Effect of oxidizing and reducing agents in soil on methane production in Southeast Asian paddies

ABSTRACT

Methane is one of the greenhouse gases emitted from paddy soil ecosystems and may induce global warming and climate change; therefore, mitigation options are urgently required to establish mitigation technology to reduce methane emission without affecting rice production. Methane is produced by a balance between oxidizing agents (such as iron) and reducing agents (easily decomposable soil organic matter), according to the so-called Takai theory. To evaluate options for mitigating methane production potential and to examine the applicability of the Takai theory in Southeast Asian paddy soils, 23 soil samples were collected from Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam. These soil samples were anaerobically incubated to measure their methane production potential and examined to see whether their chemical properties, such as the ferrous, total iron, and organic matter contents, were correlated. We found a significant negative correlation between the methane production potential and the total iron content, and a positive correlation between the methane production potential and the hexose content, as an index for a soil’s easily decomposable organic matter content. The methane–C/CO₂–C production ratio was also positively correlated with the mineralizable nitrogen/ferrous contents ratio, which indicated that the Takai theory, established for Japanese paddy soils, is also useful in Southeast Asian paddy soils and that the soil’s iron content is important to estimate the methane production potential.

KEY WORDS:

• Methane
• mineralizable nitrogen
• paddy soil
• Southeast Asia

Acknowledgments

This international study was conducted as joint research by Chiba University, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, and Sumitomo Corporation. We acknowledge the following scientists and the colleagues in their universities/institutes for helping with our soil sampling and classification: Suphachai Amkha (Kasetsart University, Thailand), Amnat Chidthaisong (King Mongkut University, Thailand), Patcharee Saenjian (Khon Kaen University, Thailand), Abdul Hadi (Lambung Mangkurat University, Indonesia), Iswandi Anas (Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia), Prihasto Setyanto (Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development Research Station for Agricultural Environment Preservation, Jakenan, Indonesia), Asis Constancio (Phil Rice, Philippines), Pham Quang Ha (Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Vietnam), Nguyen Huu Thanh (Hanoi University of Agriculture, Vietnam), Phan Thi Cong (Institute of Agricultural Science for Southern Vietnam, Vietnam), and Tran Kim Tinh (Can Tho University, Vietnam).