Abstract

Mechanical collection of paddy straw with the help of the baler technology from the combine harvested paddy fields is a prevalent paddy straw management technique in the country. Baler technology manages the paddy straw by collecting it with the rectangular baler, rake and stubble shaver machines and preventing the on-farm paddy straw from burning. Finding the financial constraints for creating a tailored recruiting system for technology implementation at the field level in paddy straw management was one of the main goals of this study. The economic worth assessment showed that the total operating cost for systems I and II was estimated  ratio of the system I and II of baler technology was found to be 1.23 and 1.42 and the break-even usage of the baler technology was assessed at 154.66 and 109.65 hours per year of machine operation, which is less than the machine’s useful life used under baler technology implementation. Hence, machine owners, local service providers (LSPs) and forward-thinking farmers can seize this opportunity as a highly lucrative endeavour. Steering clear of on-farm burning of paddy straw is a crucial step toward reducing environmental pollution, making it a worthwhile contribution to environmental conservation.