Agriculture and Air Pollution

For long, effects of pollution on agriculture were largely ignored which are now becoming visible and clear.

Experiments conducted by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have shown that

• Ozone pollution can potentially reduce crop yields. 
• Long term use of waste water for irrigation can adversely affect crop yields on account of higher pest incidence and disturbance in plant metabolism due to heavy metal contents.

Crop Residue:

Disposal of crop residue is a significant problem in agriculture. The most common disposal methods employed are burning and supply to fuel (brickets) industry as a raw material. But not all residues can be used in fuel industry. Only the residue that gives high calorific value is used. So the remaining residue is largely burnt. This adds to air pollution.

In order to curb crop residue burning which causes air pollution, the Government of India has finalized National Policy for Management of Crop Residues (NPMCR)-2014. The Policy envisages 

• Adoption of technical measures including diversified uses of crop residue, capacity building & training along with formulation of suitable law/legislation.
• Extending central financial assistance for various interventions proposed by States under the ongoing Schemes/Programmes/Missions of Department of Agriculture & Cooperation.

Other polluting activities of agriculture:

• Excess use of chemical fertilizers cause soil pollution and in turn cause land degradation.
• Spraying of insecticides and pesticides make the surrounding air toxic and when the droplets settle on nearby trees and land, cause further pollution.
• Run-off water from the fields mix with nearby water-body causing water pollution.

Measures taken by Environment Ministry to contain air pollution in cities, interalia, include

• supply of cleaner fuels as per Auto Fuel Policy, 
• use of gaseous fuel for public transport in select cities, 
• Pollution Under Control (PUC) Certificate System for in-use vehicles, 
• stringent source-specific emission standards and their compliance, 
• use of beneficiated coal in thermal power plants, 
• strengthening public transport system, 
• expansion of metro train system in select cities - Nagpur, Ahmadabad, etc., 
• Mission on sustainable agriculture focuses on reducing the polluting effects of agriculture.
• Cleaner fuels provided after Bharat IV norms.