Every year, due to a lack of alternatives, farmers are compelled to set their paddy fields ablaze to prepare the land for the sowing of wheat. This practice, known as ‘stubble burning’, gives rise to several problems, such as adversely affecting the quality of the land and causing widespread air pollution, the effects of which are felt in Delhi and other neighbouring cities.The Wire’s Indra Shekhar Singh travels to Punjab’s paddy belt in Mogha and Ludhiana to talk to farmers, machine operators and ‘happy seeder’ owners to try and understand the origins of the issue, the current challenges which these individuals face and potential solutions which could change the future of stubble burning in Punjab and beyond.Rising diesel prices, a lack of viable crop alternatives, no guarantee of MSP and the race to sow wheat after the paddy harvest, all leave farmers without much room to manoeuvre. However, solutions emerging from in and around the area may hold the potential to bring about a change in the practice, once and for all.