Crop residue management: A way to reduce environmental pollution

Abstract

Crop residue management (CRM), a cultural technique that maintains more residues from the preceding crop and involves fewer and/or less intensive tillage operations, is intended to assist safeguard soil and water resources and offer extra environmental advantages. While preserving or improving crop yields, CRM is typically cost-effective in meeting conservation standards and lowering fuel, machinery, and labor expenses. India is an agrarian economy. In different agro-ecological areas, a wide variety of crops are grown on a large percentage of the country's territory. With the production of 112.18 million tons (Mt) of wheat, 120.0 Mt of rice, 35.91 Mt of maize, 17.52 Mt of millets, 399.25 Mt of sugarcane, 8.1 Mt of fiber crops (Jute, Mesta, Cotton), 28.0 Mt of pulses, and 41.15 MMT of oilseeds crops in the 2020-21 crop year ({Directorate of Economics & Statistics, MOA, DAC, New Delhi (final estimate-2020-21), it is only natural that a significant amount of crop residues are produced both. The entire country produces 500-550 Mt of crop leftovers annually, according to estimates. The simplest and most widely used technique adopted by farmers is burning wastes. Burning leftovers degrades soil quality and pollutes the environment. Remainder burning kills bacteria and renders soil infertile. In addition, macro and micronutrients are easily volatilized as a result of soil residue burning. Therefore, the management of agricultural crop residue is of major significance to several scientific communities. It is required to use a wide range of management techniques to address this problem, and including mechanization into the solution expands the potential applications for agricultural leftovers in the future. Crop residue management enhances the quality of the soil and the ecosystem. Crop residue burning releases smoke and soot particles that are harmful to both human and animal health. Additionally, it causes the loss of plant nutrients like N, P, K and S as well as the production of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, which contribute to global warming. Crop residue burning is a waste of precious resources that could be used to produce carbon, bioactive chemicals, feed, and energy for rural households and small businesses.