Stubble-Burning: Stand of Government and Judiciary 

Syllabus:GS3/Environment 

In News

• Recently, the Supreme Court and the Union government clashed over how to address stubble-burning by farmers. 

Stubble Burning

• Stubble (parali) burning is a method of removing paddy crop residues from the field to sow wheat.
• It is a process of setting on fire the straw stubble, left after the harvesting of grains, like paddy, etc. 

Occurence

• Paddy stubble burning is practised mainly in the Indo-Gangetic plains of Punjab, Haryana, and UP to clear the fields for rabi crop sowing. 
• The paddy crop is harvested between the first and last weeks of October in Punjab and Haryana. 

Causes 

• The major reason behind the stubble burning is the short time available between rice harvesting and sowing of wheat as delay in sowing wheat affects the wheat crop. 
• stubble burning is considered one of the cheapest methods to clean the field after the harvesting season.

Impacts 

• Pollution: Stubble burning emits toxic pollutants in the atmosphere containing harmful gases like Carbon Monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds (VOC).
  • These pollutants disperse in the surroundings and eventually affect air quality and people’s health by forming a thick blanket of smog.
• Soil fertility: Soil becomes less fertile and its nutrients are destroyed when the husk is burned on the ground
• Heat penetration: Stubble burning generates heat that penetrates into the soil, causing an increase in erosion, loss of useful microbes and moisture.

Recent View of Judiciary 

• Chief Justice B.R. Gavai suggested reintroducing criminal prosecution or creating a new law to deter the practice, arguing that some strict action is needed to send a strong message.
• The court stated that farmers deserve respect, they must also take responsibility for environmental protection.
• It suggested the central government create a uniform policy involving all states and it may issue a mandamus (legal order).

Stand of Government 

• The Centre opposed criminalising farmers, saying its policy is to work with farmers rather than jail them, and noted that farmers had been exempted under the Commission for Air Quality Management Act. 
• The government insisted its stance was policy-based, not influenced by vote-bank politics.
  • The Centre agreed to file a detailed status report on Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.

Related Steps in India

• The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) has been implementing the Crop Residue Management Scheme since 2018-19 to curb stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi by promoting both in-situ and ex-situ solutions.
  • Under the scheme, financial assistance of 50% is provided to farmers for purchasing crop residue management machinery, and 80% to rural entrepreneurs, FPOs, cooperatives, and panchayats for setting up Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs). 
  • It also supports 65% of the capital cost (up to ₹1.5 crore) for establishing paddy straw supply chains for biomass and biofuel industries.
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed standard protocols for monitoring stubble burning, while the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has issued various directives to states and power plants for both in-situ and ex-situ straw management.

Source :TH