Economic Cost of Crop Open Field Burning

Abstract

Over recent years, crop residue burning has become a regular agricultural activity in developing countries due to varying economic and social reasons. The burning of crop residue in the open field has become a significant concern for both air pollution and climate change mitigation efforts worldwide. To estimate air pollution caused by crop residue burning in Pakistan, an emission inventory was developed based on district-level crop production data during the period 2001- 2020. Spatial distribution of quantified emissions was achieved by using MODIS Active Fire Data (MOD/MYD14A1) at 1-day temporal and 1×1 km 2 spatial resolutions in this study. Two major crop residues, i.e. wheat straw and rice straw, were considered. Total annual emissions of CO 2 , CO, CH 4 , NMVOCS, N 2 O, NH 3 , SO 2 , NOx, PM 2.5 , PM 10 , OC and BC in 2020 were 0.12, 0.009, 0.0007, 0.0006, 2.13E -05 , 0.0002, 5.09E -05 , 0.0003, 0.001, 0.0004, 0.0009, and 7.28E -05 Tg respectively. Spatially, throughout the study period 2001-2020, Dadu, Larkana and Layyah districts exhibited the highest emissions as compared to other districts of Pakistan. Temporally crop residue burning was dependent on the harvesting seasons with highest concentration in May followed by February, November, and December month. There was a significant increase in pollutant emissions over 20 years ranging from 18% for N 2 O to 26% for NH 3 . The environmental cost of Kharif was highest in 2019 for Sindh and 2020 for Punjab with the values 1.79E +09 and 8.32E +08 respectively. While the economic cost of rabi crops was highest in 2013 with a value of 2.22E +08 In Sindh. The observed trend suggested that emissions from crop residue burning will continue to rise in the future due to the absence of policy intervention and strict action.