Editing Rice (section)

=== Greenhouse gases from rice production ===

[[File:NP Rice Emissions18 (5687953086).jpg|thumb|Scientists measuring the greenhouse gas emissions of rice]]

In 2022, [[greenhouse gas emissions]] from rice cultivation were estimated at 5.7 billion tonnes CO2eq, representing 1.2% of total emissions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sectors: Rice cultivation |url=https://climatetrace.org/sectors |access-date=December 7, 2023 |website=climatetrace.org |archive-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206062151/https://climatetrace.org/sectors |url-status=live }}</ref> Within the agriculture sector, rice produces almost half the greenhouse gas emissions from [[croplands]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Qian |first1=Haoyu |last2=Zhu |first2=Xiangchen |last3=Huang |first3=Shan |last4=Linquist |first4=Bruce |last5=Kuzyakov |first5=Yakov |last6=Wassmann |first6=Reiner |last7=Minamikawa |first7=Kazunori |last8=Martinez-Eixarch |first8=Maite |last9=Yan |first9=Xiaoyuan |last10=Zhou |first10=Feng |last11=Sander |first11=Bjoern Ole |last12=Zhang |first12=Weijian |last13=Shang |first13=Ziyin |last14=Zou |first14=Jianwen |last15=Zheng |first15=Xunhua |display-authors=5 |date=October 2023 |title=Greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation in rice agriculture |journal=[[Nature Reviews Earth & Environment]] |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=716–732 |doi=10.1038/s43017-023-00482-1 |bibcode=2023NRvEE...4..716Q |s2cid=263197017 |quote=Rice paddies …. account for ≈48% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from croplands.|hdl=20.500.12327/2431 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> some 30% of agricultural [[methane emissions]], and 11% of agricultural [[nitrous oxide]] emissions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gupta |first1=Khushboo |last2=Kumar |first2=Raushan |last3=Baruah |first3=Kushal Kumar |last4=Hazarika |first4=Samarendra |last5=Karmakar |first5=Susmita |last6=Bordoloi |first6=Nirmali |title=Greenhouse gas emission from rice fields: a review from Indian context |journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research International |volume=28 |issue=24 |pages=30551–30572 |date=June 2021 |pmid=33905059 |doi=10.1007/s11356-021-13935-1 |bibcode=2021ESPR...2830551G |s2cid=233403787 }}</ref> [[Methane]] is released from rice fields subject to long-term flooding, as this inhibits the soil from absorbing atmospheric oxygen, resulting in [[anaerobic fermentation]] of organic matter in the soil.<ref name="heinz">{{cite journal |last1=Neue |first1=Heinz-Ulrich |title=Methane Emission from Rice Fields |journal=[[BioScience]] |date=1993 |volume=43 |issue=7 |pages=466–474 |doi=10.2307/1311906 |jstor=1311906 }}</ref> Emissions can be limited by planting new varieties, not flooding continuously, and removing straw.<ref name="Qian Zhu Huang 2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Qian |first1=Haoyu |last2=Zhu |first2=Xiangchen |last3=Huang |first3=Shan |last4=Linquist |first4=Bruce |last5=Kuzyakov |first5=Yakov |last6=Wassmann |first6=Reiner |last7=Minamikawa |first7=Kazunori |last8=Martinez-Eixarch |first8=Maite |last9=Yan |first9=Xiaoyuan |last10=Zhou |first10=Feng |last11=Sander |first11=Bjoern Ole |last12=Zhang |first12=Weijian |last13=Shang |first13=Ziyin |last14=Zou |first14=Jianwen |last15=Zheng |first15=Xunhua |display-authors=5 |date=October 2023 |title=Greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation in rice agriculture |journal=Nature Reviews Earth & Environment |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=716–732 |doi=10.1038/s43017-023-00482-1 |bibcode=2023NRvEE...4..716Q |s2cid=263197017 |hdl=20.500.12327/2431 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

It is possible to cut methane emissions in rice cultivation by improved water management, combining dry seeding and one drawdown, or executing [[alternate wetting and drying|a sequence of wetting and drying]]. This results in emission reductions of up to 90% compared to full flooding and even increased yields.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Searchinger |first1=Tim |last2=Adhya |first2=Tapan K. |year=2014 |title=Wetting and Drying: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Saving Water from Rice Production |url=https://www.wri.org/research/wetting-and-drying-reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-saving-water-rice-production |publisher=[[World Resources Institute]] |access-date=May 3, 2024 |archive-date=June 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619223001/https://www.wri.org/research/wetting-and-drying-reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-saving-water-rice-production |url-status=live }}</ref>