Cost-effectiveness analysis of farmers' rice straw management practices considering CH4 and N2O emissions.

This study assessed the environmental consequences of burning and other rice straw management practices in terms of non-CO2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and evaluated the cost-effectiveness of selected rice straw management alternatives. On a per-hectare basis and considering a time horizon of five years, incorporating stubble more than 30 days before crop establishment, and incorporating composted rice straw in the field yielded the lowest cumulative CH4 and N2O emissions. Considering the associated costs and secondary benefits, the most cost-effective option for farmers is to incorporate stubble and straw in the soil more than 30 days before crop establishment.

What factors influence choice of waste management practice? Evidence from rice straw management in the Philippines.

This study applied a multinomial logit model to understand why farmers choose to burn, incorporate or remove rice straw in the field. Four hundred randomly selected farmers were interviewed in four major rice-producing provinces covering the 2009 wet and 2010 dry seasons. Results of the model with burning as the baseline category indicate farm type, location dummies, number of household members with older than 13 years, cow ownership and distance from farm to house as significant variables influencing farmers' choice of straw incorporation or removal over burning.