Rice farming twice as bad for climate as thought: Study

New York: Rice farming across the world could be responsible for up to twice the level of climate impact relative to what was previously estimated, according to a study conducted in India. The study, published in the journal PNAS, found that intermittently flooded rice farms can emit 45 times more nitrous oxide as compared to the maximum from continuously flooded farms that predominantly emit methane. According to a global analysis by Environmental Defense Fund ( EDF) in the US, methane and nitrous oxide emissions from rice farms could have the same longterm warming impact as about 600 coal plants. “The full climate impact of rice farming has been significantly underestimated because up to this point, nitrous dioxide emissions from intermittently flooded farms have not been included,” said Kritee Kritee from EDF, who led the study. The researchers investigated greenhouse gas emissions from rice farms across southern India. They found that nitrous oxide emissions from rice can contribute up to 99 per cent of the total climate impact of rice cultivation at a variety of intermittently flooded farms. India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh are the world's biggest producers of rice. These emissions contributed to global warming pollution — far more than the estimate of 10 per cent suggested by multiple global rice research organizations.