Stubble Burning: Solutions, Impact & Background by AAP Punjab Govt

Updated: 3/22/2025
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Last Updated: 1 Dec 2024

Season 2024 IMPACT

-- 70% dip in Punjab stubble burning cases as compared to 2023[1]

Highest cases in Madhya Pradesh: It had Highest case (~16000) as compared to Punjab's 10,909 cases

IMPACT 2022-2024: 2.75 years of AAP Punjab Govt

-- Total 85% drop in stubble burning cases in Punjab[2][1:1]
-- Lowest farm fires in Punjab 2024 since 2012 as per Nasa's VIIRS satellites[2:1][1:2]

Punjab vs Haryana: Punjab sows 2.5x more paddy

Punjabs's ~32 lakh hectares[3] vs ~13 lakh hectares[4] in Haryana

Previous Govts: Congress did half hearted solutions and alleged SCAMs
-- Bhagwant Mann led AAP Govt reported 11,275 machines missing
-- Ordered vigilance probe of alleged 150 crore scam during Congress Rule

Action Plan 2024

TARGET

Stubble expected:
195.2 lakh metric tonnes(LMT) paddy straw is expected to be generated on 31.54 lakh hectares under paddy cultivation[5]

Planned Treatment:
100% stubble to be treated for the 1st time ever i.e. 195.2 LMT against 158.6 LMT in 2023

  • 127 LMT target under in-situ stubble management
  • 59.6 LMT target under ex-situ stubble management
  • 8.6 LMT as fodder[2:2]

2024: 663 villages have been identified which had 75% area under farm fires in last 3 years[2:3]

a. Steps to REDUCE Stubble

  1. Agriculture Innovation: Invent/promote quicker & better varieties of paddy and wheat so that more time is available for stubble farming & produce less stubble
  1. Crop Diversification

b. Steps to handle Stubble

  1. In-situ management involves incorporating the stubble into the soil using CRM machines
  1. Ex-situ management involves lifting the stubble from the fields and supplying it to stubble-based industries
  1. Bio-decomposer Pilot

This project is about combatting stubble burning by spraying Pusa bio-decomposer

  • Paddy straw on 8,000 acres to be managed through bio-decomposers in 2024[5:1]
  • AAP governments in Punjab targetted 8,000 acres in 2023[6] and 5,000 acres in 2022[7]
  1. Awareness Campaigns[2:4]
  • 5,000 nodal officers, 1,500 cluster coordinators and 1,200 field officers have been deputed in 11,624 villages across the state
  • These officers have to share daily action taken reports through a mobile application called Action Taken Report (ATR)
  • Campaigns were started involving agricultute college students, mobile vans & Punjab government officials
  • Also awareness about not burning paddy straws through campaign vans, wall paintings & pamphlets[8]

2024: Impact by AAP Government

IMPACT: 70% drop (Total 85% in 3 years) in stubble burning cases[1:3]

  • In 2024, 6.2 Million Ton Stubble was treated in-situ
  • 5,783 FIRs (5x more than 2023) were registered and ₹2.16 crore fines in 5,515 case was imposed. Also 5,454 red entries are made[9]
  • 5,000 nodal officers, 1,500 cluster coordinators and 1,200 field officers were deputed in 11,624 villages across the state[10]

2023: Impact by AAP Government

IMPACT: 26.60% drop (Total 47% in 2 years) in stubble burning cases[11]

32% rise (Total 58.6% in 2 years) in managed paddy straws: Around 158.6 lakh tonnes of paddy straws was treated under in-situ & ex-situ methods as compared to nearly 120 lakh tonnes being treated in 2022[12][3:1]

  • In 2023, 11.50 Million Ton Stubble was treated in-situ and 3.66 MT in ex-situ
  • Ex-situ included 2.1 MT in industrial boilers, 0.96 MT in biomass power plant, 0.30 MT in compressed bio gas plant, 0.10 MT in bio ethanol plant, 0.20 MT in thermal power plant. Apart from it 0.70 MT was used as fodder[13]
  • 4,233 nodal officers & 998 cluster coordinators in 11,624 villages across the state to tackle fire incidents in real-time & guide farmers on every step in 2023[10:1]
  • 1144 FIRs(section 188) were registered and 2.57 crore(1.88 recovered) fines were imposed[14]

2022: Impact by AAP Government

IMPACT: 30% drop in stubble burning cases

20% rise in managed paddy straws: Around 120 lakh tonnes of paddy straws was treated under in-situ & ex-situ methods as compared to nearly 100 lakh tonnes being treated in 2021[12:1]

Status till 2021: Previous Govts[15]

-- Only 49% of the stubble was managed by in-situ & ex-situ methods
-- A staggaring amount stubble burning cases: 71,246 cases reported in 2021 & 76,590 in 2020

Attempted Solutions & Scam[16][7:1]:

  • Punjab distributed 90,422 stubble management machines with Center provided ₹935 crores subsidy between 2018-2021 BUT

2022: Bhagwant Mann led AAP Govt reported 11,275 machines missing and ordered vigilance probe of alleged 150 crore scam

Background

  • Primarily there are 2 seasons where crops are rotated: Planting Rice in May & Wheat in November
  • In order to prepare the field quickly for wheat & lack of Govt support, farmers resorted to burning the residual debris of rice harvesting
  • This phenomenon has become a convenient habit over the years & contributed a great deal in increasing the pollution levels of North India[17]

Apart from the effects on air quality, stubble burning also affects soil productivity by burning the essential nutrients & killing the important microorganisms i.e. an additional expense of regaining back the soil fertility through the application of fertilizer or compost[18]

Punjab alone covers 30-32 lakh hectares of land under paddy, which produces 180-200 lakh tonnes of stubble[10:2]

References:

  1. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/patiala/farm-fire-monitoring-ends-state-sees-70-decrease/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/663-punjab-villages-identified-as-stubble-burning-hotspots-101727024555461.html ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/punjab-ppcbs-plan-to-manage-195-million-tonnes-of-crop-residue-in-2024-25/articleshow/111723044.cms ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/dry-weather-becoming-a-hurdle-for-direct-seeded-rice-cultivation-in-haryana-101720205003600.html ↩︎

  5. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/managing-crop-residue-i-straw-mgmt-policy-in-place-adoption-remains-a-challenge/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/103981283.cms ↩︎

  7. https://www.livemint.com/news/india/heres-how-aap-led-punjab-govt-planning-its-stubble-burning-fight-to-alleviate-delhi-pollution-11663387435327.html ↩︎ ↩︎

  8. https://amritsar.nic.in/notice/short-term-tender-notice-for-creating-awarness-not-to-burn-paddy-staw-among-farmers-through-campaign-van-wall-paintings-and-pamphelts-under-in-situ-crm-scheme-2023-24/ ↩︎

  9. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/5fold-rise-in-firs-as-punjab-takes-a-tough-stance-against-farm-fires-101733161244874.html ↩︎

  10. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/over-4k-nodal-officers-to-help-punjab-check-stubble-burning-101694199692497.html ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  11. https://www.deccanherald.com/india/paddy-stubble-burning-cases-in-punjab-lowest-in-11-years-report-1166791.html ↩︎

  12. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/paddy-stubble-punjab-machines-8924872/ ↩︎ ↩︎

  13. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/111723044.cms ↩︎

  14. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/farm-fires-in-punjab-11k-firs-and-26cr-fines-imposed-last-year/articleshow/112960089.cms ↩︎

  15. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/punjab-plans-to-provide-around-22000-straw-management-machines-for-2023-kharif-season-8891257/ ↩︎

  16. https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/punjab-orders-probe-in-11-275-missing-crop-residue-management-machines-122081800191_1.html ↩︎

  17. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/84680/stubble-burning-in-northern-india#:~:text=In order to quickly prepare,debris in October and November ↩︎

  18. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666765720300119 ↩︎

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