秸秆，古称藁，是指水稻、小麦、玉米等禾本科农作物成熟脱粒后剩余的茎叶部分；其中水稻的秸秆常称为稻草、稻藁、俗称禾秆草，小麦的秸秆则称为麦秆。

在工业化以前，农民对秸秆的利用五花八门，非常丰富。比如在中国南方，人们将稻秆晒干储藏，可用作柴火，编织座垫、床垫、扫帚等家用品，铺垫牲圈、喂养牲畜，堆沤肥还田，甚至用于制作简易房屋的屋顶等，很少被直接浪费掉。

中国近二十年来由于煤、电、天然气的普及、各种工业制品的丰富，农村对秸秆的需求减少，大量秸秆的处理成为了一个严重的社会问题，虽然法律禁止，但很多地方农民仍然直接在田地里燃烧秸秆，引发空气污染、火灾、飞机无法正常起降等后果。

Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and basket-making. It is usually gathered and stored in a straw bale, which is a bundle of straw tightly bound with twine or wire. Bales may be square, rectangular, or round, depending on the type of baler used.