2015年CRI China Faces Dilemma in Banning Crop Straw Burning

 

Heavy smog again blanketed northern China during this past week's National Day holiday, with straw burning mostly blamed.

The state environmental protection bureau says they identified some 400 burning sites in nine different provinces in the north of China during the period, up over 16 percent from the same period last year.

Taikang County in the province of Henan is one area where straw burning has created major pollution problems.

Chen Huijuan with the local environmental protection bureau has been patrolling four different townships from 9:00am to 11:00pm every day over the past few weeks.

"My daily work now is to check whether township officials responsible for implementing¹ the straw burning ban will go out to farmlands every day like they're supposed to."

This year, the county has allocated² some 10-million yuan, as well as set up a special office, to try to reduce straw burning.

However, its an uphill battle.

Farmers in northern China traditionally burn the leftover³ straw after the autumn harvest, then plough their land, believing the ash will work as a natural fertilizer.

But with China's problems with pollution, authorities decided⁴ steps had to be taken to bring the tradition to an end, implementing burning bans a few years ago.

At the same time, steps are also being made to convince local farmers to use other ways to dispose of the leftover straw in their fields.

One of the ways being touted⁵ is through the shredding⁶ of the straw, rather than burning it.

Li Yinghuai, head of Taikang County's Agriculture Bureau, says straw can be an excellent fertilizer if it's shredded⁷ and buried deep.

"It's a natural treasure for farm land, as it can greatly help increase the amount of organic matter in the soil to make farmland fertile. This will create higher yields."

But Zhang Baohua with the Taikang County straw burning control office says the high costs associated with shredding straw is just too much at this point.

"We estimate it will cost around 150 million yuan, or around one-sixth of our total annual revenues, if we were to adopt a straw-shredding program across the county."

Other applications for left-over straw include its use as feed for animals, as well as for generating power through biomass.

Ning Xiaofeng is with the Henan provincial⁸ straw burning control office.

"81 percent of crop straw across the province was disposed of in ways rather than being burned last year. The percentage is expected to rise to 85 percent this year. However, many farmers still don't have a better way to deal with the leftover straw, so many are still burning it."

Taikang County was fined 20 million yuan by the provincial government for failing to prevent straw burning during the National Day holiday.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.

1 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

2 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

3 leftover   

n.剩货，残留物，剩饭；adj.残余的

参考例句：

• These narrow roads are a leftover from the days of horse-drawn carriages.这些小道是从马车时代沿用下来的。
• Wonder if that bakery lets us take leftover home.不知道那家糕饼店会不会让我们把卖剩的带回家。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

6 shredding   

v.撕碎，切碎( shred的现在分词 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件）

参考例句：

• Like the Tehran experience, the shredding may be all for naught. 如同德黑兰事件中的情况一样，切碎文件可能是徒劳的。 来自时文部分
• How shredding began is subject to some guesswork. 粉碎处理行业的起源是个有争议的问题。 来自时文部分

7 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。