With winter approaching, spectre of stubble burning hangs over Punjab, Haryana (Daiji World) 

Daiji World (India) published an article on how the demand for better air pollution management is gaining ground, Punjab and Haryana, both prominent granaries, stare at crop residue burning with the onset of the winter season when air quality levels in Delhi and other northern areas in India touch hazardous limits. Well ahead of the silent killer smog choking the region, the AAP governments in Punjab and Delhi are springing into action with measures for stubble management, including spraying Pusa bio-decomposer on 5,000 acres as a pilot project. A study at IFPRI and its partner institutes say in five years the economic loss due to the burning of crop residue and firecrackers is estimated to be $190 billion, or nearly 1.7 percent of India’s gross domestic product. To scientifically deal with crop residues, the Punjab government is creating a mechanism for the off-take of fermented organic manure generated from compressed biogas projects. Crop diversification from rice will largely help the stubble problem.