Advanced technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from rice fields: Is hybrid rice the game changer?

Rice is the staple food for half of the world's population and is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) from the agriculture sector, responsible for approximately 48% of GHG emissions from croplands. With the rapid growth of the human population, the increasing pressure on rice systems for extensive and intensive farming systems is associated with an increase in GHG emissions that is impending the global challenge to mitigate climate change. 

The complex rice environment with its genotypic variability among rice cultivars, emerging farmers’ practices and global climatic changes are important challenges of research and development initiatives that aim for lowering GHG emissions and increasing crop productivity. A combination of approaches will likely be needed to effectively improve the resilience of modern rice farming. These will include better understanding of major drivers of emissions, different cropping practices controlling the magnitude of emissions and high yield performance through system-level of studies. 

The use of rice hybrids may give farmers an additive advantage and enable them to resist environmental stress than the inbred varieties. However, the recent progress in hybrid rice development and dissemination demonstrated the shift in rice production's carbon footprint and is likely to lead the way to transform rice systems to lower GHG emissions. 

The application of innovative technologies, such as high-throughput sequencing, gene editing, and artificial intelligence, would provide an opportunity to accelerate our knowledge of the underlying mechanisms and critical drivers of GHG emissions from rice fields. Researchers highlight these practical advanced approaches to explore new aspects of rice breeding and production to support the increasing contribution of hybrid rice to global food and nutrition security while ensuring a sustainable and healthy planet.

Learn more at ScienceDirect.