North takes measures to curb haze
By Chularat Saengpassa
The Nation

 

Nan leader lauds Shift to multicrop farms; But NGO director warns that more land needs to be allocated to poor communities

 

NAN: -- DESPITE repeated haze crises in recent years, several communities in the North are hoping the problem will be solved. 

 

Their optimism stems from efforts by many to reduce common causes of smog such as agricultural fires. 

 

“We are fighting the haze crisis with sustainable agriculture,” said Dr Kanit Tantisirivit, the chief of the Nan community. 

 

He said several organisations from the government and private sector had come to Nan to educate residents about sustainable farming, which reduces the need to rely just on corn plantations, which results in discarded corncobs that are often burned as a means of disposal. 

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30306726

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-02-20

Lip service. Haze occurs every year. They don't care enough.

Edited February 20, 20179 yr by thaiowl

same procedure as every year

 

same success to expect

Edited February 20, 20179 yr by sweatalot

Another ajoje TIT

Sustainable farming doesn't mean burning doesn't happen....

 

rerusal to deal with problem directly b/c it involves confrontation...

I'm not a farmer but generally thought fields were tilled and prepped for the next planting with something like this:

Granted, your average work a day farmer probably can't afford  to buy or even rent one.  Is that the simple reason there's so much burning here?  Is burned material, when tilled under, also good for the soil regeneration?

Edited February 20, 20179 yr by 55Jay

I think the reason they burn is primarily to reduce the sheer amount of organic materiel and less to do with what you stated...

 

the next crop planted seems to determine whether burning takes place...with rice stubble just too much of it...just a  nuncense so it's burned esp for crops like potato, tomato, soy bean and rice.. 

  

Corn seems to have less problem with rice stubble other than if it physically blocks its growth...

 

maybe someone can comment on the chemical composition of the soil re quality and productivity for given crops...

 

my guess is Thais don't think that deeply on this subject and view rice stubble and corn stocks etc more as a nuncense right or wrong impeding their next crop vs soil composition analysis....

Edited February 20, 20179 yr by cardinalblue

They need some kind of television public information campaign. Television reaches everyone. When every villager is fully aware of the damage being done, then they will to some extent police themselves.

8 hours ago, 55Jay said:

I'm not a farmer but generally thought fields were tilled and prepped for the next planting with something like this:

Granted, your average work a day farmer probably can't afford  to buy or even rent one.  Is that the simple reason there's so much burning here?  Is burned material, when tilled under, also good for the soil regeneration?

No, it is just that they've done this (burning) for decades and what's in their heads stays there and not in their arse so they could get rid of it with the next stool. Same goes with more things in Thai life.

It is easier to burn that pile of leaves and branches and meanwhile of course some household plastic waste. Indians yealously never had that good smoke for signaling.

That said..I guess about some 45 - 50 years ago in Europe it was quite common to burn instead of composting.

I too was quilty of that in the past. 

Edited February 20, 20179 yr by hugocnx

Why not try fighting the fires with 30,000 baht fines and water cannons...! Instead of the yearly lip service that is handed out every year...!

15 hours ago, hugocnx said:

No, it is just that they've done this (burning) for decades and what's in their heads stays there and not in their arse so they could get rid of it with the next stool. Same goes with more things in Thai life.

It is easier to burn that pile of leaves and branches and meanwhile of course some household plastic waste. Indians yealously never had that good smoke for signaling.

That said..I guess about some 45 - 50 years ago in Europe it was quite common to burn instead of composting.

I too was quilty of that in the past. 

Maybe 10 years yes but I would assume not decades...

 

They used to plant other things than corn there, though I cannot say how long ago...

 

Fighting the burning would be fighting CP conglomerate so good luck with that...

Big problem with and for those communities TBH, they used to be more or less independent through crop diversification, now they are not...

 

They are all working for CP: corn = animal feed for CP porks and chickens farms.. So you can buy your 7/11 chemical ham...

 

Mainly mountain areas as well so very difficult to bring any good machinery that could help clear the field..

And no time: CP wants the crop fast: it has pork to feed...

 

There are actually some CP corn processing factories very far in the mountain between Chiang mai and Maymar in some area that take 6h for reach for only 120 kilometers...

5 hours ago, CantSpell said:

Maybe 10 years yes but I would assume not decades...

 

They used to plant other things than corn there, though I cannot say how long ago...

 

Fighting the burning would be fighting CP conglomerate so good luck with that...

Big problem with and for those communities TBH, they used to be more or less independent through crop diversification, now they are not...

 

They are all working for CP: corn = animal feed for CP porks and chickens farms.. So you can buy your 7/11 chemical ham...

 

Mainly mountain areas as well so very difficult to bring any good machinery that could help clear the field..

And no time: CP wants the crop fast: it has pork to feed...

 

There are actually some CP corn processing factories very far in the mountain between Chiang mai and Maymar in some area that take 6h for reach for only 120 kilometers...

You are right; not decades, but ages. Farmers around the world did this. Free fertilizer and less ploughing. The heat in the ground may kill some insects but also 'sterilizes' the soil from poisonous stuff/bacteria.

Todays mushroom soil for example is steamed to kill bacteria and sold to mushroom farms for their 'beds'.