Equipment Performance, Costs and Constraints of Packaging and Transporting Rice Straw for Alternative Uses to Burning in the “Parc Natural l’Albufera de València” (Spain)

Rice straw is a residue that causes significant environmental problems, as burning it causes CO<sub>2</sub> and ash emissions, while buried waste can cause issues associated with eutrophication. The extraction of straw from fields for alternative uses may contribute to solving these prob...

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Main Authors: Antonio Torregrosa, Juan Miguel Giner, Borja Velázquez-Martí
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
Series:Agriculture
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/6/570
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author Antonio Torregrosa
Juan Miguel Giner
Borja Velázquez-Martí
author_facet Antonio Torregrosa
Juan Miguel Giner
Borja Velázquez-Martí
author_sort Antonio Torregrosa
collection DOAJ
description Rice straw is a residue that causes significant environmental problems, as burning it causes CO<sub>2</sub> and ash emissions, while buried waste can cause issues associated with eutrophication. The extraction of straw from fields for alternative uses may contribute to solving these problems, but research into its economic viability is necessary. The straw can be used for crop mulching, biofuel, bedding for livestock, and so on. In this study, we analyse the work carried out by straw harvesting machines (rakes, balers, bundlers, and loaders) and calculate the costs of packing, road-siding, and transportation of the straw from the rice fields to stockage points in the producer area, as well as to locations outside of the rice production area, in order to assess the viability. The costs of all elemental operations were calculated. The costs of all the operations included between raking and unloading in the producer area stocking point ranged between 28.1 and 51 EUR t<sup>−1</sup>. These costs were compared with the price of rain-fed cereal straw (wheat and barley), which is the most abundant, noting that the years in which rain-fed cereal straw reached high prices, rice straw could serve as a competitive product; however, in years when the former is cheap, it would be necessary to subsidise the harvesting of rice straw.
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spelling doaj.art-944f2a355be34538a7983be3a2c6f2f32023-11-22T01:04:12ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722021-06-0111657010.3390/agriculture11060570Equipment Performance, Costs and Constraints of Packaging and Transporting Rice Straw for Alternative Uses to Burning in the “Parc Natural l’Albufera de València” (Spain)Antonio Torregrosa0Juan Miguel Giner1Borja Velázquez-Martí2Departamento Ingeniería Rural y Agroalimentaria, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, SpainEscuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica y del Medio Natural, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, SpainDepartamento Ingeniería Rural y Agroalimentaria, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, SpainRice straw is a residue that causes significant environmental problems, as burning it causes CO<sub>2</sub> and ash emissions, while buried waste can cause issues associated with eutrophication. The extraction of straw from fields for alternative uses may contribute to solving these problems, but research into its economic viability is necessary. The straw can be used for crop mulching, biofuel, bedding for livestock, and so on. In this study, we analyse the work carried out by straw harvesting machines (rakes, balers, bundlers, and loaders) and calculate the costs of packing, road-siding, and transportation of the straw from the rice fields to stockage points in the producer area, as well as to locations outside of the rice production area, in order to assess the viability. The costs of all elemental operations were calculated. The costs of all the operations included between raking and unloading in the producer area stocking point ranged between 28.1 and 51 EUR t<sup>−1</sup>. These costs were compared with the price of rain-fed cereal straw (wheat and barley), which is the most abundant, noting that the years in which rain-fed cereal straw reached high prices, rice straw could serve as a competitive product; however, in years when the former is cheap, it would be necessary to subsidise the harvesting of rice straw.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/6/570strawricebalertransporteconomymechanisation
spellingShingle Antonio Torregrosa
Juan Miguel Giner
Borja Velázquez-Martí
Equipment Performance, Costs and Constraints of Packaging and Transporting Rice Straw for Alternative Uses to Burning in the “Parc Natural l’Albufera de València” (Spain)
Agriculture
straw
rice
baler
transport
economy
mechanisation
title Equipment Performance, Costs and Constraints of Packaging and Transporting Rice Straw for Alternative Uses to Burning in the “Parc Natural l’Albufera de València” (Spain)
title_full Equipment Performance, Costs and Constraints of Packaging and Transporting Rice Straw for Alternative Uses to Burning in the “Parc Natural l’Albufera de València” (Spain)
title_fullStr Equipment Performance, Costs and Constraints of Packaging and Transporting Rice Straw for Alternative Uses to Burning in the “Parc Natural l’Albufera de València” (Spain)
title_full_unstemmed Equipment Performance, Costs and Constraints of Packaging and Transporting Rice Straw for Alternative Uses to Burning in the “Parc Natural l’Albufera de València” (Spain)
title_short Equipment Performance, Costs and Constraints of Packaging and Transporting Rice Straw for Alternative Uses to Burning in the “Parc Natural l’Albufera de València” (Spain)
title_sort equipment performance costs and constraints of packaging and transporting rice straw for alternative uses to burning in the parc natural l albufera de valencia spain
topic straw
rice
baler
transport
economy
mechanisation
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/6/570
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