Farmers are not permitted to burn rice straw as a method of pest control, and those found doing so could be fined up to NT$100,000 (US$3,259), the Environmental Protection Administration said in a statement.
The Taitung County Government approached the environmental agency with the proposition of allowing farmers to burn rice straw, which is a traditional practice, but it said that burning straw does not deter the presence of harmful insects.
Burning rice straw is a common practice in many countries during the rice harvest season, but studies have found that it creates air pollutants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, and can remove nutrients from the soil, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Agriculture and Food Agency
Farmers in Taitung who burn rice straw could contravene the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法) and the Fire Services Act (消防法), the agency said.
The county’s Environmental Protection Bureau said that it would discuss the issue with the agency, to see whether burning straw could be allowed under local guidelines.
Burning straw was permitted in Taitung’s Guanshan Township (關山) last year from June 20 to June 30, between 8am and 5pm.
“If local agriculture officials determine a need to burn crops for pest control, they can submit a special request to the city and county governments, and be exempted from legal penalties,” Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Tsai Meng-yu (蔡孟裕) said last week.
The law was meant to stop widespread straw burning, to prevent environmental damage, he said.
The agency said that it was working with the Council of Agriculture to promote the use of a bacteria-based organic fertilizer to accelerate the decomposition of rice straw.
Subsidies for the fertilizer have been provided since 2017, the statement said, adding that decomposition of straw keeps its nutrients in the soil, which prevents problems such as nitrogen deficiency.
Last year, straw-decomposing organic fertilizer was used on 13,000 hectares of rice crops, council statistics showed.
There were 760 cases of open-air burning of rice straw last year, of which 51 cases resulted in fines. No fines were reported in Taitung County.
In related news, some Chiayi County farmers used bird traps and dead birds in their rice fields to stop birds from eating their grain following a dry spell that led to a 40 percent reduction in land under cultivation.
Chiayi County Agriculture Department head of animal science and conservation Shui Hui-ling (石蕙菱) urged farmers to contact her agency if they need help with birds, rather than setting traps.
Killing a bird of a protected species by trapping can result in a prison sentence of six months to five years, which could be commuted to a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$1 million, she said.
People who trap a bird of a non-protected species could face a NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 fine, while people who hang dead birds could face fines of the same amount, Shui said.
Additional reporting by Tsai Tsun-hsun
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
RSS