.

conservation & RecycZing, Printed in Great Britain

Vo1.7,No.2-4,

pp.213-220,

1984

0361-3658,'84 Pergamon

$03.00/O press Ltd.

RECYCLING

RICE STRAW BY COMPOSTING,

INCORPORATING

AND MULCHING

S.L. AMARASIRI Central Agricultural Research

and K. WICKRAMASINGHE Gannoruwa, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Institute,

ABSTRACT It is, however, seldom put Rice straw is rich in nitrogen, potassium, carbon and silicon. to agronomic use by farmers in Sri Lanka, mainly owing to lack of awareness of the quantity of plant nutrients present and lack of simple and inexpensive methods of recycling. In soils which are either well drained or imperfectly drained, straw can be recycled by Straw can also be spread on the surface direct incorporation after the first ploughing. Another method is to add straw inbetween rows of the land and rice seedlings transplanted. of transplanted rice. Further, straw can be converted into compost without addition of any low C/N materials by merely heaping in a part of the paddy field. Field experiments have indicated that the amounts for a rice crop can be reduced by the use of straw. of nitrogen and potassium fertilisers

INTRODUCTION About 8.6 x lo5 ha of rice were cultivated in Sri Lanka in 1982 with an average paddy yield of about 3 tonnes ha-l. Considering a paddy to straw ratio of unity, the amount of straw produced by this crop can be estimated to be about 2.6 million tonnes. Assuming that straw contains 0.6%N and l.$XK, the quantity of nitrogen and potassium present in this straw is approximately 15,500 and 46,000 tonnes respectively. These amounts represent about one third the nitrogen and more than double the potassium fertiliser consumed by rice in Sri Rice straw is rich in carbon and silicon and other plant nutrients[2,3,4]. Lanka in 1982[11. In spite of the presence of a large amount of plant nutrients in straw, most of the straw in Sri Lanka is burnt at the threshing floor. Some of the reasons for not adding it back farmers' lack of awareness of the quantity of plant nutrients present to the field are: in straw; cost and inconvenience of transporting the bulky material from the threshing floor to the field; non-availability of simple and inexpensive methods to apply straw to the fields in a manner which does not hinder land preparation, and which does not lead to adverse effects on the rice crop. This paper reports some rice straw in a cropping of the experiences gained in testing different methods system involving two lowland rice crops a year. of recycling

MATERIALS SEASONS OF CULTIVATION (Maha) begins in October and and continues until August.

AND METHODS

The wet season begins in April

extends

up

to

March.

The

dry season

(Yala)

213

214

S.L.Amarasiri

and K. Wickramasinghe

METHODS

OF RECYCLING methods

RICE STRAW of recycling rice straw tested in this study are described below:

The different Straw ash

Air dried straw was packed tight manually and set on fire. Burning was controlled as far as possible to arrest combustion at the black ash stage. Prolonged burning at high temperature yields white ash with very low organic matter and nitrogen. Direct incorporation of straw

The straw was kept in a bundle in the experimental plot immediately after harvest and allowed to remain there until the commencement of the next season. After first plough the straw was spread on the surface. A week to ten days later it was incorporated and usual land preparation practices were followed. Incorporation of chopped straw

Rice straw was placed on a block of wood and cut manually with a knife to pieces of about 15cm long. This was added to the field just before first plough, and the land prepared thereafter in the usual manner. Addition as a mulch before transplanting just before transplanting. Rice seedlings were

The straw was spread uniformly on the field then transplanted in the usual manner. Addition as a mulch after transplanting

Straw was placed Composting

in between

rows of transplanted

rice one week after planting.

straw in the field but not heap so as to occupy the minimum land area, the heap was shaped as a basin so as to collect maximum Rice was cultivated in the usual manner around heap. spread to other parts of the field prior to commencement

Straw was placed in the field in a The top of exceeding 2m in height. incident rain into the body of the The decomposed straw was the heap. of the next season.

FIELD EXPERIMENTS Three field experiments were conducted. application

Experiment

1 - Time of nitrogen

The experiment was conducted at Minipe, on a well drained soil with a pH of 5.7. The different times of nitrogen application and the amounts added are shown in Table 1. Chopped straw was added at the rate of 4 tonnes ha -1 just before first plough. Straw treated plots received no (K) fertiliser. Other plots received 45kg K20 ha-' of which half was added at planting P was added at planting to all plots at the and the other half was added 8 weeks later. and muriate of potash were used as rate of 55kg P23 na-1. Urea, triple superphosphate A randomised block design was sources of N, P and K fertiliser. The plots were 4m x 4m. used with four replicates.

Recycling

Rice Straw

215

Table 1.

Effect of addition on yield of rice Nitrogen

of straw and time of application

of nitrogen

Treatment
At planting
10

Straw

Grain y;eld**tonnes Ytia 1982 5.8 ab 5.9 a 4.9 a

ha-l

2 WAP" 60 30 0 60 30 0 60 Rice variety CV% 4 0 0 0 6.8 ab 5.7 d 6.1 cd 5.2 e BG 94-1 5.2

30 60 0 30 60 0

5.5 abc 5.4 abc 5.2 bc 5.0 c

L

BG 94-1 8.0

* Weeks

after planting Yala - dry season are not significantly different (P ~0.05)

** Maha - wet season. Means followed

by the same letter

Experiment

2 - Effect of straw compost

Two existing adjacent bunded plots of a cultivator's land were selected having an area of Currently recommended fe-tiliser was added to both plots and rice was about 400m2 each. At harvest, straw from one plot was returned and heaped in a part of the field (Plot grown. The variables A) to be composted. The straw from the other plot (plot B) was removed. were introduced the next season when the full complement o f NPK was added to plot B xhereas 30kg ha-' less was added to plot A (Table 2). Nitrogen was added 8% as basal, 50% at maximum tillering and 42% at panicle initiation. P was added as in Experiment 1. No K was added to plot A. Plot B received 45 kg K20 ha-1 of which half was added at planting and the rest at panicle initiation. At the end of the season, straw was again returned to plot A and The compost from the previous heap was spread uniformly to plot A. The experiment heaped. was continued this way for three seasons, at two locations, Mawanella (imperfectly drained, pH 5.2) and Danture (imperfectly drained, pH 5.2). Table 2. Effect of straw compost on yield of rice.

Grain yield ** tonnes ha-l Treatment * Yala 1981 Mawanella Maba 1981/82 Yala 1982 Yala 1981 Danture M&-L+ 1981/8z Yala 1982

hON, 55P205, straw comwst Rice variety 9ON, 55P205, 45K20

3.22 BG 276-5 3.36

6.88 BG 94-l 5.92

5.81 BG 94-1 5.21

4.61 BG 276-5 4.58

7.04 BG 400-l 6.18 of previous

5.82 BG 94-1 5.13 1 season's

* Amounts of NPK added are in kg ha-l. straw after composting. **Maha - wet season Yala - dry season

Straw compost

refers

to addition

216

S.L.Amsrasiri

and K. Wickramasinghe

Experiment

3-- Methods -

of straw recycli_

This ongoing experiment is carried out at Ulpathagama on a well drained soil with a pH of Different methods of straw recycling are t ested in this experiment in which there 5 :i. are seven treatments replicated four times (Table 3). To begin The plots were 4m x 4m. with rice was fertilised with 120kg N, 55kg P205 and 45kg Ii20 ha-1 in all the 28 plots. After harvest the straw obtained from each plot was recycled, except for treatment 1 where the straw was removed. Concentrated superphosphate was added to all plots at the rate of Muriate of potash was added only to treatment 1 at the rate of 45 kg K20 55kg P205 ha-l. ha-l ~ Urea was used as the source of nitrogen. For treatments 1 and 2 nitrogen was added For other treatments 8% as basal, 50% at maximum tillering and 42% at panicle initiation. it was added in three equal doses at the above times. 120kg N ha-1 was added to treatment For oOher treatments the fertiliser N was reduced by the amount of N present in the 1. recycled straw. Table 3. Effect of methods of straw recycling on yield of rice. tonnes ha-1 Yala 1983 6.6

Grain yield Treatment Yala 1982 NPK Straw ash Straw incorporated straw incorporated before planting

1P!&a1982/83 /
1 5.9

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

7.2

$::
7.3 7.2 7.3 7.2

::$
5.9 5.6 6.0 5.7

Z:Z
6.4 6.7

Chopped

Straw mulched Straw mulched Straw compost

after planting

6.9 6.6

Rice variety Statistical CV% significance (5%)

BG 94-1 NS 4.4

BG 400-l NS 5.3

BG 94-l NS 5.2

,
Grain yield All grain yields Chemical analysis are reported of
StKiW

at 14% moisture.

The straw was digested in a mixture of nitric, sulphuric and perchloric acids, and the elemN was determined by micro kjeldahl method. ents were determined by standard methods.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION Almost the entire rice crop in Sri Lanka is harvested manually by cutting near the base Only a portion of the straw is removed with the panicles to of the plant with a sickle. The stubble that is left behind is ploughed in at land preparation the threshing floor. Studies of time for the next season, unless it has been munched off by grazing cattle. farmers' harvest practices have shown that the plant is usually cut at a height of 15-20cm from the base, and that about 30% of the straw is left behind as stubble. Usually all three are lumped together Rice straw consists of the rachis, culm and leaf. The nitrogen and potassium when the weight of straw or its chemical analysis is Feeported. contents of the three components are given in Table 4. While there is hardly any difference It in the N content, the K content in the leaf is very low compared to that in the culm. io likely that during senescence there is a translocation of K from the leaves to the culm.

Recycling

Rice Straw

217

Table

4.

Analysis

of different

components Nitrogen% 0.93 0.80 0.91

of rice straw* Potassium% 0.90 1.95 0.38

Component Rachis Culm Leaf *Mean of six samples

The results of analysis of over 300 samples of rice straw collected from different regions in Sri Lanka for its N content, and of over 600 samples for its K content are given in Table The The mean values ranged from 0.62-0.842 for nitrogen and from 1.30-2.03X for K. 5. Taking the above range for K, a 4 tonnes K content seems to be more variable than the N. crop of rice will contain about 52-80kg in the straw, a quantity which is in considerable excess of the amount currently recommended for rice cultivation.

Table 5.

Nitrogen and potassium content (mean and standard error) of rice straw collected from different locations in Sri Lanka.

Gampaha Hambantota Kalutara 0.75 - 0.02 0.71 - 0.02 Matara 0.66 - 0.08 0.79 - 0.03

1.29 - 0.33 1.53 - 0.06 1.50 - 0.30 1.74 - 0.05 2.03 - 0.08 1.73 - 0.40

*Confidence

limit of 5% probability

TIME OF NITROGEN

APPLICATION

Currently only about 8% of the fertiliser N is recommended to be added at planting. 1t was thought that if straw is incorporated at planting, this amount of N may be inadequate to prevent adverse effects on plant growth from N immobilisation. The effect of addition of different amounts of nitrogen at different times with and without application of straw, on the yield of rice is given in Table 1. The various ways of adding nitrogen did not influence grain yields in straw incorporated treatments. In treatments without straw, the yield of rice was lower with zero basal nitrogen, in one out of the three seasons. Plants were pale green in plots where straw was added with no basal nitrogen, but turned green after the first top dressing of nitrogen;

EFFECT OF STRAW COMPOST The quantity of compost obtained from the straw heap will depend on many factors. Some of them are: the manner of packing the straw, the distribution and amount of incident rain, the depth of the flood water, the C/N ratio of the straw, the activity of micro-organisms

218

S.L.Amarasiri

and K. Wickramasinghe

and soil fauna, and the time period for which the heap is allowed to remain in the field. It is observed that the amount of compost produced is highly variable, depending on the interplay of the above factors. In several determinations the amount of air dried compost produced was about 10% of the amount of air dried straw. The chemical analysis of the resulting compost showed 1.6-l.q%N and O.l-0.3%K . The compost analysed higher N and much lower K than found in the original straw. The low K is due to leaching from surrounding water and incident rain. The higher N could be due to the concentration effect from reduction of mass.

The rice yields obtained with and without straw compost in large sized farmers' field plots are given in Table 2. The straw compost treatment with 30kg N ha-' less than the recommendation and with no K, gave similar or higher yields than the recommended fertiliser treatment.

METHODS

OF STRAW RECYCLING

Three seasons have been completed in an on-going field experiment comparing different methods of straw recycling. There are as yet no significant differences in grain yields between treatments (Table 3). However, it is noteworthy that the straw treated plots (except straw ash treatment) have received on average 50kg N ha-1 less than the recommended dose of N fertiliser, and no potassium, and yet have given similar yields as the full NPK treated plot. Although grain yields are not different for the different methods method has its own special features, advantages and disadvantages. cussed below. of straw recycling, Some of these are each dis-

STRAW ASH By application of ash the problems of land preparation and of adverse effects associated with straw decomposition are avoided. After burning, some of the ash can get blown off by wind, and also can get carried away by the moving flood water in the rice field. Ashing results in loss of some plant nutrients, particularly carbon, nitrogen and sulphur. It has been reported that as much as 90% of the N and 20% of the K can get lost this way[Z]. Burning will destroy any pests and pathogenic organisms present in the straw.

DIRECT

INCORPORATION

OF STRAW

All the plant nutrients and carbon present in straw get added to soil by direct incorporation. The main difficulty is to get the straw broken down physically in good time, so as not to hinder land preparation, and for it to be sufficiently decomposed so as not to cause any undesirable effects on plant growth. If pieces of straw remain at final land preparation, this may cause a difficulty in establishing a good stand of broadcast rice.

CHOPPING

STRAW AND INCORPORATION

Addition of chopped straw has the advantage of quicker decomposition than unchopped straw. The limiting factor here is the chopping itself. Manual chopping of the large quantity of straw involved is not practical. While use of machinery will ease the labour requirement, it is not available at present and even if it were, it would be out of reach of the majority of farmers due to capital, maintenance and operational costs.

STRAW MULCH

BEFORE

TRANSPLANTING

A significant advantage of this method is the effective weed control brought about by the mulch. The extra labour requirement of placing the mulch and transplanting on to the mulch are likely to be nullified by savings on weeding costs. Another useful feature of this method is its applicability to both row and randomly transplanted rice. Placing straw as a mulch may be advantageous in poorly drained soils where direct incorporation may lead to excessive reduction.

Recycling

Rice Straw

219

STRAW MULCH AFTER TRANSPLANTING Walking in between rows with This method is applicable only for row transplanted rice. a bundle of straw, bending down and placing it in position is both cumbersome and highly Further, as only a very small fraction of transplanted rice is in rows, labour consuming. this procedure does not have much applicability at present.

STRAW COMPOST If the moisture conditions for straw decomposition are ideal, most of it will get composted In this situation the amount of organic matter and the heap will be flattened quickly. Further, some of the present can be too small to be applied to the surrounding area. nutrients present in the straw may get leached and enrich only the soil in the immediate This can be corrected in the long term by changing the position neighbourhood of the heap. Farmers do not mind the small land area lost to the of the heap from season to season. heap since the plants at the periphery of the heap are much more productive than in the rest of the field. Ideally the The size and shape of the heap should be so adjusted to suit each locality. straw should be partially composted so that sufficient amounts are present for application to other parts of the field, and the material offers no physical problem for land preparation. A notable feature of this composting procedure is the non requirement C/N ratio material to be added to the straw to aid decomposition. This in situ compost method will be particularly useful ation of large quantities of straw may be undesirable. for ill drained of nitrogen or a low

soils where

incorpor-

GENERAL

CONSIDERATIONS

IN STRAW RECYCLING

LOSS OF POTASSIUM The potassium present in the straw is easily lost on contact with water[21. This is Idvantageous from the viewpoint of supplying K to the growing rice crop. But surface applications of straw can lead to loss of potassium to the flood water which can move out of the field, especially in terraced paddies. Proper water management to conserve the nutrients present in straw is important.

C/N RATIO The C/N ratio of rice straw may be as high as 50-75. This ratio comes down to about 15 in the in situ production of compost. The high C/N ratio of the straw has not been a problem in the field experiments reported here, although a little initial yellowi.ng of the rice crop may take place. As a safety measure an additional amount of nitrogen fertiliser can be made at planting, to be set off against later top dressings. The magnitude of such adjustments will depend on the land, climate and variety of rice.

STRAW AS A SOURCE OF FERTILISER The potassium in the straw is of the greatest significance owing to its magnitude and its ready availability to the plant. However, one must consider the K removal by grain, by leaching and other field losses, and add fertiliser potassium if necessary to ensure that recycling does not lead to a lowering of the soil potassium below desirable levels. Addition of straw will also help to conserve other nutrients which are currently not added as fertiliser, but which may become limiting factors in the future with higher yield levels. The amount of nitrogen in the straw cannot be considered only in terms of simple arithmetic in order to determine accurately savings on N fertiliser. This is because the N in the straw cannot be equated to say urea N in terms of availability to plants. Further, the C in the straw may lead to soil N immobilisation as well as to N fixation by rhizosphere

220

S.L.Amarasiri

and K. Wickramasinghe

and flood water micro-organisms[4]. The net results of these complex and numerous interactions are difficult to predict. The experiments reported here suggest that the assumption that fertiliser N may be reduced by the amount of N present in straw may not be in serious error. More research is needed on this aspect.

STRAW AS A SOURCE

OF ORGANIC

MATTER

There is data that addition of straw can lead to an increase in the C content of soil[5]. While there is almost unanimity of opinion of the desirability to increase the organic matter content of most tropical soils, there seems to be very few practical approaches to realising cost of transport and cost of this from the viewpoint of availability of raw materials, incorporation. Unlike market garden crops, the gross economic picture of rice cultivation is presently not favourable to the purchase and transport of organic materials from outside. Under these circumstances rice straw becomes a very attractive material as a source of organic matter because the raw material belongs to the farmer and it is available on site.

DISADVANTAGES

OF RECYCLING

STRAW

Incorporation of straw may lead to excessive reduction in poorly drained soils with adverse effects on plant growth. A build up of harmful insects, diseases and weeds may arise from carry over effect from one season to another. Rice seeds of the previous season may get introduced with the straw and pose a problem to farmers engaged in seed production.

REFERENCES
1.

2. 3.

4.

Review of the Fertiliser Year 1982 (1982). National Fertiliser Secretariat, Sri Lanka. K. Use of rice straw as a fertiliser material. Amarasiri, S.L. and Wickramasinghe, Tropical Agric. 133: 39-49 (1977). Changes in phosphorus and potassium response in wetland De Datta, S.K. and Gomez, K.A., Proceedings Phospotrops Conference, Kuala rice soils in south and south-east Asia. Lumpur, Malaysia (1981). International Rice Soils and Rice. 605-620. Tanaka, A. Role of organic matter. Resea;-ch Institute, Los Banes, Philippines, -0 International Rice 418 pp. (1976). Research Institute. Annual Report for 1976. Los Banes, Philippines,

5.