Stubble Burning in India: CAQM, ISRO & Accurate Fire Monitoring

Subject: GS 3: Environment

Context: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) is in discussions with ISRO, Punjab and Haryana to improve the estimation of stubble-burning incidents, as conventional satellite-based fire counts may not accurately represent the actual extent of farm fires.

• Satellite-based fire counts may be incomplete as farmers can shift burning timings to evade detection; hence, CAQM is working with ISRO and State authorities to develop better ground-truthing protocols, moving beyond mere fire counts towards accurate assessment of burnt area and pollution emissions.

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Key Highlights

• Problem with Fire Counts: Satellite-based fire counts measure detected fire events, but do not necessarily represent the total area burnt or quantity of biomass burned.
• Detection Evasion: ISRO research has indicated a shift in the timing of peak fire activity (from around 1:30 p.m. in 2020 to nearly 5 p.m. in 2024), potentially reducing detection by certain satellite passes.
• Burnt Area as an Alternative: Burnt-area estimates measure the actual land surface affected by fire, providing a different and potentially more useful indicator than simply counting fires.
• Evidence of Lower Reduction: An iForest assessment estimated burnt area to have declined from approximately 31,500 sq km in 2022 to 19,700 sq km in 2025, indicating a reduction of around 30%.
• Burnt Area Still Not Enough: A larger burnt area does not automatically translate into proportionately higher pollution because emissions depend upon straw quantity, moisture, combustion efficiency and pollutant-specific emission factors.
• Need for Ground Truthing: Field-level verification can help validate satellite observations and establish a more reliable relationship between satellite detection, actual burning and pollution emissions.

Background- Stubble Burning in North-West India

• Why Farmers Burn: It is a quick and relatively inexpensive method of clearing fields within the short interval available for the next crop.
• Geographical Concentration: The problem is particularly significant in Punjab and Haryana, which form an important rice–wheat production belt.
• Seasonal Pollution: Stubble burning becomes particularly important during October–November, when changing meteorological conditions can trap pollutants over the Delhi-NCR region.
• Pollution Contribution: Farm fires contribute a relatively smaller share over the entire winter but their contribution can rise sharply during specific episodes/weeks.Why Accurate Measurement Matters?
• Policy Evaluation: Helps determine whether reported reductions in stubble burning are actually occurring.
• Accountability: Provides a more reliable basis for assessing the performance of States and farmers’ interventions.
• Pollution Forecasting: Better estimates can improve air-quality modelling and pollution-source apportionment.
• Targeted Intervention: Identifies high-risk areas and periods for focused enforcement and incentives.
• Scientific Basis: Helps distinguish between number of fires, area burnt and quantity of pollutants emitted.

Key Challenges

• Satellite Limitations: Detection depends on satellite pass timing, sensor resolution and atmospheric conditions.

• Changing Burning Patterns: Farmers may change the time of burning to avoid detection.
• Fire Count–Emission Gap: One fire event can involve very different quantities of crop residue.
• Ground Verification: Large agricultural areas make systematic field-level verification difficult and resource-intensive.
• Multiple Pollution Sources: Delhi-NCR pollution also comes from vehicles, industries, road dust, construction, waste burning and other sources, making attribution complex.
• Inter-State Coordination: Effective estimation requires coordination among CAQM, ISRO, Punjab, Haryana and other concerned agencies.

Way Forward

• Integrated Monitoring: Combine satellite fire counts, burnt-area mapping, meteorological and air-quality data, supported by multi-satellite monitoring.
• Ground Truthing: Establish systematic field verification and geotagged observations to validate satellite estimates and enable real-time monitoring.
• Emission-Based Assessment: Incorporate biomass quantity, moisture, combustion efficiency and emission factors to estimate actual pollution emissions.
• Residue Management: Promote in-situ/ex-situ residue management, bioenergy, biomass industries and crop-residue supply chains.
• Economic & Agricultural Reforms: Provide incentives for non-burning alternatives and promote crop diversification away from the rice–wheat cycle.
• Cooperative Federalism: Develop a common monitoring and response protocol involving the Centre, States, scientific institutions and local administrations.

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Conclusion

The CAQM–ISRO initiative highlights an important principle of environmental governance: effective policy requires accurate measurement. Moving from simple “fire counts” to integrated fire detection, burnt-area estimation, ground truthing and emission assessment can make India’s response to stubble burning more scientific, accountable and targeted.

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