Stubble becomes a source of income for farmers in Barabanki, being used in biogas plants

In Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki district, leftover stubble after crop harvesting is no longer a burden but has become a means of economic benefit for farmers. According to a NDTV report, a special initiative has been launched by the state government to use crop residues in biogas plants, which has provided farmers with significant relief in the cost and time of clearing fields. Under this arrangement, stubble is collected from the fields and transported to Compressed Biogas (CBG) plants, where it is converted into energy. The organic waste left over after the process is also used as fertilizer in the fields.

According to a press release by the agriculture department, currently 40 biogas plants are operational in the state and there is a plan to set up 78 more plants in the coming time. Yogesh, a farmer from Karamat Kheda village in Barabanki's Harakh block, who cultivates wheat, paddy, and potatoes, stated that due to the timely disposal of stubble, he can prepare his field for the next crop without any delay. Earlier, farmers had the option of either spending money to remove the residues or burning them in the field itself. Balram, a farmer from Tikra village, stated that the cost of clearing stubble from one acre of land used to be approximately ₹2,500 to ₹3,000. Now, transporting the stubble to the biogas plant saves this cost and allows farmers to stay away from the polluting method of burning.

To make this model successful, the agriculture department has taken the help of the Gates Foundation's Technical Support Unit (TSU). In this system, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), aggregators, and other participants associated with the supply-chain have been brought together. FPOs and aggregators map the fields, schedule the collection, and ensure that stubble is removed immediately after harvesting. For this, machines like slashers, rakers, and balers are used to cut and bundle the stubble, which is subsequently transported to collection centers and CBG plants.

The CBG plant located on Dewa Road in Barabanki processes about 150 tonnes of stubble daily and produces 15,000 to 19,000 kg of biogas daily from it. This plant mainly uses paddy and maize residues, which have limited use as cattle fodder because they have a high silica content. Umesh Kumar Sah, Deputy Director of the Barabanki Agriculture Department, stated that due to the plants at Dewa Road and Haidergarh, the work of stubble collection has become widespread in Harakh, Haidergarh, Fatehpur, and Ramnagar blocks.