Effect of system of rice intensification on methane emission and grain quality

Abstract:

Imagine a rice field that feeds more people while releasing half the greenhouse gas that is the promise of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) when its water management component works as designed. This research compared methane emission, grain yield, and milling quality under five water management regimes in SRI and conventional rice at Arunachal University of Agriculture, Pasighat, during Kharif 2023. SRI with Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) reduced seasonal methane emission by 47.8% (from 186.4 to 97.3 kg CH₄/ha) while raising grain yield by 13.5% (from 4.82 to 5.47 t/ha) compared with continuous flooding. The 21-day drainage interval cut methane most (54.6% reduction) but depressed yield by 5.3% relative to AWD-SRI. Grain quality parameters head rice recovery, amylose content, and gel consistency were either maintained or slightly improved under SRI. These results confirm SRI-AWD as the optimal package for northeast Indian rice systems seeking to balance productivity with climate mitigation.