Changing agricultural stubble burning practices in the Indo-Gangetic plains: is the Happy Seeder a profitable alternative?
Every year after the rice harvest, some 2.5 million farmers in northwest India burn the remaining stubble to prepare their fields for the subsequent wheat crop. Crop residue burning causes massive air pollution affecting millions of people across the Indo-Gangetic Plains. We examine different tillag...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2021-03-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2020.1834277 |
| _version_ | 1827813323863752704 |
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| author | Alwin Keil P. P. Krishnapriya Archisman Mitra Mangi L. Jat Harminder S. Sidhu Vijesh V. Krishna Priya Shyamsundar |
| author_facet | Alwin Keil P. P. Krishnapriya Archisman Mitra Mangi L. Jat Harminder S. Sidhu Vijesh V. Krishna Priya Shyamsundar |
| author_sort | Alwin Keil |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Every year after the rice harvest, some 2.5 million farmers in northwest India burn the remaining stubble to prepare their fields for the subsequent wheat crop. Crop residue burning causes massive air pollution affecting millions of people across the Indo-Gangetic Plains. We examine different tillage practices to provide urgently needed empirical evidence on how profitable it is for farmers to adopt no-burn technologies, especially the ‘Happy Seeder’ (HS) which is capable of sowing wheat directly into large amounts of crop residue. Apart from analysing the cost of rice residue management and wheat sowing under conventional-tillage and zero-tillage, we identify factors influencing the adoption of the HS and quantify its impact on wheat yields and –production costs. While we do not find any evidence of a yield penalty, our analysis reveals significant savings in wheat production costs, amounting to 136 USD ha–1. In addition, our analysis shows that the HS saves water and facilitates timely wheat sowing. We conclude that the private benefits of HS use combined with its societal benefits of reducing air pollution and enhancing agricultural sustainability justify particular policy support for its large-scale diffusion, to be supplemented by a stricter enforcement of the ban on residue burning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:30:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c2b84df294194ec093d410f975626db2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1473-5903 1747-762X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:30:10Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj.art-c2b84df294194ec093d410f975626db22023-09-20T10:18:00ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Agricultural Sustainability1473-59031747-762X2021-03-0119212815110.1080/14735903.2020.18342771834277Changing agricultural stubble burning practices in the Indo-Gangetic plains: is the Happy Seeder a profitable alternative?Alwin Keil0P. P. Krishnapriya1Archisman Mitra2Mangi L. Jat3Harminder S. Sidhu4Vijesh V. Krishna5Priya Shyamsundar6National Agricultural Science Centre (NASC) Complex, DPS MargDuke UniversityNational Agricultural Science Centre (NASC) Complex, DPS MargNational Agricultural Science Centre (NASC) Complex, DPS MargNational Agricultural Science Centre (NASC) Complex, DPS MargCarretera Mexico-VeracruzThe Nature Conservancy (TNC)Every year after the rice harvest, some 2.5 million farmers in northwest India burn the remaining stubble to prepare their fields for the subsequent wheat crop. Crop residue burning causes massive air pollution affecting millions of people across the Indo-Gangetic Plains. We examine different tillage practices to provide urgently needed empirical evidence on how profitable it is for farmers to adopt no-burn technologies, especially the ‘Happy Seeder’ (HS) which is capable of sowing wheat directly into large amounts of crop residue. Apart from analysing the cost of rice residue management and wheat sowing under conventional-tillage and zero-tillage, we identify factors influencing the adoption of the HS and quantify its impact on wheat yields and –production costs. While we do not find any evidence of a yield penalty, our analysis reveals significant savings in wheat production costs, amounting to 136 USD ha–1. In addition, our analysis shows that the HS saves water and facilitates timely wheat sowing. We conclude that the private benefits of HS use combined with its societal benefits of reducing air pollution and enhancing agricultural sustainability justify particular policy support for its large-scale diffusion, to be supplemented by a stricter enforcement of the ban on residue burning.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2020.1834277crop residue burninghappy seeder adoptionendogenous treatment effectsagricultural sustainabilityindian punjab |
| spellingShingle | Alwin Keil P. P. Krishnapriya Archisman Mitra Mangi L. Jat Harminder S. Sidhu Vijesh V. Krishna Priya Shyamsundar Changing agricultural stubble burning practices in the Indo-Gangetic plains: is the Happy Seeder a profitable alternative? International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability crop residue burning happy seeder adoption endogenous treatment effects agricultural sustainability indian punjab |
| title | Changing agricultural stubble burning practices in the Indo-Gangetic plains: is the Happy Seeder a profitable alternative? |
| title_full | Changing agricultural stubble burning practices in the Indo-Gangetic plains: is the Happy Seeder a profitable alternative? |
| title_fullStr | Changing agricultural stubble burning practices in the Indo-Gangetic plains: is the Happy Seeder a profitable alternative? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Changing agricultural stubble burning practices in the Indo-Gangetic plains: is the Happy Seeder a profitable alternative? |
| title_short | Changing agricultural stubble burning practices in the Indo-Gangetic plains: is the Happy Seeder a profitable alternative? |
| title_sort | changing agricultural stubble burning practices in the indo gangetic plains is the happy seeder a profitable alternative |
| topic | crop residue burning happy seeder adoption endogenous treatment effects agricultural sustainability indian punjab |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2020.1834277 |
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