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Turning Crop Waste into Wealth-Sustainable and Economical Solutions

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Handbook of Solid Waste Management

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Abstract

Crop wastes are nutrient-rich natural resources of tremendous value. Agricultural residue is biodegradable, but because of improper management, it is becoming a growing issue today. With vast agricultural production in India, agricultural waste generation is also huge. India’s annual gross crop residue production is about 500 million ton (Mt), of which contribution of paddy is the highest among cereals. Among states, Punjab stands second for residue generation (50.75 Mt) with about 49% of surplus crop waste. For 20 major paddy growing districts in the state, remote sensing estimated 2.96 million hectare area (Mha) planted, out of which 1.51 Mha was burnt during 2018. During 2018–2019, about 51.7% of the state area under paddy crop was managed using different straw management practices, i.e. mulching (39.7%), incorporation (29.5%) and collection and removal (30.8%) for further use. Crop residues increase soil productivity and its fertility, making them a viable option to recycle nutrients that have been mined from the soil. In economic terms, recycling of surplus residues could save about Rs 741 crore government money spent on chemical fertilizers. In addition to this, the bioenergy potential from the surplus crop residue for Punjab (29.86 × 1016 J) is the highest among the states of India. Considering the potential of residue, agriculture not only is the way of life for achieving food security through main produce but may also be an important solution to other issues like declining fertility, erosion and global warming from the irrational application of intensive farming methods through efficient management of crop residues, remarkably affecting rural environments in particular and the global environmental in general.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India

    Ranguwal Sangeet & Raj Kumar

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  1. Ranguwal Sangeet
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  2. Raj Kumar
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Correspondence to Ranguwal Sangeet .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research and Development Center, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Chinnappan Baskar

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Center for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Seeram Ramakrishna

  3. Chemistry and Bioprospecting Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

    Shikha Baskar

  4. Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Rashmi Sharma

  5. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Center for Nanofibers and Nanotechnology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Amutha Chinnappan

  6. Department of Basic Science, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Rashmi Sehrawat

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  1. Research and Development Center, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad, India

    Chinnappan Baskar

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Sangeet, R., Kumar, R. (2022). Turning Crop Waste into Wealth-Sustainable and Economical Solutions. In: Baskar, C., Ramakrishna, S., Baskar, S., Sharma, R., Chinnappan, A., Sehrawat, R. (eds) Handbook of Solid Waste Management. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4230-2_39

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