Work Packages 1 and 2

To optimize the removal of rice straw from paddy fields, Straw Innovations has adopted a variety of advanced harvesters. This approach could potentially lower the costs of harvesting and collecting rice straw, addressing one of the major challenges in rice straw management. Traditionally, the slash-and-burn method has been a common practice, or rice straw is simply left to decay in the field. Both practices contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, making the need for more sustainable alternatives even more urgent.

Meanwhile, the team is also working on testing out renewable energy technologies that could power rice drying. Thus far, the team already explored gasification, and anaerobic digestion (biogas production), and in 2025, they plan to execute the pyrolysis method.

By the end of 2025, it is expected that all operations from efficient straw collection, through transportation and processing at the hub, to productive bioenergy use for drying and milling rice, will be completed. The system holds potential for cutting rice emissions by more than 50%, whilst creating added value and jobs for local rice farming communities.