clears are not rice and vegetables to feed locals. A single crop is responsible: maize. The haze problem began in 2007 and has been traced at the local level and at the macro-market level to the growth of the animal feed business. "The true source of the haze ... sits in the boardrooms of corporations eager to expand production and profits. A chart of Thailand's growth in world corn markets can be overlaid on a chart of the number of fires. It is no longer acceptable to scapegoat hill tribes and slash-and-burn agriculture for the severe health and economic damage caused by this annual pollution." These data have been ignored by the government. The end is not in sight, as the number of fires has increased every year for a decade, and data show more pollution in late-February 2016 than in late-February 2015. Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, Thailand's largest agro-industrial and food conglomerate, and the leading purchaser of northern maize, in March 2016 announced an "agricultural social enterprise" to steer Nan Province's Pua District villagers away from maize farming. CP Group has incurred criticism for the way it purchases maize harvests for animal feed from farmers in Nan and other provinces. Suphachai Chearavanont, vice-chairman of CP Group, said that corn planters will be encouraged to grow cash crops such as coffee, which requires less farmland and makes a higher profit than maize. Not only will this address deforestation, he said, but it will also help reduce the spring haze in the north which is caused by slash-and-burn practices to prepare land for the next maize season. Chearavanont said crops like coffee take about 3½ years to show a yield, but stated that CP Group would stand by farmers and provide assistance in the meantime. The Thai government has encouraged farmers to abandon rice farming and cultivate sugarcane instead. As a consequence, fields planted in sugarcane have soared from 6.8 million rai in harvest year 2008–2009 to 11.5 million rai in 2017–2018. Sugarcane fields are a major locus of open fires. Despite anti-burning regulations, 66% of the sugarcane that entering processing mills in 2019 had been burned prior to harvesting. "Cheap and fast" is a shorthand explanation for the intentional use of fire to clear overgrown roadsides and open areas. Cattle herders also burn areas to stimulate the growth of Imperata grass which is able to quickly produce new leaves during