Developing More Green Agribusiness: The Case for Exploiting Malaysia’s Under-Utilised Rice Straw

Mz Rosmiza,Mj Jabil,Cm Che Rosmawati,M Mazdi,Wp Davies,Aznie Cr Rosniza,Wy Wan Toren

doi:10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s2p532

Abstract

Developing more potential green business is at the heart of sustainability. As an important third engine of economic growth Malaysia’s agriculture not only needs to grow, but also more importantly to grow sustainably. Rice provides staple food and abundant potentials for rice-based products, but it also produces abundant post-harvest wastes in the form of straws which do pose some environmentally serious disposal problems. Developing rice straw as raw materials in agri-based enterprises would only strengthen Malaysia’s rice sector through the development of value-added industrial chains while reducing the environmentally less friendly impact of the straw disposal. This paper examines factors that influence entrepreneurs’ decision to utilize rice straw as raw material for agribusiness development. The study involved in-depth interviews of 44 entrepreneurs located in the two largest granary area in Malaysia of the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) region (24 entrepreneurs) and Sekinchan (20 entrepreneurs) in the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA) in North-West Selangor. Results showed that straw availability, straw prices, straw potentials, government supports, and government environmental policies were all factors that may motivate or discourage agripreneurs in Malaysia to utilize rice straw as raw materials in for up-stream or down stream enterprises. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s2p532

Highlights

Cereal crops such as rice, wheat, barley, oats and rye are extensively grown as staple food crops for grain and not mainly for other prospective uses
The survey was conducted with 44 enterpreneurs using straw as a raw material for agribusiness
The study found that nine entrepreneurs have many experiences of using straw as a raw material in their business activities, and have done so for more than 16 years

Summary

Introduction

Cereal crops such as rice, wheat, barley, oats and rye are extensively grown as staple food crops for grain and not mainly for other prospective uses. In a review of literature, straw has various potential uses that can be exploited and developed. In many Asian countries such as China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam (Sarnklong et al, 2010), they have typically utilised rice as a double-purpose crop, of grains for human food and straw for livestock feeding (Dong et al, 2013). In China and India, with highly populated rural area and high rates of poverty, they have developed electricity energy, biogas and biofuel using straw residue. In China, around 53.6% of straw is used for electricity and 28.0% for biogas in India (Gadde et al, 2009)

Methods

Results

Conclusion