No More Straw Burning, Farmers Earn RMB 300 More per Mu

Photo shows farmers baling and recycling straws. (Xinhua/Hu Weiguo)

Every year, billions of tonnes of straw are generated globally. When harvest season arrives, how to manage straw becomes a common challenge for agricultural countries: burning it causes pollution, while returning it to the soil results in slow decomposition. In Suzhou City of Anhui Province in China, the bio-enzymatic hydrolysis technology developed by Zhongnong Jiemei offers a brand-new solution. This technology treats straw as a valuable renewable resource, utilizing proprietary processes to efficiently separate its components and extract value, enabling local farmers to earn an additional RMB 300 per mu (approximately 0.1647 acres).

Photo shows the achievement transformation displayed by Zhongnong Jiemei. (Provided by Zhongnong Jiemei)

Key Challenges

After the harvest, vast amounts of straw lie everywhere with no way to use it — if burned, it pollutes the air; if left, it rots in the soil. Farmers are left with unprofitable "waste straw". Traditional technologies can extract only a single component, wasting the rest. For years, straw has remained an underutilized resource, accumulating season after season.

Solution Pathways

Zhongnong Jiemei's proprietary bio-enzymatic hydrolysis technology acts like a pair of molecular scissors, peeling apart the straw layer by layer — cellulose is transformed into paper products and lyocell fibers, hemicellulose yields five-carbon sugars, and the remaining residue is enzymatically broken down into fulvic acid that returns to the farmland. Each component is fully valorized, achieving high-value conversion of the entire straw plant. 

The team has designed a standardized 120,000-tonne-capacity factory module, with the production line operating intelligently across the whole process. Energy consumption is reduced by 70% and water usage by 80% compared with conventional chemical pulping. The once-troublesome "waste straw" has now embarked on a green recycling journey, circulating efficiently between fields and factories.

Practical Benefits for Local Communities

The demonstration base processes 20,000 tonnes of straw annually, providing farmers with an additional RMB 300 per mu. Straw-derived fulvic acid is made into fertilizer, which nourishes the fields, reduces the use of chemical fertilizers, and improves soil fertility — forging a green path to rural prosperity.

Photo shows raw materials converted from straw for high-end red wine packaging. (Provided by Zhongnong Jiemei)