Abstract

The atmospheric concentration of methane has increased rapidly in recent years. Because it is a radiative trace gas and takes part in atmospheric chemistry, the rapid increase could be of significant environmental consequence. Of the wide variety of sources, rice fields are considered an important source of atmospheric methane because the harvest area of rice has increased greatly in the last 50 years. Because of the possibility of controlling the emission by agronomic practices, rice cultivation must be one of the most hopeful sources for mitigating methane emission.