Rice Straw Availability and Post-harvest Management Practices of Rice Farmers in Isabela, Philippines
Post-harvest Management Practices of Rice Farmers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33687/ricosbiol.03.012.79Keywords:
Climate change mitigation, environmental efficiency, rice straw biomass, rice straw management, straw grain ratioAbstract
The prevalent use of combine harvester challenges rice farmers to efficiently manage rice straw. There is also an extremely low adoption of sustainable rice straw management by rice farmers. Hence, estimation of the total straw biomass and determination of rice straw management practices are necessary. The main objective of this study was to assess the availability of rice straw and postharvest management options of rice farmers. Case study was employed. Data gathered from household surveys and analyzed through descriptive statistics. Analysis revealed that the mean straw biomass ha-1 is 5,219.73 kg. Moreover, type of soil and planting method influenced the generation of higher quantities of rice straw. In addition, sex, household size, rice production training, farm organization, land ownership, machine ownership, road structure, and type of soil showed significant relationship to the postharvest management practices of rice farmers. Lastly, rice farmers predominantly practiced in-situ straw incorporation but only few practiced crop rotation, rice ratooning, straw mushroom production, and surface retention. It has been demonstrated that there is a massive contribution of rice straw biomass in Isabela. This provided data for authorities to carry out plans and initiatives, and for rice farmers to employ appropriate management to optimize the potentials of rice straw for circular economy. The findings suggest that political will, partnership and collaboration, provision of physical infrastructures, and active participation of rice farmers are the key factors to the efficient rice straw management. Through this, rice farmers can strengthen their technical efficiency and can cultivate environmental efficiency.
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All data generated or analysed during this study, including source data for all figures and tables, are included in this published article and its Supplementary Information files. All referenced datasets are publicly available, and their sources are cited in the reference list.
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