Smoke rises from burning garbage in downtown Cairo October 20, 2011. The Black Cloud is regarded as one of the main causes of climate change.Burning excess rice straw is only one factor causing the thick smoke. Farmers burn leftover straw to clear the lands.With the environmental and health issues resulting from the phenomenon, an action plan was set to encourage farmers to collect rice straw instead of burning it. In 2017, the former minister of environment introduced a new agro-waste system, turning waste into product; the system was initially implemented in Delta’s Sharqiah. 50 ($2.82) for every ton of rice straw to encourage them to collect and hand over the straw to the government instead of burning it.

Source: Egypt Today December 30, 2018 09:33 UTC