Site-specific feasibility of alternate wetting and drying as a greenhouse gas mitigation option in irrigated rice fields in Southeast Asia: a synthesis

ABSTRACT This study comprises a comprehensive assessment, integration, and synthesis of data gathered from a 3-year field experiment conducted at four sites in Southeast Asia, namely Hue, Vietnam; Jakenan, Indonesia; Prachin Buri, Thailand; and Muñoz, Philippines, to assess the site-specific feasibility of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) as a greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation option in irrigated rice fields. AWD effectively reduced water use compared to continuous flooding (CF) but did not significantly reduce rice grain yield and soil carbon content in all sites. Methane (CH4) emissions varied significantly among sites and seasons as affected by soil properties and water management. AWD reduced CH4 emissions relative to CF by 151 (25%), 166 (37%), 9 (31%), and 22 (32%) kg CH4 ha−1 season−1 in Hue, Jakenan, Prachin Buri, and Muñoz, respectively. In Prachin Buri and Muñoz, AWD reduced CH4 emissions only during the dry season. Site-specific CH4 emission factors (EFs) ranged 0.13–4.50 and 0.08–4.88 kg CH4 ha−1 d−1 under CF and AWD, respectively. The mean AWD scaling factors (SFs) was 0.69 (95% confidence interval: 0.61–0.77), which is slightly higher than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’ SF for multiple aeration of 0.52 (error range: 0.41–0.66). Significant reductions in the global warming potential (GWP) of CH4+nitrous oxide (N2O) by AWD were observed in Hue and Jakenan (27.8 and 36.1%, respectively), where the contributions of N2O to the total GWP were only 0.8 and 3.5%, respectively. In Muñoz, however, CH4 emission reduction through AWD was offset by the increase in N2O emissions. The results indicate that the IPCC’s SF for multiple aeration may only be applied to irrigated rice fields where surface water level is controllable for a substantial period. This study underscores the importance of practical feasibility and appropriate timing of water management in successful GHG reductions by AWD.

[1]  T. Asami,et al.  A new method for determining free iron in paddy soils , 1959 .

[2]  Y. Takai,et al.  MICROBIAL METABOLISM IN REDUCTION PROCESS OF PADDY SOILS (Part 3) : Effect of Iron and Organic Matter on the Reduction Process (2) , 1963 .

[3]  Y. Takai,et al.  Microbial metabolism in reduction process of paddy soils (Part 2): Effect of iron and organic matter on the reduction process (1) , 1963 .

[4]  D. Cox,et al.  An Analysis of Transformations , 1964 .

[5]  K. Yagi,et al.  Effect of Organic Matter Application on Methane Emission from Some Japanese Paddy Fields , 1990 .

[6]  W. H. Patrick,et al.  Production of dinitrogen and nitrous oxide in soil suspensions as affected by redox potential , 1992 .

[7]  R. Delaune,et al.  Soil Redox and pH Effects on Methane Production in a Flooded Rice Soil , 1993 .

[8]  M. Kimura,et al.  Methane emission from plots with differences in fertilizer application in Thai paddy fields , 1994 .

[9]  T. Granli,et al.  Nitrous oxide from agriculture , 1994 .

[10]  K. Minami,et al.  Rice paddies as a methane source , 1994 .

[11]  K. Yagi,et al.  Effect of water management on methane emission from a Japanese rice paddy field: Automated methane monitoring , 1996 .

[12]  R. Delaune,et al.  Factors controlling carbon dioxide and methane production in acid sulfate soils , 1996 .

[13]  K. Inubushi,et al.  Anaerobic decomposition of organic carbon in paddy soil in relation to methane emission to the atmosphere , 1997 .

[14]  Shang-Shyng Yang,et al.  Effect of environmental conditions on methane production and emission from paddy soil , 1998 .

[15]  H. Neue,et al.  Effect of soil characteristics on sequential reduction and methane production in sixteen rice paddy soils from China, the Philippines, and Italy , 1999 .

[16]  W. H. Patrick,et al.  Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from a Rice Field in Relation to Soil Redox and Microbiological Processes , 2000 .

[17]  Frank Brentrup,et al.  Methods to estimate on-field nitrogen emissions from crop production as an input to LCA studies in the agricultural sector , 2000 .

[18]  J. Ko,et al.  Effects of Cultural Practices on Methane Emission in Tillage and No-tillage Practice from Rice Paddy Fields , 2002 .

[19]  N. Batjes,et al.  Modeling global annual N2O and NO emissions from fertilized fields , 2002 .

[20]  Bas A. M. Bouman,et al.  ADOPTION OF WATER SAVING TECHNOLOGIES IN RICE PRODUCTION IN THE PHILIPPINES 1 , 2003 .

[21]  K. Yagi,et al.  Effects of water percolation on methane emission from rice paddies: a lysimeter experiment , 2004, Plant and Soil.

[22]  L. Buendia,et al.  Methane Emission from Irrigated and Intensively Managed Rice Fields in Central Luzon (Philippines) , 2000, Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems.

[23]  K. Yagi,et al.  Possible options for mitigating methane emission from rice cultivation , 1997, Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems.

[24]  T. Adhya,et al.  Methane emission from flooded rice fields under irrigated conditions , 1994, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[25]  C. Nevison,et al.  Closing the global N2O budget: nitrous oxide emissions through the agricultural nitrogen cycle , 1998, Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems.

[26]  L. Buendia,et al.  Characterization of Methane Emissions from Rice Fields in Asia. I. Comparison among Field Sites in Five Countries , 2000, Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems.

[27]  L. Buendia,et al.  Characterization of Methane Emissions from Rice Fields in Asia. II. Differences among Irrigated, Rainfed, and Deepwater Rice , 2000, Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems.

[28]  K. Yagi,et al.  Statistical analysis of the major variables controlling methane emission from rice fields , 2005 .

[29]  K. Yagi,et al.  Direct N2O emissions from rice paddy fields: Summary of available data , 2005 .

[30]  Yi Shi,et al.  Water Management Influencing Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Rice Field in Relation to Soil Redox and Microbial Community , 2006 .

[31]  H. Harada,et al.  Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by no-tilling rice cultivation in Hachirogata polder, northern Japan: Life-cycle inventory analysis , 2007 .

[32]  J. I. Nirmal Kumar,et al.  Short-term diurnal and temporal measurement of methane emission in relation to organic carbon, phosphate and sulphate content of two rice fields of central Gujarat, India , 2009, Paddy and Water Environment.

[33]  N2O fluxes in soils of contrasting textures fertilized with liquid and solid dairy cattle manures , 2008 .

[34]  K. Baruah,et al.  METHANE EMISSION FROM TWO DIFFERENT RICE ECOSYSTEMS ( AHU AND SALI ) AT LOWER BRAHMAPUTRA VALLEY ZONE OF NORTH EAST INDIA , 2008 .

[35]  Michael G. Kenward,et al.  An improved approximation to the precision of fixed effects from restricted maximum likelihood , 2009, Comput. Stat. Data Anal..

[36]  Chengfang Li,et al.  Greenhouse gas emission from direct seeding paddy field under different rice tillage systems in central China. , 2009 .

[37]  Sang Yoon Kim,et al.  Effect of industrial by-products containing electron acceptors on mitigating methane emission during rice cultivation. , 2009, Waste management.

[38]  K. Yagi,et al.  Validation of revised DNDC model for methane emissions from irrigated rice fields in Thailand and sensitivity analysis of key factors , 2009 .

[39]  Sanford Weisberg,et al.  An R Companion to Applied Regression , 2010 .

[40]  K. Yagi,et al.  Mitigation of methane emissions from paddy fields by prolonging midseason drainage , 2011 .

[41]  C. Kessel,et al.  Fertilizer management practices and greenhouse gas emissions from rice systems: A quantitative review and analysis , 2012 .

[42]  D. Shindell,et al.  Anthropogenic and Natural Radiative Forcing , 2014 .

[43]  K. Yagi,et al.  Potential of prolonged midseason drainage for reducing methane emission from rice paddies in Japan: a long-term simulation using the DNDC-Rice model , 2014, Biology and Fertility of Soils.

[44]  M. Alipour.  A review of road transportation value added and CO2 emission in Iran , 2016 .

[45]  R. Wassmann,et al.  Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from rice production through water-saving techniques: potential, adoption and empirical evidence. , 2016 .

[46]  A. Chidthaisong,et al.  Evaluating the effects of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) on methane and nitrous oxide emissions from a paddy field in Thailand , 2018 .

[47]  A. Tirol-Padre,et al.  Impacts of alternate wetting and drying on greenhouse gas emission from paddy field in Central Vietnam , 2018 .

[48]  E. Sibayan,et al.  Effects of alternate wetting and drying technique on greenhouse gas emissions from irrigated rice paddy in Central Luzon, Philippines , 2018 .

[49]  A. Padre,et al.  Alternate wetting and drying reduces methane emission from a rice paddy in Central Java, Indonesia without yield loss , 2018 .