Pollution and modern agricultural solutions

It’s an established traditional practice for farmers to burn stubble after harvesting Kharif crops. In recent times, these practices in north India have become the primary reason for increased pollution in the National Capital Territory.

Due to massive stubble burning practices in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, Delhi NCT is subjected to worse levels of air pollution in the months of October and November. However, rising air pollution has various reasons, according to a study conducted by IIT Kanpur in 2015, stubble burning and other biomass emissions in winters contributed to between 17-26% of the total air pollution in Delhi NCT. According to the World Health Organization, the pollution level of India’s most polluted states, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are toxic to the extent that it reduces the average lifespan by 9 years. Air Quality Index (AQI) is used to monitor the quality of the air in the city. Scientists suggest that AQI above 100 adversely affects our health and the average AQI of Delhi NCT in October and November ranges between 250 – 300, which can be categorized as severely harmful.