This Maharashtra Farmer’s SRT Method Can Clear Delhi’s Toxic AQI

13 November 2025

Every year, Delhi’s air turns toxic as stubble burning in Punjab & Haryana fills the skies with smoke. But one man from Maharashtra might hold the solution.

Chandrashekhar Bhadsavle, an award-winning agricultural innovator, has spent years perfecting sustainable farming methods to solve real-world problems.

Bhadsavle’s Saguna Rice Technique (SRT) eliminates the need for tillage and stubble burning in rice and other crops.

In this method, the rice seeds are directly sown, unlike the traditional method, in which paddy saplings are transplanted in puddled fields.

Following the preparation of raised beds, holes are made with a pre-designed iron frame, and seeds mixed with granulated fertiliser are dibbled in the soil.

Weedicide is sprayed once the soil is moistened, by rain or irrigation. But post-harvest, the raised bed is not disturbed for successive crops.

As the soil readies for the next sowing, the stubble and roots are left in the fields-they naturally decompose into the soil, enriching it without ploughing or burning.

Subsequent use for five to six years, the raised bed ushers in an increase of soil carbon-evidenced by the presence of earthworms.

As there is no puddling and hand-hoeing in SRT, farmers have also been able to cut both water use and labour costs by 50%!

Over 5,000 farmers in Maharashtra are already using SRT. It saves time, reduces costs, improves soil health, and now offers hope for NCR's pollution crisis.

"This could transform farming and reduce air pollution," says Singh, who hopes SRT will bring relief to both farmers and Delhi's smog-filled skies.

Awarded the Krishi Ratan, Maharashtra's highest award for farmers, Bhadsavale's SRT has been acknowledged as 'conservation agriculture' by UN FAO.