HAIKOU, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Local government authorities in south China's Hainan Province have got tough on straw burning, hoping to ban the practice completely by 2020.

According to a guideline issued by the provincial department of agriculture, they have set out a target that 80 percent of straw from major crops need to be utilized efficiently in 2019. The rate needs to rise to at least 85 percent in 2020 when straw burning is expected to be banned fully across the province.

Measures will be taken to expedite use of straw, including construction of facilities for collecting, storing and transporting straw, encouraging use of shredded straw as fertilizer on farmland and using straw to generate electricity, according to the guideline.

Straw-burning in rural areas of China has been blamed as a major source for causing pollution.