Rice was harvested at the maturity stage. The straw was chopped into 3 to 5 cm lengths and then mixed manually. Three treatments were prepared, including i) control; ii) LAB inoculant (Lactobacillus plantarum, Chikuso-1, Snow Brand Ltd., applied at 1×105 cfu/g of fresh material); and iii) LAB inoculant (the same as LAB inoculant alone) plus glucose (applied at a rate of 2% of fresh material). The LAB inoculant was dissolved in deionized water and sprayed onto freshly chopped rice straw (5 ml/kg of fresh material) and then mixed thoroughly. Glucose was directly mixed with the chopped straw. Control material was sprayed with deionized water at an equivalent rate. Then, 0.3 kg of the mixture was vacuum-packed in 30×20 cm polyethylene bags with 3 replications for each treatment, and stored at ambient temperature for 60 days