The Burning Truth

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An Every October, 23mn farmers

in North India burn crop
environmental residue to prepare their farms
for sowing.
disaster of This stubble smoke- a lethal
epic cocktail of particulate matter,
carbon-dioxide, nitrogen-dioxide
and Sulphur-dioxide, hangs
proportions ominously over North India
 7-year reduction in Healthcare fees and
life expectancy of productivity losses
citizens in North from pollution cost
India India 8.5% of GDP –
as per Energy $200bn/year as per
Policy Institute World Bank

consequences

Why do they burn their farms?

With just 20 days
between harvesting rice
and sowing wheat,
farmers burn farm
stubble to prepare their
fields for sowing.
But, they
didn’t start
the fire
The government and the Climate conspired

SHIFT COST PRICE

Government Government’s policy Government offers
ordered shifting of Green Revolution Minimum Support
sowing of rice led to mechanized Prices to farmers
from April to June farming. Mechanized only for rice and
on a tenuous harvesters leave wheat, forcing
pretext that rice behind rice stubble them to grow these
cultivation which needs clearing. in quick succession.
depletes water Machinery to clear They avoid crop
table. This delays stubble is expensive, diversification,
harvesting, and labor isn’t which could break
shortening the available. Burning is this harvest-sowing
window available the most cycle.
to prepare fields economically “viable”
for sowing option

And the cold Oct-Nov weather traps toxic smog over the region.
Farmers burning stubble are
arrested and fined.
Is this even sustainable?

Farmers can be Farmers are easy

scapegoats for a

stubborn, but wider problem. They

are expected to

they aren’t switch to more

expensive methods

stupid and machinery,

without government
support.
Compelled to burn
their fields, they’re
the first victims of
the smog.
 For the nation to breathe better,
governments must be accountable.

There can’t be climate justice without

equality – politics must catch up. Neither
coercion nor moral arguments would
work.

The farmer needed alternatives.

The problem is political as much as

technological

Campaign Objectives

Help Spread Set policy

farmers awareness on agenda for
clear fields it’s Government
without environmental
burning impact
We took the message to ground zero

We sent 48 teams of experts to 671 villages. They conducted 44 live demonstrations

at farms, and 74 workshops at village gatherings. Another 595 village heads attended
who potentially took our message to 90,000 farmers

Farmers pledged to not burn crop residue

5020 farmers and 595 village heads took an oath to not burn crop residue. 10,154
farmers rented machines from Custom Hiring Centres to remove crop residue.
We appointed 95 agents of change became campaign ambassadors
We involved policy makers and specialists

16 panel discussions with experts and policymakers deliberating on methods of crop

residue management

We explained the message

65 rallies were organized, 80 posters at Village Heads homes, auto promotions, out
of home advertising, promotions in buses in rural areas
We gave voice to the farmer

We wrote about the impact, the predicament of farmers, profiled agents of change,
and highlighted policy alternatives for government. 290 stories printed in the
newspaper equivalent to 59 newspaper pages.

And the farmers owned the campaign

15 farmers were given a free flight to visit an ancient shrine because they promised
to not burn crop residue, and inspired several others to follow their footsteps.
 Results

34,731 hectares of fields Drop in Farm Fires by 17%

were NOT set on Fire
Resulting in 2,14,464 tonnes of crop Farm fires dropped by 17% in 2019 as
residue NOT BURNT – saving the per Indian Council of Agricultural
atmosphere from 643 tonnes of Research (15 Oct-30Nov)
particulate matter, 42721 tonnes of
Ash, and 12868 tonnes of Carbon
monoxide.

Impact on brand

As a consequence of the constant work by Dainik Jagran in

leveraging communities to drive positive change, in the
recently released Indian Readership Survey 2019 Q3, Dainik
Jagran was ranked as the No.1 newspaper in the state. We
also recorded a Total Readership growth of 1,26,000 over
the previous quarter.
 The Burning Truth

With the odds heavily stacked up against the

farmers, it was time that Dainik Jagran took up
this fight on their behalf. To get them on our side,
we had to stand in solidarity with them.

This campaign gave them a platform to influence

policy change and to fight for climate justice as
equals. The fires haven’t been put out completely,
but year on year, we’re getting there. Truth shall
prevail

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