Every year, a choking smog descends on northwest India as the region's farmers burn their fields following the rice harvest — a phenomenon that has helped make New Delhi one of the world's most polluted cities.
Now scientists have come up with a method that would allow farmers to sow their winter crop — usually wheat — without burning off the stubble left behind after the rice harvest.
Researchers tested 10 alternatives to burning, finding that the biggest profits could be achieved with a machine called the Happy Seeder.