Rice Feeds the World, but Fuels Climate Change – a Carbon Accounting Methodology Can Change This

Here is a conundrum: more than half of the global population relies on rice as their primary food source—especially low-income communities. Yet rice farming systems are also one of the largest sources of agricultural methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas. As a result, rice cultivation heavily contributes to global warming, which threatens food security—especially for low-income communities.

In other words, the farming practices we rely on to feed a large part of the global population are also putting our ability to do so at risk.

Rice farming systems cover around 168 million hectares of the earth’s surface, equivalent to all the farmland in the European Union combined. But rice farming generates 18 to 20% of total agricultural methane emissions. And because methane is over 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, these farming practices heavily contribute to climate change.

The rice farming practice primarily responsible for generating methane emissions is the flooding of rice fields. Typically used to control weeds and pests and to provide a stable environment for rice growth, this practice also creates low- and zero-oxygen environments in the soil and therefore fuels methane production. The gas escapes into the atmosphere mainly through the rice plants themselves or as bubbles that rise from the microbes in the soil.

Alternative rice farming practices, which are more climate-friendly, are readily available. Alternative wetting and drying (AWD), for example, is a technique where rice fields are flooded and drained intermittently. Employing this approach enables farmers to maintain their harvest yields while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 50%.

This practice has the potential to maintain current harvest yields while mitigating rice farming’s impact on the global climate. It’s a win-win. In fact, there is a third “win”. Rice cultivation using AWD requires less irrigation water than business-as-usual methods. And so, amid the increased number of droughts and extreme heat events that are likely under the current global warming scenario, rice farms using AWD would be far less at risk than those relying on the business-as-usual approach.

Other climate-friendly practices like direct seeded rice, new and resilient rice varieties, and improved fertilizer and residue management have also been shown to deliver proven results for both climate and productivity.

Together, these practices offer the opportunity to enhance food security for low-income communities while addressing rice farming’s greenhouse gas emissions.

But change is not always easy. Transitioning to different rice farming practices may cause a short-term reduction in productivity as farmers acquire new skills, adjust their techniques to local weather and soil conditions, and experiment with fertilizer use, among other things.

Therefore, an incentive is needed for farmers to transition to more climate-friendly rice cultivation methods.

Here’s where Verra’s methodology comes in. The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) methodology VM0051 Improved Management in Rice Production Systems, v1.0 enables farmers implementing alternative rice farming techniques to quantify the emission reductions they generate and receive an equivalent amount of carbon credits. The ability to generate carbon credits is crucial for overcoming a potential barrier to implementing alternative rice farming approaches—namely, the short-term reduction in productivity.

Verra’s rice methodology can have significant climate impact because it is both flexible and scalable.

VM0051 enables proponents to select from different quantification approaches to accommodate their specific circumstances. Its verification and monitoring processes are easy to follow. And Verra will soon add streamlined project submission (using the digitalized version of the methodology) and enhanced guidance to support the use of remote sensing.

VM0051 provides a replicable model, making it well-suited for large-scale adoption. It aligns with the objectives of a number of governments and institutions that are looking to integrate sustainable farming practices into their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and broader climate policies, especially in South and Southeast Asia where rice is a dominant crop and source of livelihoods.

Business-as-usual rice farming practices contribute to climate change and put food security at risk for low-income communities.

However, alternative rice farming practices can mitigate climate change and increase food security for these communities.

It may be challenging to transition from the business-as-usual to the alternative approach, but a carbon accounting methodology can be the bridge to get us there—enabling us to protect the climate and our global food supply.