Gauthans in Chhattisgarh - Stubble Burning and Pollution
iasparliament
November 07, 2019
What is the issue?
Pollution caused by burning of parali (crop residue) is an unprecedented crisis causing pollution, especially in Delhi.
In this context, here is how the stubble could be put to gainful use, citing the Chhattisgarh’s gauthans model as an example.
How is stubble burning affecting Delhi?
Farmers in Haryana and Punjab burn up to 35 million tonnes of parali.
This is responsible for significant percentage of Delhi-NCR’s air pollution levels.
Estimatedly, crop residue burning released 149 million tonnes of CO2, 9 million tonnes of carbon monoxide, 0.25 million tonnes of suphur oxides and 1.28 million tonnes of particulate matter.
Pollution is choking Delhi; there is a 50% rise in respiratory illnesses, be it COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) or asthma cases.
Besides this, there is also loss in soil fertility and a rise in incidents of cancer in Punjab and Haryana.
What necessitates stubble burning?
Farmers in Haryana and Punjab have to move to the next winter crop in a very short interval, following the Rabi crop sowing.
If they are late, due to short winters these days, they might face considerable losses.
If parali is left in the field, pests like termites may attack upcoming crop.
So, already being in an economically-precarious situation, farmers go for the cheapest option for stubble disposal i.e. stubble burning.
How could parali be used?
Agriculture is a regenerative process i.e. one which recycles.
So, what is needed is to utilise every product in the process and return it to the soil in one form or another.
From 35 million tonnes of parali, 21 million tonnes of high-grade organic fertiliser can be derived.
The total amount of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and sulphur in the 23 million tonnes of parali annually burnt in Northwest India is about 7 lakh tonnes.
This is valued at Rs 1,000 crore.
This apart, organic carbon is also destroyed during stubble burning.
Thus, parali offers an important source for meeting the nutrient requirements of crops and improving soil health.
These nutrients also reduce the risk of cancers in Punjab by reducing the levels of carcinogens in soil.
However, farmers cannot do this alone without state support.
How is Chhattisgarh’s gauthans model an example?
Chhattisgarh has already undertaken the above innovative experiment by setting up gauthans.
A gauthan is a dedicated five-acre plot, held in common by each village.
There, all the unused parali (paira in Chhattisgarhi) is collected through parali daan (people’s donations).
It is then converted into organic fertiliser by rural youth.
This provides them a living.
The state government supports only the transportation of parali from the farm to the nearest gauthan.
The state has successfully developed 2,000 gauthans under this model.
What should be done?
The state needs to step in and engage already-existing mechanisms like the MGNREGA for achieving the above.
The Centre needs to allow states to include activities like harvesting and composting in MGNREGA.
Parali can be mixed with cow dung and few natural enzymes under MGNREGA to generate high-grade compost.
A collective intervention using traditional wisdom and local resources, facilitated by sound administrative support can upturn the national problem of stubble burning and pollution.
