ABSTRACT
Farmers are increasingly practicing crop residue burning in northern states of India to clear the fields and sow subsequent crops. The issue is a critical concern for the government and policymakers for its adverse pollution impacts on the environment and human health. This chapter summarizes the spatiotemporal pattern of rice residue burning and related emissions in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana in 2015 using satellite remote sensing, field measurements, and ancillary information. The total rice residue burned in Punjab and Haryana was 10.43 and 1.61 Mt, which was about 41.32% and 16.49% of the residue produced, respectively. The burning of 12.04 Mt of rice residue in two states led to 15.75 Mt of greenhouse gases (GHGs) having a global warming potential (GWP) of 17.71 Mt of CO2 eq and 0.194 Mt of total particulate matter (TPM). The health costs of burning rice residues account for Rs 80 million (US$ 1.2 million) in total. The results will help policymakers arrive at air pollution mitigation measures from crop residue burning in northern India.
