Punjab records 70% decrease in stubble burning incidents: NGT report

The National Green Tribunal has been informed through a report that Punjab's stubble burning incidents have decreased by 70 per cent.

The NGT previously sought regular reports from the authorities in the state on the issue of air pollution caused in the NCR owing to stubble burning.

A report dated November 26 was filed by the director of agriculture and farmers' welfare department, saying "As a result of the efforts made by the state of Punjab, the number of paddy stubble burning incidents reduced from 36,551 on November 25, 2023, to 10,479 on November 25, 2024 -- a decrease of 70 per cent."  The report stated about 19.52 million tonne of paddy straw was expected to be managed in the year through various means, including in-situ (managing paddy straw on the field) and ex-situ (transporting the straw for various uses) methods and using the residue for animal fodder.

"In ex-situ management, primarily balers are used for collection of straw before transportation for industrial and other uses. As per the demand from farmers, till date 2,183 different types of balers and 2,039 rakes have been made available on subsidy under the crop residue management (CRM) scheme," the report said.

A baler is a tractor-mounted implement to compress crop residue into cylindrical or rectangular bales while a rake collects the straw in rows.

According to the report, more than 6.2 million tonnes of paddy straw was managed through ex-situ methods in 2024.

"The department will carry out a gap analysis after the season is over to figure out the requirement of in-situ and ex-situ machinery for the year 2025. The annual action plan for 2025 will be prepared based on this gap analysis and the requisite funds will be requested," it said.