Global Warming and Asian Rice Paddies

Experts in climate change meeting this week in Bangkok, Thailand, have concluded that changes in rice production in Asia are essential as part of a global strategy to reduce the level of emissions of greenhouse gases. Flooded rice fields are a major source of atmospheric methane, the second largest contributor greenhouse gas to global warming. Methane is 20 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping infrared radiation. Improved rice production practices, together with changes in the livestock sector, could reduce agricultural emissions of methane by 15 to 56%, say the experts.

 “There is no other crop that is emitting such a large amount of greenhouse gases,” said Reiner Wassmann, coordinator of the rice and climate change consortium at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. “If Asian countries are exploring possibilities to reduce greenhouse gas, they have to look at rice production”, added Wassmann.

For more information contact Duncan Macintosh from IRRI at d.macintosh@irri.org