CROP RESIDUE

• The portion of a plant left in the field after harvest of the crop
(straw, stalks, stems, leaves, roots) that is not used
domestically or sold commercially
• The organic material remains left behind on fields aftercrops
have been harvested
• Crop residue is defined as the non- economic plant part that are
left in the field after harvest, and remains that are generated
from packing sheds or that are discarded during crop
processing
Images of Crop residues
 • The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India has
estimated that about 500 Mt of crop residues are generated
every year
• The generation of crop residues is highest in Uttar Pradesh (60
Mt) followed by Punjab (51 Mt) and Maharashtra (46 Mt). Among
different crops, cereals generate maximum residues (352 Mt),
followed by fibers (66 Mt), oilseeds (29 Mt), pulses (13 Mt) and

Generation sugarcane (12 Mt)

• The cereal crops (rice, wheat, maize, millets) contribute 70% of
of crop the crop residues whereas fiber crops contribute 13% to the crop
residues generated from all crops

residues in • Sugarcane residues comprising of tops and leaves, generate 12

Mt, i.e., 2% of the crop residues in India
India • Generation of crop residues of cereals is also highest in Uttar
Pradesh (53 Mt), followed by Punjab (44 Mt) and West Bengal
(33 Mt)
• Maharashtra contributes maximum to the generation of residues
of pulses (3 Mt) while residues from fiber crops are dominant in
Andhra Pradesh (14 Mt)
• Gujarat and Rajasthan generate about 6 Mt each of residues
from oilseed crops
 Utilization and on-farm burning of
crop residues in India
• The utilization of crop residues varies across different states of the country. Traditionally
crop residues have numerous competing uses such as animal feed, fodder, fuel, roof
thatching, packaging and composting
• Farmers use crop residues either themselves or sell it to landless households or
intermediaries, who further sell them to industries. The remaining residues are left unused
or burnt on-farm
• In states like Punjab and Haryana, where crop residues of rice are not used as cattle feed,
a large amount is burnt on-farm and in Madhya Pradesh a huge amount of wheat crop
residue is burnt on-farm
• It is estimated that the total amount of crop residues surplus in India is 91-141 Mt. Cereals
and fiber crops contribute 58% and 23% respectively and remaining 19% is from
sugarcane, pulses, oilseeds and other crops.
• Out of 82 Mt surplus residues from the cereal crops, 44 Mt is from rice followed by 24.5 Mt
from wheat, which is mostly burnt on-farm. In case of fiber crops (33 Mt of surplus residue)
approximately 80% of the residues are from cotton and are subjected to on-farm burning
Crop residues produced by different crops
crops Residue production (MT/ year)
Rice 103.06
Wheat 94.04
Maize 21.02
Jut 9.92
Cotton 30.52
Ground nut 6.89
Sugarcane 346.72
Mustard 6.85
Millets 2.29
Total 6211.31

Extension Bulletin ICAR (2016)

State-wise potential availability of agriculture-based biomass during 2016-17

Agriculture Research Data Book,2019

 • Causes human and animal
health problems
Adverse • Leads to global warming
consequences • Loss of plant nutrients
of on-farm
• Elevates soil temperature
burning of
• Long-term burning reduces total
crop residues N and C
• Environmental pollution
Burning of Wheat residue
Burning of Paddy Straw
Air pollution due to residue burning

Example: Air pollution Delhi

Smog pollution in Delhi during October and November,

due to burning of crop residues
 • Need of conservation agriculture to
enhance soil physical, chemical and
biological properties
Why Crop • Crop residues are excellent source of
organic matter and plant nutrients
Residue • Organic recycling plays a key role in
Management achieving sustainability in agricultural
production
• To reduce the environmental pollution
which occurs due to residue burning
 • Crop Residue Management (CRM) is a
conservation practice that usually involves a
reduction in the number of passes over the field
with tillage implements and/or in the intensity of
tillage operations, including the elimination of
CROP ploughing (inversion of the surface layer of soil)
RESIDUE • This practice is designed to leave sufficient
MANAGEMENT residue on the soil surface to reduce the erosive
effects of wind and rain
(CRM) • To manage the residues in a productive and
profitable manner, conservation agriculture(CA)
offers a good promise
 The crop residues are aimed to be managed properly in crop
residue management system with the main objectives
• Soil health
 To improve and maintain the soil health
• Sustainability

Objectives  To sustain the crop yields and enhance farm income

• Reducing air pollution
of CRM  To minimize the burning of residues which lowers
emission of greenhouse and other gases thus reducing
the air pollution
• Resilience of agriculture
 To improve nitrogen use efficiency and to offset the
CO2 and other GHGs emissions
• Weed management
 To reduce the weed population by inhibiting the weed
seed germination
 • Confronting global warming and food security
by increasing carbon sequestration in
agriculture
• Fuel and labor savings
• Increase organic matter content in the soil
• long-term benefits to soil structure
Advantages • Helps in soil conservation
of CRM • Provide energy for growth and activities of
microbes
• Sustaining soil fertility
• Enhance crop yields
• Increase in farm income
• Crop residues can be used in biofuel
production
 Soil structure :
• Favor the formation of aggregates
 Bulk Density & porosity :

Effect of • Decreases the bulk density of soil & increase

the porosity of the soils
crop  Hydraulic conductivity :

residues on • Increase hydraulic conductivity by modifying soil

structure microspores
physical Soil temperature :
properties of • Increases the minimum soil temperature in
winter and decrease soil temperature during
soil summer due to shading effect
Soil moisture :
• Reduces evaporation rate due to increase in
amount of residues on the soil surface
 • Increases availability of macro and micro-
Effect of nutrients
crop • Increase cation exchange capacity(CEC)
• Amelioration of soil acidity through the release
residue on of hydroxyls especially during the
chemical decomposition of residues with higher C:N
properties • Amelioration of soil alkalinity through
application of residues from lower C:N crops,
of soil including legumes, oilseeds and pulses
• Increase in soil organic matter(SOM)
• Enhance the soil organic carbon sequestration
  Amendments such as residues and manures
promote soil microbial biomass(SMB) while
removal of residues decrease SMB
Effect of Crop residues provide energy for growth and
crop activities of microbes and substrate for
microbial biomass and provide conditions for
residues on source-sink of nutrients.
biological Availability of nutrients like N, P, and S is
particularly dependent upon soil microbial
properties of biomass (SMB) and microbial activity, which in
turn depend on the supply of organic substrates
soil in soil
Enhance activities of enzymes such as
dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase
Soil cover with crop residues as mulch

Protects the soil from Suppresses weed germination

erosion by water and wind and growth

Improves recycling Improves organic matter accumulation

of nutrients and carbon sequestration
 • No till facilitates better stand of crops,
resulting higher yields
• Availability of nutrients
Effect of • Less crop-weed competition
crop residues • Reduction in plant disease incidence
on Plants • Enhance plant growth and
development
• Improves nutritional quality of the
produce
On field crop residue management
• Practicing Zero tillage farming
 It is the direct sowing of the seed into the field
without any disturbance to the soil
Example: Wheat crop is sown directly in the field after Zero till sown wheat
the rice crop is harvested without any field preparation
in rice residues

• In-situ straw management

 Mulching or retention of crop residues on the soil
 Incorporation of the crop residues into the soil
Rice straw mulch in potato
• Ex-situ straw management
 In ex-situ straw management residues are reaped and
collected from the field using different technology for its
external uses
 Example: Wheat Straw is used as animal feed
• Recycling pit
 Leftover crop residues can be safely disposed in
recycling pit built for the purpose of crop residue
recycling
 Crop residue recycling is the process of returning
nutrients removed by crops to the soil to replenish the
soil nutrient status
• Safe disposal of residues from the field
 Bailing and transporting the residues is the important
step in handling crop residue for other applications such
as animal feeding, fuel and fiber for paper manufacturing
 Wheat straw
as animal feed

Straw reaper

Recycling of residues leftover in recycling pit

Bailing of residues by baler for easy disposal

Viable and scalable solutions to manage residues on-farm

Combine with Super SMS Happy seeder

Straw chopper Reversible Mould Board Plough Rotavator

Competing uses of crop residues

Livestock feed Composting Power generation

Biofuel Biogas Biochar

production and
generation production
bio-oil production
Livestock feed

• The crop residues are

traditionally utilized as
animal feed
• Example –
Wheat,Gram,Maize,
Cowpea, Sorghum
Compost making

• The crop residues have been

traditionally used for preparing
compost
• Crop residues are used as animal
bedding and are then heaped in
dung pits. In the animal shed each
kilogram of straw absorbs about 2-3
kg of urine, which enriches it with N.
The residues of rice crop from one-
hectare land, on composting, give
about 3 tons of manure as rich in
nutrients as farmyard manure (FYM)
(Sidhuand Beri, 2008)
 • Conversion of ligno-cellulosic biomass into
alcohol is of immense importance as
ethanol can either be blended with
gasoline as a fuel extender and octane-
enhancing agent or used as a neat fuel in
Bio-fuel internal combustion engines.
• The theoretical estimates of ethanol
Production production from different feedstock (corn
grain, rice straw, wheat straw, bagasse
and saw dust) varies from 382-471 l tone-1
of dry matter (Demirbas and Sahin, 2009)
Process for ethanol production
 • Bio-oil is a kind of liquid fuel made from biomass
materials such as agricultural crops, algal biomass,
municipal wastes, agricultural and forestry by-
products via thermo-chemical processes
• Bio-oil can be produced from crop residues by the
process of fast pyrolysis, which requires temperature
Bio-oil of biomass to be raised to 400-500ºC within a few
seconds, resulting in a remarkable change in the
Production thermal disintegration process.
• About 75% of dry weight of biomass is converted into
condensable vapours. If the condensate is cooled
quickly within a couple of seconds, it yields a dark
brown viscous liquid commonly called bio-oil
Fast Pyrolysis process for bio-oil production
 Rice husk
R
Pyrolysis of rice husk

Sorting

Drying

Pyrolysis at 400 - 650 OC Gaseous mixture

Condensation Uncondensed gas

Char

Bio-oil
Biochar production
• Biochar is a high carbon material
produced through slow pyrolysis
(heating in the absence of oxygen) of
biomass
• It can potentially play a major role in the
long-term storage of carbon in soil
• It has got advantages in terms of its
efficiency as an energy source, its use
as a fertilizer when mixed with soil
• It has ability to stabilize as well as
reduce emissions of harmful gases in
the atmosphere
• Biochar increases the fertility, water
retention capability of the soil
(Verheijen et al., 2009)
• During biochar production, liquids and gases are generated that
can be used as energy or bioproducts (e.g. food flavouring)
• Possible energy: heat, electricity, green hydrogen, methane,
bio-oils or other liquid and gaseous fuels

Biochar application 
BIOMASS production increased

NATURE, 2017
Low-cost pyrolysis klin for preparation of biochar
(Courtesy: T.J. Purakayastha, IARI, New Delhi)
 • Biogas  is  a  methane  rich  flammable  gas 
that  results  from  the  decomposition of 
organic waste material
• Biogas  is  produced  by 
anaerobic digestion  or  fermentation  of 
biodegradable mater-ials  such  as 
Biogas biomass,  manure,  sewage, 
municipal waste, green waste, plant material
 and energy crops
• Biogas also called as ‘Marsh gas’
• Biogas is a type of biofuel. This  type  of 
biogas  comprises  primarily  methane  and 
carbon  dioxide
Biogas plant
 Mushroo
m Packaging
cultivatio material
Other uses n
of Crop
residues
Roof Mat
thatching making
Mushroom cultivation
• Agricultural wastes are the good source for the cultivation of
mushrooms
• Some of them are most commonly used such as wheat straw,
paddy straw, rice straw, rice bran, molasses, coffee straw,
banana leaves, tea leaves, cotton straw, saw dust etc.
 • Crop-based packaging materials can be
biodegradable and/or compostable and may
offer a possible alternative to traditional
synthetic materials, consequently reducing the
Crop environmental impacts relating to packaging
material usage
residue as • There are many technologies to convert stubble
packaging waste into packaging materials. Rice straw has
starch, cellulose and lignin contents. A chemical
material pulping technology can be used to convert
straw into paper and cardboard for packaging
• The pulp obtained from paddy residue can be
converted into packaging materials, plates,
bowls and so on
Bowls, plates, Glass from paddy straw Containers made from Sugarcane residue
 Case studies
• Effect of crop residue management on organic carbon content of soil
Type of Crop Residue Duration Residue Organic Carbon
and Soil (Year) Management (%)

Rice Straw in Wheat 10 Removed 0.38 0.38

And Wheat Straw In
Rice ; Burned 0.43 0.43
Sandy Loam*
Incorporated 0.47

Rice Straw in Wheat 7 Removed 0.38 0.38

Wheat in Rice
In Rice-wheat
Rotation ; Burned 0.43 0.39
Sandy Loam**
Incorporated 0.50

Singh et al.,2004
• Performance of zero-till wheat sown into rice residue using happy seeder vis-a-
vis conventional till wheat on farmers fields in Punjab during 2007-2010
Year No. of experiments Grain yield(t/ha) Increase in yield
Happy seeder(HS) Conventional with HS over
tillage(CT) CT(%)

2007-08 46 4.59 4.50 2.0

2008-09 14 4.54 4.34 4.6

2009-10 94 4.42 4.30 2.8

Mean 154 4.56 4.42 3.24

Sidhu et al. (2011)

 • For ensuring the country's food security both in short and
long term perspectives and making agriculture
sustainable, the soil resource base must be strong and
healthy
• Conservation agriculture, with crop residues as an
integral component, is an effective measure to meet the
challenges of food, water and energy insecurity, issues
related to climate change and degradation of natural
Conclusion resources
• Crop residues are of great economic values as livestock
feed, fuel and industrial raw material, and in conservation
agriculture for which it is a pre-requisite
• Crop residues, either partly or entirely must be used for
conservation agriculture for ensuring the country’s food
security, making agriculture sustainable and the soil
resource base healthy
 References
• Singh Y, Singh B and Timsina J (2005) crop residue management for nutrient cycling and improving soil productivity in
rice-based cropping systems in the tropics. Advances in Agronomy, 85: 269-407
• Metzger RA, Benford G and Hoffert MI (2002) To Bury or To Burn: Optimum Use of Crop Residues to Reduce
Atmospheric CO2. Climatic Change 54: 369–374.
• Kaewpradit W, Toomsan B, Cadisch G, Vityakon P, Limpinuntana V, Saenjan P, Jogloy S and Patanothai A (2009)
Mixing groundnut residues and rice straw to improve rice yield and N use efficiency. Field Crops Research 110:130–138.
• Teixeira SR, Peña AFV and Lima RG (2010) Use Of Residues from Industrial Carbonized Sugarcane Bagasse to Produce
Charcoal Briquette. Third International Symposium on Energy from Biomass and Waste.
• Brito J.; Chada I.; Pinto P.; Guerrero C. and Beltrão J. (2007) Sugarcane pulp residue as a horticultural substratum and as
an organic corrective. International journal of energy and environment 2(1).
• Eaglesham ARJ and Ithaca (2003) Results of a co-ordinated research project organized by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of
Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture in Management of crop residues for sustainable crop production, IAEA in
Austria publication
Thank you