Alternatives to Crop Residue Burning

The harvest waste, both the field residues that are left in an agricultural field or orchard after the crop has been harvested and the process residues that are left after the crop is processed into a usable resource is more popularly termed as ‘crop residue’. Stalks and stubble (stems), leaves and seed pods are some common examples for field residues. Sugarcane bagasse and molasses are some good examples to process residue (Hoornweg and Bhada-Tata, 2012 and Obi et al., 2016). India generates on an average 500 Million tons (Mt here after) of crop residue per year (MNRE, 2009). The same report shows that a majority of this crop residue is in fact used as fodder, fuel for other domestic and industrial purposes. However, there is still a surplus of 140 Mt out of which 92 Mt is burned each year.