While mechanized rice harvesting eliminates the back-breaking work of traditional harvesting, accomplishing it in a shorter time leaves even more straw to dispose of. Instead of burning the straw, developing a value chain for the straw itself can be achieved by finding new market outlets for the product.
Rice straw market are seen excited. Farmers prepared mechanized equipment to make use of all in their field.
Fifty year old farmer Nguyen Duc Nga in Huu Thanh village in Binh Dinh province’s Tuy Phuoc District, owning a straw field said that years ago, farmers gathered some straw to feed cattle and burn the left. However, straw is becoming scarce.
And traders struggled each others to buy and price is escalating gradually. Traders from the central highlands province buy straw and then sell to those who grow mushroom, feeding cattle and use as fertilizer, said Nga.
Rice farmers can earn million dong from vending straw after making profit from selling rice, Nga added.
Forty-six year old trader Nguyen Kim Thien moaned that straw price surges day by day. Each bundle of dried straw is priced at VND22,000 - 25,000. Farmers can sell bundle of straw or sell all straw in their rice paddy field. After bargaining the price, traders will deploy machines to the paddy field to harvest straw.
