Draining paddy fields could cut methane from rice production
2009 June 21
From The Ecologist
The organic waste and lack of oxygen in water-covered paddy fields provide a fertile feeding ground for certain types of greenhouse-gas-producing bacteria. Global rice production accounts for as much as 25 million tonnes a year of methane.
But experts at the Chinese Academy of Science have found that draining rice paddies once during the growing season, as well as applying leftover ‘rice straw’ off-season, could cut methane emissions by 30 per cent (7.6 million tonnes).
‘Draining allows organic material to decompose aerobically as it is not covered by standing water,’ said lead scientist Yan Xiaoyuan of the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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