Happy seeding: An agricultural fix for India's pollution nightmare

Delhi experienced some of its worse-ever pollution in November. City authorities called a public health emergency as parts of the city were blanketed in thick, toxic smog. Despite a variety of causes, from traffic to construction, many regard crop residue or straw burning in nearby agricultural regions as the main culprit. Despite a High Court ban, thousands of fires continue to burn.

School kids, wearing anti-smog face masks, were among the hundreds of people who gathered at Delhi's iconic India Gate on November 5 to protest record-breaking city pollution. One minister went so far as to compare his city to a "gas chamber." The problem continues to worsen despite increasing protests and petitions, a health emergency declaration by the city and a ban on cars every other day.

In the state of Haryana to the north of Delhi, 80% of the almost 5 million hectares of land is under cultivation following an agricultural revolution in the 1960s that turned the state, and neighboring Punjab, into the grain basket of India. Here women stack harvested rice in a farm near the town of Karnal to the north of Delhi.

Seasonal migrant workers hand-separate basmati rice from the harvested plant in a field near Karnal, adding to the more than 13 million tons of grain produced annually in the state. But unlike this manual process, when it comes to removing the rice stubble or stalks left in the field, there is not enough time to let laborers clear the fields for the next crop.

Stubble burning in a rice field near Karnal in Haryana. Despite an order from the highest court in India for an immediate halt to the practice, many farmers feel like they have no choice but to burn the crop residue in order to prepare the fields in time for wheat sowing season. With fires burning simultaneously across the state in early November, the resulting smoke pollution is devastating.

This tractor is fitted with a happy seeder, an agricultural device that can sow wheat in a field without the need to remove, and ultimately burn, the rice crop residue. The device is central to what some are calling a potential "evergreen" revolution that will improve yields, soil health, and end crop residue burning.

Aatpal Ram, 67, operates a happy seeder machine being used to sow wheat in a field near Karnal. The machine is ideally used in conjunction with a Super SMS (straw management system), a machine which attaches to the rear of a combine harvester to cut and spread loose residue across the field, thus leaving essential nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the soil that is often burned away.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) is working with state governments to train farmers in new farming technology and techniques that will increase grain productivity and reduce economic and labor investment — and ultimately the need for crop burning. These farmers working a pea field near Karnal and using greater crop rotation to improve soil health.