Crop Residue Management

• Deloitte played an orchestrating role in addressing the concern of stubble burning – by channeling further private funding and participation and building the ecosystem.

• The Deloitte Digital team built an anthem for farmers and developed short animation films that helped spread awareness on the harmful effects of stubble burning and alternative uses of crop residue.

• Deloitte also donated equipment sets (high-capacity tractors, balers, etc.)
  A mobile application - Krishi Yantra Saathi (akin to an Uber-like platform for farmers to share equipment) was rolled out to 666 villages across the 9 districts - more than 1.5 lakh farmers and 5,500 equipment owners were registered, and ~60% of farmers submitted booking requests (with 43% being small and marginal farmers) and clearance of close to 5.75 lakh acres land was facilitated. This is 48% of the addressable area!

• For forward linkage of stubble, ~65 end-user industries across sectors such as bio-energy plants, ethanol production, briquettes production, paper mills, and chemicals were mapped, and connections with equipment owners were facilitated. Additionally, temporary storage locations were provided to equipment owners to manage demand and ensure a continuous supply to industries.

• CRM was also promoted through innovative channels such as superseeder demonstrations by progressive farmers and facilitating partnerships with Gaushalas by providing loose stubble as fodder and bedding for winter in areas with minimal presence of end user industries.
  
  

Our impact

• The Active Fire Locations, as reported by the Haryana Space Applications Centre, reduced by 39% vis-à-vis 2022 in the 9 districts. However, the impact is even more significant in the 666 villages – 54% reduction compared to 2022.

• Through the reduction in the fires, we have reduced CO2 emissions by ~5 lakh tonnes and can conservatively estimate a saving of ~5,500 lives and increased farmer income by INR 60 Crores.

• We have worked closely with the State and District Administrations, and they have appreciated our close partnership and agility in responding to changes on the ground. In addition, we onboarded a large multinational bank that supported on-ground activities in a couple of districts, a large infrastructure player funded awareness activities in another district, and a large farm equipment manufacturer that facilitated CRM equipment in one district to bridge the demand-supply mismatch in CRM equipment.

• The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India also made an example of efforts made in Haryana to urge other states to follow suit (https://www.livemint.com/news/india/supreme-court-raps-punjab-govt-on-not-curbing-stubble-burning-take-cue-from-haryana-11700556636102.html)
  
  

Plans for 2024

• Haryana: We will continue implementing our interventions in Haryana, with support from corporate peers – two large multinational banks have already started supporting on-ground activities in three districts.

• Punjab: In addition to our interventions in Haryana, we plan to undertake a pilot project in Patiala district in Punjab. We have already conducted a baseline study of the situation in Patiala and presented a CRM strategy to the District Administration. The pilot implementation will start this harvest season, with the mobile application Krishi Yantra Saathi being rolled out to about 15 villages, along with district-wide awareness creation activities.