Rs. 5,500 per tonne is suggested for the crop residue. And around Rs 11,000 per acre can be earned from the sale of stubble/straw pellets.
The capital has been struggling with severe to very severe air quality. One of the major reasons for this bad air is crop stubble burning in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Other reasons include the pollution contributed by the industrial NCR. Many solutions for the stubble has been suggested in the past but no firm solution was ever suggested which would be in favour of farmers.
In a commendable action, NTPC will now buy the farm stubble from the states of Haryana and Punjab. NTPC will procure farm stubble to be used in its fuel mix. NTPC i.e. National Thermal Power Corporation is India’s largest energy conglomerate with roots planted way back in 1975 to accelerate power development in India. Since then it has established itself as the dominant power major with presence in the entire value chain of the power generation business. From fossil fuels it has forayed into generating electricity via hydro, nuclear and renewable energy sources. The state-run electricity producer will use 10% of straw pellets in their energy mix. Mixing of pellets up to 10 per cent of the total fuel in a power plant was possible without affecting its efficiency in terms of gross calorific value.
This would generate extra income for the farmers which earlier the farmers used to burn to ash. This initiative could encourage farmers to collect the crop residue left behind in the farms. Rs. 5,500 per tonne is suggested for the crop residue. And around Rs 11,000 per acre can be earned from the sale of stubble/straw pellets.
The other scientific uses of straw like organic manure, bio-fuel etc are available. Paddy straw can be used to make compost and manure by treating them with water, cow dung and kitchen waste etc. But this process of bio-composting generally takes 2-3 months. Considering the lower temperature on the onset of November this process of rotten-ing slows down due to lower microbe interferences.
This step has been widely accepted by the environmentalist and the capital. This will hugely contribute to make the air quality better. Proper market linkage for the selling out of the stubble has to be made better and shall be worked upon by the collaboration of both the private and public enterprises.
