Crop field fires are once again being recorded across Uzbekistan following the grain harvest, as farmers burn leftover straw and stubble to clear their land. The National Committee for Ecology and Climate Change recently reported on ongoing efforts to combat this practice.
On July 10, air quality in Tashkent briefly deteriorated. Residents complained of a strong burning smell and a layer of haze blanketing the city, which blew in from the surrounding Tashkent province.
According to the committee, regional ecology departments issued nearly 8,000 warning notices to farms ahead of the harvest season. Despite these preventative measures, authorities detected 744 cases of field burning, leading to administrative citations against 172 farm managers.
Total fines have reached 212.5 million soums, while the resulting environmental damage is estimated at 652.3 million soums. Illegally burning fields carries a fine of up to 10 times the Base Reference Value (BRV) - amounting to 3.3 million soums—in addition to mandatory compensation for ecological damage.
The committee highlighted that burning just one hectare of land releases 500 grams of nitrogen oxide, 379 grams of hydrocarbons, 20 kilograms of carbon monoxide, and 3 kilograms of ash into the atmosphere. To catch violators, authorities monitor agricultural lands using aerial photography and satellite data provided by the Uzbekcosmos agency, deploying inspectors directly to the coordinates of detected fires.
In addition to agricultural burning, inspectors have identified nearly 10,000 violations since the beginning of the year involving the open burning of garbage, leaves, branches, and construction waste, with official citations issued for each offense.
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