Mitigating Methane Emission from the Rice Ecosystem through Organic Amendments

Tamil Nadu in particular is a key rice-producing region in peninsular India. Hydrochemistry, viz., redox potential (Rh), soil temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO), of rice soils can determine the production of greenhouse gas methane (CH4). In recent decades, the cultivation of crops organically became a viable option for mitigating climate change. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the effects of different organic amendments on CH4 emission, Rh, DO, and soil and water temperature (T) in relation to the yield of paddy. The treatments composed of viz., control, blue-green algae (BGA), Azolla, farm yard manure (FYM), green leaf manure (GLM), blue-green algae + Azolla, FYM + GLM, BGA + Azolla + FYM + GLM, vermicompost and decomposed livestock manure. With the addition of BGA + Azolla, the highest reduction in CH4 emission was 37.9% over the control followed by BGA. However, the same treatment had a 50% and 43% increase in Rh and DO, respectively, over the control. Established Pearson correlation analyses showed that the CH4 emission had a positive correlation with soil (r = 0.880 **) and water T (r = 0.888 **) and negative correlations with Rh (r = -0.987 **) and DO (r = -0.963 **). The higher grain yield of 26.5% was associated with BGA + Azolla + FYM + GLM application. Our findings showed that there are significant differences in CH4 emissions between different organic amendments and that hydro-parameters may be a more important controlling factor for methane emissions than temperature. The conclusion has been drawn based on valid research findings that bio-fertilization using BGA and Azolla is an efficient and feasible approach to combat climate change, as it assists in reducing methane emissions while simultaneously boosting crop yield by fixing nitrogen into the soil in the studied agro-climatic zone.