Abstract
This paper measures the value of health effects of air pollution for the Indian rural Punjab, where air pollution problem occurs from crop residue burning. Consumer choice model is used to get the monetary estimates of reduced air pollution level to the safe level. The paper uses data of 625 individuals collected from a household level survey conducted in three villages in Indian Punjab for 150 households. To obtain the monetary values, Tobit and Poisson models are used to estimate mitigation expenditure and workdays lost equations, respectively. Total annual welfare loss in terms of health damages due to air pollution caused by the burning of rice straw in rural Punjab amounts to INR 76 millions. If one also accounts for expenses on averting activities, productivity loss due to illness, monetary value of discomfort and utility and additional fertilizer, pesticides and irrigation, the losses would be much higher.
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Notes
- 1.
The combine harvester, also called combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. It combines into a single operation processes that previously required three separate operations, that is, reaping, binding, and threshing.
- 2.
For details, please see the report prepared by Envirotech Instruments Private Limited (2006) on ‘Air Pollution Discharged from the Burning of Crop Residue in Agriculture Fields of Punjab’ for Punjab State Pollution Control Board.
- 3.
CPCB has defined the NAAQS implying the safe level of pollutants for residential, rural, and other areas as follows: SO2 60 and 80, NOX 60 and 80 and PM10 60 and 100 µg/m3 as annual and 24 h averages, respectively.
- 4.
Harrington et al. (1989) take the individual utility as a function of expenditure on marketed goods and services, X and leisure time, L. Since in developing countries especially in rural areas people are living in the conditions of poverty; therefore, we assume that the individual utility is the function of marketed goods and services, X only.
- 5.
Similar estimation procedure is followed by Gupta (2008).
- 6.
A wage rate fixed for the state of Punjab under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).
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Acknowledgements
This paper is part of a larger study, Policy instruments to address air pollution issues in agriculture—Implications for Happy Seeder technology adoption in India. The project was funded by the Australian Council of International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
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Kumar, S., Kumar, P. (2016). Economic Impact of Air Pollution from Agricultural Residue Burning on Human Health. In: Nautiyal, S., Schaldach, R., Raju, K., Kaechele, H., Pritchard, B., Rao, K. (eds) Climate Change Challenge (3C) and Social-Economic-Ecological Interface-Building. Environmental Science and Engineering(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31014-5_17
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