Delhi, and the diminishing glaciers of the Himalayas. Although stubble burning crop residue is a crime under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Air and Pollution Control Act (APCA) of 1981, a lack of implementation of these government acts has been witnessed across the country. Instead of burning, crop residues can be utilized in various alternative ways, including use as cattle feed, compost with manure, rural roofing, bioenergy, beverage production, packaging materials, wood, paper, and bioethanol, etc. This review article aims to present the current status of stubble-burning practices for disposal of crop residues in India and discuss several alternative methods for valorization of crop residues. Overall, this review article offers a solid understanding of the negative impacts of mismanagement of the crop residues via stubble burning in India and the other more promising management approaches including use for bioenergy, which, if widely employed, could not only reduce the environmental impacts of crop residue management, but generate additional value for the agricultural sector globally.