New Delhi: Incidents of stubble burning after harvesting paddy crops have more than doubled in September this year, with a significant increase reported from Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, businessline reported.
Over 350 incidents of stubble burning were reported in the country between September 15 and 30 – up from the 159 incidents reported during the same period last year – according to the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS) run by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).
Punjab saw the highest occurrences of crop residue burning at 214 in 2023 compared to 147 in the same period last year. Of the total instances of stubble burning, 81 such incidents took place on September 30 and 68 on September 29. Amritsar, with 174 instances, recorded the most cases from Punjab.
The Punjab Government on Tuesday (October 3) submitted a state action plan and district-wise action plans for tackling the problem of stubble burning to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) for the current paddy harvesting season.
“Punjab currently has 1,17,672 crop residue management machines and procurement of around 23,000 machines is underway. Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has reiterated to the State Government of Punjab for efficient and optimal utilisation of Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines through the 23,792 Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) established for the purpose in the State,” an official statement said.
This came after New Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena brought up the issue of air pollution in the nation’s capital as a result of stubble burning in neighbouring states while addressing a meeting in Amritsar on September 26.
Why do farmers burn crop residue?
Due to economic reasons, farmers in Punjab and other states burn their leftover crop material rather than spending money on clearing the stubble by hand and selling it as fodder.
Additionally, farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh have little time to prepare the ground for wheat planting as state laws meant to protect the groundwater prevents farmers from sowing the paddy crop before certain dates in June, leading to delayed sowing and by extension, delayed harvesting.
Ahead of the stubble burning season this year, the Union had allocated Rs 600 crore to the states for handling paddy straws, including its new project on ex-situ supply chain management. Of this, around Rs 105 crore has already been released to Punjab while Rs 90 crore has been allocated for Haryana, the Business Standard reported.