Extinguishing the Blaze

Policy Context

Air pollution is a major health concern in many Indian cities exposing millions of people to extremely toxic air. Pandey et al. (2021) estimate that 17% of total deaths in India in 2019 were attributable to air pollution. Stubble (crop residue) burning contributes up to 30-35% of air pollution in North India during October-November (Govardhan et al., 2023). Though a relatively inexpensive process to get rid of crop residue and pests, stubble burning has damaging impacts on soil fertility and agricultural productivity (Reddy et al., 2019). Intensive dual cropping system (where rice is harvested early to accommodate the wheat crop) is a major reason for farmers to adopt burning as a measure of crop residue management (CRM) (Kumar and Joshi, 2013; Kumar et al., 2015). Narrow time frame (2-3 weeks) to prepare the field for wheat cultivation makes it harder for farmers to sustainably manage crop residue and burning remains the popular way to deal with it. Further evidence highlights other factors contributing to crop residue burning, such as credit constraints (Jack et al. 2022) and informational constraints about sustainable crop residue management (IGC 2022). 

Study Design

Relatively new early maturity variety (EMV) seeds developed by Punjab Agricultural University mature 20-25 days earlier than the usual varieties, potentially mitigating time constraints faced by farmers, while still leaving farmers no worse-off than before (PAU Ludhiana 2018). Though there has been a recent interest from the Punjab government to promote the EMV seeds, there is little evidence regarding its impact on crop residue burning. In a randomized controlled trial with 1000 farmers in Punjab, India, Gandhi evaluated the impact of subsidizing EMV seeds and providing technical training on sustainable methods of crop residue management. Randomly dividing the farmers into a ‘subsidy only’ group, ‘subsidy + training’ group and a control group, the intervention included:

1. Seeds Subsidy: Farmers in the ‘subsidy only’ and ‘subsidy + training’ groups were offered 50% subsidy ($2.2/acre) on purchase of EMV seeds. The offers were extended to farmers one month before they made their purchasing decisions (mid-to late April).
2. Technical Training: Farmers in the ‘subsidy + training’ group also received training in sustainable methods of residue management before and after the harvest season (September-November). The training also involved information about costs, benefits and time taken for each alternate crop residue management method other than burning.

Gandhi evaluated the overall impact of these interventions on two major outcomes; adoption of EMV seeds and crop residue burning. Using geo-location of the fields, data on adoption of seeds was collected by physical verification for each plot, which did not necessarily require the presence of the farmer.

Results and Policy Lessons

Preliminary results suggest that seed subsidies reduce burning by 19 percentage points, and combining subsidies with training reduces burning by 26 percentage points. A back-of-the-envelope calculation using ITT estimates and the social cost of carbon in India suggests that a $3 per acre seed subsidy reduces CO2 emissions worth $42 per acre.