Detection of delay in post-monsoon agricultural burning across Punjab, India

Potential drivers and consequences for air quality

Bibliographic Data

ID15544136
AuthorsTianjia Liu (0000-0003-3129-0154, Planetary Science Institute, corresponding author), Loretta J Mickley (0000-0002-7859-3470, Harvard University, corresponding author), Ritesh Gautam (0000-0002-2177-9346, Environmental Defense Fund), Manoj K Singh (0000-0002-8122-7279, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies), Ruth Defries (0000-0002-3332-4621, Columbia University), Miriam E Marlier (0000-0001-9333-8411, RAND Corporation)
Year2020
Volume16
Issue1
Pages014014-014014
Publication date2020-11-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironmental Research Letters (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326
PublisherIOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1088/1748-9326/abcc28
OpenAlexW3108741692
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited45

Since the Green Revolution in the mid-1960s, a widespread transition to a rice–wheat rotation in the Indian state of Punjab has led to steady increases in crop yield and production. After harvest of the summer monsoon rice crop, the burning of excess crop residue in Punjab from October to November allows for rapid preparation of fields for sowing of the winter wheat crop. Here we use daily satellite remote sensing data to show that the timing of peak post-monsoon fire activity in Punjab and regional aerosol optical depth (AOD) has shifted later by approximately two weeks in Punjab from 2003 to 2016. This shift is consistent with delays of 11–15 d in the timing of maximum greenness of the monsoon crop and smaller delays of 4–6 d in the timing of minimum greenness during the monsoon-to-winter crop transition period. The resulting compression of the harvest-to-sowing period coincides with a 42% increase in total burning and 55% increase in regional AOD. Potential drivers of these trends include agricultural intensification and a recent groundwater policy that delays sowing of the monsoon crop. The delay and amplification of burning into the late post-monsoon season suggest greater air quality degradation and public health consequences across the densely populated Indo-Gangetic Plain

Agriculture · Agronomy · Biology · Crop · Crop Rotation · Crop yield · Geography · Meteorology · Monsoon · Sowing · Atmospheric aerosols and clouds · Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols · Environmental Science · Fire effects on ecosystems

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