Project name: 2018 Chiayi County’s Project for Control over Open-air Burning of Agricultural Wastes
Project duration: Jan 1 to Dec 31 2018
Project Budget: NT$ 6,390,000
Person in charge: Lin, Hung-Pin
Project manpower: Wu, Tsung-Hsian (Chang, Chih-Chi), project manager; Hsu, Wen-Pang, Chen, Tai-Chia and Liu, Mei-Ling, project engineers; and a 11-person crew assembled during the rice harvest seasons
The project is the “Chiayi County’s Project for Control over Open-air Burning of Agricultural Wastes” of 2018 with the goal of providing the necessary techniques and manpower for the effective auditing and control over exposed waste burning and educational propaganda. This summary covers the project duration from Jan 1 to Dec 31 2018. The implementation and conclusion of the project are summarized as follows:
1.Control for the ban of Open-air Burning
(1)From Jan 1 to Dec 31 2018, a total of 678 complaints about burning wastes in open air were reported, including 402 follow-up inspections, 108 investigations on the complaints received, 117 found during inspection tours and 51 entrusted cases. 529 cases of waste burning were confirmed.
(2)Investigation was performed on 678 suspected or reported cases of waste burning during the project. 529 were confirmed to be open-air waste burning (in progress or only embers left). Most of the cases / complaints were reported / found in the morning (0600-1200) and afternoon (1200-1800). 526 cases or 89% of the cases were received on weekdays.
(3)Among the 529 cases of open-air waste burning found, the “behavior of burning” accounted for the most, including 81 in Puzi City (15.3%), followed by 75 in Minxiong Town (14.2%), and 61 in Shuishang Town and Taibao City each (11.5%). The locations of the findings were established in the GIS system.
(4)An analysis of the burned materials was conducted for the 529 cases of open-air burning found during the project implementation. The materials burned in most of the open-air burning cases, or 190 or 35.9% of the found cases to be exact, felt into the category of the burning of “plants_others.” By cross-referencing the burned materials and local townships, the highest case number (36) of burning “plants-others” were found in Puzi City.
(5)The flame was extinguished during the combustion for 154 of the 529 cases of open-air burning found for a total control area of 220,110.74m2 and a control volume of 12,099.8m3. The reduction of open-air burning during the project implementation of 2018 was: TSP_11,560kg, PM10_5,812kg and PM2.5_10,404kg.
(6)Environmental protection volunteer workers were introduced to the efforts and the open-air burning portal was initiated this year (2018). A workshop for “case reporting team for open-air burning hot zones” was organized on April 20 2018 at the Minxiong Township Office. 49 people were recruited for open-air burning investigation group. In total 7 cases were reported this way on May 1, May 4, Aug 6, Aug 12, Oct 7, Oct 18 and Oct 31.
(7)A statistical survey was performed for this project on the whereabouts of the rice straws (relocation, reuse, plow-and-bury, or open-air burning) after the harvesting of the first and second rice cultivations. The percentages of open-air burning, relocation and reuse exhibited a significant increase for the second cultivation, while the opposite was observed for the percentage of chop-and-bury. The reason for the latter could be that the harvesting of second cultivation usually coincides with dry seasons during which the irrigation associations initiate tighter regulation of irrigation water. For the cut-and-bury practice, the rice fields need to be flooded in order to accelerate the decomposition of the chopped-and-buried straws, which explains the decrease in the cut-and-bury practice. On the other hand, the rice straws of second cultivation are drier and the time is abundant for the collection of these straws. This could contribute to the increase in both the area and percentage of relocating second-cultivation straws. Having said that, more than 98% of the rice straws were disposed of in a way other than open-air burning for both cultivations, indicating that the control efforts were effective in Chiayi County.
2.Electronic monitoring of open-air burning
(1)Vintage point surveillance was established. 7 surveillance cameras were installed throughout the county. The project team deployed real-time surveillance equipment at 2 vintage points (Puzi Hospital and Lioucou Elementary School) and a mobile surveillance unit (at the roof of a residential building close to the Dalin freeway interchange). 43 cases of open-air burning were reported from Jan to Nov 30. The persons who started the fire were identified for 9 cases, but positive IDs were not made for the other 34 cases. The land owners of these 34 cases will be asked for statements once positive identifications are established by referencing the land registration information. For details, see 4.3.1.
(2)5 sorties of UAV were deployed during the first rice cultivation, covering the major rice production areas in Chiayi County, namely Puzi City, Taibao City, Shuishang Township, Lucao Township and Liujiao Township. 21 cases of open-air burning were reported during these sorties.
(3)Satellite imaging was included in the spotting of open-air burning. Up to Nov 30, 64 spots of burning were identified during the project implementation. However, satellite information is not real-time information. 28 of the 64 cases spotted were not found with any sign of open-air burning even with exact coordinates of the locations.
3.Promotion of rice straw reuse
(1)Subsidies were provided to encourage plowing and burying rice straws by the size of rice farming. The farmers’ association system was introduced for this project. Taibao City, Minxiong Township and Xingang Township were selected for the demonstration. The subsidy application area was a total of 506.95 hectares, including 376.78 hectares applied by the Taibao City Farmers’ Association; 100.03 hectares by Minxiong Township Farmers’ Association; and 30.14 hectares by Xingang Township Farmers’ Association.
(2)Local communities were engaged in the rice straw reuse program, which was executed during the harvesting of the second cultivation (Nov 27). Participants were given an opportunity to relive the traditional practice and craftsmanship of reusing rice straws. The 4-hour event featured a guided tour of the campus and a hands-on practice in classroom. In total 184 people from various community development associations throughout the entire county.
4.Campaign for no open-air burning
(1)5 campaign presentations were held on Apr 26, Apr 27, May 3 and Sep 25 2018 (two on this day) just before the harvesting started for the first and second rice cultivations in 2018. The presentations were provided at local elementary schools in Minxiong, Xikou and Taibao for a total of 944 participants.
(2)5 presentations were organized in April and May for the harvesting of the first rice cultivation and 5 in September and October for the harvesting of the second cultivation before the harvesting started. The presentations were provided at south of the monitoring station for the first cultivation and the north of the station for the second cultivation. A total of 854 people participated in these events.
(3)As a part of campaign efforts, electronic scroll was broadcast on cable television for the mountain areas (Shih-Hsin Cable TV) and coastal areas (TY Cable TV) in stage 1 (Jun 21-27) and stage 2 (Oct 25-31) for a total of 14 days. The message was broadcast to urge people not to burn straws in open air and what the county government has done for control of open-air burning.
(4)Message was broadcast over local radio stations from Jun 21 to 27 2018 before the first rice cultivation and from Oct 25 to 31 2018 before the second cultivation through “Chengsheng Broadcast Chiayi” and “Yun Chia Radio,” respectively, for a total of 14 days. The message was broadcast to urge people not to burn straws in open air and what the county government has done for control of open-air burning.
(5)Broadcasting vans were sent out for campaign. 25 vans were dispatched from Jul 2 to Aug 9 2018 for the first rice cultivation and 18 from Oct 29 to Nov 28 2018 for the second rice cultivation.
5.Others
(1)As a part of this project, warnings were issued twice on May 22 (before the harvesting of the first cultivation) and Sep 22 (before the harvesting of the second cultivation) 2018 and a total of 123 notifications were sent. For details, see 4.1.5.
