Why is paddy stubble burning concentrated in late October and November?

Combine-harvested paddy in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh finishes between mid-October and early November, leaving roughly 8 t/ha of loose straw and 20–30 cm of anchored stubble on the field. Farmers have a narrow 15–25 day window before the recommended Rabi wheat sowing date (around 25 October – 10 November) and historically burned the residue as the cheapest, fastest way to clear it. The burning peak therefore overlaps with the cooling, low-wind period over the Indo-Gangetic Plain when smoke disperses poorly, contributing to a sharp seasonal rise in PM2.5 over Delhi-NCR.

How much paddy straw is generated each year in Punjab and Haryana?

Government estimates and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) studies put annual paddy residue generation in Punjab at around 18–20 million tonnes and in Haryana at around 7–8 million tonnes, with around half of the Punjab volume historically burned in the field. Total all-India crop residue generation is estimated at over 500 million tonnes per year across all crops, of which about 80–90 million tonnes is reported as burned.

What is the Pusa Bio-Decomposer and how is it used?

The Pusa Bio-Decomposer is a microbial consortium developed by ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi and released in 2020. Supplied as capsules that are fermented overnight into about 25 litres of liquid spray per acre with jaggery and chickpea flour, the spray is applied to chopped paddy stubble. Under typical Punjab–Haryana conditions it decomposes the stubble in 20–25 days, allowing in-situ incorporation without burning. It has been promoted by the Delhi and several other state governments and is widely used alongside Happy Seeder / Super Seeder routes.

What support is available under the Crop Residue Management (CRM) sub-scheme?

Since 2018–19 the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has operated a Crop Residue Management sub-scheme (originally as Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue, now consolidated under the CRM component of Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization). It provides 50% financial assistance to individual farmers and 80% to Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs), Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and Panchayats for purchase of CRM machinery — Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, Mulcher, Reversible MB Plough, balers, rakes — and supports Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and ex-situ supply-chain pilots in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi.

Does residue incorporation actually improve the soil?

Yes — long-term trials at ICAR-IIWBR (Karnal), PAU (Ludhiana) and CIMMYT-IRRI Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) report measurable gains over 4–6 years of zero-till residue retention: 0.05–0.15% increase in topsoil organic carbon, 8–15% improvement in moisture retention, lower weed pressure (especially Phalaris minor in wheat) and 3–8% higher wheat yield at the system level once initial transition-year challenges are managed. Burning, in contrast, destroys 100% of the residue carbon and 80–90% of the residue nitrogen.

What are the legal and air-quality directions on residue burning?

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned in-field crop residue burning in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in its 10 December 2015 order in O.A. 118/2013 (Vikrant Kumar Tongad). The Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM), constituted under Act No. 9 of 2021, directs state governments on enforcement, Super-SMS fitment on combines, CRM machinery deployment and ex-situ supply chains. State pollution control boards monitor satellite-detected burning hot-spots through ISRO–NRSC fire-count datasets.

Crop Residue Management in India — Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, Pusa Bio-Decomposer and Ex-Situ Uses for Paddy Straw

The 15–25 day window between combine-harvested paddy and the optimal wheat sowing date in the Indo-Gangetic Plain is one of the most consequential fortnights in Indian agriculture. How farmers manage the roughly 8 tonnes per hectare of paddy residue in that window decides whether Delhi-NCR breathes smoke in November, whether the soil gains or loses organic carbon over the decade, and whether the system has any pathway to a circular bio-economy of straw-based biomass, 2G ethanol and Compressed Bio-Gas. This guide summarises the in-situ tools, the IARI Pusa Bio-Decomposer route, the principal ex-situ uses and the policy and finance support farmers can draw on — drawn from advisories of ICAR institutes, PAU Ludhiana, the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and the Commission for Air Quality Management.

Scale of the problem

India generates more than 500 million tonnes of crop residue every year. The two crops at the centre of the policy debate are rice (paddy) and wheat — the backbone of the Indo-Gangetic Plain's rice–wheat system. Punjab alone produces around 18–20 million tonnes of paddy straw annually, Haryana another 7–8 million tonnes; ICAR-IARI (New Delhi) and the Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI) estimate that a large fraction of the Punjab volume has historically been burned in-field. Satellite fire-count time-series from ISRO-NRSC (the National Remote Sensing Centre) show the burning peak in the last week of October and first week of November, coinciding with the seasonal inversion that traps PM2.5 over the Delhi-NCR airshed.

The economic and agronomic argument against burning is just as strong as the air-quality one. Burning destroys 100% of the residue carbon, 80–90% of the residue nitrogen and a substantial share of the residue's phosphorus, potassium and sulphur. Long-term trials at ICAR-IIWBR (Karnal), PAU Ludhiana and the CIMMYT-IRRI Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) show that retaining and incorporating residue lifts topsoil organic carbon by 0.05–0.15% over 4–6 years, improves moisture retention, suppresses Phalaris minor in wheat and raises system-level wheat yield by 3–8% once the initial transition is managed.

In-situ machinery options

In-situ management keeps the residue on the field — either as a surface mulch (no-till / Happy Seeder route) or by incorporating it into the topsoil (Super Seeder, MB Plough route). All the equipment below is eligible for subsidy under the Crop Residue Management (CRM) sub-scheme of the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM).

Happy Seeder

Use: Direct drilling of wheat into standing paddy stubble after combine harvest.

How it works: Tractor-mounted (45 HP+) unit with rotating flails that cut and lift loose straw, drill wheat seed and fertiliser, and deposit the straw back as a surface mulch in a single pass.

Where it fits: Recommended where combine-harvested paddy leaves anchored stubble of 20–30 cm with loose straw on the surface. Developed by ICAR and PAU Ludhiana with CIMMYT support; widely deployed across Punjab and Haryana since 2016.

Super Seeder

Use: Sowing of wheat after fully mixing standing and loose paddy residue into the topsoil.

How it works: Combines a rotavator with a seed-and-fertiliser drill in one pass. The rotavator chops and incorporates 6–8 t/ha of paddy residue into 0–10 cm of soil; the drill follows behind, placing wheat seed and basal fertiliser at depth.

Where it fits: Suited to farmers who prefer full incorporation (rather than mulched no-till) and have a 55 HP+ tractor. Allows comfortable wheat sowing at the optimal 25 Oct – 10 Nov window in Punjab/Haryana even after combine-harvested paddy.

Super SMS (Straw Management System)

Use: Attachment fitted to a combine harvester to chop and uniformly spread the paddy straw at the time of harvest.

How it works: Mandated on combines in Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh: cuts the loose straw to 8–10 cm pieces and spreads it across the cut-width so the field is ready for Happy Seeder or Super Seeder without a separate chopping pass.

Where it fits: Operational pre-requisite for Happy Seeder sowing. State governments enforce Super-SMS fitment on combines under the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) directions.

Mulcher (Stubble Shaver / Chopper)

Use: Chopping standing paddy stubble in fields harvested by manual or combine cutting.

How it works: Flail or Y-blade rotor cuts standing stubble to short, mulchable pieces. Followed up either by Super Seeder, Rotavator or Reversible MB Plough for incorporation, or left as surface mulch.

Where it fits: Useful where the next crop is sown later (potato, vegetables) or where farmers want a separate residue-chopping pass before tillage.

Reversible MB Plough

Use: Deep incorporation of paddy residue ahead of late-sown wheat or other Rabi crops.

How it works: Mouldboard plough inverts the topsoil, burying chopped residue at 20–25 cm depth. Typically followed by harrowing and a Roto-till drill for sowing.

Where it fits: Adopted where farmers have time between paddy harvest and wheat sowing, or where loose straw is too thick for a single-pass Super Seeder.

The IARI Pusa Bio-Decomposer

The Pusa Bio-Decomposer is a microbial consortium developed at ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi and released in 2020 by the Division of Microbiology. It is supplied as capsules that the farmer ferments overnight into about 25 litres of liquid spray per acre, using jaggery and chickpea flour to build the microbial population. The spray is applied to chopped paddy stubble after Super-SMS spreading; under typical Punjab–Haryana temperatures it decomposes the stubble in 20–25 days, allowing in-situ incorporation without burning and without the deeper-tillage pass that MB ploughing requires.

The Government of NCT of Delhi has promoted free Pusa Bio-Decomposer spraying on paddy fields in its territory each Kharif harvest since 2020; Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have run state-level demonstrations under the CRM sub-scheme and via state agriculture departments and KVKs.

Ex-situ uses of paddy and wheat straw

Ex-situ pathways take the residue off the field and put it to productive use. Baling — using tractor-drawn round or rectangular balers — is the core operation that turns loose straw into a transportable, market-ready commodity.

Baling for biomass power, 2G ethanol and CBG. Tractor-drawn balers (round or rectangular) compress chopped straw into transportable bales of 200–500 kg. Bales feed biomass power plants, 2G ethanol refineries (e.g. the Indian Oil Corporation 100 KLPD plant at Panipat, Haryana, commissioned in 2022, which is designed to consume around 2 lakh tonnes of paddy straw per year) and Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) units under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas SATAT scheme.
Cattle fodder and animal bedding. Wheat straw (bhusa) is already a staple dry-fodder source. Treated paddy straw — urea-ammoniation or steam treatment — can be used as a maintenance ration for ruminants when supplemented with green fodder and concentrates; ICAR-NDRI (Karnal) and ICAR-IGFRI (Jhansi) publish treatment protocols.
Mushroom cultivation substrate. Paddy straw is the classical substrate for the paddy-straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) and is also used, after pasteurisation, as a component of oyster (Pleurotus) mushroom beds. ICAR-Directorate of Mushroom Research (DMR), Solan publishes substrate-preparation packages.
Composting and vermicomposting. Chopped paddy or wheat straw mixed with cattle dung, water and a microbial culture composts in 8–10 weeks; vermi-beds with Eisenia fetida convert pre-composted straw to vermicompost in 60–75 days. Both lift soil organic carbon and supply slow-release N, P and K.
Industrial use — paper, board and packaging. Rice and wheat straw pulp can substitute partially for hardwood pulp in paper and board manufacture, and is used in moulded fibre packaging and cellulosic insulation board.

Policy, finance and enforcement

NGT order, 10 December 2015 (O.A. 118/2013). The National Green Tribunal banned in-field crop residue burning in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, directing state pollution control boards to enforce action against burning.
Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), 2021. Constituted by Act No. 9 of 2021, CAQM is the statutory body that issues directions to NCR state governments on Super-SMS fitment, CRM machinery roll-out, ex-situ supply-chain build-out and stubble-burning enforcement.
Crop Residue Management (CRM) sub-scheme. Operational since 2018–19; provides 50% financial assistance to individual farmers and 80% to Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs), Farmer Producer Organisations and Panchayats for CRM machinery in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi. From 2023–24 it also supports ex-situ supply-chain pilots and IEC at scale.
SATAT Compressed Bio-Gas programme.The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative offtakes CBG produced from paddy straw and other agri-residue via Oil Marketing Company tie-ups, providing a demand-side anchor for baled straw.
2G ethanol refineries.Indian Oil Corporation's 100 KLPD second-generation ethanol plant at Panipat, Haryana, commissioned in 2022, is designed to use around 2 lakh tonnes of paddy straw per year, creating a year-round local buyer for baled residue.

How this connects with other planning on this site

Residue management is most effective when it is wired into the rest of the farm plan. Time the operations using our India crop calendar — Super Seeder or Happy Seeder sowing has to land inside the 25 Oct – 10 Nov wheat sowing window in Punjab and Haryana to avoid yield penalties. Track changes in topsoil organic carbon and pH after a few years of residue retention using your Soil Health Card. Finance the additional machinery hire or one-time purchase via the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) and CRM sub-scheme and through CHCs run by Farmer Producer Organisations under the 10,000 FPO scheme. And for the broader sustainable-agriculture context — rainfed area development, integrated farming and resource conservation technologies — see our National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) guide.

References

ICAR-IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute), New Delhi — Pusa Bio-Decomposer release and Division of Microbiology protocols.
ICAR-IIWBR (Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research), Karnal — long-term zero-till residue retention trials and wheat agronomy.
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana — Happy Seeder, Super SMS and Super Seeder development with ICAR and CIMMYT.
ICAR-CIPHET (Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology), Ludhiana — residue-utilisation engineering and ex-situ value chains.
Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (agriwelfare.gov.in) — Crop Residue Management sub-scheme guidelines and operational circulars.
Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) — statutory directions on residue burning and CRM enforcement in NCR.
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas — SATAT (CBG) and the IOCL Panipat 2G ethanol plant for ex-situ straw offtake.
ISRO-NRSC (National Remote Sensing Centre) — satellite-detected crop-residue burning fire-count datasets.

Frequently asked questions

Why is paddy stubble burning concentrated in late October and November?: Combine-harvested paddy in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh finishes between mid-October and early November, leaving roughly 8 t/ha of loose straw and 20–30 cm of anchored stubble on the field. Farmers have a narrow 15–25 day window before the recommended Rabi wheat sowing date (around 25 October – 10 November) and historically burned the residue as the cheapest, fastest way to clear it. The burning peak therefore overlaps with the cooling, low-wind period over the Indo-Gangetic Plain when smoke disperses poorly, contributing to a sharp seasonal rise in PM2.5 over Delhi-NCR.
How much paddy straw is generated each year in Punjab and Haryana?: Government estimates and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) studies put annual paddy residue generation in Punjab at around 18–20 million tonnes and in Haryana at around 7–8 million tonnes, with around half of the Punjab volume historically burned in the field. Total all-India crop residue generation is estimated at over 500 million tonnes per year across all crops, of which about 80–90 million tonnes is reported as burned.
What is the Pusa Bio-Decomposer and how is it used?: The Pusa Bio-Decomposer is a microbial consortium developed by ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi and released in 2020. Supplied as capsules that are fermented overnight into about 25 litres of liquid spray per acre with jaggery and chickpea flour, the spray is applied to chopped paddy stubble. Under typical Punjab–Haryana conditions it decomposes the stubble in 20–25 days, allowing in-situ incorporation without burning. It has been promoted by the Delhi and several other state governments and is widely used alongside Happy Seeder / Super Seeder routes.
What support is available under the Crop Residue Management (CRM) sub-scheme?: Since 2018–19 the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has operated a Crop Residue Management sub-scheme (originally as Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue, now consolidated under the CRM component of Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization). It provides 50% financial assistance to individual farmers and 80% to Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs), Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and Panchayats for purchase of CRM machinery — Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, Mulcher, Reversible MB Plough, balers, rakes — and supports Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and ex-situ supply-chain pilots in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi.
Does residue incorporation actually improve the soil?: Yes — long-term trials at ICAR-IIWBR (Karnal), PAU (Ludhiana) and CIMMYT-IRRI Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) report measurable gains over 4–6 years of zero-till residue retention: 0.05–0.15% increase in topsoil organic carbon, 8–15% improvement in moisture retention, lower weed pressure (especially Phalaris minor in wheat) and 3–8% higher wheat yield at the system level once initial transition-year challenges are managed. Burning, in contrast, destroys 100% of the residue carbon and 80–90% of the residue nitrogen.
What are the legal and air-quality directions on residue burning?: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned in-field crop residue burning in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in its 10 December 2015 order in O.A. 118/2013 (Vikrant Kumar Tongad). The Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM), constituted under Act No. 9 of 2021, directs state governments on enforcement, Super-SMS fitment on combines, CRM machinery deployment and ex-situ supply chains. State pollution control boards monitor satellite-detected burning hot-spots through ISRO–NRSC fire-count datasets.

Subsidy rates, machinery specifications and ex-situ offtake arrangements change with each year's CRM operational guidelines. Confirm current rates, eligible machines and empanelled CHCs with the state agriculture department, district KVK or the CRM cell at the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare before committing investment.