According to the Standard ISRO Protocol for monitoring paddy crop residue burning events, the current year has observed a massive reduction of 31.5%. The total paddy crop residue burning events between September 15, 2022 to November 30, 2022 in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and NCR Districts of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) and Rajasthan have come down from 78,550 in 2021 to 53,792 in 2022, i.e., a fall of 31.5%.
Likely, the coordinated efforts of the Central Government, Government of Punjab, NCR State Governments and other Stakeholders towards better in-situ management of crop residue through the use of CRM machinery, use of PUSA bio-decomposers, facilitating various options for ex-situ utilization of paddy straw and extensive IEC activities, educational campaigns, awareness camps and publicity through print, electronic and social media have helped significantly in reducing the fire counts.
Crop Residue Management (CRM) scheme
During the 5 year period from 2018-19 to 2022-23, the Central Government, under its CRM Scheme, has released more than Rs. 3,062 crores, to the Government of Punjab, NCR State Governments and GNCTD towards effective management of stubble in the region. Of the total releases, more than Rs. 1,426 crores have been released to the State Government of Punjab.
Central government came up with the CRM scheme to address the problem of crop residue burning holistically. The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare initiated the Central Sector Scheme on “Promotion of agricultural mechanization for in-situ management of crop residue in the state of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi”.
Monitoring through Satellite Imagery
Action Plans were prepared by the NCR State Governments and Punjab Government to control stubble burning, based on the Framework advised by the Commission, . For effective monitoring and to ensure integrity of data, the Commission had also formulated a standard protocol for monitoring of paddy residue burning using satellite data with the help of ISRO, IARI and other stakeholders.
In terms of crop residue management, machinery procured through the scheme in Punjab has about 1.20 Lakh machines so far; Haryana has about 72,700 and U.P. (NCR) has about 7,480 machines. During the period, about 38,400 Custom Hiring Centers (CHCs) have been built in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, of which about 24,200 CHCs are in Punjab and about 6,775 in Haryana.
State-wise reductions in stubble burning
The total crop residue burning events in Haryana have come down from 6,987 in 2021 to 3,661 in 2022, i.e., a reduction of 47.60% as compared to the corresponding period of last year. Similarly, total crop residue burning events in Punjab have come down from 71,304 in 2021 to 49,922 in 2022, i.e., a reduction of 29.99%. The total crop residue burning events in NCR Districts of UP, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi have come down from 259 in 2021 to 209 in 2022, a reduction of 19.30% as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Though there is overall reduction in the area monitored, two districts of Punjab (Bhatinda and Fazilka), one NCR district of U.P. (Bulandsahar) and one district of Haryana (Yamuna Nagar) have reported significantly higher number of farm fire counts as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Delhi AQI falls 56 points in a year
During November 2022, the maximum contribution of farm fires to the daily PM2.5 levels in Delhi was 34% as against 48% last November of 2021. The daily average AQI of Delhi in November, 2022 registered an improvement at 320.60 as compared to 376.50 in November, 2021, i.e., a reduction of about 56 points.