CHANDIGARH: Haryana will deploy a dedicated “Parali Protection Force” at district and block levels to prevent paddy stubble burning, intensify late-evening patrolling and use drones for surveillance, while offering farmers an incentive of Rs 1,200 per acre for optimal utilisation of crop-residue management machinery, as the state steps up enforcement ahead of the harvesting season.
The action plan provides for a Parali Protection Force comprising police personnel, Agriculture Department officials, administrative officers, nodal and cluster officers, and officials from other stakeholder departments. The force will operate at district and block levels to closely monitor farm-fire incidents and take action against stubble burning.
The enforcement plan stipulates three actions in every verified case of paddy stubble burning: registration of an FIR, issuance of a challan and a “red entry” in the farmer’s land record. Appropriate environmental compensation charges will also be imposed and recovered from violators.
At the same time, the government is focusing on incentives and machinery availability to provide farmers with alternatives to burning. The state is providing an incentive of Rs 1,200 per acre, besides a subsidy on the purchase of crop-residue management machines, for their optimal utilisation.
The government plans to move balers, rakers and other machines between districts according to paddy harvesting schedules. Harvesting begins in Yamunanagar, Ambala, Karnal and Kurukshetra from September and progresses to Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar and Jind during the last week of October.
Officials have been asked to coordinate with baler owners in neighbouring states and adjoining Haryana districts to facilitate the movement of machinery during the season.
The state is also moving towards drone-based surveillance. In accordance with Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) directions, Haryana is in the process of deploying drones in association with DRIISHYA to monitor stubble-burning incidents. Deputy Commissioners will finalise in advance the villages and locations where drones will fly.
The action plan further calls for government and panchayat land to be identified for the safe storage of paddy straw bales, while storage facilities are to be arranged in coordination with industries that use paddy residue.
District-level supply-chain plans are also envisaged to map baling, pelleting, briquetting and storage infrastructure and link farmers with end-user industries.
The government is simultaneously expanding its awareness campaign. A total of 646 village- and block-level camps, discussions and demonstrations have been held, involving 23,189 farmers, while 370 school and college activities involving 19,232 students have been conducted.
Haryana Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi reviewed the state’s action plan for the elimination of stubble burning and compliance with CAQM directions.
Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Vijayendra Kumar said that the state has also called for intensified patrolling during late-evening hours, taking into account attempts by some farmers to burn paddy residue after dark to evade satellite recording of farm fires.
Director, Agriculture, Amit Khatri informed that as many as 8,134 village-level nodal officers have been appointed for field monitoring.
Haryana has around 621,285 registered paddy farmers across 5,600 villages, covering about 3.41 million acres. So far, 604,314 farmers have been covered by nodal officers.
Under the monitoring mechanism, a maximum of 100 farmers can be tagged to each nodal officer, with the limit reduced to 50 in hotspot villages. Nodal officers are to use a mobile application to report active fire locations and record whether tagged farmers are managing crop residue through in-situ, ex-situ or fodder-based methods.
The Parali Protection Force is expected to take immediate action on active fire locations reported through the app.
Rastogi directed all concerned departments, Deputy Commissioners and field officers to maintain close coordination, intensify ground-level monitoring and ensure prompt action against every verified instance of stubble burning. He said the objective is to protect the environment and air quality while supporting farmers in adopting sustainable residue-management practices.
In neighbouring Punjab, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said farmers have procured 16,227 Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines so far during the ongoing Kharif season.
To support the transition, the state government has released a subsidy of Rs 183 crore to farmers for procuring more than 10,000 CRM machines across the state.
Khudian, along with Additional Chief Secretary (Agriculture) Anurag Verma, was reviewing preparedness for the upcoming Rabi season.
Khudian said that a 50 per cent subsidy for individual farmers and 80 per cent subsidy for Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs), FPOs, Cooperative Societies and Gram Panchayats is being provided for the purchase of CRM machines.
He said that backed by a robust Rs 576-crore action plan for 2026-27, these concerted efforts have resulted in a 90 per cent drop in stubble-burning cases, from 49,922 in 2022 to just 5,114 in 2025, earning Punjab national recognition for its crop residue management strategy.
Appealing to the agrarian community to shun crop residue burning, Khudian urged farmers to adopt scientific residue management using CRM machines to protect the environment, preserve soil fertility and ensure long-term sustainability of agriculture.
Reviewing the fertiliser supply position, he directed Agriculture Department officials to ensure timely and smooth availability of fertilisers across the state and to strictly curb the practice of tagging with fertilisers, while ensuring hassle-free access to quality agri-inputs for all farmers.
He warned that anyone found indulging in this malpractice will not be spared and will face the strictest action.
He also urged farmers to adopt balanced nutrient management by utilising alternative fertilisers such as TSP, NPK and SSP to maintain soil health and reduce over-dependence on DAP.
Khudian was apprised that the state has a comfortable stock of more than 3.92 lakh metric tonnes of urea and 5 lakh metric tonnes of DAP available for the season.
Director Agriculture Gurjeet Singh Brar assured the minister that the department is proactively taking up the matter with the Union government to ensure timely and uninterrupted supply of fertilisers for the Rabi season.
