Rice-wheat system Punjab: alternatives to crop residue burning

The research identifies systemic feedbacks that lock the Punjab agricultural system into crop residue burning despite legal barriers and the existence of more profitable alternatives. It concludes that while government policy is necessary, achieving sustainability requires transformative shifts toward crop diversification, circular business models, and green financing, with financial institutions playing a key role in leveraging these changes.

• Crop residue burning in Punjab, India, produces particulate matter that negatively affects health, the climate, and agricultural production, persisting despite legal restrictions and the availability of more profitable alternatives.
• The agricultural system in Punjab is characterized by feedbacks that maintain the practice of residue burning. The Government of India holds the most significant financial risk and leverage, while corporate stakeholders possess the influence to drive change despite lacking direct financial incentives to do so.
• Sustainability in the region cannot be achieved through agricultural policy changes alone; it requires a systems-level approach including green financing, circular business models, and crop diversification, potentially driven by financial institutions imposing sustainability conditions on loans.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2022). Rice-wheat system Punjab: alternatives to crop residue burning. https://www.sei.org/publications/rice-wheat-system-punjab-alternatives-crop-residue-burning/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Rice-wheat system Punjab: alternatives to crop residue burning. 2022. https://www.sei.org/publications/rice-wheat-system-punjab-alternatives-crop-residue-burning/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Rice-wheat system Punjab: alternatives to crop residue burning |date=10 March 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/rice-wheat-system-punjab-alternatives-crop-residue-burning/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2022ricewheat, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Rice-wheat system Punjab: alternatives to crop residue burning}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/rice-wheat-system-punjab-alternatives-crop-residue-burning/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }