It was a whiff of soft white smoke that arose from the ground in a remote Punjab village some weeks back. It was perhaps the first that came of burning stubble that is left after the Kharif (rice) crop harvesting. The farmer who did it, perhaps did not have money to shave the one on his weather -beaten face. He was running against time. The fields were to be clear within a couple of weeks, for sowing of the rabi (wheat) crop. If he wouldn’t do that, he would be on a lay-off for the next six months. In the absence of any other provision, or assistance in clearing his fields, he was to follow the age-old method of burning the stubble.

 

This went all over the agri-based states of Punjab and Haryana, and western UP. Alarms were raised in the capital Delhi, regarding the rise of smoke and dust particles in the air, along with automobile and industrial emissions, in Covid times!

Managing rice straw is often taken as a task, as to who shall wash the plates after a big feast. Actually, there is much that can be scraped and given to stray animals, even dairy pets, etc.! Let us run over the global statistics. Globally, roughly 800-1000 million tons of rice straw is produced. Asia accounts for around 600-800 million tonnes.
The problem of straw disposal or usage have many solutions, though, woe-fully each one is a part solution. Integrating them should not be a problem, as the timing, total work-load, the sequence of the straw handling process predictable.

Combined harvesters, that till the soil 5cm to 10 cm at the time of harvesting, is getting rid of half the stubble. However, most farmers find it un-affordable, and there is a need of a particular type of tractor to pull through the drag.

Oher mechanical systems of ploughing the crop residue into the soil may be done with the Reversible Mould Board. These are the sectors, that require innovation and incentives from the Agriculture Industry—a thrust area for Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Just to run through some other technologies, is the use of “Biochar”. The said product is made by burning straw in silos in the absence of oxygen. The efficacy is that two tonnes of biochar reduces the urea requirement by one third, and increases the green yield by 10%.
Rice straw mixed with compost, due to sulphur, potassium, increases the fertilizer richness.

Sure, segregated fibre has a use in the paper industry, making cardboard, but what is a pleasant surprise, is that 30cms thick mattresses’ give the requisite bed to dairy animals during winters, thereby increasing their yield by 15 %.

A major recycling concern, is scientific, degradation of tyres, chiefly to extract good quality rubber, shreds, chips and granules. India has sufficient factories, at this moment for the reverse processing. A new hurdle that arises is that 40% of tyres are, or shall become radial. A radial tyre includes steel and textile as its ingredients. The challenge for industrial efficiency and re-using of so-called waste into working components spearheads our economy, as well as and winning green points. —the need for steel segregating machinery!
The other part of the tyre story is that India produces 650, 000 tyres/day and discards 275, 000 tyres /day. India produces 6% of global made tyres.

A contentious issue is the import of 3.00, 000 tonnes of used tyre from other countries. One of the reasons is that they are re-usable, though of a medium quality, which Indian made disposed tyres can’t! I would actually blame the Indian roads, and the cultural obsession to use till the last mm of tread is in place.

With less money in circulation, the revival of secondary markets provides life-comfort gadgetry, to the common man. The rich man shall still buy his brand car, but the car he disposes is now available at concessional rates. So is a refrigerator, washing machine, mobile, TV, now available to a low- income group. Although the mega companies have their own re-furbished resale units, the govt may moot self- employment start-ups to trained mechanics who have decades of talent and work experience in the technology. A whole lot of chassis experts, painters, engine furbishers, may set shop, increase jobs, and revive the manufacture- customer supply chain. The big manufactures shall benefit, due to a rapid run-off down the buying channel.

Though, the more faded, torn jeans bag a higher price, here is an item that appreciated with use. By this logic, an utterly dilapidated pair of pants should fetch at least the original tag price, provided the central seam is intact! By the prevalent standards, the skimpier the top or bottom wear is, the more the value! A balanced view of what is to be shown, and what concealed, knowing your body habitus, is probably the trick of fashion designers. “Ward-robe dysfunction” is no longer indecent. Mostly it is stitched in the garment design.
At a serious level, satellite towns near Delhi as Panipat, Kurukshetra, import old garments, torn and discarded woollens from the west, refurbish them, mostly shed them into fibres, and re-weave them into shawls, blankets, old at affordable rates in the northern states. With more innovation, and fibre input, there is a scope to export back –affordable and with some premium. Household budgets have shrunk everywhere. Indian winters are neither long nor severe, but not so soft that a night may be spent without woollens and a blanket for a poor man. We do have our zero, sub-zero nights, and the annual counts of deaths due to cold exposure. This sector needs a stimulus, much like food subsidies and generic medications. The launch of a two-blanket/ family each autumn is noble work, healthcare and good economics. Affordability is the market bugle now.

India is the leading exporter in leather wear. At least here, we can claim primacy in refurbishing, commandeering the market with the largest produce! There are enough craftsmen who can avail of used leather jackets, and refurbish them to the west!
Politics? No need to sermonize. In each summit they steal the ideas of the Chanakya and the Mahatma’s county!

“Na tu khuda hai na mera ishq farishton jaisa,
Don insaan hain to kyon hizaabon mein milein”

-Ahmad Faraz

(Neither are you God, nor nor my love divine,
Since both are human, why meet behind veils)

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Views expressed above are the author's own.

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