Winter Crop Burning Has Begun And This Satellite Image Shows The Same

Paddy and wheat farmers from Punjab, Haryana and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand harvest their crops in the month of October. After the harvest, these farming zones produce a large amount of paddy straw and burn it within less than a month's span between October-November, in preparation for new planting.

TOI

The smog from the crop burning exacerbates the pollution levels in Delhi and National Capital Region. To curb the pollution levels, the government banned crop residue burning in these states. The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has claimed that there has been a decline in the paddy stubble-burning in Punjab this Kharif season.

ICIMOD

However, the crop burning has begun and satellite pictures are proof of the same.

The main adverse effects of crop residue burning include the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), that contributes to the global warming, increased levels of particulate matter (PM) and smog that cause health hazards, loss of biodiversity of agricultural lands, and the deterioration of soil fertility.

FIRMS

Delhi's neighbouring state Haryana too recorded a decline in the cases of crop-burning.

However, researchers have come up with a new technique to clear out the stubble that will eliminate the mess without pollution and also add fertility to the ground.

Scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute have developed a novel PUSA Decomposer. It accelerates the decomposition of the dead stubble with the help of fungi. Strains of amylolytic and ligninolytic fungi are put in capsules that produce necessary enzymes that speed up the degradation process.