Rice has been an essential ingredient of Kashmiri cuisine and culture. Perusal of the recorded history reveals that hundreds of indigenous varieties were grown for different quality parameters including colour, taste, texture and aroma. The rice is believed to have been introduced to Kashmir by early travellers possibly from China and is under cultivation in this region since 1500 BC, as suggested by the archaeological evidences. The other part of the rice produce is the straw used by our ancestors in many facets of life. Historically rice straw was used for fodder, thatching the houses, preparing mats (patej), under flooring as insulator in homes and mosques, making shoes (pulhoer), binder in the cob, ropes and fuel by resource poor people etc.
Kashmir, characterised by a cold temperate climate, faces a long and chilling winter, during which the green fodder is scarce. In the contemporary times, rice straw continues to be the life line for our cattle population, as fodder and bedding material. Even the tribal people living in remote hilly areas keep a secured supply of rice straw to fulfil the deficit of hay during winter. More demanding and economic use of rice straw in apple industry as a packaging material, has grown parallelly with the growth in the apple industry. Rice straw is a good shock absorber and a cushioning material to prevent bruises in apple during storage and transport. The demand for rice straw is high during August, when the first harvest of early apple is packed and exported to other states. During August 2025, the rates per 100 bundles of straw escalated to `7000 to `8000 and there are credible reports that apple growers imported rice straw from Jammu. Currently the returns per 100 bundles is `3500 to `4000, roughly equal to the cost of production per Kanal.
There are many bottlenecks in the sustainable and profitable use of rice straw in the valley. The valley suffers huge losses of rice straw due to floods and crop lodging. Crop lodging, a pressing issue, is attributed to excessive use of urea, dense planting and use of old rice varieties. Adoption of modern and high yielding rice variety, Shalimar Rice-2 with a good culm strength and tall stature, is recommended for low lying and flood prone areas. Shalimar Rice-4 has also a good tolerance to crop lodging with high grain yield. Judicious use of urea and with balanced dose of other nutrients (P and K), optimum plant population, recommended time of planting and draining the field 20 days before the harvest are best management practices to reduce crop lodging. Rains soon after the harvesting results in deterioration of color and palatability of rice straw. Scheduling crop cutting as per the latest weather forecast is a pragmatic approach to avoid wetting of the grain and the straw.
Manual harvesting and threshing continue to be the most popular and convenient, but a labour-intensive and costly method. Escalation in the cost of labour reduces the profitability and delays the harvesting, further exposing the crop to climatic vagaries. Mechanisation offers a great opportunity to reduce labour cost, drudgery and improve efficiency. However, the combine harvester models that leave rice stubble, have created the issues like hitches in sowing in the standing residue, residue burning and widespread pollution in North Indian States. These machines are large and heavy, difficult to operate in wet fields, small and undulating topographical conditions. Punjab has introduced Super Straw Management (SSM), an attachment for combines to chop the residue, as legal binding for the farmers. Turbo seeders are easy to operate on the chopped residue laid as mulch for the additional benefits of moisture conservation and organic matter addition. Rice straw is sparingly used as fodder in North Indian states on account of poor nutritional quality, high silica content and year-round availability of green fodder. The suggested industrial uses of rice include gasification, pyrolysis for biochar production, power generation, biofuel production, paper manufacture, silica extraction, adsorbent etc. Agricultural uses include fodder, animal bedding, residue mulch, soil incorporation, mushroom production, composting etc. Despite all the technological options and legal measures for environmental safety, the problem of residue burning continues even today. Handling of an estimated 27 million tons of rice straw annually in North Indian states alone has been a herculean task due to obvious socio-economic and technological constraints.
Kashmir division having an area of 1.35 lakh ha area under rice, produces an estimated 4.05 lakh tonnes of rice grain and 8.10 lakh tonnes of rice straw. The estimated value of the grain and rice straw produced is `1215 crore and `472 crore, respectively. Use of rice straw as fodder, bedding material and absorbent in cattle sheds, adds bulk to the farm yard manure (FYM). Application of FYM to the soil is the best and most sustainable practice to improve soil health and productivity. A significant amount of rice straw is used as packaging material for apple, adds value to apple by safe storage and transport. Rice reaper, reaper cum binder, and Japanese combine harvester models cut the crop close to the ground and leaves behind usable straw. Japanese combine harvester models cut, thresh and tie the sheaves in one go, operable in wet and moderately lodged crop, have also been developed to save the straw. Drying of rice straw at a moisture content of below 12%, is desired for long term storage. Storage of rice straw on raised platforms, and covering with low-cost plastic sheets saves it from rain and snow. Rats inflict significant losses to rice straw in field, and during storage. Habitat management and direct control is required to manage the rats. Adoption of scientific practices in production, harvesting and storage of paddy straw is very important to sustain the economic viability of rice and fulfil the needs of farming community.
Ashaq Hussain, Professor Agronomy, MRCFC (SKAUST-Kashmir), Khudwani, Kulgam
Najeeb R. Sofi, Associate Director Research, MRCFC (SKAUST-Kashmir), Khudwani, Kulgam
Raihana Habib Kant, Director Extension, SKUAST-Kashmir, Shalimar, Srinagar