Intensifying Rice Straw Utilization as a National Mitigation Strategy in Climate- Vulnerable Countries: Evidence from the Philippines

Intensifying Rice Straw Utilization as a National Mitigation Strategy in Climate- Vulnerable Countries: Evidence from the Philippines | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Intensifying Rice Straw Utilization as a National Mitigation Strategy in Climate- Vulnerable Countries: Evidence from the Philippines Lichelle Dara E. Carlos, Anne A. Limsuan, Shielo C. Pasahol, Jessica Denila Villanueva-Peyraube, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8860469/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Rice-based agricultural systems in climate-vulnerable countries face the dual challenge of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while sustaining food security and rural livelihoods. In the Philippines, approximately 13 million tons of rice straw are generated annually, yet most remains underutilized. While open-field burning has declined to about 12%, the dominant practice is soil incorporation under flooded conditions, which substantially increases methane (CH₄) emissions. Rice cultivation is methane-intensive and accounts for about 12% of national GHG emissions, underscoring the relevance of residue management for near-term mitigation. This study evaluates the mitigation potential and policy relevance of intensified rice straw utilization using a literature-based, scenario-driven modeling framework aligned with the 2019 Refinement to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines. National-scale CH₄ mitigation is estimated from diverting rice straw away from open burning and soil incorporation toward off-soil utilization pathways, including fodder, mushroom production, composting, biogas, and biochar. Pathways and baseline allocations were informed by stakeholder roundtable discussions, national statistics, and published emission factors. The model provides a conservative, scenario-based benchmark for estimating CH₄-derived CO₂e reductions and indicative socioeconomic impacts under defined system boundaries, national adoption trajectories, and literature-derived emission factors. Results are intended to inform strategic planning rather than project-level feasibility or investment decisions. Within these constraints, progressively intensified rice straw utilization is estimated to reduce CH₄ emissions by up to 82 Mt CO₂e over ten years and generate an indicative net socioeconomic benefit of approximately USD 3.1 billion. Within the stated assumptions and uncertainty bounds, rice straw management shows potential for integration into the Philippine Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), subject to site-specific techno-economic assessments, institutional readiness, and adequate monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) capacity. Under these conditions, it can function as a scalable Policy and Measure (PAM) supporting circular agriculture, rural livelihoods, and national mitigation planning. Methane mitigation Crop residue management Rice systems Circular agriculture Scenario-based modeling Climate policy Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8860469","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":590878098,"identity":"1792a8a8-47c6-47d3-8802-2f03ec2b7ecb","order_by":0,"name":"Lichelle Dara E. 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In the Philippines, approximately 13\u0026nbsp;million tons of rice straw are generated annually, yet most remains underutilized. While open-field burning has declined to about 12%, the dominant practice is soil incorporation under flooded conditions, which substantially increases methane (CH₄) emissions. Rice cultivation is methane-intensive and accounts for about 12% of national GHG emissions, underscoring the relevance of residue management for near-term mitigation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study evaluates the mitigation potential and policy relevance of intensified rice straw utilization using a literature-based, scenario-driven modeling framework aligned with the 2019 Refinement to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines. National-scale CH₄ mitigation is estimated from diverting rice straw away from open burning and soil incorporation toward off-soil utilization pathways, including fodder, mushroom production, composting, biogas, and biochar. Pathways and baseline allocations were informed by stakeholder roundtable discussions, national statistics, and published emission factors.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe model provides a conservative, scenario-based benchmark for estimating CH₄-derived CO₂e reductions and indicative socioeconomic impacts under defined system boundaries, national adoption trajectories, and literature-derived emission factors. Results are intended to inform strategic planning rather than project-level feasibility or investment decisions. Within these constraints, progressively intensified rice straw utilization is estimated to reduce CH₄ emissions by up to 82 Mt CO₂e over ten years and generate an indicative net socioeconomic benefit of approximately USD 3.1\u0026nbsp;billion.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWithin the stated assumptions and uncertainty bounds, rice straw management shows potential for integration into the Philippine Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), subject to site-specific techno-economic assessments, institutional readiness, and adequate monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) capacity. Under these conditions, it can function as a scalable Policy and Measure (PAM) supporting circular agriculture, rural livelihoods, and national mitigation planning.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Intensifying Rice Straw Utilization as a National Mitigation Strategy in Climate- Vulnerable Countries: Evidence from the Philippines","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-17 10:52:51","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8860469/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"359a0594-ad64-44e2-bd88-25b602d5939d","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 17th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-26T08:41:34+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-17 10:52:51","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8860469","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8860469","identity":"rs-8860469","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}