In half hour flat, Gurmeet Singh burns rice stubble on two acres of land in Jassi Bagwali village, 20 km west of the city of Bathinda in Punjab . Why not simply burn it?”This is the season when the farmers of Punjab and northern parts of Haryana resort to massive burning of rice stubble to quickly get their fields ready for the next crop: wheat. But agricultural scientists air their opposition.“I don’t support the idea of 100% rice crop residue being used for electricity generation. “Punjab has always been a wheat state. Apart from pollution, water-consuming rice production is converting the state into a semi desert,” says an officer on the condition of anonymity.

Source: Economic Times November 11, 2017 18:22 UTC