India strives to cut stubble burning to zero to curb pollution

India is committed to ending crop burning this year, the government said, to prevent the major source of pollution during the winter months

India is committed to ending crop burning this year, the government said, after agriculture and environment ministry officials met on Thursday to review progress towards preventing the major source of pollution during the winter months.

Farmers in the northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh typically burn crop waste after harvesting in October to clear their fields before they sow winter crops a few weeks later.

Smoke from the burning crops, together with traffic pollution and a fall in wind speeds, is blamed for the smog that envelopes Delhi, the world's most polluted capital, every winter.

Also Read | Indian Agricultural Research Institute says stubble burning in Punjab is at three-year low; Uttar Pradesh records rise

Apart from the impact on air quality, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said stubble burning damages soil health and reduces its fertility, a government statement said.

But he said efforts so far to increase awareness had reduced the amount of crop burning over the last five years without giving figures.

States have been asked to provide crop residue management machinery to farmers before the harvesting season and to monitor the utilisation of bio-decomposers.