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The irrigated rice-wheat cropping system is the predominant and most profitable farmingsystem in north-west India, especially in Punjab. However, there are growing concerns aboutthe environmental effects of the system, particularly with the practice of burning rice stubbles,due to its adverse effects on human health and air pollution. In this paper we consider thewide array of policy settings that tend to favour current land uses and management practicesand their impact on the farming system over time. As part of an ACIAR-funded project, weassess the significance of these policies with a view to considering what additional oralternative policies could be put in place to encourage the adoption of approaches ortechnologies directly concerned with reducing the practice of stubble burning. We concludethat many of these policy settings limit the gains from technology adoption and might bebetter addressed prior to considering policies aimed at specific technological solutions.
