Abstract
The increasing utilization of rice combine harvesters in the Philippines has made collection of scattered rice straw difficult and laborious. While there are high demands for using rice straw, e.g., for feed or mushroom production, rice straw is predominantly burned in the field due to labor shortages and the high manual cost of collection, particularly for scattered rice straw harvested by combine harvesters. This study conducted an assessment and evaluated the feasibility of mechanized collection of rice straw by comparing the performance of two types of baler (i.e., roller and piston type) for two seasons—2019 wet and dry seasons at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and in Nueva Ecija, the Philippines. The study collected data on fuel consumption, manpower requirements, and field capacity by operating the balers to collect scattered rice straw in the field and piled rice straw that was left in the field after threshing. The round baler operated at 35% lower effective field capacity (EFC) on piled rice straw than on scattered rice straw, while the square baler operated at 2.33 times and 5.79 times higher EFC compared with the round baler on piled and scattered rice straw, respectively. The square baler used for collecting scattered rice straw is more appropriate under Philippine conditions, with a significantly lower baling cost by about 68% and an average EFC that is 4.43 times higher compared to the round baler. With the increasing demand for rice straw as feedstock for ruminants and for other alternative uses, using mechanical balers to gather scattered rice straw in the field is a sustainable option for farmers to utilize the straw for value-adding purposes. This is a foremost study conducted in the Philippines to guide policy makers, development workers, and end-users on the suitability of either square balers or round balers to gather scattered rice straw in the field after rice harvesting with combines.
Highlights
Every ton of reaped rice yields about 1.35 tons of rice straw [1,2,3], and because rice is a staple food in most countries, rapid elimination of this agricultural waste from the field has long been a problem, especially with the advent of combine harvesters where the rice straws are scattered in the field after harvesting operations
The square baler, on the other hand, was able to gather 1.77 ton/ha of scattered rice straw, and the average length of rice straw in the field was 35.4 cm. This shows that the length of rice straw left over in the field did not affect the amount of baled straw that was collected. This could be because of the differences in varieties of rice that were grown in each field and some varieties being mixed in piled rice straws, which was not considered in this study
This study has shown that collection of scattered rice straw on the field can be made more efficient with the use of rice straw balers
Summary
Every ton of reaped rice yields about 1.35 tons of rice straw [1,2,3], and because rice is a staple food in most countries, rapid elimination of this agricultural waste from the field has long been a problem, especially with the advent of combine harvesters where the rice straws are scattered in the field after harvesting operations. Communities that use combine harvesters, in the absence of options for mechanized rice straw collection, tend to resort to in situ burning because it is the most convenient, cheapest, and fastest way to eliminate rice straw to clear the land for the crop [5,8]. This can be attributed to the increased amount of rice straws that are loosely scattered and left in the field, which makes manual collection difficult [9]. There is still a large amount of rice straw left in the field, wherein burning is the main disposal practice [13]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
