As air pollution levels surge in North India, especially in Delhi, the spotlight is back on farmers and their stubble burning practices. This method, involving the setting ablaze of crop residue, is common from October to November in Punjab, Haryana, and parts of Uttar Pradesh. The paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana, which together churn out about 29 million metric tons, plays a major role in worsening the region's air quality.
When farmers burn stubble, it releases harmful pollutants like particulate matter and volatile organic compounds. This creates a thick smog that poses health risks. It also strips the soil of nutrients, forcing farmers to use more fertilizers in future crop cycles. Farmers have been using this method since the late 1970s when combine harvesters started leaving plant remnants in the fields.
The timing of stubble burning shifted due to the Punjab Preservation of Sub-Soil Water Act of 2009. This law was meant to counter groundwater depletion by delaying paddy transplantation to coincide with monsoon rains. It bans sowing before May 10 and transplanting before June 10. As a result, the paddy harvest now occurs in late October and early November. Farmers then have a tight window to prepare their fields for the next wheat crop, making stubble burning a quick and cheap fix.
Despite legal restrictions and groundwater issues, farmers persist in growing paddy and wheat. They're driven by a procurement system that heavily favors these crops. In Punjab, paddy procurement averages 87% of production, and in Haryana, it's 74%, much higher than the national average of 37%. Wheat procurement also follows this pattern, with 70% in Punjab and 63% in Haryana, compared to a national average of 30%.
There are technical solutions to stubble burning. These include in-situ measures like crop residue management machines and ex-situ methods such as turning residue into biofuels. However, these solutions have their own challenges. Machines like Happy Seeders need costly tractors, and hiring them is both expensive and time-consuming. Ex-situ options also place a financial burden on farmers.
Efforts have been made to tackle stubble burning, including economic incentives to promote crop diversification. The National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court have suggested removing minimum support price benefits for farmers who burn stubble. In 2025, flying squads monitored compliance in Punjab and Haryana, but the Parliamentary Committee on air quality suggested penalizing farmers should be a last resort.
Haryana has opted for an incentive-based strategy, offering financial rewards for using crop residue management techniques and diversifying crops. These incentives include ₹1,000 per acre for CRM use, ₹4,000 per acre for direct seeding of rice, and ₹7,000 per acre for crop diversification. On the other hand, Punjab has mostly depended on in-situ measures, with limited focus on ex-situ initiatives.
While there have been reports of significant reductions in stubble burning incidents during the 2025 paddy harvest, caution is advised in this assessment due to measurement challenges. The CREAMS protocol, which relies on NASA's MODIS and VIIRS satellites, observes India at fixed times and might miss some burning events.
