Ahead of the paddy season, the Punjab Government has approved its action plan for 2026-27, by setting aside over 43 per cent of the total allocations for crop residue management alone.Of a total annual action plan of Rs 1,388 crore approved at a high-level meeting on Monday, Rs 600 crore has been set aside for stubble management. The action plan had already been submitted to the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, said state Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian.The largest outlay has been allocated under the Crop Residue Management (CRM) Scheme to tackle the issue of farm fires, said Khuddian. “Our goal is to provide in-situ and ex-situ machinery to farmers at subsidised rates to ensure a permanent solution to stubble burning,” he added.During the last paddy season, Punjab managed to reduce the stubble burning incidents by 53 per cent. As many as 5,114 incidents were reported in 2025, as compared to 10,909 incidents reported in 2024.Besides crop residue management, the action plan lays special emphasis on water conservation, crop diversification and natural farming. To address the problem of depleting water table, Rs 33.33 crore has been earmarked for the “per drop more crop” component, which will promote efficient water application devices like drips, sprinklers and rain guns.