Guest Author: Ritika Gupta and Dhiman Talapatra, Reap Benefit, A member of ClimateRISE Alliance
08 January 2024, New Delhi: “During October and November, my house, surrounded by fields, feels like a gas chamber,” says Navneet, a resident of Faridkot district in Punjab. Describing the impact of stubble burning, she explains, “The smoke from the fields turns the sky grey and then engulfs everything around you. For 15 to 20 days, breathing becomes almost impossible. My throat burns, my eyes turn red and irritated, and the smoke seeps into our rooms, making it difficult to sleep at night.”
How stubble burning fuels a health crisis
For many farmers, burning crop residue after the rice harvest is the fastest way to clear fields for the next sowing cycle. Policies originating from the Green Revolution encouraged a wheat-rice rotation, which combined with groundwater conservation policies, have compressed the planting season, leaving farmers a short window between rice harvesting and wheat sowing. High costs and limited subsidies make alternatives, like the Happy Seeder (a machine that plants seed without clearing residue), unfeasible for small farmers. As a result, they resort to burning, driven by necessity despite the long-term health implications.
The immediate health consequences for rural communities are severe. Respiratory ailments such as asthma, bronchitis, and chronic coughing are on the rise, particularly affecting children, the elderly, and those with preexisting conditions. Clinics report a seasonal spike in patients struggling to breathe, and even otherwise healthy individuals face gradual lung function deterioration. The toxic air carries a hidden health burden, lingering well beyond the burning season and disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups.
The urban impact of stubble burning
The smoke from stubble burning spreads to urban centers like Delhi, Gurugram, and Noida, which are already struggling with poor air quality. In these cities, stubble burning pushes pollution to hazardous levels. Delhi sees some of its worst air quality levels during the burning season, some areas recorded 500+ AQI last week, well above global safety standards. Schools are forced to close, and simply stepping outside becomes a health risk.
The fine particles (PM 2.5) released from burning residue are particularly dangerous as they enter the lungs and even the bloodstream. Prolonged exposure to these particles has been linked to severe cardiovascular issues, including heart attacks and strokes, as well as neurological problems.
Community-led and data-driven efforts to address stubble burning
Addressing stubble burning as a health crisis requires solutions that begin at the grassroots. Hardeep Singh, an innovator from Dhadrian village, has been working to curb stubble burning by engaging directly with farmers. “Stubble burning is a major issue in Punjab, and my team and I set out to protect 10,000
acres from it,” he shares. “We started by sitting down with farmers to understand their genuine challenges. For those who managed their stubble effectively, we shared their success stories with other farmers, creating a ripple effect of the techniques. We demonstrated practical solutions right in the fields, as we saw that hands-on models were crucial. I promoted mulching techniques across the village and used nukkad natak (street theatre) to raise awareness about local customs, and sustainable agricultural practices.”
Hardeep was able to bring about this change by relying on local data that was collected on the farmlands that were burning stubble. This demonstrates the urgent need for localized data-driven solutions. Such data would allow policymakers to identify high-risk zones, ensuring that interventions such as healthcare resources, subsidies for residue management, and community awareness programs are directed in priority.
The challenges for farmers
For many farmers, stubble burning is not a choice, but a necessity dictated by economic pressures, limited resources, and systemic constraints. The narrow time frame between harvesting rice and sowing wheat, enforced by policies like groundwater conservation, leaves little room for alternative practices. High costs of residue management equipment, uneven subsidy distribution, and the labor shortage during peak seasons exacerbate the problem.
Additionally, farmers often feel marginalized in policy decisions, with top-down interventions failing to address their lived realities, creating a sense of alienation and driving them towards the fastest and most cost-effective solution—burning.
Government interventions and efforts to address stubble burning
The Indian government has taken several steps to combat the issue of stubble burning and its side effects, aiming to reduce the harmful environmental impact.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana or PMKSY encourages farmers to utilize stubble for creating bioenergy and compost, offering better value for crop residues and reducing the incentive for burning. Similar initiatives promoting agricultural equipment such as Happy Seeder machines, Reversible Ploughs, and Straw Management Systems under the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) were introduced to help farmers manage crop residues.
States such as Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh have a Crop Residue Management Scheme which provides farmers with financial assistance to purchase machinery to manage stubble. Additionally, the CRM scheme also gives solutions for composting, converting residue to biogas, etc. The Indian Agriculture Research Institute has also developed a Pusa-Bio Decomposer, a biological solution that accelerates the decomposition of crop residue, providing an eco-friendly alternative to burning.
The way forward
Addressing stubble burning requires a united effort from governments, researchers, NGOs, farmer communities, and the private sector. Empowering farmers with affordable, practical alternatives like residue management equipment, bioenergy solutions, and composting techniques is essential, as demonstrated by programs like the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY). Localized policies offering financial support and capacity-building, such as those in Punjab and Haryana, can ease the transition for farmers, while scientific advancements like the Pusa-Bio Decomposer showcase the potential of scalable eco-friendly solutions.
Grassroots organizations play a crucial role in fostering awareness and adoption through peer-led models and field demonstrations. Finally, partnerships with the private sector can help scale innovations, create markets for stubble-based products, and ensure financial sustainability. By aligning efforts and prioritizing farmer-centric approaches, stubble burning can be mitigated, protecting public health and advancing environmental sustainability.
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