CAIRO: Satellite images released by the Environment Ministry Thursday showed that rice straw burning in Dakahlia, Gharbia and Sharqia in Egypt’s Delta.
Two towns in Dakahlia’s Mansoura city were the towns in the country that burned the most rice straw, followed by Santa, Mahalla and Tanta in Gharbia.
A cloud of smoke covered Senbellawain, Mansoura in Dakahlia, Meet Ghamra in Dakahlia, Santa Samannoud, Mahalla and Kafr el-Zayat in Gharbia, and Fakous, Darb Negm, Abou Kebir and Abou Hammad in Sharqia.
Rice straw burning is one of the major factors behind “the black cloud” that mostly occurs in the sky of the Delta and Cairo every fall.
The Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture have coordinated to impose fines on farmers who burn rice straw and pay 50 EGP per a ton of the crop’s leftovers to every farmer who delivers it in designated collection points.
The government, then, recycles rice straw into fertilizers and feed. A total of 55,500 tons of rice straw have been recycled since the harvest season, Gamal al-Saidi, head of the subsidiaries sector at the Environment Ministry, told Youm7 Thursday.
Additional reporting by Mohamed Mahsoub