Alternative Uses of Rice Straw
There are currently several proven and economically viable uses for rice straw. Unfortunately, all of these combined uses are consuming only 3 to 5 percent of the over 1.2 million tons of straw produced each year by the California rice industry. These current uses mostly include activities such as erosion control, animal feed, animal bedding, and straw bale building.
There are other uses that currently suffer from technical challenges and/or economic feasibility issues. These primarily include uses like ethanol production, power generation, fiberboard, and paper production.
A list of many known and potential uses is as follows:
| Current and Potential Uses for Rice Straw | |
| Use Category | Uses for Straw and Straw Products |
| Construction | Straw bale building, fiberboard construction panels, door cores, community perimeter walls and highway sound walls |
| Agricultural | Animal bedding, animal feed, compost, and mushroom production |
| Erosion Control | Bales, spreading of straw, wattles, blankets |
| Paper/Packaging | Newsprint, specialty paper, consumer product packaging |
| Fuel/Energy | Ethanol and power generation |
