Bio-decomposer to be sprayed over farms to prevent bad air

Bio-decomposer spray developed by IARI helps Delhi farmers curb stubble burning, reduce air pollution, and increase soil fertility.

The Delhi government has started preparations to spray bio-decomposer, billed as an alternative to stubble burning, free of cost over 5,000 acres of farmland in the national capital, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday. He added that the process of spraying the environment-friendly solution over farms will begin in the last week of September.

Bio-decomposer is a microbial liquid spray which, when sprayed onto paddy stubble, breaks it down in a way that can be easily absorbed into the soil, whereby farmers then have no need to burn the stubble. It has been developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).

The government has been spraying the bio-decomposer solution free of cost since 2020 over farmlands in outer Delhi, including villages of Holambi Khurd and Naya Bans, as well as parts of Najafgarh.

Taking on Mr. Rai, the BJP issued a statement claiming that “no spraying is done on the ground” and that the announcement was a “publicity gimmick”. The party’s North West Delhi MP Yogendra Chandolia asserted that the Capital’s farmers did not burn stubble and asked, “If the bio-decomposer is really effective, then why doesn’t Gopal Rai offer it to his counterpart in Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab government where thousands of stubble burnings take place every winter turning Delhi and north India into a gas chamber.”

Every winter, air pollution spikes in the national capital, adjoining areas, and the larger Indo-Gangetic plains due to multiple reasons, including slow wind speed, bursting of firecrackers, and stubble burning.

The Minister said that 841 farmers had signed up for the initiative meant to curb air pollution and promote sustainable farming practices in Delhi.

He added that awareness campaigns regarding the bio-decomposer are being run among the city’s farmers. Mr. Rai also said that the results from spraying bio-decomposer over the past four years have been “very positive” and that stubble decomposed and soil fertility increased in farms where the solution was sprayed.