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Madhya Pradesh accounts for nearly half of all stubble-burning incidents recorded across six states this year.
Seven of India’s 10 worst-affected districts are in the state, with Sheopur again topping the national list.
Punjab and Haryana have cut crop-fire incidents by more than half, while Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan report sharp increases.
Madhya Pradesh has emerged as India’s farm stubble-burning hotspot for the second year running, recording nearly half of all crop-fire incidents across six northern states, new data shows.
According to data from the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS) at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), part of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in New Delhi, 28,529 crop resdue-burning incidents have been reported so far this year across Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.
Nearly half of these events (14,165) were recorded in Madhya Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh reported 5,803 incidents, Punjab 5,092, Rajasthan 2,841, Haryana 623, and Delhi just five.
Of the 191 districts in these six states, seven of the 10 districts reporting the highest number of fires are in Madhya Pradesh: Sheopur, Hoshangabad, Datia, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Seoni and Satna. The remaining three are Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, and Tarn Taran and Sangrur in Punjab.
Madhya Pradesh also reported the highest number of incidents during the previous season, with 37,602 cases between September 15 and November 30, 2024. The state accounted for 16,360 of these. Punjab was second with 10,909 fires, followed by Haryana with 1,402, Uttar Pradesh with 6,142, Delhi with 13 and Rajasthan with 2,772.
Data from 2024 and 2025 shows stubble burning has reduced by more than half in Punjab and Haryana. In contrast, levels remain largely unchanged in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Notably, Uttar Pradesh has reported more fires than Punjab this year; this is the first time the state has ranked second.
Punjab and Haryana have long been criticised for burning paddy stubble, and many blame them for worsening air quality in Delhi. However, the latest figures indicate the two states have significantly curbed the practice, while others — including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — have not kept pace.
A comparison between 2023 and 2025 shows incidents in Punjab have fallen from 36,663 to 5,092, and in Haryana from 2,303 to 623. Over the same period, Madhya Pradesh’s tally has risen from 12,500 to 14,165, Uttar Pradesh’s from 3,996 to 5,803, and Rajasthan’s from 1,775 to 2,841. With around a week still left in the season, the 2025 figures may increase further before September 30.
In 2022, Madhya Pradesh (11,737 incidents) ranked second after Punjab (49,922), but none of its districts featured in the top 10. The pattern was similar in 2021, when the state reported 8,160 incidents compared with Punjab’s 71,304.
The situation has shifted dramatically over the past two years: Madhya Pradesh has now overtaken Punjab as the state with the highest number of fires, with Sheopur continuing to record the most stubble-burning cases nationwide.
This year, Sheopur has reported 2,325 incidents. Last year, the figure had reached 2,508 by 30 September. A field visit by Down To Earth found that changes in farming practices are driving the trend in Sheopur, with a rising shift towards paddy cultivation linked to monsoon behaviour and climate change.
