1. Wheat straw can contribute significantly to overall income from wheat cropping systems through trading as a commodity. 2. Variations exist in wheat straw quality between varieties based on traits like acid detergent fiber content, though differences are smaller in urban markets compared to villages. 3. Small differences in laboratory measured straw quality traits, such as acid detergent fiber, are associated with price premiums of around 10% on average for higher quality straw.

1. Looking beyond grain for overall benefit
from wheat in mixed crop livestock
systems
Michael Blϋmmel1, Arun K Joshi2, Nils Teufel1 and Iain A. Wright1
1International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), India and Ethiopia
2Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT), Nepal
Wheat for Food Security, Addis Ababa, 2012, October 8 to 12th
1

2. Topics
 Wheat straw as commodity, contribution to overall
income from wheat production
 Wheat straw trading as feed back mechanism and
entry point for wheat straw value chain
improvement
 Opportunities and limitations of improving wheat
straw through multidimensional wheat
improvement
2

3. Wheat straw-grain price
ratios in South Asia
Straw price/grain price in %, as collected during
village survey 2009/10
% (n) Normal Peak
Punjab 35 (18) 48 (18)
Haryana 19 (18) 30 (18)
N Teufel et al. (2011)
In Ethiopia in 2006 and 2007 Gebremedhin estimated wheat
straw - grain price ratios of 10 and 27%
3

4. Peri-urban wheat straw
trader, New Delhi
4

5. Wheat straw collected from
fodder traders and farmers
Category Variety Price [Rs/kg straw] n
New Delhi wheat straw markets
best Not known 4.25 2
best WH-283 4.00 1
medium Not known 3.85 2
medium 1553 4.00 1
Village Kapriwas, dist. Rewari, Haryana
best C-306 3.50 1
best WH-283 3.40 1
good DBW-17 3.00 1
good PBW-502 3.00 1
good PBW-550 3.25 1
medium PBW-343 3.00 1
Note: All samples collected for feeding trials in 04/2009 to validate
laboratory straw quality traits. Acid Detergent Fiber– a cellulose estimate
- was the single important trait

6. Price: quality relations in wheat straw
traded monthly in New Delhi
from 2008 to 2009
6

7. Wheat straw collected monthly
from fodder traders in Delhi and
Patna in 2008 - 2009
Category ADF [%dm (SE)] Price [Rs/kg straw (SE)] n
New Delhi wheat straw markets
best 48.8 (0.21) 4.43 (0.11) 36
good 49.3 (0.21) 4.21 (0.07) 72
medium 49.1 (0.24) 4.00 (0.09) 42
Patna straw markets
best 50.7 (0.16) 3.26 (0.08) 48
good 50.9 (0.14) 3.07 (0.06) 72
medium 51.6 (0.21) 2.85 (0.08) 35
7

8. Price-quality relations in wheat straw
traded monthly in New Delhi and
Patna from 2008 to 2009
8

9. Summary wheat straw trading
 Wheat straw can contribute significantly to overall
benefits from wheat cropping
 Differences in straw quality still associated with
varieties on village level trading but less in urban
markets
 Intuitively small differences in laboratory quality
traits associated with price premiums of about
10% on average
 More work/clarity needed in understanding price:
quality relations
9

10. Wheat straw trials investigated for
straw traits: opportunities from
selection and breeding
HTM = Heat Trial Early maturity: India (Indore, Ugar, Ludhiana, Karnal and Varansi)
Bangladesh and Pakistan
HTNM = Heat Trial Normal Maturity: India (Ugar, Ludhiana, Karnal)
Bangladesh and Pakistan (Islamabad, Bahawalpur and Faisalabad)
SAWYT = Semi Arid Wheat Trial: India (Indore, Ugar, Dharward and Varanasi)
Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan
ESWYT = Elite Spring Wheat Trial: Bangladesh and Pakistan
1st DRYT = 1st Drought Yield Trial: India (Indore, Ugar and Dharward) and Pakistan
2nd DRYT =2st Drought Yield Trial: India (Ludhiana, Karnal and Varanasi), Nepal and Pakistan
10

11. Relations between straw yield and
grain yield in a range of
wheat cultivars
6000 HTEM
HTNM
SAWYT
5000 ESWYT
1st DRYT
2nd DRYT
Grain yield (kg/ha)
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000
Straw yield (kg/ha)
11

12. Relations between acid detergent fiber
content of straw and grain yield in
a range of wheat cultivars
6000 HTEM
HTNM
SAWYT
5000 ESWYT
1st DRYT
Grain yield (kg/ha)
2st DRYT
4000
3000
2000
1000
Wheat straw
trading
0
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57
Acid detergent fiber content (%) 12

13. Relations between acid detergent
fiber and straw yield in a range of
wheat cultivars
9000 HTEM
HTNM
8000 SAWYT
ESWYT
1st DRYT
7000
2nd DRYT
Straw yield (kg/ha)
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57
Acid detergent fiber content (%) 13

14. Relations between nitrogen content
of straw and grain yield in a range of
wheat cultivars
14

15. Straw in vitro organic matter digestibility
and grain yield in 437 cultivars from IRRI
AROMATICS
9000 HYBRIDS
INDICA
8000 NPT
Released varieties
7000
Grain yield (kg/ha)
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
y = 10 650 - 103.7x; r= - 0.19 P=<0.0001
0
32.5 35.0 37.5 40.0 42.5 45.0 47.5 50.0 52.5
Straw in vitro organic matter digestibility (%)
15
Source: Blümmel et al. 2007

16. Summary from variety
testing work
Including straw traits in cultivar choice increases
probability of having premium straw quality
Of the variations in straw in quality available in the
cultivar types only a small segment appears
currently used in straw trading
Very strong clustering of cultivar types for grain
and straw yield and for straw quality
16

17. Thanks for your
attentions
Acknowledgment: Most of the work was funded by the
by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation under CSISA
17

18. Conclusions
18

19. Variations in Grain Yields content
in wheat trials
Trials Location Grain Yields (kg/ha)
Mean Range h2 P
HTEM I (U, K), B 3 312 2 704 – 3 813 0.60 < 0.0001
HTNM I,B 3 442 2 881 – 4 009 - 0.02
SAWYT I (I, U, D), B 2 635 2 166 – 3 154 0.24 < 0.0001
ESWYT B 4 177 3 278 – 5 011 - 0.007
1 DRYT I (U, D) 1 516 1 032 – 1 880 0.55 < 0.0001
2 DRYT I 1 932 1 087 – 2 632 - 0.35
I = India, P = Pakistan, B = Bangladesh, N = Nepal
Number in brackets = research station in a country
19

20. Variations in Straw Yields in wheat
trials
Trials Location Straw Yields (kg/ha)
Mean Range h2 P
HTEM I (U, K), B 7 029 6 108 – 7721 0.37 < 0.0001
HTNM I,B 6 286 5 140 – 7495 0.38 0.03
SAWYT I (I, U, D), B 4 620 3 726 – 5 894 0.11 0.02
ESWYT B 5 658 4 546 – 6 873 - 0.06
1 DRYT I (U, D) 5 190 3 790 – 6 849 0.2 < 0.0001
2 DRYT I 3 531 2 443 – 4 613 - 0.1
I = India, P = Pakistan, B = Bangladesh, N = Nepal
Number in brackets = research station in a country
20

21. Variations in nitrogen content in
wheat straw trials
Trials Location Nitrogen content (%)
Mean Range h2 P<
HTEM I (5), B, N 0.72 0.62 – 0.85 0.67 <0.0001
HTNM I (3), B, P (3) 0.75 0.69 – 0.82 0.21 0.04
SAWYT I (4), B, N, P 0.82 0.71 – 0.92 0.33 0.001
ESWYT B, P 0.58 0.48 – 0.76 0 0.20
1 DRYT I (3), P 0.76 0.69 – 0.83 0.58 0.002
2 DRYT I (3), N, P 0.63 0.55 – 0.75 0.35 0.02
I = India, P = Pakistan, B = Bangladesh, N = Nepal
Number in brackets = sites in a country
21

22. Variations in Acid Detergent Fiber
content in wheat straw trials
Trials Location Acid detergent fiber (%)
Mean Range h2 P
HTEM I (5), B, N 49.6 48.8 – 51.4 0.91 <0.0001
HTNM I (3), B, P (3) 49.5 48.4 – 50.7 0.53 0.0006
SAWYT I (4), B, N, P 47.6 46.3 – 49.2 0.45 0.0005
ESWYT B, P 50.8 47.3 – 52.2 0 0.11
1 DRYT I (3), P 46.7 45.6 – 47.7 0.5 <0.0001
2 DRYT I (3), N, P 50.1 48.8 – 51.3 0.19 0.024
I = India, P = Pakistan, B = Bangladesh, N = Nepal
Number in brackets = sites in a country
22

23. Wheat straw and sorghums stover
based feed blocks fed to sheep
Wheat Sorghum
Pellets Block
DMI (g/kg LW) 30.0a 42.1 b
ADG (g / d) 71.1a 89.5 b
Wheat straw composition: N = 0.49%, ADF = 50.9%, IVOMD = 46.0%23

24. 24

25. Comparisons of high and low quality
sorghum stover based feed blocks
in commercial dairy buffalo
Block High Block Low
CP 17.2 % 17.1%
ME (MJ/kg) 8.46 MJ/kg 7.37 MJ/kg
DMI 19.7 kg/d 18.0 kg/d
DMI per kg LW 3.6 % 3.3 %
Milk Potential 16.6 kg/d 11.8 kg/d
25
Anandan et al. (2009a)

26. Variations in in vitro digestibility in
wheat straw trials
Trials Location In vitro digestibility (%)
Mean Range h2 P
HTEM I (5), B, N 48.5 47.9 – 49.6 0.66 <0.0001
HTNM I (3), B, P (3) 48.4 48.0 – 48.8 0 0.49
SAWYT I (4), B, N, P 48.5 47.7 – 49.4 0.01 0.14
ESWYT B, P 48.3 47.2 – 49.1 0 0.96
1 DRYT I (3), P 47.7 46.7 – 48.5 0.66 <0.0001
2 DRYT I (3), N, P 47.3 46.8 – 48.1 0.09 0.53
I = India, P = Pakistan, B = Bangladesh, N = Nepal
Number in brackets = sites in a country
26

27. Key findings from crop
residue fodder trading
 High monetary value of crop residues, ratio grain:
crop residue monetary value getting narrower
 Quality difference between residues from different
crops and from residues within different cultivars
reflected in costs
 Apparently “small” differences in fodder quality
can command surprisingly high price premiums
27