Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) The Chiayi County government said it is using high-tech tools such as drones and AI-based smoke and fire detection systems in an effort to stop farmers from illegally burning rice straw left over after this year's harvests.
The county -- Taiwan's third-largest rice-producing municipality by volume -- is entering the harvest period of the year's second rice crop, which farmers traditionally would have followed by setting fires to burn crop waste and clear their fields.
In a press release Tuesday, the Chiayi County government said it has been trying to curb such illegal open burns, which are now punishable by fines of NT$1,200 (US$39.10) to NT$100,000 under the Air Pollution Control Act.
The county government said it had promoted and subsidized the use of bacteria-based products to break down the rice stalks as an alternative to burning, expediting the composting process and resulting in more nutrient-rich soil.
At the same time, the county's Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) has set up a 13-person team to locate illegal fires, utilizing tools including drones, satellite remote sensing, and AI-based smoke and fire detection systems, according to the press release.
Through the end of November, the EPB had issued 31 fines for illegal burns on 21 hectares of rice paddies, accounting for only 0.06 percent of the county's farmland under cultivation, the county government said.
In the press release, Yang Chih-che (楊智哲), a researcher at the Tainan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, noted that switching from controlled burns to composting is often in the farmers' own best interests.
While composting rice stubble can boost crop yields, burns can actually harm a field's productivity by burning up organic matter, leaving only trace elements in the soil, he said.
