Why Punjab farms continue to burn — and choke Delhi

On the outskirts of Patiala, much of a five-acre patch is about to go up in smoke. Within minutes, Karnail Singh’s golden field is blanketed in fumes that release trace gases and particulate matter. In village after village of Punjab, the scene is repeated as farmers set their fields on fire, the quickest way to get rid of paddy stubble before wheat can be sown.

Fires raging across Punjab and Haryana have left their neighbour — Delhi — gasping and wheezing. On Friday, the national capital’s pollution levels had increased by around 75 points, taking overall air quality index to 484, categorised as “severe plus” or “emergency”.

While industries and vehicular emissions are major contributors to pollution, farm fires in winters are a huge factor. Scientists from the ministry of earth sciences’ air quality monitor, Safar, found that Delhi’s pollution worsened by 35% on Wednesday, the season’s highest, due to stubble burning.

The numbers are telling. Between September 23 and October 31, the Remote Sensing Centre at Ludhiana registered 22,137 cases of active fires across Punjab, a 22% jump compared to last year with 17,646 cases. Paddy is grown in 29 lakh hectares in Punjab, generating a massive 22 million tonnes of straw after harvest. In Haryana, where 13 lakh hectares are under paddy cultivation, 4,257 fires were recorded in October.

Governments in Punjab and Haryana say they provided subsidies to farmers to buy equipment for paddy straw management. K S Pannu, Punjab’s agriculture secretary and nodal officer to curtail stubble burning, said the state has spent Rs 500 crore since last year on subsidies and Happy Seeders — on 28,000 such machines last year and 17,000 this year.

But with prices ranging from Rs 55,000 to Rs 2.7 lakh after subsidies, they are out of reach for most farmers.

“How can farmers afford such expensive machines, especially those with small landholdings?” asked Malkiat Singh, a Bharatiya Kisan Union leader in Haryana.

“Even if we were to buy these machines, what are we supposed to do with them once the paddy season is over? They will be in use barely for 20 days a month,” said Pritam Singh from Sanor village, 8km from Patiala.

Those who have invested in the machines said the cost of diesel per acre was too high. “Operating the machines on an acre of land incurs diesel cost of Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000,” said Gurmail Singh from Lang village.

The economically viable option would be for a group of farmers to pool in money to buy a machine and take turns to use it on their fields. But this poses another problem: they might just run out of time.

Between rice harvest and wheat plantation, there is only a 10-day period when early-sown varieties of wheat can be planted. The period can extend to a month for other varieties, according to Mahinder Singh from Patiala’s Laachkani village. Wheat is generally sown at the end of October with the onset of winter. Research has shown that planting date is important as delayed planting could decrease yields.

Gurmeet Singh, who owns a Happy Seeder, the lone such machine in Laachkani, said, “Even if it works for nine hours a day, it can operate on only seven acres. Paddy is planted in 1,000 acres in our village and we would need at least 15 Happy Seeders to plant wheat in time.”

In both states, farmers demand an increase in minimum support price for paddy or Rs 6,000 per acre labour cost to make the investment worthwhile.

“We know burning paddy straw is harmful, but we can’t pay from our own pocket to manage stubble. What option do we have?” said Gurcharan Singh from Barnala’s Sanghera village.