Crop residue

Crop residues are waste materials generated by agriculture. The two types are: Field residues are materials left in an agricultural field or orchard after the crop has been harvested. These residues include stalks and stubble (stems), leaves and seed pods. Good management of field residues can increase efficiency of irrigation and control of erosion. The residue can be ploughed directly into the ground, or burned first. In contrast, no-till, strip-till or reduced-till agriculture practices are carried out to maximize crop residue cover. Simple line-transect measurements can be used to estimate residue coverage. Process residues are materials left after the crop is processed into a usable resource. These residues include husks, seeds, bagasse, molasses and roots. They can be used as animal fodder and soil amendment, fertilizers and in manufacturing. Crop residues can be used effectively in many ways: Biofertilizer: Most discussions about the economic value of crop residues focus on the equivalent fertilizer cost of the nutrients within. Although crop residues contain both macronutrients and micronutrients, only macronutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulfur are economically significant. Use in agronomic practice as strawbed to produce crops (e.g. in strawberry cultivation). They are widely used in mushroom cultivation. The residues after mushroom cultivation can act as good substrate for composting and biofertilizer applications. Particle board: Recent developments suggest potential use of crop residues in the manufacture of particle board. Because of the high carbohydrate content, crop residues can be considered as an appropriate feedstock to produce biofuels. Some algorithms have been developed to estimate the potential capacity of biofuel production from agricultural residues. Based on the experimental data obtained from a study that used ethanol organosolv pretreated rice straw to produce biohydrogen using Enterobacter aerogenes, the annual global amount of collectable rice straw (not total produced straw) for biofuel production was estimated about 249 million tonnes, that could approximately produce 355.