Haenam-gun Imposes Fines for Landfilling and Incineration of Agricultural Waste

Strengthening On-Site Guidance to Eradicate Trash Burning on Rice Field and Farm Field Ridges

Haenam-gun Office Building Exterior (Photo by Haenam-gun)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Myeong Hyun-gwan) announced on the 22nd that it is conducting on-site guidance to eradicate illegal burning as the amount of agricultural waste and burning of rice field and farmland ridges increases ahead of the farming season.

The county has formed a joint inspection team with related departments and is conducting resident guidance activities to prevent illegal burning in rural areas through on-site inspections during the period from February to March.

Burning of rice field and farmland ridges, agricultural byproducts such as barley stalks, chili pepper stalks, and sesame stalks, and agricultural waste such as waste vinyl and nonwoven fabric cause fine dust in spring and forest fires.

In particular, burning rice field and farmland ridges eliminates natural enemies of pests rather than the pests themselves, making pest control ineffective, and when burned, it spreads to forest fires causing various accidents.

Rice field and farmland ridges should be collected and disposed of through mowing, and waste vinyl and agricultural waste should be disposed of at designated locations. If burning is unavoidable, it must be done collectively by the village with permission from the administrative agency, and firefighting equipment must be deployed and the burning carried out when the risk of forest fire is low.

A fine of up to 1 million won will be imposed on those who discard, bury, or burn agricultural waste, and a fine of up to 200,000 won will be imposed if fire is set near forest areas.

Especially, if illegal burning spreads to a forest fire, compensation for damages to private property and civil and criminal liabilities such as imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 15 million won may be imposed, so caution is required.

A county official said, “Burning rice field and farmland ridges is ineffective for pest control and is likely to cause forest fires and fine dust. We plan to strengthen on-site guidance and inspections focusing on forest fire-prone areas until the full-scale farming season, and we ask for the active cooperation of residents.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.