Paddy stubble burning cases in Punjab lowest in 11 years: Report

The number of cases of paddy stubble burning in Punjab this year are lowest in the last 11 years.

As per satellite data compiled by CREAMS under the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, the state recorded a total of 49,899 farm fires till November 28, a 30 per cent dip compared to last year's count of 71,304. In 2020, the state government had recorded 79,093 stubble burning cases.

Also Read | Delhi-NCR pollution: Stubble burning happening due to failure of 4 state governments, says NHRC

This season, the state government organised several awareness campaigns and arranged 42,342 new subsidised crop residue management (CRM) machines. The government claims to have provided 1.22 lakh crop CRM machines to farmers in the last few years, as per a Times of India report.

However, a large section of small farmers in Punjab say that they cannot afford to buy and then pay for fuel to run the machines.

Nasa's VIIRS satellites show that farm fires in Punjab this year were lowest since at least 2012.

The total area used for paddy cultivation in the state is 30.84 lakh hectares. Last year, the total area under paddy was 31.41 lakh hectares. In July, Punjab government had received Rs 235 crore from the Centre for management of paddy stubble. This is the third consecutive year when the Centre is providing funds to Punjab for CRM.