Extinguishing the Blaze: Impact of Crop Residue Management on Stubble Burning in India

This study investigates the effects of two interventions- a subsidised access to Early Maturity Variety (EMV) seeds and technical training about sustainable CRM methods. Specifically, I am interested in the effects of the EMV seeds on its own and the effects of EMV seeds with technical training. I randomly assign the farmers to one of the three groups: a seed-subsidy-only group, a seed-subsidy-plus-training group and a control group.

1. Seed Subsidy: Relatively new early maturity seed varieties developed by Punjab Agricultural University could mitigate time constraints between rice harvest and wheat sowing. For example, Punjab Agricultural University has developed short duration non-Basmati rice varieties like PR 121, PR 124 and PR 126 which mature in 110, 105 and 93 days after transplanting, respectively, as compared to the usual Pusa 44 varieties which take about 130 days after transplanting. Even though the yields of early maturity varieties are marginally lower than that of Pusa 44, Punjab Agricultural University estimated that the net income from shorter-duration varieties is slightly higher due to lower labor, fertilizer, and pesticide requirements. This reduces the pressure on farmers to burn and promotes sustainable CRM, while still leaving farmers no worse-off than before.
Farmers were offered 50% subsidy on the purchase of EMV seeds, covering their land holding size or 10 acres, whichever is lower. The offers were extended to farmers a month before they made their purchasing decisions (April-May 2024). The subsidies will be transferred upon providing a receipt of seeds purchased and a physical verification to distinguish the dwarf early maturity crop against taller alternate varieties.

2. Technical Training: Farmers in the ‘subsidy and technical training’ group will additionally receive technical training in sustainable methods of residue management before and after the harvest season (September-November). This involves providing them the information about costs of each alternate, time taken to manage crop residue, sources of inputs and remedies for pests/weeds, etc that they may face post harvest.

2024-04-01

2024-12-15

Crop residue burning

One of the main outcomes of this study is crop residue burning. This is calculated as the total acres burnt divided by total area under paddy cultivation. I plan to measure this in three ways- physical verification at the field, using remote-sensing measures and farmer surveys. Out of the three measures, I will chose the primary measure of burning based on data quality (frequency and accuracy).

The study is designed as an RCT, with the farmers randomised into one of the three groups- ‘seed-subsidy-only’ group, ‘seed-subsidy-plus-training’ group and a control group.

1. Seed-subsidy-only group: Farmers in the ‘seed-subsidy-only’ group were be offered 50% subsidy (in April-May 2024) on purchase of early maturity variety of seeds, covering their land holding size or 10 acres, whichever is lower.

2.Seed-subsidy-plus-training group: Farmers in the `seed-subsidy-plus-training’ group were also offered 50% subsidy (in April-may 2024) on purchase of early maturity variety of seeds. In addition to the subsidy, they will also receive technical training in sustainable methods of crop residue management before and after the harvest season (September-November 2024).

Not available

Random assignment to treatment/comparison groups was generated by statistical software (STATA).

Farmer

No

1000 farmers

1000 farmers

400 farmers control
300 farmers subsidised seeds group
300 farmers subsidised seeds and training group

For the primary outcome of crop residue burning (percentage of area burnt), the seed subsidy intervention is powered to detect a 7.9 percentage point reduction compared to the control mean of 81.5% burning. Similarly, the training intervention is powered to detect a 9.3 percentage point reduction compared to the control group.