International Journal of Education & Management © 2020 Indian Association of Health, Research and Welfare

Studies, 2020, 10(1), 75-78 ISSN-p-2231-5632-e-2321-3671

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Paddy straw management: Perception and challenges

of paddy growing farmers
Shaina Jain and Sukhmani
School of Business Studies, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab

High quantum of crop residue, i.e., paddy straw in Punjab is attributed by increased levels of productivity of paddy
crop. Paddy straw is often burnt by the farmers which does not only results in environmental degradation, health
issues etc. but have adverse effect on soil fertility also. To manage this residue effectively is a serious challenge, thus
highlights the importance of paddy straw management. A study was conducted in district Ludhiana of Punjab to
assess the perception of farmers and challenges faced by them towards paddy straw management. The study was
undertaken in Ludhiana district as it is second largest producer of paddy in Punjab and data from sample of 200
farmers was collected using a structured questionnaire with a five-pointlikert scale and analysis was done using
statistical analysis. The study revealed that most of the farmers were aware about worth of paddy straw,
environmental impacts of burning straw, government's policies regarding paddy straw management and utilization.
Important source of information for farmers was found to be cooperative societies and social media. Technical
solutions were majorly categorized into: On-farm (in-situ,) among which farmers were found to be aware mainly
about straw chopper, super SMS, happy seeder, etc. and Off-farm (ex-situ), among which very little awareness was
found among farmers for techniques like power generation, cardboard making. Only a few farmers were found to
have used alternative management techniques esp. mulching, zero tillage, happy seeder, etc. and found these
methods effective. The main problem faced by farmers during management of paddy straw was found as cost, time,
handling, supply chain discontinuities, lack of knowledge and guidance regarding management techniques.

Keywords: paddy straw management, perception, technical solutions, challenges

Punjab is prevalently an agrarian State. It is a leading state in Green
Revolution and persists to be major contributor to the national food
grain pool. Paddy is the chief crop of Kharif season in Punjab and the
state is the largest contributor of rice in the central pool. Being the
largest contributor of main cereals and grains to the central pool,
Punjab has earned the title of Granary of India or Food Basket of
India (Singh et al., 2015). In Punjab, the production of paddy has
increased from 6.50 million tons in 1990-91 to 12.82 million tons in
2018-19 showing an increase of 97.23 percent (Anonymous, 2018).
For rice, top producing districts in Punjab are Sangrur and Ludhiana
with production of 1353 and 1153 thousand metric ton units
respectively (Anonymous, 2018). This increased production has led
to increased quantum of agricultural waste. The word agricultural
residue is used to describe all the organic materials which are
produced as by-products from operations of harvesting and
processing of agricultural crops (Zafar, 2013).
Huge production leads to huge amount of waste generation and
crop residues which amount to as much as 7-8 tons per hectare each
year (Gupta et al., 2003). Punjab produces around 20 million tons of
rice straw annually (Jerath et al., 2014). For every 4 tons of rice grain,
about 6 tons of straw is produced. 685 million tons of rice straw is
generated annually throughout the globe and about 60 percent of the
mass produced by rice crop is rice straw (Lim et al., 2012). In 2000,
the total agricultural residue production in India was 347 million
tons of which rice and wheat straw amounted to more than 200
Corresponding Author:
Shaina Jain
School of Business Studies, Punjab Agricultural University
Ludhiana, Punjab
E-mail: shainajain444@gmail.com
million tons (Thakur, 2002). To manage this huge amount of waste is
a serious challenge, thus enlightening the importance of agricultural
waste management.
Paddy straw is generally removed from the fields at harvest time
and is subjected to open field burning which leads to serious
environmental and health issues (Sarkar & Aikat, 2012). The open
field burning of straw after combine harvesting is a common practice
in Punjab in order to ensure early preparation of fields for the next
crop. More than 80percent of paddy straw produced in the state is
being burnt in fields every year. The wheat straw is used to an extent
for cattle feed; whereas paddy straw is not preferred for the purpose
of cattle feed due to presence of silica content in it (Jerath et al.,
2014).
Major factors which compel farmers to burn the crop residue are
high cost of collection of agricultural waste and lack of economically
viable options to utilize it. Lack of modernized machinery and
shortfall of time between paddy harvesting and growing of a new
crop is another major problem. Farmers get only 15-20 days between
harvesting of paddy and sowing of wheat, therefore a large number
of chopping machines are required at low prices so that farmer can
opt for chopping straw instead of burning the same (Sandhu, 2015).
Burning of straw not only affects soil fertility but also acts as an
important source of air pollution in rural areas. It not only leads to the
emission of large amounts of suspended particulate matter, but gases
like CH4, CO, N2O, NOX, SO2 and hydrocarbons are also released
in air with the burning of straw. It has been estimated that burning
of 1 ton of paddy straw accounts for loss of 5.5 kg Nitrogen, 2.3 kg
Phosphorus and 1.2 kg Sulphur, apart from loss of organic carbon.
Moreover, heat generated due to burning of paddy straw penetrates
into the soil, resulting in loss of moisture and useful microbes, which
furthermore adversely affect properties of soil (Jerath et al., 2014).