Govt of Haryana & Deloitte complete its pilot on addressing stubble burning

The Govt of Haryana, with the assistance of Deloitte, has completed its pilot climate leadership project on ‘Crop Residue Management’ (CRM), which has helped reduce stubble burning incidents and manage the region’s air pollution situation. The pilot project began in the red zone villages of Karnal district and resulted in a 69 percent reduction in stubble burning incidents.

While this initiative included mobilizing farmers, communities, and private sector partners, a key component of the outreach was a multilingual mobile application called ‘Krishi Yantra Sathi’. It was created to bring all relevant stakeholders together, including local farmers, Custom Hiring Centers (CHC), and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO). The main goal was to match the farmer’s demand for crop residue management equipment with the right equipment owners in order to efficiently and quickly allocate the machinery. This application promotes the use of stubble in a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner, while also creating job opportunities in the local community.

Furthermore, an innovative communication and awareness program was designed and implemented to educate farmers throughout the Karnal district on the negative effects of stubble burning and to assist them in understanding the government programs and schemes available for stubble management. These included radio jingles, videos, and door-to-door awareness campaigns, as well as periodic WhatsApp messages, videos featuring the “Progressive Farmer Mascot- Parivartan Prakash,” and the distribution of calendars and tote bags with targeted messaging.

“With proof of concept and a working, replicable model, we plan to scale the initiative in the state of Haryana to cover eight districts, namely Fatehabad, Sirsa, Jind, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Yamuna Nagar, and Karnal,” said Shri Narhari Bangar, IAS, Director, Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Haryana.

“Thanks to our department’s diligence and proactiveness, 702 CHCs and 3860 individual farmers have received approximately INR 90 crores in CRM ex-situ and in-situ equipment subsidies since 2018, and an estimate of INR 18 crores in equipment subsidies will be provided for the current year.” Furthermore, every farmer in Karnal district who participates in the “Parali Fasal Prabandhan” will receive a subsidy of INR 1000 per acre.

Govt of Haryana

Farmland burning between crop cycles is a widespread problem in northern India, with serious environmental consequences and a high human toll. One of the many causes of stubble burning is a lack of stubble removal equipment, such as super-seeders and balers, at the appropriate time. “Deloitte supported this initiative by facilitating a sustainable ecosystem that helps bridge the equipment availability gap,” said Viral Thakker, Partner and Sustainability Leader, Deloitte India.

Farmland burning between crop cycles is a widespread problem in northern India, with serious environmental consequences and a high human toll. One of the many causes of stubble burning is a lack of stubble removal equipment, such as super-seeders and balers, at the appropriate time. “Deloitte supported this initiative by facilitating a sustainable ecosystem that helps bridge the equipment availability gap,” said Viral Thakker, Partner and Sustainability Leader, Deloitte India.

To address the Department of Agriculture’s lack of equipment, Deloitte is donating 15 sets of Crop Residue Management (CRM) Equipment, including tractors, slashers, hay rakes, balers, trolleys, and lucky seeders, through the Haryana State CSR Trust.