60% jump in farm fires between 2002 and 2016: Study
(WorldNews India)

Between 2002 and 2016, the fire count in Punjab´s fields increased by 60%, a study that has drawn a link between rising paddy productivity and stubble burning in the state suggests. Advertising According to the study, `Connecting Crop Productivity, Residue Fires, and Air Quality over Northern India´, published in the journal Nature, rice production in Punjab increased by 25% and vegetation index by 21% between 2002 and 2016. Crop residue is estimated to be 1.5 to 2.25 times the quantity of the crop. The rise in fire counts led to an increase in aerosol loading by nearly 43%, which are fine...