近年来,焚烧秸秆这种破坏环境的行为往往被推上公众舆论打的风口浪尖。禁止秸秆焚烧,政府年年强调,然并卵。
那么,这个问题怎样治理最环保呢?
During the past few days, heavy smog has again coated most area of the north China, with straw burning mostly blamed, since the central heat hasn't started.
Brian: Recently, China’s north has been blanketed by a bunch of smog. This is supposedly due to a lot of straw being burned during the harvest season in northeastern China. China’s State Protection Bureau says that they have detected possible crop straw burning in 20 provinces during the past two weeks, and the latter half of October is believed to be the peak time for crop straw burning in the northeastern part of China. So, certainly an issue here, and one that comes up every year, and people felt it not just in the areas where the burning was going on, but in other places, like in Beijing, of course, and that air certainly does not taste well. But what exactly is going on here, and what can be done about it?
WY: I mean, first of all, to explain a little bit about the information about burning straws, because straw is generated by the burning of crop plants, such as wheat, rapeseed and cotton. And also because in China, some farmers in northern China traditionally burn the leftover straw after the autumn harvest, then plough their land. They believe that the ash will act as a natural fertilizer.
Brian: Well, that is, actually, not just a view, I think, native to China. I’ve heard of a lot of traditional agrarian societies doing that as well – what they’d call “crop rotation”, where first you plant this type of crop here, in kind of a circle sort of patch. Now, though, there’s a lot more people who can be affected, and a lot more crops that are being burned, so, obviously, this is much more of an issue now.
WY: Well, it’s, kind of, quite serious these days, because from the 15th to the 17th in this month, massive smog has swept north, east and central China. And also, testing by the central satellite, over 800 straw burning places have been found, which number is over 6% higher than last year.
Lincoln: Well, presumably, Wu You, there’s different ways to rotate the crops, and this is just the most cost-effective way for the farmers.
WY: Some experts from the Agricultural Bureau say the straw can be buried, but first of all, you can directly shred it, and then, buried deep, it can be an excellent fertilizer. But another expert also mentioned that the high costs associated with shredding straw is just too much at this point.
Lincoln: Already people are burning straw because they don’t necessarily have the money to deal with the more expensive methods of crop rotation.
WY: And furthermore, the county has already allocated some 10 million yuan to set up a special office to this, and those are all the help, and those authorities decided to step in to implement some burning bans a few years ago. I think all those actions can actually help to change the situation. That’s why, from time to time, we can actually see there has been some changes – we can see more blue skies in Beijing.
Brian: And that’s certainly right – we certainly have seen a lot of improvement here. In Beijing, for example, we have seen a lot more blue skies, and better air quality overall, and in particular, since this year.
Lincoln: What we also might be seeing is, kind of, a clash of traditional ways of doing things, as well as modern concerns and modern technology and modern developments; whereas maybe this is the way these farmers have been operating for years and years now. Suddenly to come in and say, “Oh, there’s this new thing that we have that we also need to be cognisant of…” To just, kind of, expect that to change overnight is, I think, a little bit unrealistic, so it’s not just slapping of fines and educating, but also, kind of, having patience, and being able to have finesse in the way that you bring across these messages, and to, kind of, bring across the bigger message, which is, “This is for all of us; we’re not just punishing you.”
Brian: Mm. So, obviously, again, we’re seeing some hopeful results here, so hopefully, when this comes round next time, maybe the problem won’t be gone, per se, but hopefully it'll be much smaller than it was.