Indian agriculture, air pollution, and public health in the age of COVID

A J McDonald; Balwinder-Singh; M L Jat; P Craufurd; J Hellin; N V Hung; A Keil; A Kishore; V Kumar; J L McCarty; P Pearson; A Samaddar; P Shyamsundar; P B Shirsath; H S Sidhu; A K Singh; Sudhanshu Singh; A K Srivastava; E Urban; R K Malik; B Gerard

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105064

Indian agriculture, air pollution, and public health in the age of COVID

World Dev. 2020 Nov:135:105064. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105064. Epub 2020 Jul 3.

Authors

A J McDonald¹, Balwinder-Singh², M L Jat², P Craufurd³, J Hellin⁴, N V Hung⁴, A Keil⁵, A Kishore⁶, V Kumar⁴, J L McCarty⁷, P Pearson⁸, A Samaddar⁴, P Shyamsundar⁹, P B Shirsath¹⁰, H S Sidhu¹¹, A K Singh¹², Sudhanshu Singh¹³, A K Srivastava¹³, E Urban¹, R K Malik², B Gerard¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Soil and Crop Sciences Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
² International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), NASC Complex, New Delhi, India.
³ International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), South Asia Regional Office, Khumultar, Lalitpur District, Nepal.
⁴ International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Laguna 4031, Philippines.
⁵ UNIQUE forestry and land use GmbH, Schnewlinstr. 10, 79098 Freiburg, Germany.
⁶ International Food and Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), New Delhi, India.
⁷ Department of Geography and Geospatial Analysis Center, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA.
⁸ International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI), USA.
⁹ The Nature Conservancy, 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA, USA.
¹⁰ CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture & Food Security (CCAFS), BISA, CIMMYT, New Delhi 110012, India.
¹¹ Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), Ladhowal, Ludhiana 141008, India.
¹² Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), New Delhi, India.
¹³ IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC), NSRTC Campus, Varanasi 221006, Uttar Pradesh, India.
¹⁴ International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Apdo. Postal 6-641 06600, México, D.F., Mexico.

Abstract

Emerging evidence supports the intuitive link between chronic health conditions associated with air pollution and the vulnerability of individuals and communities to COVID-19. Poor air quality already imposes a highly significant public health burden in Northwest India, with pollution levels spiking to hazardous levels in November and early December when rice crop residues are burned. The urgency of curtailing the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigating a potential resurgence later in the year provides even more justification for accelerating efforts to dramatically reduce open agricultural burning in India.

Keywords: Agricultural sustainability; Comorbidities; Crop residue burning; NW India; Rural-urban nexus.