Thread: Farmers urged not to burn rice straws in dry season

CHAINAT, 16 March 2017 (NNT) – Farmers were advised to refrain from burning rice straws to prevent forest fires and mitigate haze, air pollution and global warming in dry season.

Chainat Provincial Agriculture Official Chat Khamiam urged the local farmers not to burn rise straws during dry season otherwise the soil and the atmosphere will be damaged, causing health problems among humans and animals.

He said the torching of rice straws was seen as an old-fashion practice which may have occurred between January and April to prepare the soil for next season. However, the heat from burning might kill micro-organisms in the soil and cause forest fires or accidents in the farms or at nearby houses.

Farmers were encouraged to opt for the replowing of the soil to restore its fertility and reduce the dependency on chemical fertilizers. Farmers were also advised to incorporate micro-organisms in the soil by using organic materials or micro-organism solutions provided by the Land Development Department.

http://nwnt.prd.go.th/CenterWeb/News....oGjmfT7y.dpuf

Originally Posted by ENT

There's a noticeable reduction in rice straw burning around Mae Rim, and the practice of crop rotation in rice fields is starting to pick up.

I don't see that here. What crops can be rotated bearing in mind the ground is water logged for 5-6 months of the year?

Burning is non existant in this area of Chiang Mai. The rice farmers flooded their fields then plowed under the straw.

Went up to Mae Hong Son last weekend. Usually at this time of year you can see burning mountainsides all around the highway. This year very little. A burned patch here or there, but not large scale scorched earth.

Mae Jo University is pushing organic farming. One organic market is open inside the campus every day but weekends. A larger organic market open on Wednesdays. Produce changes with the seasons and even had organic strawberries this year.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Originally Posted by ENT

There's a noticeable reduction in rice straw burning around Mae Rim, and the practice of crop rotation in rice fields is starting to pick up.

I don't see that here. What crops can be rotated bearing in mind the ground is water logged for 5-6 months of the year?

Crops grown in rotation in Mae Rim district are rice, soybeans, vegetables, garlic, onions and tobacco.

Right now tobacco's being picked, and after that crop's done, the stalks will be dried then put through a hammer mill to be either used as fuel (I don't like that idea) or spread around fruit trees as mulch.

I don't like the idea of tobacco grown in the same fields either, as tobacco beetle poison and antifungals to combat tobacco mosaic virus are used, along with heaps of nitrates. the mosaic virus will deal to tomatoes too, so they can't be grown in rotation with tobacco.

Eliminating the big paying crop of tobacco from the rotation cycle would be a major step forward.

The ground is still not poison free, but nitrogen fixing legumes help regenerate the soil along with the ploughed in rice stalks.

The other problem is getting chemical free water for the crops, as most of the surrounding countryside gets flooded, so all the land suffers from chemical pollution.

It's going to take several years moratorium on chemical weed/pesticides and fertilizers, avoidance of polluted Mekong river waters and lots of rain to clean the land.

CM uni's doing a great job researching the issue, so there's hope yet.

Originally Posted by misskit

Burning is non existant in this area of Chiang Mai. The rice farmers flooded their fields then plowed under the straw.

Went up to Mae Hong Son last weekend. Usually at this time of year you can see burning mountainsides all around the highway. This year very little. A burned patch here or there, but not large scale scorched earth.

Mae Jo University is pushing organic farming. One organic market is open inside the campus every day but weekends. A larger organic market open on Wednesdays. Produce changes with the seasons and even had organic strawberries this year.

Good to see, isn't it?
Have you checked out the Rustic Market yet?

I notice that PM10 particles are now secondary in volume impact to PM2.5 on the CM AQI, reflecting the reduction in rice straw burning, as diesel vehicles are showing up as the main culprits in the pollution scenario.

Where is Rustic Market?

Atsadathon Rd, just north east of the old city, aka Jing Jai market.

I can see a necessity for crop rotation but it just doesn't happen here. It's cassava in the cassava fields and rice in the ...............all the time. No real alternatives. I see some plant vegetable/fruit plots but nothing greater than for local market sales.
I think the soils around here is so poor they just give up and stick with what they know best. Poor sods. Excuse the pun.

Maybe they burn leftovers in a barrel topped by small chimney, it reduces significantly the amount of smoke produced ... I saw a demo of this technique in a regional event at CM (it was about firefighting and smoke reducing), which makes me think (or hope) that maybe there are trainings performed in the mountains and this technique is spreading...

Plowing has to be done lightly, if too deep the micro-organisms enriched soil get burried to deep (killing its content) and remplaced by more sterile soil...

jingjaimarket website and FB page.

Jingjai Market Chiangmai

https://www.facebook.com/jjmarketchiangmai

I've not stopped by JJ Market in ages, though I pass by often. Will have to check out Rustic Market.

Originally Posted by Farang Ky Ay

Plowing has to be done lightly, if too deep the micro-organisms enriched soil get buried too deep (killing its content) and replaced by more sterile soil...

Spot on. Ploughing should never to be more than to a depth of about 4 inches or so, where all the bio-dynamics occurs.

One great advantage of ploughing in of crop stubble etc is that the longer fibres act as pathways for air, other gases, dissolved nutrients in water and a myriad bio-forms to travel and recycle between the surface and the soil below.

This aerated soil provides optimum conditions for ideal organic symbiosis, as some subsoil, rich in inorganic elements, is brought up and also incorporated into the mix, becoming organic compounds in the process.

The process also encourages both earthworms and compost worms to flourish, so increasing the availability of nutrients down to the optimum 4 inch depth.

Originally Posted by ENT

Ploughing should never to be more than to a depth of about 4 inches or so, where all the bio-dynamics occurs. One great advantage of ploughing in of crop stubble etc is that the longer fibres act as pathways for air, other gases, dissolved nutrients in water and a myriad bio-forms to travel and recycle between the surface and the soil below. This aerated soil provides optimum conditions for ideal organic symbiosis, as some subsoil, rich in inorganic elements, is brought up and also incorporated into the mix, becoming organic compounds in the process. The process also encourages both earthworms and compost worms to flourish, so increasing the availability of nutrients down to the optimum 4 inch depth.

Do you think Somchai the farmer will take any notice if you told him?

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Originally Posted by ENT

Ploughing should never to be more than to a depth of about 4 inches or so, where all the bio-dynamics occurs. One great advantage of ploughing in of crop stubble etc is that the longer fibres act as pathways for air, other gases, dissolved nutrients in water and a myriad bio-forms to travel and recycle between the surface and the soil below. This aerated soil provides optimum conditions for ideal organic symbiosis, as some subsoil, rich in inorganic elements, is brought up and also incorporated into the mix, becoming organic compounds in the process. The process also encourages both earthworms and compost worms to flourish, so increasing the availability of nutrients down to the optimum 4 inch depth.

Do you think Somchai the farmer will take any notice if you told him?

What reasoning would indicate that they wouldn't?

^^ Some Somchais do, especially if university educated members of their families are involved.

There's a growing number of young (and older) educated Thais who have taken on board some of the more progressive thinking of western culture and education, and because of their status have an influence on the local farmers.

It wasn't so long ago that Charley Windsor stopped burning the stubble on his vast acreages, heading down the biomass fuel road instead to heat his pig-sheds.

Farmers in NZ used to plough down to 7 inches and deeper, relying on inorganic fertilizers to top up their increasingly infertile soils, but not so now.

Originally Posted by misskit

I've not stopped by JJ Market in ages, though I pass by often. Will have to check out Rustic Market.

Do, smiling faces, clean area, polite people,...they even have live music.

Originally Posted by ENT

...progressive thinking of western culture and education..

Huh?
Short of fanciful thought.

Originally Posted by thaimeme

What reasoning would indicate that they wouldn't?

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. It's the old way or no way cuz that's how they've always done it. No one is rich enough to experiment. They can't afford to take the chance.

^^ You might not believe it, but the move away from inorganic towards more organic farming techniques wasn't initiated by eastern cultures, many of whom still insist on burning, or swidden agricultural techniques...

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Originally Posted by thaimeme

What reasoning would indicate that they wouldn't?

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. It's the old way or no way cuz that's how they've always done it. No one is rich enough to experiment. They can't afford to take the chance.

Not so in the North of Thailand, particularly around CM, as evinced by the growing organic food industry here.

Oh, and you can teach an old dog new tricks. That particular old wives' tale is just an excuse for laziness.

Originally Posted by ENT

Oh, and you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Not with the old dogs around here, the local Somchai are lazy. Only work when they have too. Come the end of the rain season you'd be hard pushed to find one to work. They prefer fishing, casting net or line.

There you go peanuts, garlic and spring onions grown as rotation crops on terraced rice paddy, north of Chaing Mai.