Understanding farmers' choice among rice straw management alternatives

Launio, C.C.; Manalili, R.G.; Asis, C.T. Jr.; Javier, E.F.; Belizario, A.F., Philippine Rice Research Inst., Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija

Understanding farmers' choice among rice straw management alternatives

2012

Launio, C.C. | Manalili, R.G. | Asis, C.T. Jr. | Javier, E.F. | Belizario, A.F., Philippine Rice Research Inst., Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija (Philippines)

The negative effects of open field rice straw burning to the environment and to human health are well documented in local and international literature. Farmers have thus been encouraged to refrain from burning rice straw, and to practice more environment- and human-friendly rice straw management practices. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of what factors influence farmers' choice of rice straw management practice or why farmers choose to burn, incorporate or remove rice straw in the field. The authors interviewed 400 randomly selected farmers from irrigated and rainfed barangays [villages] in four major rice producing provinces, namely: Nueva Ecija, Ilocos Norte, and North Cotabato [Philippines]. The survey covered the 2009 WS and 2010 DS. Results of the multi-nomical logit model with burning as the baseline category indicate farm type, location dummies, number of household members with age greater than 13, cow ownership and distance from farm to house as significant variable influencing farmers' choice of straw incorporation or removal over burning. Significant perception variable are the negative impacts of open field burning, awareness of environmental regulations and attitude towards incentives. Attendance to training, and perceptions of positive and negative effects of straw incorporation are significant factors influencing decision to incorporate over burn while income from non-rice farming, total area cultivated, tenure status, presence of burning and solid waste management ordinances in province are significant factors affecting choice to remove over burn. Continual provision of rice production training to farmers, increasing demand for rice straw for other uses, and increasing awareness of environmental laws and regulations are policy directions recommended. Research for options to reduce collection and transportation cost of rice straw may also increase the probability of adoption of straw removal options including composting.

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