Enhancing Community Participation in Protecting the Environment from the Harmful Effects Caused by the Burning of Paddy Stubble in Northern India

The main aim of the project was to understand the cause and impact of stubble burning on the environment and to: (i) explore various laws and provisions regarding the ban on stubble burning and its implications in northern India. (ii) explore the alternatives to stubble burning. (iii) interact with the farmers and create awareness among them and to involve them in protecting the environment. (iv) interact with various stakeholders and explore the best means to protect the environment as well as protect the interests of the farmers. The Key Stake Holders of the research were the Farmers, Government officials, Law Enforcement Agencies and Environmentalists/ Academicians. The methodology used were field visits, case studies and interactions with various stakeholders - the Law Enforcement agencies, State pollution board officers, Agriculture officers, Tehsildars, Patwari and Sarpanches. It was analyzed that there are two types of stubble burning (sums up 95 % of the stubble burning cases): (i) Worst Category - 100 % burning of the paddy stubble. After harvesting the crop, the whole field is set up on fire without using machines like happy seeder or mulcher. (ii) Partial burning - After using the machines like happy seeder and rotavator there are bundles of loose paddy which are burned after every 30 feet.25-30 % of the total residue is burned in this manner. The progressive farmers utilised the paddy straw in packaging of fruits and for other farm uses. They used advanced technology of Happy Seeder and Mulcher for handling the paddy stubble. In such circumstances, policy intervention which focuses on good price remuneration and assured procurement market could incentivise farmers to diversify their cropping patterns. It is imperative that the government supports the farmer to dispose paddy in an efficient manner. Until such timely measures are taken, the states ecological survival will continue to hang in the balance.