Why stubble fires keep coming back
Why in news?
With the paddy harvest, stubble fires are back, raising questions on incentives, enforcement and how burning is measured.
UPSC Relevance
Mains, GS3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation; Major crops and cropping patterns; MSP and farm subsidies; Issues of buffer stocks and food security.
What is stubble burning?
- It is the practice of setting fire to the crop residue (stubble) left in the field after harvest, to clear the land quickly for the next crop.
- It happens mainly from early October to end-November in Punjab, Haryana and parts of western Uttar Pradesh, after the kharif paddy harvest and before rabi wheat sowing.
- It began in the late 1970s and 1980s with the spread of combine harvesters, which leave about a foot of stubble standing in the field.
Impacts
- Air pollution: Releases particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10), carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and carcinogens. Along with winter conditions like low wind speed and temperature inversion, it adds to the smog over Delhi-NCR and the Indo-Gangetic plains.
- Soil health: Burns away nitrogen, sulphur, potash, phosphorus and other nutrients, kills useful soil microbes and reduces organic carbon and moisture. Farmers then need more fertiliser for the next crop.
- Health: Respiratory and heart diseases, especially among children and the elderly, in both rural Punjab and urban NCR.
- Climate: Adds to greenhouse gas and black carbon emissions.
Why farmers burn?
1. The legal factor: small windows for next crop
- The Punjab Preservation of Sub-Soil Water Act, 2009 (PPSWA) banned paddy nursery sowing before May 10 and transplanting before June 10, so paddy would grow with the monsoon and conserve the groundwater. Violators faced a penalty of ₹10,000 per hectare per month and destruction of the crop. Haryana passed a similar law.
- Unintended result of water laws: Harvest got pushed to late October. Farmers now have only a 10–15 day window to prepare fields for wheat, which pushes them to burn.
2. The technological factor
- Long-duration varieties like PUSA-44 (150–160 days) yield more but shorten the window further. Punjab has since discouraged it and promotes shorter varieties like PR-126.
- Machines like the Happy Seeder need a 60 HP tractor that stays idle most of the year. Hiring costs about ₹10,000 with long waiting periods. Manual clearing is slow and costly.
3. The economic factor: incentives favour paddy
- Assured MSP and procurement make paddy and wheat the safest crops. Free power in Punjab and nearly free power in Haryana make water-guzzling paddy cheap to grow, even as groundwater falls.
- Share of production procured (average, 2012–2024)
| Crop | All India | Punjab | Haryana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paddy | 37% | 87% | 74% |
| Wheat | 30% | 70% | 63% |
- With such assured buying, farmers have little reason to shift to pulses, oilseeds or millets.
The measurement problem : Conflicting data
- The government says Punjab and Haryana saw about a 90% fall in stubble burning incidents in 2025 compared with 2022.
- But the IARI relies on NASA’s polar-orbiting satellites. These pass over India only at fixed times (around 10:30 am and 1:30 pm), catch only active fires, and cannot measure the actual burnt area over 24 hours.
- A 2025 study using data from other satellites found the fall in burnt area was only about 30%.
- An ISRO-led study (November 2025) using geostationary satellites showed farmers have shifted to burning in the evening to avoid polar satellite passes.
- Lesson: Fire counts alone can be misleading. Strict penalties can also create incentives for farmers and officials to ‘show’ a fall rather than achieve one.
Solutions and their limits
| Approach | What it includes | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| In-situ management | Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, Rotavator, mulching; Pusa decomposer (microbial spray by IARI); direct seeding of rice (DSR); short-duration varieties | High machine cost, idle machines, time pressure |
| Ex-situ management | Straw used for 2G ethanol (e.g., IOCL Panipat), compressed biogas (SATAT), co-firing in thermal power plants, boards and packaging | Collection and baling cost of ₹1,500–2,500 per acre; weak supply chains |
| Crop diversification | Shift from paddy to maize, pulses, cotton, etc.; Haryana’s ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ | Lack of assured procurement and markets for alternatives |
| Penal approach | Environmental compensation, red entries in land records, possible denial of MSP | Farmer resistance; collusion; may push burning out of sight |
Way forward
- Parliamentary Committee on air quality: Penalising farmers should be the last resort. It recommended a minimum price for stubble sold for ex-situ use, covering all costs, so farmers get assured income.
- The NGT (2018) held that farmers who burn stubble could be excluded from MSP, a view the Supreme Court upheld in 2023.
- Short term: Timely availability of CRM machines through Custom Hiring Centres and cooperatives; wider use of the Pusa decomposer and short-duration varieties.
- Make straw valuable: A minimum price for paddy straw, assured offtake by CBG and ethanol plants and thermal power plants, and better baling and storage chains.
- Long term: Diversify away from paddy in Punjab and Haryana through assured procurement for alternative crops, price deficiency payments, and rationalised power subsidy (e.g., direct benefit transfer for power).
- Better measurement: Combine polar and geostationary satellite data and report burnt area, not just fire counts.
- Airshed approach: Stubble is a seasonal source. Vehicles, industry, dust and waste burning also need year-round action under NCAP.
Stubble burning will not end through bans or fines alone. It sits at the meeting point of water policy, procurement policy and farm economics. Lasting change needs farmers to see a better option, not just a punishment.
Mains Practice Question
“Stubble burning in north-west India is less a farmer’s choice and more an outcome of policy design.” Analyse this statement and suggest a sustainable way forward. (15 marks, 250 words)