Integrated economic and environmental analysis of agricultural straw reuse in edible fungi industry

BACKGROUND: China currently faces severe environmental pollution caused by burning agricultural straw; thus, resource utilization of these straws has become an urgent policy and practical objective for the Chinese government. METHODS: This study develops a bio-economic model, namely, “straw resource utilization for fungi in China (SRUFIC),” on the basis of a field survey of an edible fungi plant in Zhejiang, China, to investigate an integrated economic and environmental performance of straw reuse in fungi production. Five scenarios, which cover changes in the production scale, wage level, and price fluctuations of the main product and inputs, are simulated. RESULTS: Results reveal that (1) the pilot plant potentially provides enhanced economic benefits and disposes added agricultural residues by adjusting its production strategy; (2) the economic performance is most sensitive to fungi price fluctuations, whereas the environmental performance is more sensitive to production scale and price of fungi than other factors; (3) expanding the production scale can be the most efficient means of improving the performance of a plant economically and environmentally. DISCUSSION: Overall, agricultural straw reuse in the edible fungi industry can not only reduce the environmental risk derived from burning abandoned straws but also introduce economic benefits. Thus, the straw reuse in the fungi industry should be practiced in China, and specific economic incentive policies, such as price support or subsidies, must be implemented to promote the utilization of agricultural straws in the fungi industry.