South Korea: Burning the rice fields needs to be stopped now

(Korea Agricultural Newspaper = Reporter Eun-hye Lee) Chungnam-do Institute of Agricultural Technology (Director Boo-seong Kim) asked for special caution, saying that there is a high risk of spreading through forest fires while burning rice paddies and field heads during the farming season. In particular, as it was confirmed that burning rice paddies and the heads of fields was insignificant in reducing diseases and pests of crops, he requested restraint. According to the Provincial Agricultural Research Institute, as a result of investigating the occurrence of pests during the winter season in rice fields and rice paddies, the proportion of beneficial insects was 85-90% and pests 5-10%. The problem is that the purpose of burning rice paddies and the head of the field is to eradicate pests, but rather than eradicating pests, it makes the natural enemies of pests disappear. In fact, according to the last survey by the Rural Development Administration, 89% (7,256 animals) of all ...