Stubble burning season starts with 64 cases in 1st week, down 15%

Smoke billows as a farmer burns stubble in a paddy field on the outskirts of Amritsar
| Photo Credit:
PTI

As the paddy harvest has begun, stubble burning has also kicked off in Punjab and other states. In the first week of the stubble burning season (September 15 to November 30), marked by the paddy harvesting period when farmers burn crop residue, as many as 64 incidents have been reported, compared to 75 cases a year-ago.

According to CREAMS (short for Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modeling from Space), managed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), 56 cases of stubble burning have been reported in Punjab, up from 52 last year; 3 cases this year in Haryana compared to 16 previously, 4 cases from Uttar Pradesh against 3; none in delhi; 1 case in Rajasthan, up from none and no cases in Madhya Pradesh, down from 4 during September 15-21.

In the entire 2024 season, the number of crop residue burning incidents fell by over 34 per cent to 37,602, including the highest 10,909 cases in Punjab, 1,406 in Haryana, 6,142 in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Delhi, 2,772 in Rajasthan and 16,360 in Madhya Pradesh.

The active fire events from rice residue burning were monitored using satellite remote sensing, following the “Standard Protocol” recommended by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).

As wheat sowing normally begins in the first week of November, experts said there is no reason for farmers to resort to stubble burning now, as they have enough time to prepare the fields for the next crop. The government has assured that fields will be made ready for wheat sowing, and farmers are already removing sand from areas where flood water have receded.

It is often argued that farmers resort to stubble burning due to the paucity of time after the paddy harvest and before wheat sowing. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is considered a major contributor to the high levels of air pollution in Delhi and its surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said that the State government is conducting awareness camps for farmers and providing crop residue management (CRM) machinery to reduce stubble burning incidents.

As the Supreme Court recently questioned the Punjab government on why errant farmers should not be arrested for stubble burning, Mann expressed hope that such a situation would not arise where an FIR was lodged against the annadata (food provider). He also added that everyone must accept the decision of the apex court.

Published on September 22, 2025