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The rice-straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) has a distinct flavor, pleasant taste, and rich protein content. It has low production costs and a cropping duration of approximately 45 days-making it an effective means for poverty alleviation for those farmers who grow it. Farmers in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Cambodia grow it. Rice straw is one of the most common substrates used for growing this mushroom. The mushroom can grow well in both outdoor and indoor conditions; however, outdoor cultivation has risks of exposure to rain, wind, and/or high temperatures, all which reduce yield. The yield of indoor mushroom production is higher and more stable, as such, indoor growing is preferred. In addition to cultivation, this chapter also covers straw mushroom characteristics, cultivation principles and techniques, and rice straw substrate preparation.

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Dry direct-seeded rice is widely practiced in drought-prone environments in tropical Asia where mechanized options for crop establishment are in great demand. The objective of this study is to identify the suitable design of a hand tractor-mounted multigrain seed drill under biophysical conditions in the Philippines. The prototype was newly designed and tested under field conditions in three provinces in 2015 and 2016. The results suggested that the prototype with tined furrow openers and an inclined circular seed plate in the hopper for seed metering driven by the ground wheel through the combination of chain and sprocket produced rice grain yield similar to the crop established from broadcasting. Field experiments also confirmed that the seed drill has a capacity of over 2 ha day −1 for rice and over 3 ha day −1 for mung bean, and thus, the prototype appears promising for rainfed lowlands in the Philippines.

Laser-controlled land leveling (LLL) can help improve rice production's spatial and temporal management, leading to optimized water and crop management. This research resulted in sustainable performance indicators to illustrate that LLL is a sustainable technology for rice production. The assessment was conducted in Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and India. Benefits of LLL include saving land use, water, and agronomic inputs, increasing yield, and decreasing postharvest losses resulting in saving energy of 3.0–6.9 GJ ha−1 and decreasing emissions by 1151–1486 kg CO2-eq ha−1. Additionally, LLL application can obtain a net profit of USD 52–84 ha−1 per rice production season in the countries studied. The result demonstrated that LLL is a sustainable technology as well as strongly supports sustainable rice production. The study would lead to better adoption of this technology through its evidence-based promotion.

The introduction of combine harvesters has made rice straw collection a major challenge and has brought bottlenecks to the rice straw supply chain. Due to this and the lack of knowledge on the straw's alternative uses, farmers burn the biomass in the field for ease of land preparation. This practice creates negative impacts on human health and the environment. However, as an alternative to burning, some Asian countries are developing increasing demands for rice straw for mushroom production, cattle feedstock, power generation, and building materials. Mechanized straw collection has become necessary to increase capacity and to lower transportation costs. Baling machines can collect and compact rice straw in varying forms and densities. In the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam, adoption of rice straw balers have significantly improved rice straw management. A baler hauled by a 30-HP tractor has a collection capacity equal to five people, solving the labor shortage problem in rice straw collection. In addition, the volumetric weight of mechanically compacted straw bales is 50-100% higher than that of loose straw, which significantly reduces handling and transportation costs. High-density compaction (e.g., stationary compaction, briquetting, and pelletizing) can further increase the volumetric weight of baled straw from 400% to 700%, reducing transportation costs by more than 60%. Mechanized rice straw collection and densification have contributed to improvement of the supply chain and resulted in sustainable management of rice straw. This chapter discusses the different technologies for rice straw collection, enumerating

Leyte Gulf is among the major fishing grounds in the Philippines with a shelf area of 13, 147 km 2 covering the islands of Samar and Leyte. For this reason, it was chosen as the study area in Eastern Visayas under the National Stock Assessment Program (NSAP) which aims to assess the status of fisheries resources. This paper presents the fishery stock assessment results from CY 2001-2011. The annual fish catch from 2001-2011 showed a declining trend. The lowest was in 2008 with 12, 483.52 MT while the highest was in 2003 with 26,367.32 MT. The municipal fisheries had a high catch contribution except in 2001 where commercial catch was higher by 30%. Thirty eight (38) types of fishing gears were identified operating in Leyte Gulf. Danish seine (commercial, DSC) had the highest yield in the commercial fisheries sector while for the municipal fisheries sector it was gillnet (GN). The highest catch of DSC was observed in 2004 (4,243.30 MT) and the lowest in 2010 (1,203.05 MT). The highest catch per unit of effort (CPUE) for DSC was in 2004 (288.66 kg/boat landings) and the lowest was in 2010 (167.09 kg/boat landings). For GN, the highest catch and CPUE were in 2004 (3, 010.72 MT) and 2003 (8.27 kg/boat landings) respectively; while the lowest in catch and CPUE were in 2001 (339.37 MT, 4.05 kg/boat landings). The top ten (10) species caught belong to the families Leiognathidae, Carangidae, Nemipteridae, Scombridae, Gerreidae, Engraulidae, Mullidae, Synodontidae, Clupeidae, and Portunidae. The selected five (5) major stocks, which are Rastrelliger kanagurta, Leiognathus bindus, Gazza minuta, Selar crumenophthalmus, and Nemipterus hexodon were mostly abundant in the second half of the year. The percentage of catch at which they were caught before their length at maturity were as follows: 60% for R. kanagurta, 85% for L. bindus, 13% for G. minuta, 45% for S. crumenophthalmus, and 51% for N. hexodon.