Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a high-level inter-ministerial meeting on stubble burning management at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, alongside Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav. The two ministers reviewed a comprehensive action plan to curb paddy straw burning, with both ministries presenting proposals covering technology, monitoring, and public outreach.

Context

Chouhan announced the meeting on X, stating: 'Is baar hamne tay kiya hai ki dhan ki buwai ke samay se hi aisi yojana banayi jaye jisse parali jalane ki ghatnayen na hon' — ('This time we have decided that a plan will be drawn up from the time of paddy sowing itself so that incidents of stubble burning do not occur'). The shift from reactive post-harvest enforcement to pre-sowing planning marks a significant change in approach.

Chouhan underlined that stubble burning harms not only the environment but also 'Dharti Mata' (Mother Earth) — depleting soil fertility and intensifying air pollution. Both ministries made formal presentations at the meeting, signalling coordinated ownership of the problem.

Policy Backdrop

The Crop Residue Management (CRM) scheme, launched in 2018, has been the government's primary instrument, providing subsidies for machinery and custom-hiring centres in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to manage paddy straw in the field rather than burning it. Bio-decomposer trials were expanded under the scheme in 2021.

The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), introduced in 2019, targets 131 cities and explicitly addresses agricultural residue burning as a contributor to particulate pollution. Following Supreme Court directives in 2019-2020, the Centre was required to produce joint agriculture-environment action plans for winter pollution control — making Tuesday's meeting a continuation of that court-mandated coordination framework.

Stakeholders and Impact

Stubble burning in the paddy belt of Punjab and Haryana contributes an estimated 30–40 per cent of Delhi-NCR's PM2.5 load during October–November, when post-harvest fires peak. Farmers in these states have historically resorted to burning because it is the fastest and cheapest way to clear fields between the kharif and rabi seasons.

The action points announced include real-time monitoring of fire incidents, special surveillance of hotspot districts, promotion of model villages that have successfully managed stubble, adoption of modern technologies for residue handling, organised collection and utilisation of paddy straw, and a broad public awareness campaign. Millions of Delhi-NCR residents who bear the health burden of seasonal smog are direct beneficiaries of effective implementation.

What's Next

The immediate test will be state-level rollout of real-time monitoring dashboards and the identification of model villages before the 2026 kharif harvest, when paddy fields in northwest India are cleared between October and November. Parliamentary scrutiny of fund utilisation under the CRM scheme is also likely as the season approaches.

With pre-sowing planning now the stated intent, the agriculture and environment ministries will need to align with state governments in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh well before harvest time — a coordination challenge that will define whether this inter-ministerial push translates into measurable reduction in farm fires this year.