Suchergebnisse

India, the second largest agro-based economy with year-round crop cultivation, generates a large amount of agricultural waste, including crop residues. In the absence of adequate sustainable management practices, approximately 92 seems a very small number of metric tons of crop waste is burned every year in India, causing excessive particulate matter emissions and air pollution. Crop residue burning has become a major environmental problem causing health issues as well as contributing to global warming. Composting, biochar production and mechanization are a few effective sustainable techniques that can help to curtail the issue while retaining the nutrients present in the crop residue in the soil. The government of India has attempted to curtail this problem, through numerous measures and campaigns designed to promote sustainable management methods such as converting crop residue into energy. However, the alarming rise of air pollution levels caused by crop residue burning in the city of Delhi and other northern areas in India observed in recent years, especially in and after the year of 2015, suggest that the issues is not yet under control. The solution to crop residue burning lies in the effective implementation of sustainable management practices with Government interventions and policies. This manuscript addresses the underlying technical as well as policy issues that has prevented India from achieving a long-lasting solution and also potential solutions that have been overlooked. However, effective implementation of these techniques also requires us to look at other socioeconomic aspects that had not been considered. This manuscript also discusses some of the policy considerations and functionality based on the analyses and current practices. The agricultural waste sector can benefit immensely from some of the examples from other waste sectors such as the municipal solid waste (MSW) and wastewater management where collection, segregation, recycling and disposal are institutionalized to secure an operational system. Active stakeholder involvement including education and empowerment of farmers along with technical solutions and product manufacturing can also assist tremendously. Even though the issue of crop residue burning touches many sectors, such as environment, agriculture, economy, social aspects, education, and energy, the past governmental efforts mainly revolved around agriculture and energy. This sectorial thinking is another barrier that needs to be broken. The government of India as well as governments of other developing countries can benefit from the emerging concept of nexus thinking in managing environmental resources. Nexus thinking promotes a higher-level integration and higher level of stakeholder involvement that goes beyond the disciplinary boundaries, providing a supporting platform to solve issues such as crop residue burning.

India, the second largest agro-based economy with year-round crop cultivation, generates a large amount of agricultural waste, including crop residues. In the absence of adequate sustainable management practices, approximately 92 seems a very small number of metric tons of crop waste is burned every year in India, causing excessive particulate matter emissions and air pollution. Crop residue burning has become a major environmental problem causing health issues as well as contributing to global warming. Composting, biochar production and mechanization are a few effective sustainable techniques that can help to curtail the issue while retaining the nutrients present in the crop residue in the soil. The government of India has attempted to curtail this problem, through numerous measures and campaigns designed to promote sustainable management methods such as converting crop residue into energy. However, the alarming rise of air pollution levels caused by crop residue burning in the city of Delhi and other northern areas in India observed in recent years, especially in and after the year of 2015, suggest that the issues is not yet under control. The solution to crop residue burning lies in the effective implementation of sustainable management practices with Government interventions and policies. This manuscript addresses the underlying technical as well as policy issues that has prevented India from achieving a long-lasting solution and also potential solutions that have been overlooked. However, effective implementation of these techniques also requires us to look at other socioeconomic aspects that had not been considered. This manuscript also discusses some of the policy considerations and functionality based on the analyses and current practices. The agricultural waste sector can benefit immensely from some of the examples from other waste sectors such as the municipal solid waste (MSW) and wastewater management where collection, segregation, recycling and disposal are institutionalized to secure an ...

The decomposition of fresh crop residues added to soil for agricultural purposes is complex. This is due to di erent factors that influence the decomposition process. In field conditions, the incorporation of crop residues into soil does not always have a positive e ect on aggregate stability. The aim of this study was to investigate the decomposition e ects of residues from two di erent cover crops (Brassica napus var. oleifera and Secale cereale) and one main crop (wheat straw) on soil aggregate stability. A 105-day incubation experiment was conducted in which crop residues were mixed with sandy loam soil at a rate of 6 g C kg􀀀1 of soil. During the incubation, there were five water additions. The decomposition e ects of organic matter on soil conditions during incubation were evaluated by determining the soil functional groups; carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) emissions; soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC); and water-stable aggregates (WSA). The functional groups of the plant residues and the soil were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and a double exponential model was used to estimate the decomposition rates. The results show that the decomposition rate of fresh organic materials was correlated with the soil functional groups and the C/N ratio. Oilseed rape and rye, with lower C/N ratios than wheat straw residues, had faster decomposition rates and higher CO2 and N2O emissions than wheat straw. The CO2 and N2O flush at the start of the experiment corresponded to a decrease of soil aggregate stability (from Day 3 to Day 10 for CO2 and from Day 19 to Day 28 for N2O emissions), which was linked to higher decomposition rates of the labile fraction. The lower decomposition rates contributed to higher remaining C (carbon) and higher soil aggregate stability. The results also show that changes in the soil functional groups due to crop residue incorporation did not significantly influence aggregate stability. Soil moisture (SM) negatively influenced the aggregate stability and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in all treatments (oilseed rape, rye, wheat straw, and control). Irrespective of the water addition procedure, rye and wheat straw residues had a positive e ect on water-stable aggregates more frequently than oilseed rape during the incubation period. The results presented here may contribute to a better understanding of decomposition processes after the incorporation of fresh crop residues from cover crops. A future field study investigating the influence of incorporation rates of di erent crop residues on soil aggregate stability would be of great interest. ; The research was funded by the European Union's European Regional Development Fund (Estonian University of Life Sciences ASTRA project [2014-2020.4.01.16-0036] "Value-chain based bio-economy") and the Horizon 2020 project iSQAPER [project number 635750].

This paper identified the factors influencing the rice crop
residue burning decision of the farmers and the potential of the burnt
residue to generate electricity. For this study, data were collected
from 400 farmers in the rice-wheat cropping system. Effects of different
variables on the burning decision of rice residue are investigated
through logit model. A number of factors had significant effects on the
burning decision of crop residue. These included farming experience of
the farmer, Rajput caste, farm size, owner operated farm,
owner-cum-tenants operated farm, silty loam soil type, livestock
strength, total cost associated with the handling of residue and
preparation of wheat field after rice, availability of farm machinery
for incorporation, use of residue as feed for animals, use of residue as
fuel, intention of the respondent to reduce turnaround time between
harvesting of rice and sowing of wheat, convenience in use of farm
machinery after burning of residue and the geographic location of farm.
The overall quantity of rice straw burnt is estimated to be 1704.91
thousand tonnes in the rice-wheat cropping areas with a potential to
generate electric power of 162.51 MW. This power generation from crop
residues would be a source of income for the farmers along with
generation of additional employment opportunities and economic
activities on sustainable basis. In order to minimise the cost of
haulage of rice straw, installation of decentralised power plants at
village level would be a good option. Further, use of rice crop residue
as an energy source can help in reducing foreign exchange requirements
for import of furnace oil. JEL Classification: O44, Q12, Q16, Q42, Q48
Keywords: Bioenergy, Crop Residue, Electricity, Energy, Growth,
Rice

Although intentional use of fires to transform land has decreased globally (1, 2), particularly among highly capitalized countries through regulatory and market-oriented approaches and moral suasion, regulatory strategies have been less effective in southern and eastern Asia (see table S21). Some densely populated agricultural regions in China and India buck the global trend, showing increases in agricultural fires (2). This is particularly true in northwestern India, where rice residue burning makes a substantial contribution to air pollution and short-lived climate pollutants (3, 4). Regulations are in place to reduce agricultural fires, but burning continues because of uncertainty regarding policy implementation and regarding access and returns to alternative technologies. With the field burning season soon upon us, we synthesize emerging evidence on alternatives to burning, clarify the business case for alternative practices, identify remaining uncertainties, and discuss approaches to increase their widespread adoption. Often, there are difficult trade-offs between environmental improvement and profitable economic opportunities. The case of crop residue management in northwestern India does not appear to fit this pattern and provides lessons that may be useful elsewhere. Some of the least healthy air in the world is in India (5), where polluted air is the second-highest health risk factor (6). Seasonal smog imposes enormous costs, such as major transportation disruptions and the closure of 4000 schools in Delhi in November 2017 (7). The risks peak during October and November with the burning of rice crop residues in agricultural areas (8, 9). During this period, crop residue burning contributes to major particulate pollution in Delhi and northern India (9–11). Eighty percent of agriculture in northwestern India's Indo-Gangetic plains is based on a rice-wheat cropping system (∼4.1 million ha). Concerns over groundwater withdrawals have led to a planting cycle that allows the rice crop to benefit from monsoon rains. This cycle creates a short period (∼10 to 20 days) to harvest rice, manage rice crop residue, and plant wheat. Many of the 2.5 million farmers in northwestern India prepare for wheat planting by burning an estimated 23 million metric tons of rice residue in their fields (12). India's national government recognizes both the air pollution risks and the crucial role of crop residue burning. Despite federal and state regulations since 2014 and related advisories and bans, directives against burning have been only partially enforced. The reluctance to enforce existing policies arises, in part, from the belief that profitable alternatives to burning crop residue do not exist. Any alternative to crop residue burning must be feasible, affordable, and capable of scaling to adoption by thousands of farmers. Burning could be avoided by changing the overall cropping system (e.g., growing different crops) or by adopting different rice-wheat management practices. The focus to date has been on these latter options, which we include in the scope of this study. After mechanical harvesting of rice, farmers in northwestern India have different options for sowing wheat. All options include some combination of rice residue treatments (mulching by cutting and on-field distribution, baling and removal from the field, incorporation by tilling into the field, and on-field burning), land preparation (no additional preparation, rotavate, disc and tine harrow, and plank), and seeding of wheat (using Happy Seeders, conventional seeders, other zero-till seeders, and rotaseeders). Not all combinations of these options are regularly used in northwestern India, and we focus on 10 combinations that are commonly practiced or are viewed as potentially scalable (fig. S1). The majority of farmers currently choose to burn rice straw, plow fields, and sow wheat using conventional seeders. Given variation in practices, we evaluate the public and private costs and benefits and potential scalability of 10 alternative farming options, three of which result in residue burning.

Renewable energy is expected to play a significant role in power generation. The European Union, the USA, China, and others, are striving to limit the use of energy crop for energy production and to increase the use of crop residue both on the field and for energy generation processes. Therefore, crop residue may become a major energy source, with Ukraine following this course. Currently in Ukraine, renewable power generation does not exceed 10% of total electricity production. Despite a highly developed agriculture sector, there are only a small number of biomass power plants which burn crop residues. To identify possibilities for renewable power generation, the quantity of crop residues, their energy potential, and potential electricity generation were appraised. Cluster analysis was used to identify regions with the highest electricity consumption and crop residue energy potential. The major crops (wheat, barley, rapeseed, sunflower, and soybean) were considered in this study. A national production of crop residue for energy production of 48.66 million tons was estimated for 2018. The availability of crop residues was analyzed taking into account the harvest, residue-to-crop ratio, and residue removal rate. The crop residue energy potential of Ukraine has been estimated at 774.46 PJ. Power generation technologies have been analyzed. This study clearly shows that crop residue may generate between 27 and 108 billion kWh of power. We have selected preferable regions for setting up crop residue power plants. The results may be useful for the development of energy policy and helpful for investors in considering power generation projects.

CCAFS, CIMMYT, the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat and partners provided science-based evidence to the Indian Government on crop residue burning. This encouraged the Indian Government to prioritize crop residue management solutions, and establish a large-scale routing investment of USD 170 million (INR 1150 crores). The investment popularizes the "Happy Seeder" technology—a tractor-mounted machine that lifts crop residues, sows seeds into the soil and deposits the residue over the sown area as mulch. The investment will benefit 2 million farmers, covering approx. 4 million hectares.

Renewable energy is expected to play a significant role in power generation. The European Union, the USA, China, and others, are striving to limit the use of energy crop for energy production and to increase the use of crop residue both on the field and for energy generation processes. Therefore, crop residue may become a major energy source, with Ukraine following this course. Currently in Ukraine, renewable power generation does not exceed 10% of total electricity production. Despite a highly developed agriculture sector, there are only a small number of biomass power plants which burn crop residues. To identify possibilities for renewable power generation, the quantity of crop residues, their energy potential, and potential electricity generation were appraised. Cluster analysis was used to identify regions with the highest electricity consumption and crop residue energy potential. The major crops (wheat, barley, rapeseed, sunflower, and soybean) were considered in this study. A national production of crop residue for energy production of 48.66 million tons was estimated for 2018. The availability of crop residues was analyzed taking into account the harvest, residue-to-crop ratio, and residue removal rate. The crop residue energy potential of Ukraine has been estimated at 774.46 PJ. Power generation technologies have been analyzed. This study clearly shows that crop residue may generate between 27 and 108 billion kWh of power. We have selected preferable regions for setting up crop residue power plants. The results may be useful for the development of energy policy and helpful for investors in considering power generation projects.

Renewable energy is expected to play a significant role in power generation. The European Union, the USA, China, and others, are striving to limit the use of energy crop for energy production and to increase the use of crop residue both on the field and for energy generation processes. Therefore, crop residue may become a major energy source, with Ukraine following this course. Currently in Ukraine, renewable power generation does not exceed 10% of total electricity production. Despite a highly developed agriculture sector, there are only a small number of biomass power plants which burn crop residues. To identify possibilities for renewable power generation, the quantity of crop residues, their energy potential, and potential electricity generation were appraised. Cluster analysis was used to identify regions with the highest electricity consumption and crop residue energy potential. The major crops (wheat, barley, rapeseed, sunflower, and soybean) were considered in this study. A national production of crop residue for energy production of 48.66 million tons was estimated for 2018. The availability of crop residues was analyzed taking into account the harvest, residue-to-crop ratio, and residue removal rate. The crop residue energy potential of Ukraine has been estimated at 774.46 PJ. Power generation technologies have been analyzed. This study clearly shows that crop residue may generate between 27 and 108 billion kWh of power. We have selected preferable regions for setting up crop residue power plants. The results may be useful for the development of energy policy and helpful for investors in considering power generation projects.