The world faces a common problem of pollution, greenhouse gasses impact, and climate change. Every year a World Air Quality Index Report is generated by different organisations at different times of the year. In the recent report, it was found that 9 out of the top 10 most polluted cities in the world are in India. As per reports by Global Carbon Atlas, India ranks third in total greenhouse gas emissions and emits around 2.6 billion tonnes of Carbon dioxide equivalent annually.

According to Dalberg Advisors and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India faces a loss of almost ₹7 lakh crore annually due to air pollution. These losses are of 5 types:

1. Labour productivity
2. Lesser consumer footfall
3. Premature mortality
4. Lower asset productivity
5. Increased health expenses

In India, major sectors that contribute to pollution are:

1. The energy sector is the highest contributor with 44%,
2. Next is the manufacturing and construction sector that contributes 18 %
3. Agriculture, forestry and land-use sectors contribute to 14 %
4. While the remaining 24% is shared by transport, industrial processes and waste sectors.

Pollution in Agriculture Sector

With changing times, a decline in the emission of CO2-eq in the agriculture sector has seen a gradual decline from 28% in 1994 to 14% in 2016. If we further break down the causes behind agricultural emissions, we learn that:

• The livestock sector contributes to 54.6% of pollutant emissions.
• The livestock management contributes to another 6.9%
• The use of nitrogenous fertilisers contributes to 19%
• Rice cultivation causes 17.5% emission
• Burning of crop residues adds to 2.1%

This CO2-eq emission has time and again raised a demand for a carbon policy in the agriculture sector to reduce the sector’s carbon emissions. This can be achieved by implementing just three measures at no cost:

• Efficient use of fertiliser
• Adoption of No-till farming
• Water management in rice irrigation.

Other than this, other ways to control carbon emission are rewarding farmers with carbon credits that can be traded globally as well as better cattle feeding practices. Reduce carbon footprint and methane emissions in rice fields. Practice direct seeding of rice. Promote alternative wet and dry practices by switching from rice to maize or other less water-consuming crops.

The Bigger Picture With Carbon Emission Control Policy

With a carbon emission control policy, we could tackle threats to India’s food security caused by dry spells, heat waves and erratic monsoonal rainfall. While there is a cost to adopt these measures, in long run they will be beneficial because of increased yield. This policy will be a win-win option for everyone. The government of India will need to take both a carrot and stick approach. The government will need to educate farmers about the techniques on one hand and incentivise them on the other hand to ensure wide-scale adoption.

These changes will increase crop yields. This also means that there will be more selling of agricultural produce in mandis. The commission agents in mandis will need to give more time to manage this high demand while generating bills, managing inventory and keeping a check on payments. Understanding the concerns of commission agents in mandi accounting and turning them into opportunities, Bijak which is India’s Number 1 Agritrading App, came up with a solution called ChargeERP.

ChargeERP the solution

ChargeERP mandi accounting software has been designed keeping in mind the daily interactions of commission agents in agricultural mandis. It is a cloud-based accounting software introduced with the core aim of reducing the agent’s workload. ChargeERP is the easiest, fastest and most secure mandi accounting software available in India. One of the many benefits of this platform is that it can be accessed from anywhere and from multiple devices. It provides data security with end-to-end encryption. Plus, it doesn’t require any kind of technical or accounting expertise.

If you are looking to explore more about this next-level accounting software, feel free to dial +91 9311341199 or visit www.chargeerp.com, and request your free demo today. We also suggest that you follow us on Facebook for regular updates. You can also view the latest instructional videos on the ChargeERP YouTube channel.