Despite subsidised machinery and statutory oversight, stubble fires recur every season. Analyse the legal, technological and economic factors, and suggest a lasting solution.

Stubble burning means setting fire to paddy residue in Punjab and Haryana every October-November. It continues despite the Central Sector Scheme on Crop Residue Management (CRM, running since 2018-19) [1] and statutory directions from CAQM [4]. The fires return because farm incentives still make burning the farmer's rational choice.

Legal factors

• Subsoil water laws: the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009 delays paddy transplanting to save groundwater. This squeezes the gap between paddy harvest and wheat sowing to a few weeks.
• Oversight relies on enforcement: CAQM Directions 90 and 92 require in-situ and ex-situ residue management in hotspot districts [4]. Fines, however, target the symptom and can push burning out of sight instead of ending it.

Technological factors

• Buying machines is not the same as managing straw: ₹3,698.45 crore was released and over 3.23 lakh machines were supplied between 2018-19 and February 2025 [1]. Yet CAQM still had to ask States to map how machines are used, especially by small and marginal farmers [2].
• Bottleneck at peak time: everyone harvests in the same weeks, so CHC (Custom Hiring Centre) machines are already booked when small farmers need them.
• Measurement gap: satellites count fire spots and can miss burning under cloud or between passes. A fall of about 90% in fire counts compared with 2022 [3] does not prove that burning has ended.

Economic factors

• Assured MSP procurement of paddy and wheat locks farmers into the paddy-wheat cycle.
• Subsidy design: individual farmers get 50%, while CHCs, FPOs (Farmer Producer Organisations) and panchayats get 80% [1]. Large farmers can buy machines; small farmers wait to rent one.
• Running costs such as diesel, operator wages and rent get no subsidy, while burning costs nothing.
• No market for straw: collecting straw (ex-situ use) pays only if there is a buyer nearby.

A lasting solution

• Diversify crops: offer price support and procurement for maize and pulses so less land goes to paddy. That means less straw, a longer sowing window and less strain on groundwater.
• Pay for results: pay CHCs for each acre cleared without fire, with small farmers served first.
• Build straw markets: biomass co-firing in power plants and bio-CNG units can act as assured buyers.
• Measure better: map the area actually burnt and check it in the field.
• Fair penalties: fine a farmer only where a machine or buyer was clearly available to them in time.

Stubble fires come from a skewed incentive structure, not from farmers not caring. A shift from machines and fines to crop diversification, payment for results and straw markets would make clean air pay for farmers. It would also advance the Article 21 right to a healthy environment, SDGs 3 and 13, and CAQM's goal of zero burning.