Adopt Pusa solution, Kejriwal urges states

Kejriwal also said a third-party audit by the Centre’s WAPCOS — a PSU of the Union jal shakti ministry — has found the microbial solution, also known as the Pusa bio-decomposer, to be “highly effective” in converting stubble into manure.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday urged the Centre to direct other states to provide farmers with a proprietary microbial solution developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) – usually referred to as the Pusa institute -- to turn crop stubble into manure for free so as to prevent stubble burning, which is a major contributor to air pollution in Delhi-NCR.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses a press conference in New Delhi, on Monday. (HT)

“I urge the Centre to direct all neighbouring states to start providing this microbial solution to their farmers for free so that we can curb air pollution this year, which starts getting severe from around October 10 as stubble burning in the neighbouring states takes off,” he said, during a digital press briefing.

Kejriwal also said a third-party audit by the Centre’s WAPCOS — a PSU of the Union jal shakti ministry — has found the microbial solution, also known as the Pusa bio-decomposer, to be “highly effective” in converting stubble into manure.

“WAPCOS inspected 15 villages in four districts [in Delhi] and interviewed 79 farmers to understand whether the new decomposers have helped or not. The central agency found that farmers in Delhi are very happy with the results of these bio-decomposers,” he said.

Last year, the Delhi government gave the microbial solution for free to all city farmers.

Every year, from October to November, fumes from crop residue set alight by farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh engulf the national capital and its surrounding areas, making the air hazardous to breathe. This has required the Capital to issue restrictions on construction work and halve the number of private cars on the roads via the odd-even system.

“The report states that farmers had to plough the soil 6-7 times earlier, but after using the new solution, the soil needs to be ploughed only once or twice. It also showed that the level of organic carbon in these farms increased by 40%. Nitrogen content in these farm lands also increased by 24% and the quality of soil has improved. The presence of bacteria that helps crops grow also rose around seven-fold, whereas fungal content in the soil tripled. The use of DAP fertilisers has also reduced from 46kg per acre to 36-40kg per acre,” Kejriwal said.

He said the Delhi government had written to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) too, informing them about this new technology developed by Pusa Institute.

“But, they told us that it is only the Delhi government which thinks it has been successful and that the efficacy of the technology required a third party audit. So, we roped in the Centre’s WAPCOS for the audit and they submitted their report now. I will seek an appointment with the Union environment minister to share the findings of the report with him,” he said.

Kejriwal said that the Centre, in October last year, proposed heavy fines and even jail for polluters, including farmers who were burning paddy stubble, in a desperate attempt to control air pollution in Delhi-NCR. “But the fault lies with the governments, not the farmers. So, I hope state governments also adopt this new technology,” he said.