From fields to policy: analyzing the interplay between technology adoption and residue burning in Punjab, India

Crop residue burning remains a critical environmental challenge in India’s rice-wheat system. This study provides new empirical evidence on the joint decision-making process underlying farmers’ adoption of crop residue management (CRM) machinery and their residue-burning behavior. Using household survey data from 2289 farmers in Punjab and bivariate probit models, we identify structural, behavioral, and spatial determinants shaping these interlinked choices. We find a significant negative correlation between adoption and burning ( ρ = − 0.46 ), indicating they are alternative responses to shared constraints like narrow sowing windows and field accessibility. Our results show that social norms often override technology; being in a burning-focused peer network increases the probability of continuing to burn by 42 percentage points, even for CRM machinery adopters. Additionally, traditional equipment ownership remains a major structural barrier, reducing CRM adoption by 29 percentage points. Heterogeneity analysis reveals the correlation is twice as strong for complete burners ( ρ = − 0.63 ) as for partial burners ( ρ = − 0.32 ), suggesting that many farmers use machinery and burning as complements to manage heavy straw. These findings suggest that policy must move beyond simple technology provision to include behavioral interventions and agronomic shifts for a successful no-burn transition.