From the archive record
Time-lapse of an agriculture setting fire of the straw stubble that remains after wheat and other grains have been harvested. Such practice was widespread until the 90's, when most governments increasingly restricted its use. Stubble burning is mainly confined to Punjab, Haryana and parts of western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where farmers grow paddy and wheat, and harvest these using combine harvesters. This belt produces an estimated 34 million tonnes (mt) of paddy straw every season, of which some 23 mt is from combine-harvested fields and burned within less than a month’s span between mid-October and around November 10. In manual harvesting using sickles, the crop is cut close to the ground. The resultant paddy straw after threshing i.e. separation of grain, can be used as fodder