The court said, “We want this stopped altogether — whether you take forceful action or give incentives against the burning of stubble, you must stop it. We are at zero level of patience on these issues. This must be sorted tomorrow so that it does not happen next year.” Mint examines what this means for farmers and states.

What are the implications of this order?

Stubble burning is the age-old practice of setting crop residue on fire to clear the field for the next crop. Farmers are always under pressure to sow the next crop on time to maximise their yield, and the easiest way to do so is to burn the residue. They also burn stubble for economic reasons, as combine harvester machines are expensive. As the Supreme Court has directed state governments to halt the practice immediately, poorer farmers could be hit hard.

Which sustainable alternatives could be adopted to prevent pollution?

Regenerative agriculture or regenerative farming could be a sustainable alternative. It provides an alternative to stubble burning while simultaneously increasing soil productivity, curbing the impact of agriculture on climate, water resources and biodiversity, and boosting farm productivity and profitability.

Regenerative agriculture practices allow farmers to plant a new crop immediately after harvest and alternate between cash and cover crops. Regular crop rotation helps control pests and conserves moisture in the soil.

What can the government do to curb stubble-burning?

The union government and state governments could encourage the manufacturing of harvester machines such as Happy Seeder, developed by the Punjab government in collaboration with CSIRO, the Australian government’s scientific research agency. These could be made available to farmers for free or at subsidised rates. Experts suggest creating a mechanism to provide free equipment to farmers with two acres or less land to help them reuse stubble rather than burn it.

A third alternative could be phasing out paddy cultivation in northern states where stubble burning is rife, with the union government purchasing other crops at their minimum support price. Currently only wheat and paddy are procured at scale from farmers at their assured MSPs.

The union government has been trying to discourage farmers by releasing funds under the crop residue management scheme for paddy straw. It has so far released about ₹3,333 crore to the governments of Punjab, Delhi and NCR states to subsidise machines for individual farmers and cooperatives to facilitate on-site management of paddy straw.