Smoke: Can you smell it? Published Sept. 14, 2011 By Mehmet Birbiri 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- Smoke filled the air on the western side of the base most of the afternoon Sept. 13 as it has done for the last two weeks. The smoke is coming from local farm fields. Farmers are burning their corn fields after harvest. The same occurs in June, as well, when the farmers burn their wheat fields after harvest. Burning wheat and corn fields after harvest has been a routine farming practice in Turkey for centuries. The farmers believe that all harmful insects and their larvae are destroyed and the ash is a fertilizer for the field. On the other hand, agricultural authorities state burning the fields causes more harm than benefit. The useful insects are also destroyed while burning fields; and the remaining stem of wheat and corn stalks, not ashes, are the real fertilizers for the fields. Regardless of farming benefits, every year many field fires get out of control and burn nearby un-harvested fields and sometimes forests. For those reasons, the government had a decree banning burning fields; but the habit of centuries continues. The wind blowing toward the base carries smoke and black ashes onto your yards and cars, and that is what you see and smell this time of year.