Haryana will soon be first North Indian state to end stubble burning: Govt

Farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh burn paddy straws to prepare the field for the next crop around October

Haryana is on track to becoming the first north Indian state to stop stubble burning.

But Punjab will take time because farmers there have been relatively slow in adopting new machines, said senior officials of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR).

Farmers, at least in Punjab, say the high cost of the machines, despite the Central subsidy, is a deterrent in adopting them.

“Between 2016 and 2018, in Haryana there has been 41 per cent reduction in stubble burning, while in Punjab it has gone down by 10-12 per cent. In western Uttar Pradesh it has fallen by almost