1932

Abstract

More than five billion metric tons of agricultural residues are produced annually worldwide. Despite having multiple uses and significant potential to augment crop and livestock production, a large share of crop residues is burned, especially in Asian countries. This unsustainable practice causes tremendous air pollution and health hazards while restricting soil nutrient recycling. In this review, we examine the economic rationale for unsustainable residue management. The sustainability of residue utilization is determined by several economic factors, such as local demand for and quantity of residue production, development and dissemination of technologies to absorb excess residue, and market and policy instruments to internalize the social costs of residue burning. The intervention strategy to ensure sustainable residue management depends on public awareness of the private and societal costs of open residue burning.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-resource-101422-090019
2023-10-05
2024-05-09
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/resource/15/1/annurev-resource-101422-090019.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-resource-101422-090019&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Ahmed T, Ahmad B, Ahmad W. 2015. Why do farmers burn rice residue? Examining farmers’ choices in Punjab, Pakistan. Land Use Policy 47:448–58
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Ang F, Kerstens K, Sadeghi J. 2023. Energy productivity and greenhouse gas emission intensity in Dutch dairy farms: a Hicks–Moorsteen by-production approach under non-convexity and convexity with equivalence results. J. Agric. Econ. 74:2492–509
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Archibald S. 2016. Managing the human component of fire regimes: lessons from Africa. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 371:169620150346
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Ayres RU, Kneese AV. 1969. Production, consumption and externalities. Am. Econ. Rev. 59:3282–97
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Bajracharya SB, Mishra A, Maharjan A. 2021. Determinants of crop residue burning practice in the Terai region of Nepal. PLOS ONE 16:7e0253939
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bhuvaneshwari S, Hettiarachchi H, Meegoda JN. 2019. Crop residue burning in India: policy challenges and potential solutions. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 16:5832
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Bikkina S, Andersson A, Kirillova EN, Holmstrand H, Tiwari S et al. 2019. Air quality in megacity Delhi affected by countryside biomass burning. Nat. Sustain. 2:3200–5
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Brown B, Nuberg I, Llewellyn R. 2017. Stepwise frameworks for understanding the utilisation of conservation agriculture in Africa. Agric. Syst. 153:11–22
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Cassou E. 2018. Agricultural pollution: field burning Note World Bank Group Washington, DC: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/989351521207797690/pdf/124342-repl-WB-Knowledge-Burning.pdf
  10. Chen J, Gong Y, Wang S, Guan B, Balkovic J, Kraxner F. 2019. To burn or retain crop residues on croplands? An integrated analysis of crop residue management in China. Sci. Total Environ. 662:141–50
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Chen Y, Ebenstein A, Greenstone M, Li H. 2013. Evidence on the impact of sustained exposure to air pollution on life expectancy from China's Huai River policy. PNAS 110:3212936–41
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Cui Z, Shi J, Wan C, Li Y. 2012. Comparison of alkaline- and fungi-assisted wet-storage of corn stover. Bioresour. Technol. 109:98–104
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Deshpande MV, Pillai D, Jain M. 2022. Agricultural burned area detection using an integrated approach utilizing multi spectral instrument based fire and vegetation indices from Sentinel-2 satellite. MethodsX 9:101741
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Downing AS, Kumar M, Andersson A, Causevic A, Gustafsson Ö et al. 2022. Unlocking the unsustainable rice-wheat system of Indian Punjab: assessing alternatives to crop-residue burning from a systems perspective. Ecol. Econ. 195:107364
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Dutta A, Bhattacharyya R, Chaudhary VP, Sharma C, Nath CP et al. 2022. Impact of long-term residue burning versus retention on soil organic carbon sequestration under a rice-wheat cropping system. Soil Tillage Res. 221:105421
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Erenstein O. 2002. Crop residue mulching in tropical and semi-tropical countries: an evaluation of residue availability and other technological implications. Soil Tillage Res. 67:2115–33
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Erenstein O, Thorpe W. 2011. Livelihoods and agroecological gradients: a meso-level analysis in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India. Agric. Syst. 104:142–53
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Fang Y, Xu K, Guo X, Hong Y. 2020. Identifying determinants of straw open field burning in northeast China: toward greening agriculture base in newly industrializing countries. J. Rural Stud. 74:111–23
    [Google Scholar]
  19. FAO (Food Agric. Organ.) 2017. Soil Organic Carbon: The Hidden Potential. Rome: FAO
  20. FAOSTAT 2021. Domain crop residues. Methodol. Note FAOSTAT Rome: https://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/documents/GA/GA_e.pdf
  21. Gov. India 2020. Central sector scheme on promotion of agricultural mechanization for in-situ management of crop residue in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi. Operational guidelines. Rep. Minist. Agric. Farmers’ Welf., Gov. India New Delhi: https://agricoop.nic.in/sites/default/files/Guideline%20of%20CRM%20scheme%20-2020%20.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Gupta R. 2014. Low-hanging fruit in black carbon mitigation: crop residue burning in South Asia. Clim. Change Econ. 5:41450012
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Hassen A, Talore DG, Tesfamariam EH, Friend MA, Mpanza TDE. 2017. Potential use of forage-legume intercropping technologies to adapt to climate-change impacts on mixed crop-livestock systems in Africa: a review. Reg. Environ. Change 17:61713–24
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Hou L, Chen X, Kuhn L, Huang J. 2019. The effectiveness of regulations and technologies on sustainable use of crop residue in Northeast China. Energy Econ. 81:519–27
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Jack BK, Jayachandran S, Kala N, Pande R. 2022. Money (not) to burn: payments for ecosystem services to reduce crop residue burning NBER Work. Pap. 30690
  26. Jaleta M, Kassie M, Shiferaw B. 2013. Tradeoffs in crop residue utilization in mixed crop-livestock systems and implications for conservation agriculture. Agric. Syst. 121:96–105
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Jat HS, Datta A, Choudhary M, Sharma PC, Yadav AK et al. 2019. Climate Smart Agriculture practices improve soil organic carbon pools, biological properties and crop productivity in cereal-based systems of North-West India. Catena 181:104059
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Jat ML, Chakraborty D, Ladha JK, Parihar CM, Datta A et al. 2022. Carbon sequestration potential, challenges, and strategies towards climate action in smallholder agricultural systems of South Asia. Crop Environ. 1:186–101
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Jones-Garcia E, Krishna VV. 2021. Farmer adoption of sustainable intensification technologies in the maize systems of the Global South. A review. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 41:8
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Junpen A, Pansuk J, Kamnoet O, Cheewaphongphan P, Garivait S. 2018. Emission of air pollutants from rice residue open burning in Thailand, 2018. Atmosphere 9:11449
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Kant Y, Chauhan P, Natwariya A, Kannaujiya S, Mitra D 2022. Long term influence of groundwater preservation policy on stubble burning and air pollution over North-West India. Sci. Rep. 12:12090
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Kaur M, Malik DP, Malhi GS, Sardana V, Bolan NS et al. 2022. Rice residue management in the Indo-Gangetic Plains for climate and food security. A review. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 42:92
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Kaushal LA. 2020. Examining the policy-practice gap: the issue of crop burning induced Particulate Matter pollution in Northwest India. Ecosyst. Health Sustain. 6:11846460
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Keil A, Krishnapriya PP, Mitra A, Jat ML, Sidhu HS et al. 2021. Changing agricultural stubble burning practices in the Indo-Gangetic Plains: Is the Happy Seeder a profitable alternative?. Int. J. Agric. Sustain. 19:2128–51
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Khandaker ZH, Uddin MM, Sultana N, Peters KJ. 2012. Effect of supplementation of mustard oil cake on intake, digestibility and microbial protein synthesis of cattle in a straw-based diet in Bangladesh. Trop. Anim. Health Prod. 44:4791–800
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Khanna M, Zilberman D. 1997. Incentives, precision technology and environmental protection. Ecol. Econ. 23:125–43
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Kim Oanh NT, Permadi DA, Hopke PK, Smith KR, Dong NP, Dang AN. 2018. Annual emissions of air toxics emitted from crop residue open burning in Southeast Asia over the period of 2010–2015. Atmos. Environ. 187:163–73
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Komarek AM, Bell LW, Whish JPM, Robertson MJ, Bellotti WD. 2015. Whole-farm economic, risk and resource-use trade-offs associated with integrating forages into crop-livestock systems in western China. Agric. Syst. 133:63–72
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Krishna VV, Keil A, Jain M, Zhou W, Jose M et al. 2022. Conservation agriculture benefits Indian farmers, but technology targeting needed for greater impacts. Front. Agron. 4:772732
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Krishna VV, Veettil PC. 2014. Productivity and efficiency impacts of conservation tillage in northwest Indo-Gangetic Plains. Agric. Syst. 127:126–38
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Kumar I, Bandaru V, Yampracha S, Sun L, Fungtammasan B. 2020. Limiting rice and sugarcane residue burning in Thailand: current status, challenges and strategies. J. Environ. Manag. 276:111228
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Lal R. 2004. Soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. Geoderma 123:1–21–22
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Lasko K, Vadrevu KP, Tran VT, Ellicott E, Nguyen TTN, Bui HQ, Justice C. 2017. Satellites may underestimate rice residue and associated burning emissions in Vietnam. Environ. Res. Lett. 12:885006
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Li R, He X, Wang H, Wang Y, Zhang M et al. 2022. Estimating emissions from crop residue open burning in Central China from 2012 to 2020 using statistical models combined with satellite observations. Remote Sens. 14:153682
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Lin M, Begho T. 2022. Crop residue burning in South Asia: a review of the scale, effect, and solutions with a focus on reducing reactive nitrogen losses. J. Environ. Manag. 314:115104
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Lohan SK, Jat HS, Yadav AK, Sidhu HS, Jat ML et al. 2018. Burning issues of paddy residue management in north-west states of India. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 81:693–706
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Lopes AA, Viriyavipart A, Tasneem D. 2020. The role of social influence in crop residue management: evidence from Northern India. Ecol. Econ. 169:106563
    [Google Scholar]
  48. López S, Davies DR, Giráldez FJ, Dhanoa MS, Dijkstra J, France J. 2005. Assessment of nutritive value of cereal and legume straws based on chemical composition and in vitro digestibility. J. Sci. Food Agric. 85:91550–57
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Lualon U, Lerdphornsuttirat N, Zusman E, Sano D. 2013. Environmental governance and short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs): the case of open burning in Thailand Work. Pap. 2013-03 Inst. Glob. Environ. Strat. Bangkok: https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/171631/IGES_Working_Paper_2013-03.pdf
  50. Magnan N, Larson DM, Taylor JE. 2012. Stuck on stubble? The non-market value of agricultural byproducts for diversified farmers in Morocco. Am. J. Agric. Econ. 94:51055–69
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Marshall K, Gibson JP, Mwai O, Mwacharo JM, Haile A et al. 2019. Livestock genomics for developing countries: African examples in practice. Front. Genet. 10:297
    [Google Scholar]
  52. McLaughlin O, Mawhood R, Jamieson C, Slade R. 2016. Rice straw for bioenergy: the effectiveness of policymaking and implementation in Asia Presented at the 24th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition June 6–9 Amsterdam, Neth.: http://www.etaflorence.it/proceedings/?detail=13252
  53. Mitchell AL, Rosenqvist A, Mora B. 2017. Current remote sensing approaches to monitoring forest degradation in support of countries measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) systems for REDD. Carbon Balance Manag. 12:9
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Moran J, NaSuwan C, Poocharoen O-O. 2019. The haze problem in Northern Thailand and policies to combat it: a review. Environ. Sci. Policy 97:1–15
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Murty S, Robert Russell R, Levkoff SB 2012. On modeling pollution-generating technologies. J. Environ. Econ. Manag. 64:1117–35
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Newell RG, Jaffe AB, Stavins RN. 1999. The induced innovation hypothesis and energy-saving technological change. Q. J. Econ. 114:3941–75
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Nicolella AC, Belluzzo W. 2015. The effect of reducing the pre-harvest burning of sugarcane on respiratory health in Brazil. Environ. Dev. Econ. 20:1127–40
    [Google Scholar]
  58. NPMCR (Natl. Policy Manag. Crop Residues) 2014. National policy for management of crop residues. Rep. Minist. Agric., Gov. India New Delhi: https://agricoop.nic.in/sites/default/files/NPMCR_1.pdf
  59. Nyawira SS, Hartman MD, Nguyen TH, Margenot AJ, Kihara J et al. 2021. Simulating soil organic carbon in maize-based systems under improved agronomic management in Western Kenya. Soil Tillage Res. 211:105000
    [Google Scholar]
  60. Page KL, Dang YP, Dalal RC, Reeves S, Thomas G et al. 2019. Changes in soil water storage with no-tillage and crop residue retention on a Vertisol: impact on productivity and profitability over a 50 year period. Soil Tillage Res. 194:104319
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Pathak M, Slade R, Shukla PR, Skea J, Pichs-Madruga R, Ürge-Vorsatz D 2022. Technical summary. Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change PR Shukla, J Skea, R Slade, A Al Khourdajie, R van Diemen, et al. pp. 49–147 Cambridge, UK/New York: Cambridge Univ. Press
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Perillo LI, de Oliveira Bordonal R, de Figueiredo EB, Moitinho MR, Aguiar DA et al. 2022. Avoiding burning practice and its consequences on the greenhouse gas emission in sugarcane areas southern Brazil. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. Int. 29:1719–30
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Pham C-T, Ly B-T, Nghiem T-D, Pham TH-P, Minh N-T et al. 2021. Emission factors of selected air pollutants from rice straw burning in Hanoi, Vietnam. Air Qual. Atmos. Health 14:111757–71
    [Google Scholar]
  64. Phukongchai W, Kaewpradit W, Rasche F. 2022. Inoculation of cellulolytic and ligninolytic microorganisms accelerates decomposition of high C/N and cellulose rich sugarcane straw in tropical sandy soils. Appl. Soil Ecol. 172:104355
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Pingali P. 2007. Agricultural mechanization: adoption patterns and economic impact. Handbook of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 3 RE Evenson, PL Pingali 2779–805. Amsterdam: Elsevier B.V.
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Ravindra K, Singh T, Mor S. 2019. Emissions of air pollutants from primary crop residue burning in India and their mitigation strategies for cleaner emissions. J. Clean. Prod. 208:261–73
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Raza MH, Abid M, Faisal M, Yan T, Akhtar S, Adnan KMM. 2022. Environmental and health impacts of crop residue burning: Scope of sustainable crop residue management practices. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 19:84753
    [Google Scholar]
  68. Ren J, Yu P, Xu X. 2019. Straw utilization in China: status and recommendations. Sustainability 11:61762
    [Google Scholar]
  69. Runge CF. 1987. Induced agricultural innovation and environmental quality: the case of groundwater regulation. Land Econ. 63:3249
    [Google Scholar]
  70. Ruttan VW, Hayami Y. 1984. Toward a theory of induced institutional innovation. J. Dev. Stud. 20:4203–23
    [Google Scholar]
  71. Salzman J, Bennett G, Carroll N, Goldstein A, Jenkins M. 2018. The global status and trends of Payments for Ecosystem Services. Nat. Sustain. 1:3136–44
    [Google Scholar]
  72. Sarkar S, Singh RP, Chauhan A. 2018a. Crop residue burning in northern India: increasing threat to greater India. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 123:136920–34
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Sarkar S, Singh RP, Chauhan A. 2018b. Increasing health threat to greater parts of India due to crop residue burning. Lancet Planet. Health 2:8e327–28
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Sarnklong C, Cone JW, Pellikaan W, Hendriks WH. 2010. Utilization of rice straw and different treatments to improve its feed value for ruminants: a review. Asian-Aust. . J. Anim. Sci. 23:5680–92
    [Google Scholar]
  75. Satpathy P, Pradhan C. 2023. Biogas as an alternative to stubble burning in India. Biomass Convers. Biorefinery 13:31–42
    [Google Scholar]
  76. Schiere HJB. 2010. Cereal straws as ruminant feeds: problems and prospects revisited. Anim. Nutr. Feed Technol. 10S:127–53
    [Google Scholar]
  77. Scholes RJ, Archibald S, von Maltitz G 2011. Emissions from fire in Sub-Saharan Africa: the magnitude of sources, their variability and uncertainty. Glob. Environ. Res. 15:153–63
    [Google Scholar]
  78. Seglah PA, Wang Y, Wang H, Bi Y, Zhou K et al. 2020. Crop straw utilization and field burning in northern region of Ghana. J. Clean. Prod. 261:121191
    [Google Scholar]
  79. Seo JY, Tokmurzin D, Lee D, Lee SH, Seo MW, Park Y-K. 2022. Production of biochar from crop residues and its application for biofuel production processes: an overview. Bioresour. Technol. 361:127740
    [Google Scholar]
  80. Sethi CK. 2021. Cash sops, machine subsidies & more—why nothing has helped stop stubble burning in Punjab. The Print Nov. 18. https://theprint.in/theprint-essential/cash-sops-machine-subsidies-more-why-nothing-has-helped-stop-stubble-burning-in-punjab/767357/
    [Google Scholar]
  81. Shen Y, Ahlers AL. 2019. Blue sky fabrication in China: science-policy integration in air pollution regulation campaigns for mega-events. Environ. Sci. Policy 94:135–42
    [Google Scholar]
  82. Shinde R, Shahi DK, Mahapatra P, Singh CS, Naik SK, Thombare N, Singh AK. 2022. Management of crop residues with special reference to the on-farm utilization methods: a review. Ind. Crops Prod. 181:114772
    [Google Scholar]
  83. Shyamsundar P, Springer NP, Tallis H, Polasky S, Jat ML et al. 2019. Fields on fire: alternatives to crop residue burning in India. Science 365:6453536–38
    [Google Scholar]
  84. Singh G, Gupta MK, Chaurasiya S, Sharma VS, Pimenov DY. 2021. Rice straw burning: a review on its global prevalence and the sustainable alternatives for its effective mitigation. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. Int.2832125–55
    [Google Scholar]
  85. Smith P, Martino D, Cai Z, Gwary D, Janzen H et al. 2008. Greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 363:1492789–813
    [Google Scholar]
  86. Smith P, Soussana J-F, Angers D, Schipper L, Chenu C et al. 2020. How to measure, report and verify soil carbon change to realize the potential of soil carbon sequestration for atmospheric greenhouse gas removal. Glob. Change Biol. 26:1219–41
    [Google Scholar]
  87. Solazzo E, Crippa M, Guizzardi D, Muntean M, Choulga M, Janssens-Maenhout G. 2021. Uncertainties in the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) emission inventory of greenhouse gases. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 21:75655–83
    [Google Scholar]
  88. Turmel M-S, Speratti A, Baudron F, Verhulst N, Govaerts B. 2015. Crop residue management and soil health: a systems analysis. Agric. Syst. 134:6–16
    [Google Scholar]
  89. Valbuena D, Tui SH-K, Erenstein O, Teufel N, Duncan A et al. 2015. Identifying determinants, pressures and trade-offs of crop residue use in mixed smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Agric. Syst. 134:107–18
    [Google Scholar]
  90. Van Nguyen H, Nguyen CD, Van Tran T, Hau HD, Nguyen NT, Gummert M. 2016. Energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and cost of rice straw collection in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam. Field Crops Res. 198:16–22
    [Google Scholar]
  91. Varkkey H. 2022. Emergent geographies of chronic air pollution governance in Southeast Asia: transboundary publics in Singapore. Environ. Policy Gov. 32:4348–61
    [Google Scholar]
  92. Venkatramanan V, Shah S, Rai AK, Prasad R. 2021. Nexus between crop residue burning, bioeconomy and Sustainable Development Goals over North-Western India. Front. Energy Res. 8:614212
    [Google Scholar]
  93. Walker K, Moscona B, Jack K, Jayachandran S, Kala N et al. 2022. Detecting crop burning in India using satellite data. arXiv:2209.10148 [cs.CV] https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2209.10148
  94. Wang F, Wang M, Yin H. 2022. Can campaign-style enforcement work: When and how? Evidence from straw burning control in China. Governance 35:2545–64
    [Google Scholar]
  95. White PM, Viator RP, Webber CL. 2020. Temporal and varietal variation in sugarcane post-harvest residue biomass yields and chemical composition. Ind. Crops Prod. 154:112616
    [Google Scholar]
  96. Witzgall K, Vidal A, Schubert DI, Höschen C, Schweizer SA et al. 2021. Particulate organic matter as a functional soil component for persistent soil organic carbon. Nat. Commun. 12:4115
    [Google Scholar]
  97. Xia L, Wang S, Yan X. 2014. Effects of long-term straw incorporation on the net global warming potential and the net economic benefit in a rice-wheat cropping system in China. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 197:118–27
    [Google Scholar]
  98. Yadav GS, Babu S, Das A, Mohapatra KP, Singh R et al. 2020. No-till and mulching enhance energy use efficiency and reduce carbon footprint of a direct-seeded upland rice production system. J. Clean. Prod. 271:122700
    [Google Scholar]
  99. Yu M, Yuan X, He Q, Yu Y, Cao K, Yang Y, Zhang W. 2019. Temporal-spatial analysis of crop residue burning in China and its impact on aerosol pollution. Environ. Pollut. 245:616–26
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-resource-101422-090019
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-resource-101422-090019
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error