Pusa bio-decomposer: A promising option to stop crop residue burning

Disposal of crop residue is a major concern that Indian farmers are facing today, especially after the harvest of paddy.  To catch the next season on time, the land needs to be vacated and prepared in a short period of time for sowing of the subsequent crop. In a short span of time, it seems extremely difficult to clear the bulk crop residues. Some uses of crop residues like as feeding and/or bedding materials for the livestock and poultry, as ingredients in manure preparation, as raw materials in biochar preparation, as substrates for mushroom cultivation, as mulching materials, as roof thatching materials etc. can hold good promise, but these have proved themselves insufficient in complete disposal of crop residues resulting in open incineration of the residues. On-farm crop residue burning is dominant in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. A consortium of micro-organisms (Pusa-bio-decomposer) is showing a good prospect in this regard to stop the crop residue burning issue.