Cleaner Air, Better Life: Mitigating Farm Stubble Burning

As winter gradually sets in across North India, air pollution levels are already rising sharply, with farm fires increasing at an alarming pace. While several factors contribute to deteriorating air quality, stubble burning remains a major driver, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, where farmers burn residual crop biomass due to limited viable alternatives. This practice significantly worsens air pollution and disrupts daily life.

Recognizing the growing impact of farm stubble burning as a significant cause of ecological degradation and falling farmers’ income over the long term, the CII Foundation launched a multi-stakeholder project in 2018 in Punjab to mitigate farm stubble burning. The project was conceptualized to make zero-crop residue burning a farmer movement and facilitate industry and community partnership in climate change mitigation efforts.

When the project was launched, farm stubble burning in India’s northwest, especially in the target areas of Punjab and Haryana, was considered an inevitable part of post-harvest practice due to constraints of time, cost, accessibility and lack of awareness about the damage due to burning. Today, the initiative has been instrumental in changing this narrative and bringing together government, industry, academia and the farmer community to create a zero stubble burning movement. Currently, it covers 1003 Villages and 2,65,617 Farmers in Punjab and Haryana.

Intervention Strategies

In the project villages, biomass management alternatives are given to the farmers, which can largely be clubbed into two categories, namely:

In-situ straw management:

This included mechanized in-situ management of straw – mulching, zero-till sowing and biochar conversion of crop residue for soil incorporation in the field. This is made possible through use of farm machines from Tool Banks where farmers are given access to appropriate machinery for management of crop residues.

In-field utilization is not only environmentally sustainable but enriches the soil.

Ex-situ straw management:

Ex-situ straw management includes methods of turning farm stubble into bio-gas and biogas plants have been set up that help convert 30-40% of surplus residue into energy or fertilizers. Additionally biomass palletisation plants have also been set up under the project to help convert organic waste into dense pellets for energy production.

Interventions also include awareness building sessions involving farmer cooperatives, gurudwaras, panchayats, schools and colleges on impacts of stubble burning and possible ecological solution. Technical training and hand-holding support to farmers in partnership with agricultural universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendra are also instrumental in helping bring a behavioural shift in farmers and motivating them to choose alternative methods of crop management.

The Results

Over the years, the initiative has reported major success, making it one of the most significant climate and community-led interventions of CII Foundation. The project is currently supported by corporate donors such as Apraava Energy, Cadence Design Systems, Fidelity International, Goodyear, HDFC Bank, JSW Foundation, PTC Foundation, PTC India Financial Services and SBI Card.

In 2024, 87% of farmland was saved from burning in the intervened 793 villages, covering 8,73,835 acres of total farmland and 1,47,736 farmers. The initiative also had strong positive environmental impact by saving 96.58 billion litres of water and avoiding 8699.2 tonnes of fine particulate matter and 18,46,222.3 tonnes of CO2.

Expanding the Initiative

With the vision to scale up to 2,500 villages by 2028, the initiative offers a practical roadmap to build robust climate resilience in agriculture. It also demonstrates how locally-led initiatives and mitigation strategies can intersect meaningfully with national and global agendas. Climate change is not a siloed problem and the project proves that with the right coordination and cooperation in community ownership, transformative change is possible.

For more details, visit: https://ciifoundation.in/cleaner-air-better-life.php