Slash and burn agriculture, also known as shifting cultivation, is partly to blame for the haze of polluted air that hangs over parts of Southeast Asia. For farmers in Myanmar, the practice is part of a way of life that goes back generations, and one that they can't afford to change.
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00:00Deep in the hills of Myanmar's Shan State, far from the battlegrounds of the
00:06country's ongoing civil war, farmers scorch the earth. Not to destroy, but to
00:11grow their crops. Shifting cultivation, also known as slash-and-burn agriculture,
00:17is an entrenched practice here, passed down through generations.
00:20We've been depending on farming for our livelihood since the time of our
00:26ancestors. This is the only work we have because there are no other jobs and
00:31opportunities in our region. That's why we continue with shifting cultivation each
00:36year. It's the only way we survive through this traditional cultivation.
00:40The practice works like this. Farmers cut down the trees and vegetation on the land
00:45they wish to cultivate. After the winter season dries out the fallen plant matter,
00:50they put the torch to it. The burn creates a richly fertile area for planting crops.
00:56Shifting cultivation has come under heavy scrutiny from governments and
01:00environmental groups in recent years. But farmers say they do it responsibly.
01:04While logging and burning cause deforestation and harm the environment,
01:11we have our own rules and regulations to prevent this deforestation. We only cut
01:16trees and burn the same fields once every ten years. During that time, we let the
01:21trees grow back on the mountains. And after ten years, we repeat the process.
01:26Agricultural burning is widespread in Southeast Asia. Visitors to tourism hotspot Chiang Mai
01:32across the border in Thailand, about 200 kilometers away from Shan State, learn to avoid the late winter
01:38burning season when the air is thick with smoke. Doctors like Rungsrit Kanjanavenit say it's a public health concern in Thailand's second largest city.
01:48The effects on the population is very high. Unlike if you have, say, if you smoke. If you smoke,
01:55then, okay, your risk of having a heart attack might go up two or three times. But not everyone smokes. But here,
02:03although the risk itself is not as high as smoking, you have to multiply by the exposure rate, which is 100 percent because everyone breathes.
02:11Yes. Back in Myanmar, local leaders say there's no way around slash and burn.
02:18As the Kayan people, we have relied on shifting cultivation and see no alternative ways for the future due to a lack of technology and essential abilities to switch to other farming methods.
02:30The villagers here subsist on the crops they grow on the hillsides, like rice, corn and chili peppers. They hold ceremonies and celebrations for the burn. And some say the environmental effects of sending whole hillsides up in smoke isn't all that bad.
02:49When we burn the fields in the mountains, it's only for about an hour, not the whole day or week. The smoke dissipates within that hour. And we believe this short period of burning does not significantly contribute to pollution.
03:02The haze may drift elsewhere, but locals say the practice isn't going away anytime soon. Amid the instability of civil war in a nation where half the population lives in poverty, the farmers here just don't have the resources to live any other way. And so, environmental cautions, like smoke from the fields, are thrown to the wind.
03:25Andy Hsue and Jonathan Kaplan for Taiwan Plus.