Coal-fired power plants nitrogen emissions reduce India’s wheat and rice yield by 10%

By Jitendra Choubey

Coal-fired power plant pollution poses a serious threat to India’s food security. According to a new study by a group of researchers at Stanford University, India is potentially losing more than 10% of its annual wheat and rice productivity due to nitrogen dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Wheat and rice are two critical grains for India’s food security, as the country houses a quarter of all undernourished people globally.

Over 70% of India’s electricity is generated from coal-fired power plants. These plants are one of the major drivers of India’s worse air quality, which extensively affects the health of its citizens.

Meanwhile, a new study quantified that these coal-fired power stations’ emissions also play a key role in reducing crop yields within a range of up to 100 km away. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, analysed that parts of West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh are heavily exposed to coal-linked NO2, and annual yield losses exceed 10%, which is equivalent to around 6 years’ average annual yield growth in both rice and wheat in India between 2011 and 2020.

It analysed that crop damage intensity is higher than the human mortality damage intensity per GWh of electricity generated by coal-fired power plants. “Reducing dependency on coal-fired power plants can improve crop-productivity as an important co-benefit,” said lead author Kirat Singh, Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, Stanford University.

The study underscores that regulation of coal electricity emissions led to crop growth, mortality reduction, and overall social benefits in the country.The study analysed India’s three major rice-producing states, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Punjab, and its three major wheat-producing states, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.

It found that regions near coal-fired power plants, such as the west part of West Bengal, which is rich in coal and also adjoins the coal-dominated Damodar valley in Jharkhand, have the potential to increase their production by over 10%.

Similarly, the East Madhya Pradesh region, which is adjacent to the coal-rich state of Chhattisgarh, can also increase its wheat production by over 10% by reducing coal-fired power stations.

It is worth noting that India’s annual average growth in kharif rice yield was approximately 1.7% per year, and rabi wheat yields grew by approximately 1.5% per year. Reducing its dependency on coal-fired power plants can boost India’s food production.

In the past, researchers quantified crop yield loss such as soybean, and maize due to higher exposure to ozone and other pollutants, including sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, etc., in the USA, India, and China.

This article has been republished from The New Indian Express.