ABSTRACT
The Ministry of Agriculture attributes the increase in the on-farm crop residue burning to the shortage of human labor. As such the residue burning in the northwest part of India contributes to about 20 per cent of organic carbon and elemental carbon towards the overall national budget of emission from agricultural waste burning. The burning of crop residues generates numerous environmental problems. Using crop residue for making compost/biochar or incorporating into soils were also briefly introduced as they are three key technical solutions, that have not yet been widely considered by the policy sector in India. The sequence of the process of understanding the crop burning issues, looking for potential solutions and implementation the solutions, seem very logical. Most of the government interventions thus far have mainly focused on the energy production out of crop residue, particularly biogas production. Biogas plants are a progressive step taken by the Government of India to curb crop burning and to prevent pollution.
