Pande and Coauthors in the Indian Express: How to get farmers to not burn crop residue
Kelsey Jack, Namrata Kala, Rohini Pande, and Seema Jayachandran find that paying farmers to not burn crops is an effective policy solution.
by Kelsey Jack, Namrata Kala, Rohini Pande, and Seema Jayachandran
In a few weeks, millions in India will breathe much more polluted air as farmers across northern India burn stubble to clear fields for the winter wheat sowing season. It is both a health and an environmental hazard that repeats every year — one that a 2018 Lancet study found to be the number one reason for premature deaths in India. Cash payments — despite failed past attempts — remain a promising way to address this health emergency in the short run.
Annually, Indian farmers set some 92 million tones of crop residues on fire.
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