Results published in the CRM program impact report indicate 92 per cent overall stubble burn avoidance across the enrolled farms, with close to 420,000 acres of the land saved from being burnt
nurture.farm, a digital platform for sustainable agriculture, has published the results of the Crop Residue Management (CRM) Program: the largest ever project to eliminate stubble burning in India. The CRM program impact report has evidenced benefits across reduced greenhouse gas emissions, improvements in soil health and farmer livelihoods, as well as reduced usage of fertilisers.
Results published in the CRM program impact report indicate 92 per cent overall stubble burn avoidance across the enrolled farms, with close to 420,000 acres of the land saved from being burnt, resulting in the prevention of 1,038,965 tonne of carbon dioxide emissions from being released.
Through the CRM program, nurture.farm supported over 25,000 farmers across 23 districts in Punjab and Haryana with access to farm mechanisation, and a bio-enzyme to decompose their crop stubble. Throughout the project, over 1000 field personnel from nurture.farm led a fleet of more than 700 boom sprayers serviced over 420,000 acres of paddy fields with the bio-enzyme, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), free of cost to the farmers. When sprayed onto the stubble, the PUSA bio-decomposer enzyme decomposes the stubble in 20-25 days, increasing organic carbon in the soil and maintaining overall soil health.
Satellite monitoring of the paddy fields – in partnership with the European Space Agency – was used to identify farms that had been burnt at least once between 2018-2020 and were also used to help analyse farmers adherence to the program. For ensuring the program’s efficiency and scale, nurture.farm developed three mobile applications to improve farmer connectivity and educate farmers on regenerative practices, conduct area mapping, arrange spraying schedules, and monitor machine and equipment use.
