Leveraging Crop Residue Management for Environmental Sustainability

Narinder Mittal, President & Managing Director, CNH India Region, in an exclusive interview with Industry Outlook, shares his views on how industries unlock economic value from crop residue, what regulatory adjustments should align industry efforts with national sustainability goals, innovations to transform crop residue for sustainability and more. He has over 30 years of experience in various leadership roles across functions. 

One of the most hindering barriers to crop residue management is the lack of effective coordination and trust between industries, farmers, and governments. How are industries overcoming this coordination challenge to develop scalable, cost-effective solutions?

The industry is evolving and will take its own time to be streamlined. Also, it may not change in a short span of time as farmers have been managing their crop stubble and are moving to new ways. From the coordination point of view, effective coordination continues to exist even today. Companies support industries in various ways; for example, even with significant players, they help them so that the aggregator in between can aggregate the material and supply it to the plants.

There is very close coordination between the power plants or the CPP (Captive Power Plant) plants and the aggregator, firm, and farmers. As the industry evolves, it also starts making a profit for the farmer and the barriers or constraints that we see will also evaporate over a period of time.

How are industries unlocking economic value from crop residue in sectors like energy, packaging, and bio-based products, and what innovative approaches are strengthening the value chain in these industries?

Presently, there are two types of processes which are in progress: the local players generate power using boilers and stubble. They utilize it for the boilers, generating steam and then generating power through the turbine. Besides, it is also now being used by the bigger power plants, and they use pallets to generate power through this material as well. The other aspect is the CBG (Compressed Bio-gas). As pointed out earlier, CBG is also generated using this material, for which you will see that major firms are also putting up good plants and being supported by the government.

Ethanol is another thing that can be generated through straw and used as cattle feed, and it is still being used in the southern part of India. However, this industry has enormous scope to grow, and farmers can earn a lot once this industry progresses. Moreover, there is a vast scope, even for mushroom farming, where straw is used extensively. Also, the burning in which the farmers are burning straw is probably due to the need for more awareness, the initial cost of equipment and the time the farmer has between harvesting and the new crop. Hence, once we can work together and the government supports the farmer in managing the initial equipment cost, the industry will evolve and significantly help the farmer and the government.

Given the recent changes in India's crop residue management policies, what regulatory adjustments or new incentives could better align industry efforts with national sustainability goals?

There should be awareness and working closely with the farmers to make them aware that the burning is not helping them. The burning of stubble in the field is like losing money. Money is on the ground, and people must bend and pick it. It's a scenario that means they can collect and sell that stubble, and it is easy to transport and store once that straw is built correctly. So they can earn money from that. They should be supported more than brought into the regulatory framework, which is one aspect.

Besides, the government should take the initiative to implement a district-level bank to collect this residue. If the government can initiate this, which is going to be a huge one, and to solve the problem effectively, the aggregator concept is fundamental. It is like what FCI does for the grain collection. Similarly, we should collect this residue by setting up some banks to supply it to all the plants, including the CBD (Continuous Blow-Down) and power plants. Eventually, this will help grow the industry and eliminate our current problems.

Looking ahead, what future strategies or innovations can transform crop residue into a vital resource for sustainability and the circular economy?

As far as innovation is concerned, we are at a nascent stage in India as of late. Considering industry from the global perspective, much innovation has occurred. All the new equipment that is being brought to India is state-of-the-art and is well-equipped with precision technology, wherein we can track every parameter of the stubble bale and its usage—the equipment from the government side. Moreover, a kind of collection bank should be created to collect and supply straws to the industry. If we continue to focus our efforts in this direction, the industry's growth potential is boundless.