Stubble Burning

Posted 24 Mar 2025

Updated 27 Mar 2025

5 min read

Why in the news?

A parliamentary standing committee has recommended introducing a minimum support price (MSP) for paddy residue to discourage stubble burning, one of the main causes of air pollution in Delhi.

About Stubble Burning

A stubble burn refers to the act of setting on fire straw that has been left over after the harvest of grains, such as paddy, wheat, etc.
Stubble burning (parali) is used to remove Paddy crop residues from fields in preparation for sowing wheat, which is done around the end of September and the beginning of November.
- Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh are the primary states where this practice is prevalent during this time of year.
Reasons for stubble burning: Cheaper than alternative disposal methods, weed management, pest control etc.

Infographic highlighting effects of stubble burning on the environment, soil fertility and human health

Challenges in controlling stubble burning

Technical and Infrastructural Challenges
- Inadequate harvesting technology: Current combine harvesters leave 10-15 cm stubble that cannot be easily removed.
- Limited storage infrastructure: Lack of large land parcels for safe storage of paddy straw as well as limited availability of custom hiring centers, especially for small farmers.
- Inadequate supply chain support: From companies collecting stubble
- Wear and tear on machinery: Technical difficulties in using 100% paddy straw as feedstock due to high silica content causing wear and tear on machinery
- Short window (15-20 days): between harvesting rice and sowing wheat crops.
Regulatory and Administrative Challenges
- Ambiguity in definitions: Of key terms like "stubble burning" and "environmental compensation".
- Unclear procedures: For the "RED ENTRY" system marking non-compliance with the rules related to stubble burning.
  - Lack of exit provisions for removing red entries from farmers' records
- Insufficient coordination: Between multiple ministries and state governments.
Financial and Economic Barriers
- Insufficient subsidies for widespread adoption of machinery
- Lack of proper utilization frameworks: For environmental compensation fund.
Socioeconomic and Awareness Issues
- Insufficient education and training programs on alternative methods and sustainable farming
- Imbalance between punitive measures and positive incentives.

Steps taken by government to reduce stubble burning

Framework by the CAQM:
- In-situ Crop Residue Management: It involves machines procurement, setting up of Custom Hiring Centers (CHCs), high yield and short duration paddy varieties, staggering of harvesting schedule, extensive use of bio-decomposer.
- Ex-situ Crop Residue Management: Alternative usage of paddy straw viz. Biomass Power Projects, Co-firing in Thermal Power Plants, Feed stock for 2G Ethanol plants, Feed stock in Compressed Biogas plant, packaging materials etc.
- Prohibition of stubble residue burning: Through effective monitoring, enforcement Schemes to reduce the generation of paddy straw as well as imposition of environmental compensation from the farmers causing air pollution by stubble burning.
Financial support mechanisms: Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanization (SMAM) provides financial assistance for procurement of agricultural machinery and equipment to small and marginal farmers.
Promotion of alternatives: Like Bio Enzyme-PUSA, Palletization, Happy Seeder machine, utilization of biomass for Biofuel Production etc.
State level Initiatives:
- Uttar Pradesh: "Parali Ke Badle Govansh Khaad" (cow manure in exchange for stubble) aimed at curbing stubble burning and promoting sustainable farming practices.
- Punjab: Mobile apps like i-Khet (for facilitating farmers to have access to the agriculture machinery/ equipment for In-situ management of crop residue), and "Cooperative Machinery Tracker" are in place to ensure availability of Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines.

Way Forward: Recommendations made by Parliamentary standing committee

Financial Framework and Support Systems: Create a price system similar to Minimum Support Price (MSP) to guarantee returns when farmers sell stubble
- Review and notify benchmark prices annually before the Kharif harvest season.
- Ensure prices reflect farmers' actual costs for residue collection, including labor and machinery.
Technical and Infrastructure Development
- Establish a Real-time Mapping of Crop Acreage and Forecasting of Crop Maturity to assess district-wise crop yields for better planning.
- Create interim storage facilities in districts where industries or end users are unavailable within 20-50 km.
- Support local entrepreneurs and aggregators and develop supply chain infrastructure.
Regulatory and Administrative Improvements
- Designate a specific authority to address farmers' grievances in a time-bound manner
- Provide clarity through necessary amendments in existing rules.
- Introduce an incentive-based Red Entry removal system for farmers participating in sustainable practices
- Incorporate a new sub-rule for proper utilization of Environmental Compensation Fund for stubble burning.
Agricultural Practice Improvements
- Incentivize adoption of short-duration paddy varieties as alternatives to long-duration varieties like PUSA 44
- Standardize procurement processes for alternative crop varieties and enforce seed certification bans for problematic varieties
Coordination and Policy Integration: Unified National Policy for integrating agricultural residue into bioenergy generation which
- Prioritize adoption of technologies like bioethanol, compressed biogas, and biomass pellet.