Farmers Burning Straw To Make Up For Delays AU1608162389 Sofia RABOTNICHESKO DELO in Bulgarian 11 Aug 89 p 2 [Unattributed report: "Warning Tip: Ban on "Flying Saucers Made of Straw"] [Text] It is well-known how the short-lived sensational story ended concerning the unidentified flying object that was recently reported to have landed near Moscow; Unprejudiced investigations produced a perfectly pro- siac explainations, namely the combustion of a large ammount of dry grass. We would not mention this attempt to make up for the summer shortage of interesting news with a fabricated story, if the danger had not recently arisen of similar "launching areas" also appearing in the fields of Bulgaria. Delays are occurring in collecting the straw from har- vested fields, and because in many areas this has begun to hinder the timely completion of the basic soil cultiva- tion operations, it is no wonder that certain leaderships may be tempted "to put a match to it," without wasting any time in thinking of the existing categorical prohibi- tation on this, it is not superfluous to remind ourselves that though prohibitions may well exist, violations of those prohibition exist as well. The lowest percentages of straw have been collected in Sofia, Razgrad, Burges, and Mikhaylovgrad Oblasts (between 36 and 45 percent). Marked differences cen be noted in the way the different minicipalities are carrying out this agricultural tank. Whereas a few days ago Vetiko Turnovo Municipality had completed 97 percent of this task, and Lom Municipality had collected the straw from 86 percent of the hawvested fields. Mikhaylovgrad Minicipality had only completed one-third of the work. ------------------------------------------------------------------ FBIS-??U-89-198 17 August 1989 Of course objective seasons do exist. Large ammounts of straw left over from last year can been seen, and village farmers are refraining from collecting and bailing the straw in order to avoid excess expenditures (which are not insignificant). However, the true farmer finds a way out, for example by distributing ?????ted ammounts of straw to private farmers, or bailing it to keep it in reserve for the needs of stockbreeding and vegetable production. Every solution is good in its own way, but one is absolutely unacceptable, and that is burning! Without mentioning the danger presented by stubble burning, and without considering in detail the losses, which can very easily multiply (as much mtters are clear to everyone), let us remind ourselves of the extremely unfavorable ecological consequence. Many of us, if not all, have seen the balck patches ceased by the fires, the soil backed hard as brick.... the earth carries such wounds for a long time, and they are not easily cured. Thus, the "landing" of such "flying saucers" made of straw must continue to be prohibited. If the telltale signs of orange flames should nevertheless appear anywhere, our readers know whom to inform of the violation.
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