CROP RESIDUE: WASTE OR WEALTH?

Abstract

Growing food consumption in developing countries has resulted in a massive increase in global food production. Rice-wheat (RW) cropping systems cover 13 million hectares in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan). Rice-wheat cropping systems account for roughly 20% of total cereal production and 40% of wheat production in India. The Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGPs) are home to more than 85 percent of South Asia's RW system. India's IGPs cover around 20% of the country's overall geographical area (329 Mha) and about 27% of the country's net cultivated land, producing about 50% of the country's total food consumption. Continuous rice and rotational wheat agriculture, intensive tillage for both crops, Crop Residue (CR) removal and use of excessive water and chemical has created environmental and ecological imbalance. The CR consists of plant materials left behind after harvesting and threshing crops. These residues were once thought to be waste, but with increased knowledge and further investigation, it is becoming clear that they are not waste but rather an essential natural resource. CR recycling could be used to transform surplus farm waste into usable material. These items can aid in nutrient replenishment, soil fertility enhancement, and ecological balance, all of which are beneficial to crop output. Many farmers utilize wheat straw as animal feed, but rice straw is still a problem because its high silica concentration makes it poor and animal population in rural area is also decreasing. The combine harvester leaves a swath of loose paddy residue, interfering with wheat drill seeding. To meet this difficulty, farmers turn to CR burning, which wastes a lot of biomass and pollutes the environment. On the other hand, National agencies are constantly developing regulations and options for managing these wastes, including their conversion to reusable resources. India creates an average of 500 million tonnes (Mt) of crop residue per year, according to the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). According to the same research, the bulk of crop residue is used for feed, fuel, and other home and industrial reasons. However, there is still a 140 million-tonne surplus, of which 92 million tonnes is burned each year. Table 1 compares the amount of agricultural waste produced in Mt/year by some Asian nations. It's also worth noting that the amount of agricultural waste burned in India is substantially more significant in volume than the total amount of agricultural waste produced in other nations in the region.