Evaluate in-situ and ex-situ crop residue management as alternatives to burning in northwest India.

In Punjab and Haryana, the paddy-wheat cycle leaves only a few weeks between harvesting paddy and sowing wheat, so burning is the cheapest way to clear fields. Since 2018-19, the Central Sector Scheme on Crop Residue Management (CRM) has funded two alternatives: in-situ (mulching straw or mixing it into soil) and ex-situ (collecting it for fuel and industry) [1]. Both work, but neither is yet cheaper than burning.

In-situ management: merits

• Scale: 50% subsidy for individual farmers and 80% for Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs). ₹3,698.45 crore released and 3.23 lakh+ machines supplied by February 2025 [1].
• Soil health: keeps the organic matter and nutrients that burning destroys, so farmers need less fertiliser.
• Results: CAQM made both methods compulsory in hotspot districts, and fire counts fell by more than 90% in 2025 compared with 2022 [2].

In-situ management: limits

• Access: CAQM had to ask States to map machines and make sure small and marginal farmers can use them [3]. CHC machines are fully booked in peak weeks.
• Running cost: the subsidy is paid once, but diesel, operator and rent costs come back every season.
• Time squeeze: the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009 pushed paddy transplanting later, which narrows the window before wheat sowing.

Ex-situ management: merits

• Value from waste: baled straw can feed biomass power, co-firing in thermal plants and compressed biogas (CBG) units. The Petroleum Ministry funds biomass-collection equipment for CBG producers [4].
• Supply chain: more than 4,500 balers and rakes supplied [4]. Punjab was told to move balers between districts and speed up co-firing, and Haryana to improve bale storage [5].

Ex-situ management: limits

• No buyer, no baling: it pays only if a nearby plant buys the straw. Bulky straw is costly to store and move.
• Measurement: progress is tracked by satellite fire counts [3], which can miss fires lit on cloudy days or between satellite passes. A 90% fall in counts is not proof of a 90% fall in burning.

Together, the two methods are workable alternatives, as 2025 shows, but they treat the symptom, not the cause. The way forward is to fund CHCs for the area they actually manage, guarantee buyers for straw, and promote crop diversification so that less straw is produced. This would protect both farm incomes and the right to clean air under Article 21.