After years of evolution, China's policy on the comprehensive utilization of crop straw has developed into a three-tier framework: "central-level top-level design + annual promotion by ministries and commissions + local implementation and support." The core approach centers on "priority for agricultural use, local and nearby processing, five forms of utilization (fertilizer, feed, energy, substrate, and raw material) + construction of collection, storage, and transportation systems + prohibition and control of open burning."
Below is an analysis organized along four dimensions: "key national policy trends → utilization pathways and industrial directions → incentive and constraint mechanisms → typical local implementation cases."
1. Key National Policies
The foundational document of China's crop straw policy is the 2008 State Council General Office Document No. 105, titled "Opinions on Accelerating the Comprehensive Utilization of Crop Straw," which first set the target of achieving an overall straw utilization rate exceeding 80% by 2015 and established the direction of the "five forms of utilization." Since then, policies have progressively intensified, with key milestones as follows:
Time Document Core Essence
2021
National Development and Reform Commission's "14th Five-Year Plan" for Circular Economy Development
Lists the resource utilization of agricultural and forestry waste as a key project
2021
National Development and Reform Commission et al. "Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Utilization of Crop Straw (2021–2025)"
Establish 800 demonstration counties for full-scale straw utilization at the county level
December
2024
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transformation of Agricultural Development and Promoting Rural Ecological Revitalization"
Promote regional application of straw return techniques such as deep incorporation, crushing and mixing, and composting; maintain a comprehensive straw utilization rate above 88% by 2030
February 2025
2025 Central Document No. 1
Continuously strengthen comprehensive straw utilization; implement integrated agricultural non-point source pollution control projects in the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins
April 2025
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs "Implementation Plan for Grain-Saving Action in Animal Husbandry"
Accelerate the fermentation, enzymatic hydrolysis, and efficient processing and utilization of low-value local raw materials such as crop straw
April 2025
China Meteorological Administration "Guiding Opinions on Building a New Meteorological Service System for Agriculture to Support Comprehensive Rural Revitalization"
Provide satellite remote sensing meteorological services for precise straw burning prohibition and control
December 2025
State Council "Action Plan for Comprehensive Management of Solid Waste"
Broaden pathways for straw utilization and improve the scientific and standardized level of straw returning to fields
January 2026
2026 Central Document No. 1
Enhance the capacity for comprehensive straw utilization
May 2026
State Council "15th Five-Year Plan for Accelerating Agricultural and Rural Modernization"
Develop ecological circular agriculture and advance comprehensive straw utilization
Policy Evolution: Shifting from "banning open burning to drive utilization" to "promoting use to achieve prohibition," and from "simple return to fields" to "integrated five-directional utilization with industrial value-added." In recent years, emphasis has particularly focused on feed utilization ("straw into meat," "straw into milk") and standardized scientific return to fields.
II. Industrial Pathways for the "Five Utilizations"
According to the 2024 Green Transformation Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and local implementation plans, the specific meanings of the "five utilizations" are as follows:
Fertilization: Straw returning to fields (chopping and burying, mixing, composting) + organic fertilizer production. Promote regional and crop-specific technical models such as burial, mixing, and composting, and establish demonstration zones for scientific straw return.
Feed utilization: Processing into high-quality feed via silage, ammoniation, or microbial-enzyme fermentation. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' 2025 "Action Plan for Grain Conservation in Animal Husbandry" explicitly emphasizes accelerating fermented and enzymatic hydrolysis processing technologies—key national priorities in recent years.
Energy utilization: Direct combustion for biomass power generation, co-firing with coal, pelletized solid fuel, and clean energy through gasification.
Substrate utilization: Using straw as substrate for edible mushroom cultivation, seedling growing media, etc.
Raw material utilization: Artificial boards, non-wood pulp paper, new building materials, etc.
The establishment of a collection, storage, and transportation system is the foundational infrastructure across all five utilization pathways—strengthening full-industry-chain development covering straw collection, storage, transport, processing, and utilization, and cultivating a number of key entities engaged in straw collection, storage, and utilization.
III. Subsidy Standards
Provinces have developed localized schemes under the national framework. Several representative cases include:
Heilongjiang: "Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Utilization of Crop Straw in Heilongjiang Province, 2025"
- Corn straw buried return (depth ≥30 cm): 30 yuan/acre
- Rice straw buried return (depth ≥20 cm): 20 yuan/acre
- Rice straw rotary tillage return (depth ≥15 cm): 20 yuan/acre
- For 31 key counties, off-field removal subsidies ≤2.8 million yuan per county (specific standards set at the county level)
- Special task subsidies for key counties: 250,000 yuan per county
Shanghai: "Notice on Further Promoting Comprehensive Utilization of Crop Straw"
- Mechanized return of rice, rapeseed, and fresh corn straw: 50 yuan/acre
- Off-field utilization of rice, rapeseed, wheat, and fresh corn straw: 300 yuan/ton
- Off-field utilization of water chestnut straw: 25 yuan/ton
- No double subsidies for same field (return vs. removal)
Fujian: "Fujian Province Implementation Plan for Crop Straw Comprehensive Utilization Project, 2026"
- Mechanical shredding and deep plowing for conventional crops: ≤60 yuan/acre
- Same operation for tall crops like corn, coix, and rapeseed: ≤80 yuan/acre
- Feed, substrate, fuel, and raw material utilization plus collection, storage, and transport: standards set by key counties
- Total funding of 23.02 million yuan allocated to seven key counties
Zhejiang: "Notice on Implementing Fiscal Support Policies for High-Quality Advancement of Crop Straw Comprehensive Utilization"
- Zhejiang does not adopt province-wide per-acre/per-ton universal subsidy standards; instead, it provides industrial incentives:
- New (or expanded) pilot projects using ≥1,000 tons of straw annually: up to 50% of total investment, capped at 5 million yuan per project
- Major special projects by leading enterprises: maximum provincial incentive of 50 million yuan
- Key technology R&D projects: cumulative support ≥10 million yuan
- Top-performing counties in comprehensive evaluation: receive tiered provincial incentives, with ≥50% allocated to collection and storage
Guizhou: "Guizhou Province 2025 Straw Feed Utilization Subsidy Project Implementation Plan"
- Provincial uniform rate: 35 yuan/ton (feed utilization)
Jing County, Anhui: "Jing County 2025 Crop Straw Comprehensive Utilization Reward and Subsidy Fund Implementation Plan"
- Industrial utilization (rice, wheat, other straws): 60/48/36 yuan/ton
- Off-field operations: 30 yuan/acre
County and City Subsidy Standards
Region Policy guidelines Subsidy standards
Guizhou Province (provincial level) Stover feed conversion (silage/molasses, corn/rice/oat etc.) 35 yuan/ton (storage, processing and utilization ≥ 100 tons)
Tongren City, Guizhou Province Stover feed conversion 35 yuan/ton (storage, processing and utilization ≥ 150 tons)
Yongchuan District, Chongqing City Feed conversion/substrate conversion/fuel conversion utilization 300 yuan/ton
Jinshan District, Shanghai "Summer Harvest" stover off-field utilization 300 yuan/ton, to be allocated 7,437,700 yuan by 2025
Yongtai County, Fujian Province Corn/rice stover pulverization and deep plowing 60 yuan/acre
Yongtai County, Fujian Province Corn, rapeseed, etc. tall crop pulverization and deep plowing 80 yuan/acre
Yongtai County, Fujian Province Stover substrate conversion (edible fungus substrate) 100 yuan/ton
Yongtai County, Fujian Province Stover feed conversion (silage/ammoniation, utilization ≥ 20 tons) 100 yuan/ton
Heilongjiang Province (provincial level) Corn stover plowing back into the soil (≥ 30 cm) 30 yuan/acre
Heilongjiang Province (provincial level) Rice plowing back into the soil (≥ 20 cm)/rotary plowing back into the soil (≥ 15 cm) 20 yuan/acre
Heilongjiang Off-field subsidies for 31 key counties (county-level specific standards) Each county ≤ 2.8 million yuan
Yanshou County, Heilongjiang Corn, rice stover off-field utilization 25 yuan/ton
Jing County, Anhui Province Industrialized utilization (rice/wheat/other stover) 60/48/36 yuan/ton
Jing County, Anhui Province Off-field operation 30 yuan/acre
Yiyang City, Hunan Province Municipal stover storage and collection center (new investment) No more than 20% of the investment amount, up to 1 million yuan
Yiyang City, Hunan Province Enterprises with annual utilization of stover ≥ 0.1 ton 5 yuan/ton, single entity maximum 500,000 yuan
Shuangpai County, Hunan Province "Low-cut harvesting + baling off-field / pulverization and plowing back" of rice stover 36.6 yuan/acre
Shuangpai County, Hunan Province Corn stover feed conversion utilization (≥ 10 mu) 100 yuan/acre
Hongya County, Sichuan Province Key county projects (equipment/storage shed/factory investment) No more than 30% of the total investment, single entity ≤ 3 million yuan
Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province Baling operation subsidy 30–50 yuan/acre
Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province Rice straw stubble removal and off-field utilization 20–30 yuan/acre
Gaoyou City, Jiangsu Province Summer stover mechanized off-field utilization 15 yuan/acre
Gaoyou City, Jiangsu Province Autumn ecological type plow tillage and deep turning 40 yuan/acre
Gaoyou City, Jiangsu Province Rice and wheat stover off-field utilization 20 yuan/acre
V. Policy Trend Analysis
Based on the latest documents from 2025 to 2026, the policy direction can be summarized into four points:
From "quantity" to "quality": The utilization target has shifted from "reaching 90%" to "staying above 88% with quality improvement and efficiency enhancement", emphasizing scientific land application and standardized land disposal.
Strengthening of feed conversion: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has issued the "Action Plan for Enhancing Straw Feed Conversion (2025-2030)", in conjunction with the "straw to meat" and "straw to milk" projects, making it the strongest trend in the next five years.
Precision ban + remote sensing supervision: We are moving away from the "one-size-fits-all complete ban" approach and shifting towards precise management based on meteorological conditions and satellite remote sensing.
High-value utilization: Moving from low-end land application and low-end fuel to high-value directions such as artificial boards, non-wood pulp, xylitol, degradable materials, and microbial enzyme fermented feed.
