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 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.
Main Authors: | Keil, A., Krishnapriya, P.P., Archisman Mitra, Jat, M.L., Sidhu, H.S., Krishna, V.V., Shyamsundar, P. |
---|---|
Format: | Article biblioteca |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2021
|
Subjects: | AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, Crop Residue Burning, Happy Seeder Adoption, Endogenous Treatment Effects, Agricultural Sustainability, SLASH BURNING, INNOVATION ADOPTION, SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10883/21048 |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Similar Items
-
Economics of crop residue management
by: Krishna, V.V., et al.
Published: (2023) -
Sustainable intensification of agriculture is an alternative to deforestation
by: Gockowski, J.
Published: (2011-03) -
Biomass production and nutrient uptake of Chromolaena odorata as compared with other weeds in a burned and a mulched secondary forest clearing planted to plantain (Musa spp. AAB)
by: Mekoa, C., et al.
Published: (2009-04) -
Slash-and-burn agriculture, effects of
by: Hauser, S., et al.
Published: (2013) -
Maize grain yield response to changes in acid soil characteristics with yearly leguminous crop rotation, fallow, slash, burn and liming practices
by: The, C., et al.
Published: (2012-12)