Abstract
The greater engagement of cereal farmers in better straw-utilisation could probably reduce the adverse impacts of open burning of straw on the environment. However, it seems difficult to achieve with the current knowledge and ability of farmers being limited and also by other external factors. This study attempts, to assess the influence of various environmental and socio-economic factors that influence farmers managing straw in a more environmentally-friendly manner. The study focused on Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) agricultural region in Kedah. It involved 160 farmers, either involved in straw collection by MADA or utilising straw as a by-products for another purpose. Results show that several factors are influencing the stagnation of better straw-utilisation in the MADA region. It includes weather (humidity and rain); incentives that are not commensurate to farmers; inefficient straw collection technology; lack of logistic facilities (baler machines, storage and transportation); low level of skills and knowledge of farmers; inefficient management from agricultural agencies; and lack of capital to manage straw in their fields. Given the economic value and high potential, straw could become much more important by-product for farmers and local communities. Moreover, straw could also stimulate the wider rural economy through added-value industrial chain as well as more generally impoving the agricultural environment. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p229
Highlights
Straw yields vary widely between countries and regions in the world (Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2013)
Poor straw-utilisation in the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) region is shown by straw open-burning still being widespread; imports of chemical fertilizers and animal feed remaining high; the participation of farmers in straw collection projects is still low; and the number of straw entrepreneurs still very limited
The government must realize that farmers are sometimes passive to reform, if it cannot be shown they will profit from their participation in a new project
Summary
Straw yields vary widely between countries and regions in the world (Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2013). It can be influenced by weather conditions, varieties, potential grain yields and farming methods during planting, harvesting and straw collecting (Hrynchuk, 1998; Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2013). The on-farm influences involve proper crop management (e.g. reduced lodging of the crop); trafficking patterns during grain harvest (reducing the flattening of straw to the field surface); adjusting grain harvest method (selecting cutting height of the crop); and choosing crop varieties with a certain straw to grain ratio (Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2013). Typical values for rice straw to grain ratios can vary from 0.7 to 1.5, which means that for every ton of rice grain, about 700 to 1500 kg of rice straw is produced (Ministry of Economic Affairs, 2013). With the latest rice varieties of moderate height, the ratio is almost the same (0.45:0.55), Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) often used the 1:1 ratio to calculate the estimating available straw in MADA region (MADA, 2012)
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