NEW DELHI: The Automotive Industry Standards (AIS), in what is probably the first of a kind, has studied the pollution caused due to agricultural equipment.
The study also suggested some measures to reduce this pollution by around 30 per cent.“We realised that such a study has not been conducted in the country.
"People fail to realise that the pollution caused by agriculture equipment is as bad as the normal pollution. Hence we decided to under the study,” one of the researchers who was part of the team that undertook the study said.
According to the study, apart from carbon pollution, nitrogen pollution is an overlooked aspect in the agricultural sector.
“It is a known fact that fertilizers cause nitrogen pollution but the equipment-based nitrogen pollution is largely ignored. Most equipment is diesel-based and they release nitrogen dioxide in large amounts,” one of the researchers said.
Agriculture equipment include tractors, harvesters, borewell and tubewell digging machines, tilling machines, etc.
All these equipment mostly run on diesel hence increasing the nitrogen dioxide levels in the air. “Apart from polluting the air, they also hamper the growth of the produce,” the researcher said.
The AIS has also suggested recommendations for reducing pollution.
One of the primary recommendations includes employing electric vehicles and providing incentives to farmers. However, the AIS admits that this is a tedious task.