This advice is from the experts of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) here who said that burning of rice straws, practiced by many farmers at harvest season, emit air pollutants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide.
On the other hand, it decreases the soil’s nitrogen, 25 percent of phosphorus, 20 percent of potassium, and 50-60 percent of sulfur. It also damages food resources of beneficial insects in the rice field.
“If scattered in the field and allowed to decay before land preparation, rice straws can maintain the soil’s nutrients and moisture,” said Evelyn Javier, PhilRice supervising science research specialist.
She added that rice straws can help the biodiversity of microorganisms that helps in nutrient cycling and efficient fertilizer utilization.
Rice production in the country, PhilRice said, totals to 15.2 metric tons a year. The rice straws generated by this harvest amount to 11.3 mt tons which the farmers can use for many advantages.
According to the experts. rice straws can be used as organic fertilizer and primary material for mushroom production.
Aside from this, this farm waste and other biomass from farm by-products can help farmers save expenses from chemical fertilizer inputs.
Recycling farm wastes can also keep the environment clean and free of pollutants.
Rice straws can also be used as mulch to protect the roots of the plants from heat and cold, reduce the evaporation rate, and also prevent weeds to grow in the paddy field, the experts said.
Rizal Corales, head of the PhilRice’s “Palayamanan Plus Project”, recommended the use of rice straws as substrate for oyster mushroom (Pleurotus spp.) production. He said using rice straw as mushroom substrate is economically profitable for farmers and people engaged in agribusiness.
“The waste from mushroom production is also the main substrate for vermicomposting whose product, vermicompost, is one of the best organic fertilizers,” Corales added.
On the other hand, experts from the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) said the rice straw can be used as feed for the carabaos. They can be baled and stockpiled and fed to the animal when there is dearth of green feed in the field.
“It can be turned into burong damo (silage) which is more nutritious for the animal,” PCC experts said. “We are conducting trainings on how to make silage,” they said.
