Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesia has started cloud seeding toinduce rain as the archipelago moves to head off annual forest fires blamed forblanketing swathes of Southeast Asia in toxic haze.
Over the past two weeks, cloud seeding, a technique that uses chemicals toinduce rain, has been used in hotspot Riau province on Sumatra. The countryplans to roll it out in other parts of the island and in Borneo.
The activity is to last throughout the dry season, which is expected to endaround September.
Last year's fires were the worst since 2015 due to dry weather, with some 1.6million hectares of land, mostly on Sumatra and Borneo islands, razed by theout-of-control blazes.
Authorities deployed tens of thousands of personnel andwater-bombing aircraft to tackle the fires, which are intentionally set toclear land for agriculture, including on palm oil and pulp plantations.
The fires sent a toxic haze across Southeast Asia that forcedschool closures and aggravated concerns./.
Over the past two weeks, cloud seeding, a technique that uses chemicals toinduce rain, has been used in hotspot Riau province on Sumatra. The countryplans to roll it out in other parts of the island and in Borneo.
The activity is to last throughout the dry season, which is expected to endaround September.
Last year's fires were the worst since 2015 due to dry weather, with some 1.6million hectares of land, mostly on Sumatra and Borneo islands, razed by theout-of-control blazes.
Authorities deployed tens of thousands of personnel andwater-bombing aircraft to tackle the fires, which are intentionally set toclear land for agriculture, including on palm oil and pulp plantations.
The fires sent a toxic haze across Southeast Asia that forcedschool closures and aggravated concerns./.
VNA
