Leveraging Crop Residue Management for Environmental Sustainability

Narinder Mittal, President & Managing Director, CNH India Region, in an exclusive interview with Industry Outlook, shares his views on how industries unlock economic value from crop residue, what regulatory adjustments should align industry efforts with national sustainability goals, innovations to transform crop residue for sustainability and more. He has over 30 years of experience in various leadership roles across functions. 

One of the most hindering barriers to crop residue management is the lack of effective coordination and trust between industries, farmers, and governments. How are industries overcoming this coordination challenge to develop scalable, cost-effective solutions?

Let us first analyze the issue here: we face an enormous challenge as a society in managing an estimated 750 million tons of crop residue. Approximately one-third of this crop residue is surplus, leading to wastage, spoilage, and in-field stubble burning, which causes a huge air pollution crisis in many regions of India, especially during the early winter months.

There are two main approaches to managing the stubble: one is in-situ incorporation, and the other is ex-situ usage, where the stubble is baled and quickly moved to its user industry. Both methods offer significant benefits in managing crop residue in the fields.

The industry is evolving, and in the years to come, I am confident that we will provide stronger and more sustainable solutions to farmers, aggregators, and end-user industries, tailored to their specific needs. A lot of crop stubble is already managed in our country through traditional methods, primarily as cattle feed. However, in recent years, with the concerted efforts of all stakeholders—including equipment OEMs, end-user plants, farmers, straw aggregators, and governments—there have been significant changes in this sector. A scientific approach to managing crop residue through sustainable farm mechanization solutions has been developed, as well as its further usage as an energy source, such as CBG (Compressed Biogas), bio-ethanol, or palletized solid fuel.

We believe that farmers are increasingly adopting new mechanized solutions and techniques, recognizing the true potential of stubble as a valuable source of income. As this sector evolves and the end-user industry continues to create more products from straw/crop stubble, the economic benefits will undoubtedly be recirculated to farmers and society. Over time, the remaining barriers and constraints we face today will gradually disappear.

How are industries unlocking economic value from crop residue in sectors like energy, packaging, and bio-based products, and what innovative approaches are strengthening the value chain in these industries?

Many biomass-based power plants are already using crop residue as fuel for their boilers, with the steam generated from the boilers being used to run turbines for power generation.In addition, coal-fueled thermal power plants have been mandated by the government to blend 5-7% bio-pellets, primarily made from crop residue. The crop residue is sized, processed, palletizedand the pellets are then mixed with coal to generate power.

Another promising and upcoming use of crop residue is in the production of CBG (Compressed Biogas)as mentioned earlier. CBG is generated through the anaerobic digestion of organic waste materials such as crop residues, animal dung, food waste, and municipal solid waste. The process involves decomposing these materials in an oxygen-free chamber to produce biogas, primarily methane. This biogas is then purified to remove carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide and compressed into pressurized cylinders to create CBG. CBG has similar properties to CNG and can be used as a green, renewable vehicle fuel. Many leading industrial companies are investing in this segment and setting up several plants across the country.

Another emerging use in the energy sector is 2G ethanol, or second-generation ethanol, produced from straw and crop stubble. The bioethanol obtained through the fermentation of straw is blended into petrol by oil companies. India has set an ambitious target of 20% ethanol blending by 2025 to enhance energy security and minimize environmental impact.

Besides industrial and energy-sector uses, crop residue will continue to be a major component of cattle feed, especially rice straw in southern India and wheat straw in northern states. Traditional uses, such as in mushroom farming, the packaging industry, and even in construction (e.g., roads, agro-boards, and plyboards), are also expected to grow. Mechanization of crop residue processing for these sectors is set to increase significantly shortly, leading to reduced transport, handling, and storage costs of biomass.

The current barrier of high equipment costs is already being addressed through subsidies and incentive schemes provided by the government to farmers in many states. Additionally, through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), awareness campaigns against stubble burning, farmer education and skills training in proper crop residue management solutions, and support for the establishment of end-user plants, a collaborative approach among all stakeholders will undoubtedly help advance this segment in the next 5-6 years.

Given the recent changes in India's crop residue management policies, what regulatory adjustments or new incentives could better align industry efforts with national sustainability goals?

The burning of stubble in the field is like burning money. Working closely with farmers is essential to raise awareness that burning does not benefit anyone. There is considerable wealth left on the ground after the grain harvest, and people need to just bend down and collect it through Crop Residue Management (CRM) efforts. The future scenario will be similar to that of grains, where farmers will collect, store, transport, and sell straw freely. As more scientific methods and technologies are adopted in the collection, handling, storage, transport, and use of stubble bales, economic, environmental, and social benefits will be realized by all stakeholders and society as a whole.

A regulatory framework already exists, and farmers, along with other stakeholders, need to be supported to adopt CRM practices through awareness, education, and upskilling. This will provide them with economic benefits and contribute to the well-being of society.

On the other hand, Government also must support the user industry and one of the measures could be an initiative like creating district-level Biomass Banks. If such an initiative is taken on the lines of FCI godowns for grains, it would effectively solve the problem. These banks would then supply the biomass/ crop residue bales to the user industry, assuring them the yearround supply of biomass for their plants. The assurance of quantity and quality will lead to their focus on their plants rather than on collecting biomass, and this will act as huge catalyst for the growth of this industry. This one initiative if adopted appropriately, eventually at some scale will help grow the industry and eliminate our current problems.

Looking ahead, what future strategies or innovations can transform crop residue into a vital resource for sustainability and the circular economy?

As far as innovations are concerned, we are still at a very nascent stage in India. With the right approach, the OEM industry, end-user plants, and aggregators can move towards precision technologies to improve not only crop residue management processes but also operational efficiencies. In fact, the new flagship equipment being introduced in India is equipped with state-of-the-art precision technology, allowing us to track every parameter of the stubble, from its baling to its end use, with full traceability.

Moreover, the concept of Biomass Banks could be adopted to create a mechanism to support the industry, as discussed above. If we continue to focus our efforts in these directions, the growth potential of the industry is boundless.