Burning marks can be seen everywhere. When farmers burn straw, the dust-like air makes it impossible to open one's eyes. It is particularly unbearable for drivers. Yet illegal burning still occurs repeatedly despite prohibitions, not only wasting resources and polluting the environment but also seriously threatening transportation safety. Only through a virtuous cycle of straw resource development and utilization can the problem of open-air straw burning be completely solved, promoting sustained and coordinated development of the rural economy and society, improving the production and living conditions of rural residents, increasing farmers' income, and protecting the ecological environment.
Regarding the comprehensive utilization of straw, collection and processing are the most difficult tasks in the early stages. To solve the problems of straw collection and processing difficulties in multiple-cropping agricultural areas with tight crop rotation schedules, efforts should be accelerated to establish straw collection and logistics systems, and promote full-process mechanization of crop combined harvesting, crushing, pickup and baling. Straw left in the fields after harvesting should be processed promptly and efficiently. Straw processing equipment going to rural areas can also contribute significantly in this regard. After all, only after straw is crushed will technologies such as biological conversion of straw for edible mushroom cultivation, fertilizer utilization, and feed utilization become relatively easier.
For a long time, straw energy utilization technology has had significant potential in the future energy sector. In China, straw is the main living fuel for rural residents, feed for large livestock, and organic fertilizer, with a small portion used as industrial raw materials and edible mushroom substrate. In recent years, with the transfer of rural labor, improvement of energy consumption structures, and the application of various alternative raw materials, combined with the high cost, poor economic viability, and low industrialization level of comprehensive straw utilization, regional, seasonal, and structural straw surpluses have begun to appear.
In some developed regions abroad, the conversion of straw pellets into electrical and thermal energy has already been initiated. If the government can introduce relevant preferential policies and appropriately bring in energy enterprises, even using straw as a supplementary raw material, the amount of straw consumed would not be small.
In addition, there are technologies for making charcoal from straw, converting it into activated carbon, and using straw as raw material in the processing industry for pellet fuel, direct combustion power generation from straw pellets, and straw briquette fuel. Straw fiber, as a natural cellulose fiber, is also a good method for comprehensive utilization.
Despite the many advantages, should straw only be burned in farmland with no other options? Beyond the traditional approach of simply prohibiting burning, we should focus more on the broader realm of comprehensive utilization. Can't we develop a comprehensive straw utilization plan? Based on the resource endowments, utilization status, and development potential of different regions, we should clarify the direction and overall goals of straw development and utilization, adapt to local conditions, make reasonable layouts, arrange construction content, formulate and improve various policies, and gradually form a virtuous cycle of straw resource development and utilization. This would completely solve the problem of open-air straw burning, promote sustained and coordinated development of the rural economy and society, improve the production and living conditions of rural residents, increase farmers' income, and protect the ecological environment.
As farmers are busy harvesting wheat and planting autumn crops, "how to handle straw has always been a headache." Grassroots cadres are also terribly busy and miserable. Some township cadres say, "Every year during wheat harvest, we have to do all the publicity and mobilization work for the 'burning ban.' We talk about it at big meetings and discuss it at small meetings, repeatedly giving orders. Township government cadres are all assigned to villages, groups, and field plots. If there aren't enough people, staff from various functional stations and village group cadres are all deployed, with responsibilities assigned at each level. Whoever is responsible for an area where an incident occurs loses their position. But the public doesn't listen. They set fires behind your back, sometimes in the evening, sometimes at midnight, sometimes before dawn, and the fields catch fire. Even if you dismiss us, there's nothing we can do. Besides, farmers don't really want to burn the straw either. If they don't burn it, there's no use for it sitting there. High stubble makes it hard to plow. If you burn it and accidentally ignite someone's wheat, you not only have to pay compensation but also get fined. The township also doesn't have a professional fire brigade. By the time you get to the scene, the wheat stubble has already burned up." With today's increasingly advanced agricultural technology, is there really no good way to handle straw so that what farmers would burn can now be turned into money? There is. Relevant experts say that developing comprehensive utilization of straw is a promising environmental protection industry with many potential uses, such as straw pellet feed, pellet fuel, biogas, mushroom cultivation, charcoal making, and board making. It's just that these practical technologies need further maturation and promotion. The fact that large amounts of straw are needed as raw material has established a farm-gate straw purchase price of 180 yuan per ton. This way, selling straw turns it into money. It is an effective way to increase farmers' income and reduce expenses, and it is also the fundamental solution to the problem of straw burning. Who would still burn straw then?
