An Integrated Decarbonising Approach to Mitigate Methane Emissions and Enhance Productivity in Rice Cultivation

Flooded rice paddies contribute approximately 12% of global anthropogenic methane emissions, accounting for 1.5% of the total warming effect from all greenhouse gases. With the rising global demand for rice due to population growth, the need for effective methane mitigation strategies in rice cultivation is increasingly critical. This study investigates the combined impact of irrigation methods, fertiliser combinations, and varietal differences on productivity, water use and methane emissions in rice. Field trials were conducted across five land parcels covering 8 Ha in the Sathyamangalam region of Tamil Nadu, India, from October 2024 to January 2025. Results revealed that drip irrigation significantly reduced seasonal methane emissions by up to 68% (128 kg/ha/season) compared to continuous flood irrigation (402.32 kg/ha/season) offering a sustainable solution to address climate change. Furthermore, our modified package of practices coupled with tailored fertiliser combination, led to a 28% reduction in methane emissions (222 kg/ha/season) relative to continuous flooding methods used by the farmers in the region (309 kg/ha/season). Methane emission differences of up to 23.8% were also evident across rice varieties ADT-45 (229.7 kg/ha/season and BPT-5204 (301.7 kg/ha/season) for. Although flood irrigation yielded a 5–6% higher grain productivity than drip irrigation, the TLL fertiliser package under flood irrigation still provided distinct benefits with a yield increase of 5.4%. Notably, water usage under drip irrigation was 42.5% lower on average across the five locations, with minimal impact on yield, resulting in a marked improvement in water use efficiency (0.62 kg.m ^-3 under drip vs. 0.39 kg.m ^-3 under flood irrigation). Our findings highlight the value of integrating modern irrigation techniques, optimizing fertiliser management, and appropriate varietal selection with higher environmental sustainability and improved farm productivity to mitigate climate impact in rice cultivation.