Emission of Air Pollutants from Crop Residue Burning in India

Niveta Jain,Arti Bhatia,Himanshu Pathak

doi:10.4209/aaqr.2013.01.0031

Niveta Jain, Arti Bhatia + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2013.01.0031

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Abstract

Agricultural crop residue burning contribute towards the emission of greenhouse gases (CO2, N2O, CH4), air pollutants (CO, NH3, NOx, SO2, NMHC, volatile organic compounds), particulates matter and smoke thereby posing threat to human health. In the present study a state-wise inventory of crop residue burnt in India and the air pollutants emitted was prepared using the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) national inventory preparation guidelines for the year 2008–09. Total amount of residue generated in 2008–09 was 620 Mt out of which ~15.9% residue was burnt on farm. Rice straw contributed 40% of the total residue burnt followed by wheat straw (22%) and sugarcane trash (20%). Burning of crop residues emitted 8.57 Mt of CO, 141.15 Mt of CO2, 0.037 Mt of SOx, 0.23 Mt of NOx, 0.12 Mt of NH3 and 1.46 Mt NMVOC, 0.65 Mt of NMHC, 1.21 Mt of particulate matter for the year 2008–09. The variability of 21.46% in annual emission of air pollutants was observed from 1995 to 2009.

Highlights

Biomass burning is a global phenomenon and can be an important contributor to poor air quality worldwide (Yang et al, 2008)
Crop Residue Generation Residue generated by different crops was grouped in four categories based on the type of crop, namely cereals, oilseeds, fibers and sugarcane
There was a large variation in crop residues generation across different states of India depending on the crops grown in the states, their cropping intensity, and productivity

Summary

Introduction

Biomass burning is a global phenomenon and can be an important contributor to poor air quality worldwide (Yang et al, 2008). The biomass burning intensifies in late March, reaching a maximum in May. Typically, the biomass burning intensifies in late March, reaching a maximum in May It represents a significant source of chemically and radiatively important trace gases and aerosols to the atmosphere thereby resulting in a large perturbation to global atmospheric chemistry (Crutzen and Andreae, 1990). This change in composition of the atmosphere may have a direct or indirect effect on the radiation balance of earth affecting its climate and contributing to global climate change (Streets et al, 2003; Koppmann et al, 2005). Various studies have been published dealing with the amount of biomass burned from

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