As a major agricultural country, China is also one of the world’s most abundant sources of crop straw, with production expected to reach 900 million tons by 2025. As an agricultural by-product, straw has been widely regarded as a potential renewable resource. It is rich in organic matter and essential nutrients such as nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), playing a critical role in global carbon and nitrogen cycles, agricultural productivity, and green environmental development. The efficient and rational utilization of straw can not only meet the resource demands supporting economic growth but also contribute to environmental protection and sustainable social development in China. By closely integrating comprehensive straw utilization with the annual key tasks of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, the focus remains on prioritizing agricultural applications while adopting diversified measures. The efforts aim to improve straw utilization methods, strengthen technological support, explore replicable and sustainable industrial development models, and establish efficient utilization mechanisms to enhance the quality of agricultural straw use. To fully leverage the agricultural potential of straw, numerous technologies and equipment for straw utilization in agriculture have been developed in recent years, including straw harvesting and collecting equipment, straw crushing and returning-to-field equipment, full-straw seeding anti-clogging technology, combined straw and green manure returning-to-field equipment, and specialized straw seedling-raising equipment. Nevertheless, many challenges remain to be addressed, including bridging the equipment gap in mechanized processing, overcoming technical bottlenecks in resource conversion, and filling the lack of agronomy-adapted technologies. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive and critical analysis of present straw utilization technology and equipment in agriculture, discussing their potential benefits, limitations, and challenges, as well as future prospects and directions. This study provides insights from the perspective of key technologies and equipment to strengthen technological research, enhance straw’s agricultural potential, and explore green circular economy models in agriculture. By leveraging innovation in science and technology, it aims to ensure food security and improve grain production capacity.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) generates approximately 300 million tons of straw annually worldwide, and efficient degradation and valorization remain critical bottlenecks for sustainable agriculture. Straw degradability is fundamentally constrained by cell wall recalcitrance, which is determined by the composition and architecture of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, each under genetic regulation. This review proposes a three-parameter analytical framework, including cellulose crystallinity, hemicellulose side-chain modification, and lignin monomer composition and cross-linking density, to systematically assess the regulatory role of endogenous rice genes in straw degradability. We provide a comprehensive synthesis of recent advances in cellulose synthase genes and brittle culm mutants, lignin biosynthesis, cell wall modification genes, and the integration of genetic mapping with molecular breeding strategies. Particular attention is given to the trade-offs between enhanced degradability and agronomic performance, and to emerging strategies, including semi-dominant alleles, tissue-specific promoters, and multi-gene pyramiding, which hold potential for resolving these trade-offs. We conclude by identifying key research gaps and proposing future directions for developing dual-purpose rice cultivars with both high grain yield and superior straw degradability.