CAPM targets sugar factories and crop burning in Uthai Thani

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CAPM targets sugar factories and crop burning in Uthai Thani

Sirakij Pornbanggird

 

   

UTHAI THANI (NNT) - The Center for Air Pollution Mitigation (CAPM) has taken action on the problem of PM2.5 released from sugar factories and resulting from sugarcane crop burning in Uthai Thani.

 

Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office, Teerapat Prayoonsit as chair of the subcommittee in charge of providing air pollution information to the public, today followed up on the PM2.5 dust particle problem generally in Uthai Thani province. He first visited Baanrai Sugar Industry, a company which has a specific project to buy sugar cane leaf from farmers for biofuel and to help prevent the need for crop burning.

 

The company also aims to raise the unburnt sugarcane purchase rate to 100%, so that farmers no longer need to burn -off crops.

 

The permanent secretary said that it is necessary to undertake eco-friendly agriculture as it helps prevent damage to the environment and human health.

 

In addition, CAPM has already requested cooperation from related authorities, the private sector and the public, to be part of PM2.5 problem solving.

 

According to CAPM, Uthai Thani has been implementing agricultural burning solutions and enforcing laws since 2018.

 

Local authorities and the sugar industry have launched projects to support the policy such as purchasing sugarcane leaf and raising the price of unburnt sugarcane. The projects have been receiving good compliance from the farmers as they gain a better sales price and achieve better air quality for the community.

 

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-02-15

 

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[hotchilli]

Every crop or piece of land is owned by someone... inform them that any case of a fire either will go to prison for a mandatory period of one year.

See what happens then.

[Mike Rodik]

make the super big rich owers of sugar co-responsible ????  mitr pol or whatever the name is

 

but probably protected under some "special" laws

[1Gringo]

using money as THE incentive should surely work.  it's probably the ONLY thing which will.

[robblok]

54 minutes ago, Mike Rodik said:

make the super big rich owers of sugar co-responsible ????  mitr pol or whatever the name is

 

but probably protected under some "special" laws

Punish them if their suppliers use the burn method 

[edwinchester]

Make it illegal to buy sugarcane that's been burnt and the problem would disappear overnight.

[Surelynot]

There seems to a big hole in this whole argument of sugar cane burning...even if the sugar is unburnt...the farmers still burn off the leaves afterwards so nothing is gained.....farmers will need paying to gather the leaves and have them disposed of properly.

[PETERTHEEATER]

1 hour ago, edwinchester said:

Make it illegal to buy sugarcane that's been burnt and the problem would disappear overnight.

Its illegal to ride a motorcycle without wearing a helmet too yet the problem persists. Education and law enforcement?

[DJ54]

 

This subject made me curious if Florida farmers still burn crops..

Certain time the smoke was across the highway... I’ve not lived 

in Florida a very long time but good old internet., some still burn

which is surprising.. 

 

Part of article and link for full story.. 

Stop the Burn!

Pre-harvest sugar field burning is a toxic and outdated harvesting practice that takes place every year from October through May over the approximately 400,000 acres of sugarcane fields in and around the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). Farmers burn sugarcane crops .... https://www.sierraclub.org/florida/sugar-cane-field-burning

[sangtip2]

I am not close to any sugarcane farming .    The smoke which is a problem for me is people burning anything they want to get rid of .  Their garbage,  grass cuttings,  tree limbs,  old tires,  what ever .   My wife ask one neighbor who burns nearly every night  "Why"   the answer was  "To chase away mosquitoes"     

[connda]

On 2/15/2021 at 8:31 AM, hotchilli said:

Every crop or piece of land is owned by someone... inform them that any case of a fire either will go to prison for a mandatory period of one year.

See what happens then.

The trouble being is that Big Agriculture corporations provide the farmers with the means to grow the cane.  To maximize their profits the farmers burn the leaves in what would otherwise be a labor intensive job of stripping the leaves.  So the "Big Ag" are responsible too.  Same, same for growing corn in the North.
Big Ag maximize profits and socialize loses.  Or in other words, keep the prices paid to farms so low that they are forced to burn to make a profit.
So now these corporations maximize profits by being culpable for assisting in the destruction of the environment by destroying the air quality and pumping huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. 
This is were government regulation is needed, but when government officials are lobbied, wined and dined, and otherwise monetarily induced to turn the other cheek to the problem - the burning will go on. 
Hopefully The Center for Air Pollution Mitigation can get some traction on resolve this problem without becoming compromised by outside corporate incentives to ignore the problem.

[canopy]

18 hours ago, connda said:

Or in other words, keep the prices paid to farms so low that they are forced to burn to make a profit.

Yeah and you know why all the farmers are addicted to smoking cigarettes? Big agriculture and profitability. No, no what utter nonsense! Big agriculture has nothing to do with any of this. Fact: burning is bad for farming because it depletes the soil and promotes erosion. Yet we can plainly see that whatever a thai farmer grows, he burns it. We have even seen that when farmers are forced to sell green cane they go right back to the fields and burn them off as usual--so much for the "extra labor" excuse. The sad fact is farmers burn merely because they get enjoyment from it much like they do from smoking cigarettes. If you are not convinced, simply ask a few. This is very easy to verify. They won't tell you some story about nail biting profits--that's utter nonsense made up by people like you. Rather they will tell you it's their damn land and they do as they please and if you don't like it, tough. Same with the guy next door burning his heap of plastic.

 

[phka]

On 2/15/2021 at 12:52 PM, edwinchester said:

Make it illegal to buy sugarcane that's been burnt and the problem would disappear overnight.

Disappear underground