The wheat harvest season that ended today witnessed a sharp 91 per cent rise in farm fire incidents in comparison to the preceding paddy season. While 5,114 incidents of stubble burning were reported during the paddy season last year, the figure for wheat season this year stood at 9,771.
Each year, the pollution monitoring authority collects a record of wheat residue burning incidents during the wheat harvesting season, April 1 to May 28. In a marginal dip, the 9,771 farm fires were 5 per cent lower than 2025 wheat season’s 10,207.
Ferozepur topped the list with 920 incidents of stubble burning, followed by Moga at 752, Bathinda at 746, Tarn Taran at 714, Amritsar at 707, Gurdaspur at 641) and Ludhiana at 636).
The highest single-day count of 1,447 was recorded on May 8. Collectively, 4,198 incidents were reported between May 7 and May 10, while another 154 have been reported since May 23.
However, Director Agriculture Punjab Gurjit Singh Brar refuted the figures. “Residue has been collected to make “turi” (wheat straw residue) from every single field in the state,” he said.
Brar added that, in some cases, residue left over after preparing “turi” incidentally caught fire. “This was captured by the satellite, but is incorrect. We have also appeared before the Commission for Air Quality Management and submitted proof of such incidents,” claimed Brar.
He said crop Residue Management (CRM) machines like balers and rakers, once associated only with paddy management, were also used in wheat fields.
Some experts, however, said the actual number of wheat residue burning incidents could be much higher, alleging that many farmers deliberately set fields on fire during evening hours to evade satellite detection.
Recent studies, including those by the Indian Space Research Organisation, indicate that farmers in Punjab and Haryana have increasingly shifted stubble burning to late afternoons and evenings to avoid the scheduled overhead passes of polar-orbiting satellites, resulting in underreporting in official data.
