Estimation of crop residue distribution in paddy fields is extremely crucial especially in tight crop rotation areasthat produce large volumes of straw causing germination problems in the following crop. Our objective was to develop anaccurate and easy-to-handle field method to quantify the proportion of ground cover. Mass and cover relationships wereinvestigated and analyzed to evaluate straw distribution on the soil surface, by comparing surface cover from threedifferent combine harvesters in a rice–wheat (R–W) cropping system. For each harvester, straw distribution on the groundwas measured and virtually reconstructed, and then the straw stacked layers analyzed. The mean straw mass distributionand percent surface cover measured in 2014 and 2015 ranged between 4200–12,000 kg/ha and 60–97%, respectively, forall the harvesters. Flat straw mass was higher than standing stubble mass in all treatments. The most important observationis that the distribution pattern of straw depended on instantaneous material feed rate through the harvester; the higher thefeed rate, the poorer the straw distribution uniformity. The Xinjiang Ceres 4LZ-2.5 harvester outperformed all the otherharvesters. These findings can improve the estimation of straw cover for tillage straw incorporation or no-till straw returnfields and indicates that straw condition should be considered in mass-to-cover relationships

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