Confused about using a straw rolling machine?

Currently, the straw rolling machine is a popular tool to help farmers save labor and increase income through selling straw. However, there is an opinion that, in the long run, the sale of straw makes the nutrient source for the soil less and less, leading to soil degradation.

Quite common use These days, Mr. Phan Thanh Thai (Dien Son commune, Dien Khanh district) is always busy collecting straw in the field of Lung bridge. From the day the field was harvested, his straw rolling machine had to work continuously to ensure that the straw was not wet or slowed down. Mr. Thai said that in the past, he received a contract to supply rice straw to other places, but it had to be done manually. Recently, he invested in buying a straw rolling machine and then connected it to a plow to deploy the machine. In addition, he also rented a straw rolling machine to secure the contract to supply straw rolls to the provinces and cities: Phan Thiet, Phan Rang, Lam Dong. 1 straw rolling machine ensures a productivity of 500 rolls/day, each roll weighs 20kg. Harvesting straw in the field of Cau Lung, Dien Khanh. The mechanization of straw handling by a straw rolling machine is now quite popular. Mr. Nguyen Truong Sanh – Director of Dien Lac Agricultural Cooperative (Dien Khanh) said that Dien Lac farmers have been selling straw rolls for several years now. Dien Lac Commune has 180ha of 2-crop rice, more than 50% of the area is used for straw rolling machines, except for the small and fragmented area located in residential areas and flooded areas that cannot be harvested. Harvesting straw by machine helps to save labor, straw is used for many purposes such as making mushrooms, root cabinets, fodder for cattle… Currently, on average, 1ha of harvested rice is purchased for 600,000 VND, help farmers have more income from straw. The cooperative makes a contract with the person who has the machine, sells straw to customers in need and pays debts of the cooperative members to the cooperative from selling straw. According to Mr. Nguyen Kien – Chairman of the Farmers’ Association of Cam Tan commune, Cam Lam district, recently, farmers in the commune have also known to sell rolled straw to customers. Large fields are mostly harvested by machine, estimated 70-80%. The commune is encouraging farmers to use biological products to treat rice straw to improve the soil. Should replenish the land The advantages of machine harvesting are clear, however, through the sale of straw, harvesting by machine also raises controversial issues. Users of the machine believe that, in addition to the above advantages, the use of straw rolling machines also helps to cut off the source of pest spread in the field from untreated straw, preventing the next rice crop from being poisoned with straw. untreated straw, and at the same time resists smoke pollution from burning copper… People who are worried about the depletion of soil colorants think that the sale of rolled straw should not be encouraged, because in this way the source of nutrients From the straw is increasingly lost, the soil will gradually degrade because of the lack of organic matter, the yield will decrease in the following crops if there is no other source of fertilizer to compensate. Both of the above comments are valid. However, in fact, for a long time, farmers have paid little attention to nutrients for the soil, leading to poorer soil quality, especially in the one-crop rice area. If in the past, when inorganic fertilizers were not widely used, the soil was difficult to degrade because farmers used a lot of organic fertilizers to fertilize crops, even cooperatives were worried about buying fertilizers from the northern provinces. such as Lam Thao and Van Dien for farmers. Currently, farming in the way of “instant noodles”, running with inorganic fertilizers makes the soil increasingly degraded, so the source of fertilizer from rotting straw is meaningful. Therefore, agricultural extension officers advise that harvesting straw by machine is still necessary and suitable with the current level of technology. Farmers need to pay attention to the issue of nourishing the soil when taking away the source of rice straw, funding from the source of selling straw. Only in this way can the role of mechanical machinery be promoted, and at the same time the arable land is not degraded and degraded. VL