A Screenshot of the publication in Resources, Conservation & Recycling journal

Northeast China is a major granary of the country. An increasing amount of corn straws has been produced during the large-scale mechanized production of corn. As a result, it has become one of the hottest issues for the public in finding a solution to better dispose of corn straw.

Nowadays, there is less need for farmers to bring corn straw back home and utilize it as fuel, as many farmers have left the countryside and landed a job in cities in order to improve their livelihoods. The practice of returning straw to the field is the main option when it comes to the comprehensive usage of corn straw as it can greatly increase grain output. Nevertheless, farmers have shown less willingness to adopt the method because of the lack of economic stimulus. This stimulus could be in the form of benefits for corn harvesting and access to subsidy-related policies.

Researchers have conducted an assessment and analysis on the effect of straw return on corn yield increases using meta-analysis and sustainable compensation policies. They have also integrated macro and micro data with several analytical approaches, such as the opportunity cost approach and system dynamics with the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation to further study corn straw return on corn production and relevant cost-effective management.

It is predicted that returning corn straw to the field will increase grain output by about 6.1 million tons in Northeast China. However, it still isn’t economical for farmers to adopt the method when considering existing subsidy-related policies. The rise of corn prices and fall of oil prices will deliver more benefits to farmers and further increase corn production if following the recommended method of returning corn straw to the field.

Therefore, government departments are advised to take into consideration the economic, ecological and environmental value of returning corn straw to the field, the changes of corn production costs and the benefits brought about by the rise and fall of both grain and oil prices, when formulating subsidy-related policies.

Under the title "The effect of corn straw return on corn production in Northeast China: An integrated regional evaluation with meta-analysis and system dynamics," their findings were published in Resources, Conservation & Recycling journal in April.

Wang Shu, a doctorate student of the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning(IARRP) at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and the Laboratory of Biomass and Green Technologies at the University of Liège in Belgium, is the first author of the publication. Yin Changbin, an academic supervisor for doctorate students at the IARRP, is the correspondence author of the publication.

The research has received financial assistance from National Social Science Fund of China.

Web link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105402