Transforming Agri-crop Residue Biomass for Value Addition: An Innovative Strategy Toward Resilient Circular Economy

Cereal straws, such as barley straw, wheat straw, maize, corncobs, corn stove, miscanthus, rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, manure, seaweeds and algae, are the most common agricultural wastes. Burning agricultural crop leftovers after crop harvesting poses a variety of environmental risks, including the depletion of nutrients and soil microbes as well as the release of hazardous chemicals such as greenhouse gases. These wastes could be used to create products with additional value because they have a steady composition of cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. Thus, to re-utilize the agri-crop residues for economic growth, regenerative agriculture-based strategies are gaining impetus. Regenerative agriculture could serve as an innovative approach toward the attainment of a “Zero-waste” resilient economy. Agricultural residue waste could be effectively exploited for economic gains, such as waste feedstock that is readily available in big quantities at a low cost for a variety of uses. Agricultural trash can be used to build numerous kinds of bioenergy and other products with additional value. With the development of cost-competitive biomass conversion technology, using biomass to produce cleaner fuels like hydrogen, biogas, alcohols, biodiesel, and sustainable cellulose-based goods for multi-dimensional utilization may become practical. Furthermore, the potential use of the agri-crop residue biomass would also contribute to resolving environmental problems like the emission of greenhouse gases and poor impact on soil properties and its microflora that originated due to the burning of the agricultural residue biomass (ARB). Hence, sustainable biomass residue management by biomass waste to value-added products generation is an eco-friendly and cost-effective strategy that might certainly strengthen the circular economy.