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Air quality impacts of crop residue burning in India and mitigation alternatives

Author

Listed:
  • Ruoyu Lan

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Sebastian D. Eastham

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Tianjia Liu

    (Harvard University)

  • Leslie K. Norford

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Steven R. H. Barrett

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Crop residue burning contributes to poor air quality and imposes a health burden on India. Despite government bans and other interventions, this practice remains widespread. Here we estimate the impact of changes in agricultural emissions on air quality across India and quantify the potential benefit of district-level actions using an adjoint modeling approach. From 2003 to 2019, we find that agricultural residue burning caused 44,000–98,000 particulate matter exposure-related premature deaths annually, of which Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh contribute 67–90%. Due to a combination of relatively high downwind population density, agricultural output, and cultivation of residue-intensive crops, six districts in Punjab alone contribute to 40% of India-wide annual air quality impacts from residue burning. Burning two hours earlier in Punjab alone could avert premature deaths up to 9600 (95% CI: 8000–11,000) each year, valued at 3.2 (95% CI: 0.49–7.3) billion US dollars. Our findings support the use of targeted and potentially low-cost interventions to mitigate crop residue burning in India, pending further research regarding cost-effectiveness and feasibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruoyu Lan & Sebastian D. Eastham & Tianjia Liu & Leslie K. Norford & Steven R. H. Barrett, 2022. "Air quality impacts of crop residue burning in India and mitigation alternatives," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-34093-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34093-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Meghna Agarwala & Shampa Bhattacharjee & Aparajita Dasgupta, 2024. "Political Cycles in Crop Residue Burning: Evidence from India," Working Papers 117, Ashoka University, Department of Economics, revised 01 Aug 2024.
    2. repec:ags:aaea22:336014 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. B. Kelsey Jack & Seema Jayachandran & Namrata Kala & Rohini Pande, 2022. "Money (Not) to Burn: Payments for Ecosystem Services to Reduce Crop Residue Burning," NBER Working Papers 30690, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Paudel, Gokul P. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Nguyen, Trung Thanh, 2024. "Can sustainable intensification boost agricultural productivity and fertilizer use efficiency? Insights from wheat systems in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains," IAAE 2024 Conference, August 2-7, 2024, New Delhi, India 344263, International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE).

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