Unabated stubble burning, industrial and construction activities are to blame for air pollution in Delhi and NCR. Stubble burning became an environmental problem after the water law passed by the Punjab government, which was then followed by Haryana. The moisture in air and slow north-westerly winds have aggravated the situation. There are a plethora of alternate solutions available which can be adopted by mobilizing corporate social responsibility and start-ups.

• Composting: Composting is the decomposition of rice straw to enable recovery of portions of its nutrients and organic components. It can be done in open wind rows or in an enclosed controlled environment. Corporates can take up awareness programmes about ill-effects of stubble burning and promote composting as an alternate solution.
• Packaging: Using paddy straw for packaging purposes will not only resolve the problem of management of paddy straw but also help in reducing the plastic use for packaging. Using chemical pulping technology, rice straw can be converted into paper and cardboard for packaging. The straw can be incorporated with wood chips in making fiberboard. This increases the economic status of farmers along with environmental benefits.
• Biochar: Paddy straw can be converted to Biochar which is equivalent to activated carbon by pyrolysis in a brick kiln that can be designated at the site. This biochar is used to make renewable intense sticks, deodorizer, garden fertilizer, etc. It also enhances carbon content in the soil and is used for bioremediation of degraded soils.
• Briquetting: Crop residue can be transformed into briquettes of regular shape which are easier to use, convenient to transport and store. Briquettes have a good potential of being co-fired into industrial boilers along with coal and other high calorific crop residues.It is a very good substitute for furnace oil, coal, or direct wood.
• Bio-enzyme PUSA: The Indian Agriculture Research Institute has devised a radical solution for stubble burning in the form of a bio-enzyme called PUSA. When sprayed, this enzyme decomposes the stubble in 20-25 days, turning it into manure, further improving the soil quality. It leads to an increase in organic carbon and soil health while significantly reducing the fertiliser expense for the next cropping cycle. While the spray itself is cheap, the spraying needs the deployment of large mechanised sprayers. This calls for active public-private partnerships, where resources are moved to the grassroots and solutions are deployed in time to benefit society.
• Bio-Power: Energy from paddy straw can be harnessed in a biopower plant. Punjab has already taken the initiative in setting up plants. With the establishment of more such waste to power plants, stubbles will not be burned and will be recycled and used to generate electricity. The by-products include ash, which can be used in the construction of roads.
• Mushroom Cultivation: Mushrooms, by their nature, can break down organic material that other microorganisms cannot decompose. Many types of mushrooms grow well on compost that comes from rice straw. Farmers can generate income from mushroom production or by selling the rice straw. Corporates as part of their CSR can either set up infrastructure for mushroom production, or can create market linkages for these farmers to sell the crop residue.

Putting crop residue to economically beneficial end-uses offers a significant scope for increasing the farm productivity for a farmer. However, solutions need to be mobilized and made available to farmers by all players in the ecosystem, i.e. corporates, local governing bodies and government.