Punjab and Haryana control paddy stubble burning, but for how long?

Both states, long seen as major contributors, have brought down incidents of stubble burning, a long-term solution will remain out of reach so long as state-support for paddy lifting remains in place

The air quality in and around the national capital of New Delhi may continue to be harmful but surprisingly, incidents of paddy stubble burning may not be a large contributor, having fallen dramatically in the first few weeks of the kharif crop harvest this year.  

  

As per the latest data from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), between September 15 and November 3, Punjab recorded an almost 68 per cent drop in stubble burning incidents in 2024 as compared to the same period last year, while neighbouring Haryana has seen a 37.5 per cent drop.   

  

Madhya Pradesh has reported 47 per cent fewer incidents of stubble burning between September 15 and November 3 this year compared to the same period last year.   

  

While a decrease in stubble burning incidents in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh is not much of a shock, given that these two states have been seeing a decline in such farm fires over the past few years, it is Punjab’s numbers that are noteworthy, considering that the majority of farm fire incidents have been happening in Punjab, along with Haryana.   

  

Punjab: The turnaround state    

  

One big factor behind Punjab recording a decline in stubble fires this year so far is the delay in paddy harvesting due to the delayed withdrawal of southwest monsoon and the troubles around lifting of paddy by millers because of an ongoing dispute with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) over milling charges.   

 

That apart, some reports claim that the state government has this year been particularly harsh on anyone violating the ban on setting harvested paddy stubble on fire.   

  

The economic utilisation of paddy stubble in the form of pellets and other products has also gone up considerably and currently stands at about 19.5 million tonnes as against 15.8 million tonnes last year. Punjab, on an average, generates around 20-22 million tonnes of paddy stubble each season. This means that about 87 per cent of the stubble the state generates is already being utilised in some form or the other.   

  

The state government has also appointed over 9,500 field inspectors to keep tabs on stubble burning. This has resulted in around 1,626 FIRs and 1,257 red entries against violators of the ban. A sum of almost Rs 32 lakh has been recovered in the form of penalties between September 15 and October 31.   

 

The government has also allocated a sum of Rs 500 crore as subsidy to the farmers or their collectives to acquire crop residue management machines such as super SMS, super seeder, surface seeder, smart seeder, happy seeder, paddy straw chopper, shredder, mulcher, hydraulic reversible mould board plough and zero-till drill for in-situ management, and baler and rake for ex-situ management of paddy stubble.   

  

At the end of June, trade reports said farmers had applied for around 64,000 such machines. Between 2018-19 and 2023, Punjab farmers have been delivered around 130,000 machines to manage paddy stubble, the highest in the country.   

 

Taking a leaf out of neighbouring Haryana’s playbook, the state has also been considering giving a per-hectare incentive of around Rs 2,000 per annum to farmers who don’t burn paddy stubble. The proposal, however, is still waiting for support from the central government.   

  

Haryana: A Carrot-and-Stick Success   

  

Over the years, Haryana has taken a number of steps to curb stubble burning, resulting in a gradual decline in such incidents.  

  

Experts say that apart from subsidies on machinery, the state government’s programme of giving a per-acre incentive of Rs 1,000 for managing crop residue and Rs 7,000 per acre for shifting to crops other than paddy has worked well on the ground.   

  

While the cumulative amount is miniscule, given that the average land holding size in Haryana is around 2.2 hectares, or about 5.4 acres, per farmer, it translates into an average incentive of around Rs 5,300 per farmer for management of crop residue, a small price to pay for lower pollution levels.   

  

Senior officials said a combination of factors such as the per-acre incentive coupled with strict enforcement of the ban, hefty penalties on stubble burning, and around 100,000 residue management machines has ensured that there has been an annual decline in incidents of stubble burning in the state.   

  

Similar measures are also being adopted in other states though the scale might be slower and lower.   

  

Why Managing Crop Residue Is Vital 

  

A study released a few months ago by Bhopal-based Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) has found that there has been a 75 per cent increase in Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs) from agricultural residue burning across India in the past decade starting from 2011 till 2020.   

  

The study pointed to Punjab as the worst offender, with 27 per cent of the area under cultivation within the state burned in 2020.  

 

Nationally, Madhya Pradesh is the second-largest contributor to GHGs, accounting for 30 per cent of the total burned area across India in 2020.  

  

According to a statement from IISER, previous assessments of residue burning have relied on agreed estimates of the portion of crop residues that farmers burn. The new study, though, used satellite and other forms of data to reveal which crops are grown, when they are grown, and how technology is used in different districts, focusing on district-level agricultural burned area and associated emissions for the 2011 to 2020 period.   

  

According to IISER, most emissions occurred during the end of the kharif season, followed by rabi, caused largely by the burning of rice and wheat residues. The burning of rice, wheat, and maize crops accounted for as much as 97 per cent of India's agricultural burning emissions, with rice being the largest contributor at 55 per cent.   

The study also found that emissions have increased by approximately 75 per cent for CO and Greenhouse gasses – CO2, CH4 and N2O – from 2011 to 2020.  It quantified the same emissions from crop residue burning as rising from about 19,340 Gg. yr−1 in 2011 to approximately 33,834 Gg. yr−1 in 2020.   

  

“The Indian government implemented measures to reduce crop residue burning, such as incentives for farmers for not burning and promoting biofuel production from residues. While there was an initial decrease in burning in 2014-2015 due to policy implementation, a surge occurred in 2016, highlighting the need for more effective and sustainable policies," Monish Deshpande, Research Scholar, Greenhouse Gas Modelling and Applications Group, IISER Bhopal, said in the statement.   

 

Is There A Long-Term Solution? 

  

Though shifting farmers from water-guzzling paddy towards more sustainable maize, oilseeds and pulses is a cherished permanent solution to end the problem of stubble burning once and for all, experts say it is easier said than done given that paddy, along with wheat, is among a few crops that has assured procurement by the government of India at a pre-fixed rate. This ends up disincentivising farmers from shifting towards any other crop.   

Additionally, the adoption of newer technologies such as bio-decomposers is slow and inadequate as the decomposers take an unusually long time for the stubble to decompose.  This eats into the short window between paddy harvesting and wheat sowing, leading to only a handful of farmers adopting bio-decomposers.   

  

A key factor in why the window between the two crops is short are twin acts in Punjab and Haryana which prohibit sowing of paddy ahead of a designated time.  To arrest falling groundwater levels, the governments of these two states in 2009 brought out almost identical legislation mandating a delay in paddy sowing towards onset of the monsoon.   

  

Called the ‘Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act 2009’ ( PPSWA)’ and the ‘Haryana Preservation of Subsoil Water Act 2009’ (HPSWA)’, non-compliance with the Acts attracts penalty — destruction of the nursery or transplanted crop at farmer’s expenses or disconnection of electricity supply, or cash payment, or all of these.   

  

While the PPSWA prohibits raising paddy nursery before May 10 and its transplantation not before June 10, the corresponding dates in the HPSWA are May 15 and June 15.   

  

The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR’s) National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NAIP) in a recent paper showed that that despite the Acts being in force, over-extraction of groundwater continued at an average 988 cubic meters per hectare, leading to a steep decline in its level — more than 0.5 metres a year. What’s more, the rate of over-extraction was three times more in Punjab than in Haryana, the paper found.   

  

Assured procurement and open incentive to grow paddy was found to be the prime reason for this over-exploitation of ground water despite an Act specifically framed to prevent it being in force.  Clearly, unless a solution is found for the root cause of unabated paddy cultivation and reluctance among farmers to shift towards more lucrative alternatives such as maize and pulses, the problem of stubble burning will exist in some form or the other.