The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) said rice farmers and agricultural officers in Laguna and Nueva Ecija are keen on expanding the use of rice straw for bioenergy generation instead of burning waste straw in fields.
The group said the idea was aired in roundtable discussions held earlier this month identifying the challenges, opportunities and innovations in implementing local and national policies on rice straw management.
SEARCA said participants included representatives of local government units, farmer associations, environmental groups, research organizations and other rice commodity stakeholders from 10 rice-producing municipalities in Laguna and Nueva Ecija.
The discussions focused on the possibility of collecting rice straws for processing in a controlled environment to release methane which can then be captured and used as a clean-burning cooking fuel called biogas.
The group said the discussions were conducted under the Rice Straw Biogas Hub project jointly implemented by British startup Straw Innovations Ltd., Koolmill, Aston University and SEARCA with funding from Innovate UK.
SEARCA also said the project which started in September 2022 aims to generate clean energy from waste rice straw for rice farmers but did not provide a timeline as to when the output from the partnership will be completed.
Craig Jamieson, Straw Innovations founder and chief executive officer, said the project partners are implementing four work packages allowing Straw Innovations to handle rice harvesting and bioenergy use for rice drying while Koolmill takes charge of energy efficient milling.
Aston University conducts the socioeconomic analysis while SEARCA is responsible for the greenhouse gas analysis and enabling environment.
SEARCA said the discussions also focused on the impact of burning rice straw on pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, health hazards and accidents while also presenting merits of using rice straw instead for bioenergy, fertilizer, mulching, livestock feed or mushroom substrate.
