Explained: Why stubble fires in Punjab and Haryana keep coming back
A groundwater law, a long-duration rice variety and a satellite's timetable: how they keep north India's fields burning.
Published 9 October 2026. Written by Pratidin from the reports linked at the end; every fact checked by a separate review before publishing. How we work
As the paddy harvest begins in north-west India, an explainer in The Hindu argues that stubble burning persists because of legal, technological and economic causes, not just farmer behaviour. Stubble is the base of the rice plant left standing after a combine harvester cuts the crop. Farmers in Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh burn it between early October and the end of November to clear fields quickly for wheat. The smoke adds particulate matter and other pollutants to the winter air of the Delhi region, while the fire strips the soil of nutrients and organic matter.
The explainer traces the timing of the fires to the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009. To save groundwater, the Act bars sowing of paddy nurseries before 10 May and lets the State notify the earliest date for transplanting, with a penalty of ₹10,000 per hectare for every month of violation. Haryana passed a similar law the same year. Later transplanting pushes the harvest into late October and November, leaving a short window before wheat sowing, and long-duration varieties such as PUSA-44 narrow it further. The article adds that assured government procurement of paddy and wheat, and free or nearly free farm power, keep farmers tied to water-intensive paddy.
On solutions, the piece describes in-situ management, where residue is handled in the field with machines such as the Happy Seeder, and ex-situ use of straw for bio-ethanol, compressed biogas or fuel, noting that both carry costs that small farmers struggle to bear. It also questions official claims of a sharp fall in fires. Counts rely on polar-orbiting satellites that pass over in the early afternoon, and a study by ISRO's Space Applications Centre in Current Science (November 2025) found that peak fire activity in Punjab and Haryana shifted to around 5 p.m. by 2024. The article argues that penalties alone create incentives for under-reporting, and calls for crop diversification and better measurement.
Prelims facts
- The Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009 bars sowing of paddy nurseries before 10 May and lets the State notify the transplanting date.
- The Act's penalty is ₹10,000 per hectare for every month or part of a month of violation.
- Delayed transplanting pushes the paddy harvest later and squeezes the window before wheat sowing, which encourages burning.
- In-situ residue management handles straw in the field (for example, the Happy Seeder); ex-situ management removes it for uses such as biogas or ethanol.
- An ISRO Space Applications Centre study found peak farm-fire activity in Punjab and Haryana shifted to around 5 p.m. by 2024, after the afternoon pass of polar satellites.
Quick recall
- Earliest date for sowing paddy nurseries under Punjab's 2009 Act?
- 10 May.
- How is the transplanting date fixed under Punjab's 2009 Act?
- By notification of the State government.
- Penalty under Punjab's 2009 subsoil water Act?
- ₹10,000 per hectare for every month or part of a month.
- What does a Happy Seeder do?
- Sows wheat directly through standing paddy stubble (in-situ management).
- In-situ versus ex-situ residue management?
- In-situ handles straw in the field; ex-situ removes it for uses such as biogas or ethanol.
- By 2024, around what time did farm-fire activity peak in Punjab and Haryana, per the ISRO SAC study?
- Around 5 p.m.
- When did the CAQM become a statutory body?
- 2021, through an Act of Parliament.
- Usual stubble-burning season in north-west India?
- Early October to end-November.
Prelims practice question
With reference to the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009, consider the following statements:
1. It bars sowing of paddy nurseries before 10 May.
2. It fixes 1 June as the earliest date for transplanting paddy.
3. It provides for a penalty calculated per hectare for each month of violation.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only. Statement 1 is correct (Section 3(1)). Statement 2 is wrong: the Act does not fix a transplanting date; it bars transplanting before a date notified by the State. Statement 3 is correct: the penalty is ₹10,000 for every month or part of it, per hectare.
Use this in UPSC Mains: previous-year questions
Recurring theme: Air pollution from crop residue burning and the water-agriculture trade-off in north-west India
- How to use this
Cite the Punjab law as a State measure against groundwater depletion and note its trade-off with air quality, showing policies must be designed together.
- The Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009 bars paddy nurseries before 10 May and lets the State notify the transplanting date.
- Violators face a penalty of ₹10,000 per hectare for every month of violation; later transplanting saves groundwater but pushes the harvest later.
- Assured procurement and nearly free power keep farmers in water-intensive paddy, a root cause of depletion.
- How to use this
Use stubble burning to argue that NCAP needs regional, source-specific action and better monitoring beyond city limits.
- Burning in Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh from October to November adds particulate matter to Delhi's air.
- An ISRO SAC study found peak fires shifted to around 5 p.m. by 2024, so polar-satellite counts may understate burning.
- Geostationary satellite data allow round-the-clock monitoring of farm fires, closing the gap left by fixed-time polar passes.
Stubble smoke raises pollutants such as particulate matter and carbon monoxide that feed into the Air Quality Index.
Mains practice question
Stubble burning in north-west India is as much a product of policy as of farmer choice. Examine this statement and suggest a mix of measures to end the practice. (250 words)
Model answer
Every October and November, farmers in Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh burn paddy stubble to clear fields for wheat, worsening winter air pollution in the Delhi region.
How policy shapes the practice
- Groundwater law: the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009 bars nursery sowing before 10 May and lets the State notify the transplanting date. This saves water but pushes the harvest later.
- Short window: a later harvest leaves little time before wheat sowing; long-duration varieties such as PUSA-44 shrink it further.
- Mechanisation: combine harvesters leave standing stubble that is slow and costly to clear by hand.
- Incentives for paddy: assured procurement and free or nearly free power keep farmers in a water-intensive crop.
Why enforcement falls short
- In-situ machines like the Happy Seeder and ex-situ uses such as biogas carry costs small farmers struggle to bear.
- Satellite counts may understate fires: an ISRO Space Applications Centre study found peak burning shifted to around 5 p.m. by 2024, after polar satellites pass.
- Penalties can encourage under-reporting rather than real change.
A mix of measures
- Short term: subsidised machine hiring through cooperatives, short-duration rice varieties, and assured buyers for straw.
- Medium term: bio-CNG and ethanol plants near paddy belts.
- Long term: crop diversification with procurement support for alternatives, and pricing of power that reflects water use.
- Measurement: geostationary satellite data for round-the-clock monitoring.
Stubble burning will end only when the policies that make burning rational change.
The basics
Why this matters
Each autumn, smoke from burning paddy fields in Punjab and Haryana joins vehicle and industrial pollution over the Delhi region. Bans and penalties have not ended the practice. To see why, one has to look at a water law, the crop calendar and how fires are counted.
The crop calendar
North-west India grows rice in the kharif season and wheat in the rabi season on the same fields. The gap between the two decides whether farmers have time to clear straw without fire.
- 1Nursery and transplantingThe 2009 Act bars nursery sowing before 10 May; transplanting waits for a notified date
- 2HarvestLater transplanting pushes harvest into late October and November
- 3Combine harvestingMachines cut the grain and leave stubble standing in the field
- 4Wheat sowingLittle time remains, so many farmers burn the stubble to clear fields fast
A water law with a side effect
The Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009 aimed to save falling groundwater by moving paddy transplanting closer to the monsoon, so rain could replace pumped water. It largely did that, but it also pushed the harvest later, into a colder season when still air traps smoke near the ground.
Two ways to deal with straw
Crop residue management comes in two forms, and each has a cost problem.
- Happy Seeder sows wheat through standing stubble
- Short-duration rice varieties widen the window
- Machines need powerful tractors and are idle most of the year
- Straw used for compressed biogas, ethanol or fuel
- Needs collection, baling and transport
- Costs fall on farmers unless buyers pay
Counting the fires
Official fire counts come from Satellite fire monitoring. Polar-orbiting satellites see a place only at fixed times, around early afternoon. An ISRO study found that peak burning shifted to around 5 p.m. by 2024, so counts may miss fires. The regulator for the region's air is the Commission for Air Quality Management, set up by law in 2021.
Go deeper
In one line: Stubble fires persist because a groundwater law, crop choices and costly alternatives leave farmers a short window to clear fields, while satellite counts may understate the problem.
Why it matters for UPSC
Stubble burning ties together GS3 environment (air pollution), agriculture (cropping patterns, procurement) and water management, and is a recurring Mains theme every winter.
The core idea
The Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009 delayed paddy transplanting to save groundwater, which pushed the harvest closer to wheat sowing. Farmers who lack time and money for Crop residue management burn the straw. Claims of decline rely on Satellite fire monitoring, which may miss evening fires. The Commission for Air Quality Management oversees the response in the Delhi region.
Numbers and dates to remember
- Burning season: early October to end-November
- 2009 Act: no paddy nursery before 10 May; transplanting from a notified date
- Penalty: ₹10,000 per hectare per month of violation
- ISRO SAC study (Current Science, November 2025): peak fire activity around 5 p.m. by 2024
- CAQM: statutory body since 2021
Where to go next
- Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009: the water law that shifted the burning season
- Crop residue management: in-situ and ex-situ options and their costs
- Satellite fire monitoring: why fire counts may understate burning
- Commission for Air Quality Management: the statutory body for air quality in the Delhi region
Go deeper: penalties versus incentives
The enforcement view. Fires are visible, the harm to public health is large, and the law allows action. Fines, field monitoring teams and action against officials who fail to act are the main tools, coordinated by the Commission for Air Quality Management.
The incentives view. The Hindu's explainer argues that farmers burn because it is the cheapest, fastest option given the crop calendar shaped by the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009. Machines for Crop residue management need powerful tractors and sit idle most of the year, and ex-situ uses need collection and transport. Assured procurement and nearly free power keep paddy attractive. Penalties without alternatives, it argues, encourage collusion and under-reporting rather than a real fall.
The measurement problem. If fires move to hours when satellites are not looking, counts drop even when burning does not. The ISRO Space Applications Centre study on Satellite fire monitoring found that peak activity shifted to around 5 p.m. by 2024. Geostationary satellites, which watch continuously, can close this gap.
The trade-off. The 2009 Act shows a real policy dilemma: saving groundwater and cleaning the air pull in different directions unless farmers move away from paddy. Crop diversification, backed by procurement for alternatives, is the long-term answer the article points to.
Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009
The water law that shifted the burning season.
In one line: The Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009 (Punjab Act No. 6 of 2009) delays paddy sowing and transplanting to reduce the pumping of groundwater.
What it says
Section 3 bars farmers from sowing paddy nurseries before 10 May and from transplanting before a date notified by the State. Officers may destroy nurseries or crops planted in violation, and Section 7 sets a penalty of ₹10,000 for every month or part of a month, per hectare. Haryana passed a similar law in 2009.
Why it matters
Transplanting closer to the monsoon lets rain do more of the work, so less groundwater is pumped. But a later crop is harvested later, leaving less time to clear fields before wheat, and in colder weather when smoke lingers.
Where to go next
Crop residue management
In-situ and ex-situ options and their costs.
In one line: Crop residue management means handling leftover straw without burning it, either in the field (in-situ) or by taking it away for other uses (ex-situ).
In-situ options
The Happy Seeder sows wheat directly through standing stubble. Other machines chop the straw and mix it into the soil. Short-duration rice varieties and direct seeding of rice widen the window between crops. The catch is cost: these machines need powerful tractors and are used for only a few weeks a year.
Ex-situ options
Straw can be baled and sold for compressed biogas, ethanol, power plants or other industrial uses. This needs collection, storage and transport, and works only where buyers pay enough to cover those costs.
Where to go next
Crop residue management: every story that connects to it (2)
Satellite fire monitoring
Why fire counts may understate burning.
In one line: Farm fires are counted from space by detecting heat, but what is seen depends on when and how often a satellite looks.
Polar and geostationary satellites
Polar-orbiting satellites circle the Earth from pole to pole and pass over a given place at roughly the same times each day; the MODIS and VIIRS sensors observe India only between about 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Geostationary satellites stay above one point and can image a region every few minutes.
Why it is in the news
A study by ISRO's Space Applications Centre, published in Current Science in November 2025, found that peak fire activity in Punjab and Haryana shifted from early afternoon to around 5 p.m. by 2024, and warned that falling official counts may reflect underestimation. This is why the explainer questions claims of a steep decline.
Where to go next
Commission for Air Quality Management
The statutory body for air quality in the Delhi region.
In one line: The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) is a statutory body created by an Act of Parliament in 2021 to manage air pollution across Delhi and neighbouring States.
What it does
The CAQM coordinates action among Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan on sources such as vehicles, industry, construction dust and stubble burning. Its directions bind the authorities concerned, and it replaced the earlier Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority.
Why it is in the news
Each season the CAQM reviews stubble-burning plans of Punjab and Haryana, deploys monitoring with central agencies, and can direct action against officials who fail to enforce rules.
Where to go next
Commission for Air Quality Management: every story that connects to it (3)
Take the 9 October 2026 quiz: 30 Prelims-style questions with answers