PUNJAB, India, November 18, 2025 — A significant shift is underway in Punjab as a growing number of farmers opt to recycle crop stubble rather than burn it, offering a hopeful measure against the severe winter air pollution choking India’s capital, New Delhi.
The annual ritual of stubble burning has long been identified as a major source of the thick smog that plunges Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) into the ‘Severe’ category, which it hit around 400 last week. However, farmers in over 800 villages across the state are now adapting modern methods to convert agricultural waste into valuable products.
Recycling for a Cleaner Future
According to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) group, farmers are using balers to collect and compact the stubble left behind after the rice harvest. This packed biomass is then transported to factories where it is converted into:
• Biogas and Bio-fertiliser
• Cardboard and other commodities
Dalbir Singh, a 25-year-old farmer in Balwar Kalan village, explained the shift in perspective. “Due to stubble burning, we are exposed to smoke… It’s not an exciting activity for us, that’s why we are stocking it and sending it to boilers to be sold.” The CII is assisting by providing necessary equipment and resources for the initiative.
Scale Remains a Challenge
While the movement is gaining momentum, experts caution that its impact is still limited. Punjab has approximately 12,000 villages, and stubble burning remains a common, quick method for farmers to clear fields before planting wheat.
Sunil Dahiya, founder and lead analyst at the New Delhi-based think tank Envirocatalysts, stressed the need for broader action. “While this has led to some reduction in stubble burning, the incentivisation and awareness of such initiatives is still limited compared to the intensity of response needed to tackle the problem in a comprehensive way.”
Highlighting the entrepreneurial potential of the waste, 53-year-old farmer Gurnaib Singh from Phaguwala village has taken the initiative a step further. He has established his own factory to make cardboard from waste stubble, not only cleaning the air but also providing employment to dozens of people at his plant.