A technique devised by the New Delhi-based Indian Agricultural Research Institute to convert standing crop residue into manure would be tried out in thousands of hectares of fields in different north Indian States in an attempt to reduce air pollution, said Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Prakash Javadekar on Thursday.

Javadekar who convened a meeting of environment ministers of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, said if the technique called Pusa Decomposer – which uses a microbial solution for fermenting stubble into manure – is found successful, it would be expanded to more areas.

The Minister said stubble burning is one of many reasons for aggravating air pollution in winter months. Other include vehicular pollution, traffic congestion, construction and dust emanating from unpaved roads.

Due to a range of measures initiated by the Centre and State governments, the number of ’good’ air days have increased, but there is a need to improve it further.

Javadekar said the State governments have already appraised the Environment Ministry about their action plans. The Ministry have also identified air pollution hotspots in different States and have asked them to concentrate their efforts to reduce pollution in these worst-affected areas. In Delhi, there are 13 such hotspots, including Mayapuri, Bawana, Vivek Vihar, Anand Vihar, etc. Similarly in Haryana, places like Gurugram, Jajjar, Panipat, Sonepat are similar hotspots.