31 October 2014: A research effort to reduce methane emissions from rice cultivation in Viet Nam, Bangladesh and Colombia has been launched under the Agriculture Initiative of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC). Three international research institutions, working together with rice farmers, policy makers and other partners, expect to reduce emissions by 30-50% by using an innovative irrigation method.

The project, launched on 31 October, is lead by the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in partnership with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). The participating countries are among the largest rice producers in Asia and Latin America.

The effort will promote large-scale adoption of the ‘alternate wetting and drying’ (AWD) irrigation method, in which rice paddies are drained periodically rather than continuously drowning them. According to IRRI Senior Climate Researcher Reiner Wassman, the approach, which IRRI and partners have been developing for years, could significantly reduce methane emissions, as well as yield losses, through lower exposure to unreliable irrigation or rainfall, and production costs, through lower levels of fuel and electricity use.

CCAC’s Agriculture Initiative is an action-oriented global effort to address methane and black carbon emissions from key agricultural sectors by sharing and implementing best practices that minimize emissions, and enhance food security and livelihoods. The Initiative’s four ‘components’ are: livestock and manure management; open agricultural burning; paddy rice cultivation; and enteric fermentation. Work of the CCAC Agriculture Initiative is led by Bangladesh, Canada, the European Commission, Ghana, Japan, Nigeria, the US, the World Bank, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). [CGIAR Press Release] [CCAC Agriculture Initiative Webpage]