India's central government has told states to step up action against stubble burning during the paddy harvest, with district-level plans, fuller use of crop residue machinery and tighter monitoring, Rural Voice reported. The directions came from an inter-ministerial meeting in New Delhi co-chaired by Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.
Between 15 September and 12 October, stubble-burning incidents fell by 53.3% in Haryana and about 32% in Uttar Pradesh compared with the same period last year, and Punjab also recorded a drop, Chouhan said. Rising incidents in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan led to orders to identify affected districts and villages and draw up special action plans.
The Centre has supplied states with more than 3.54 lakh crop residue management machines, including 26,109 new ones in 2026-27. Chouhan asked officials to repair idle older machines and strengthen Custom Hiring Centres so small and marginal farmers can rent equipment at subsidised rates. Between 2018-19 and 2025-26 the Centre released Rs 4,266.47 crore under the Crop Residue Management scheme, Rs 2,056.50 crore of it to Punjab; of Rs 592.57 crore allocated for 2026-27, Rs 430.87 crore has been released, and Chouhan urged Punjab to submit pending utilisation certificates.
Chouhan said residue should be treated as a resource: worked into the soil as organic manure, fed to animals, or used for bio-CNG, bioethanol and power, with links to thermal plants that burn stubble pellets and a look at carbon credits. He also encouraged shorter-duration paddy varieties such as Pusa 2090 and PR126 to leave more time before rabi sowing. Yadav asked for ground patrols and flying squads, especially after 3 pm, when a gap in satellite monitoring can let fires go undetected.
Smoke from north Indian crop fires drifts across the Indo-Gangetic plain each autumn, so how fast farmers get affordable alternatives to burning matters well beyond Delhi.
Photo: CIAT / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source: Rural Voice
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