Why burn when you can earn

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Why burn when you can earn

Sunday, 02 September 2018 | Rajwinder Singh/Amanpreet Kaur Sodhi/Neeraj Bhanot

Why burn when you can earn

Paddy stubble can be used in concrete manufacturing as a study suggests that the ash of rice straw burned in a scientific manner can give concrete more strength. If industry is allowed to buy stubble directly from the farm, it will cut down the chance of smog as well as give farmers some monetary benefits

India is likely to replace China as most populated country of world with a population of over 1.35 billion soon. However, India lags behind many countries in terms of preservation of environment and ecology. Various environmental issues caused by municipal, industrial and agricultural wastes affecting human health have been in the news. So much so that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched “Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan” with an aim to make the nation aware of the harmful effects of poor waste disposal methods.

Air pollution in India is a serious concern. Almost every year, northern Indian States witness harmful smog caused by stubble burning in the harvesting season. Besides causing air pollution, the burning of straw degrades the quality of soil, thereby reducing its vital nutrients. In spite of the National Green Tribunal orders banning stubble burning, farmers still burn stubble for want of a better and cheaper disposal method.

As per the data available with Punjab Agricultural University, Punjab has 28 lakh hectare wherein rabbi-kharif crop cycle is adopted for rice and wheat.

After the harvesting of rice, wheat is needed to be sown in mid-November. To achieve maximum production of wheat by early sowing, farmers prepare their fields within a short span of 15-18 days for sowing wheat crop after burning rice straw. In absence of any other method to dispose the farm waste, farmers find it more economical to burn stubble.

Thus approximately 7-8 million tonnes of rice straw is burnt to ashes in Punjab alone between mid-October and November end, thereby resulting in emission of excessive toxic gasses leading to various environmental problems. It increases PM 2.5 level 16 times the permissible limit. Aggravating the problem, post-monsoon weather conditions occur at same time as stubble burning, resulting in spread of smoke to the upper region of India.

Further, this smoke gets mixed with already existing pollution in atmosphere and leads to production of thick smog.

In order to reduce agricultural wastes’ impact on environment, a study has been conducted for a safe disposal of rice straw (in ash form) in concrete manufacturing. The objective of the study has been to assess the feasibility of utilising rice straw ash along with electric arc furnace dust as partial replacement of cement in concrete manufacturing. This study was conducted in three scenarios: rice straw ash and electric arc furnace dust alone; rice straw ash and electric arc furnace dust with bacteria Bacillus megaterium; and rice straw ash and Aspergillus niger named fungus treated electric arc furnace dust. The wastes were added in three different percentages of 5, 10 and 15 respectively. Rice straw was burned in a muffle furnace at 550 degrees celsius to eliminate the generation of hazardous gases in the atmosphere with the particle size of rice straw ash and electric arc furnace dust being 75 microns. The results of this study indicated 14 per cent increase in compressive strength and 35 per cent reduction in water absorption capacity of concrete, when manufactured with rice straw ash and Aspergillus niger (fungus) treated electric arc furnace dust at 10 per cent partial replacement of cement as compared to traditionally manufactured concrete.

This study suggests disposal of rice straw in concrete, as this method not only allows utilisation of rice straw but also results in enhancing the concrete properties. Thus, it indicates that rice straw can be used in concrete by converting it into ash which can be beneficial for various construction purposes.

Although, various other safe disposal methods of rice straw are available, they fail because of lack of implementation. Since, concrete is one of the widely consumed material in the construction industry, this approach may be pertinent in the present context as it provides a way for utilisation of rice straw ash on large scale, and at the same time, farmers can also earn additional incentives by allowing it to be picked up by construction industries.

Last, but not the least, it needs social and political support, which always play a crucial role in putting strategies into practice.

(Rajwinder Singh is a PG student of Environmental Science and Engineering at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana; Amanpreet Kaur Sodhi is Assistant Professor of Applied Science Department at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana; Neeraj Bhanot is Assistant Professor of Quantitative Methods and Operations Management at Indian Institute of Management Amritsar)

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