'No Fire Prevention Effect' Burning Rice Field Edges... Warning for Wildfire Risk

A Jeongwol Daeboreum Daljip Burning event is being held at Namsan Hanok Village in Jung-gu, Seoul to celebrate Jeongwol Daeboreum. The photo is unrelated to the article. Photo by Yoon Dongju doso7@

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Chungnam Provincial Agricultural Research and Extension Services warned of the risk of wildfires caused by burning rice paddy and field ridges in spring and urged caution.

According to the provincial agricultural research institute on the 27th, burning rice paddy and field ridges is mainly carried out in spring for the purpose of pest extermination.

However, an investigation into the occurrence patterns of overwintering pests revealed that the proportion of pests during this period accounts for only 5-10% of all insects, and the rest are confirmed to be beneficial insects.

Burning rice paddy and field ridges can have the adverse effect of exterminating beneficial insects rather than pests.

Above all, burning rice paddy and field ridges can eliminate natural enemies of pests, making natural pest extermination difficult.

For example, the Rural Development Administration recently confirmed that 89% (7,256 individuals) of all microorganisms inhabiting three rice paddy ridges (per 1㎡) in the Chungcheong and Gyeonggi regions are natural enemies of pests such as spiders and predatory mites. Burning rice paddy and field ridges can create conditions where pests increase due to the disappearance of their natural enemies.

In particular, with frequent dry and strong wind advisories currently issued, burning rice paddy and field ridges is identified as a major cause of wildfires, requiring caution.

Seo Hwa-young, a researcher in the Agricultural Pest Team at the provincial agricultural research institute, said, “Burning rice paddy and field ridges is an unnecessary activity that kills more beneficial insects and causes fine dust and wildfires,” adding, “It is much more effective to control pests timely according to the pest occurrence information provided by the research institute.”

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