Government mulls ways to stop field burning

The Industry Ministry will ramp up measures to discourage farmers from setting fire to their sugarcane fields to aid harvesting after a study found the smoke caused by the practice adversely impacts the health of about two-thirds of the nation’s population.

Many sugarcane farmers burn their fields right before harvesting to get rid of the plants’ leaves, which makes the crop easier to process. The practice produces “black snow” — ashes that fall on areas…