Effect of Rice Varieties and Type of Fertilizer on Methane Emission From Paddy Fields
Pantawat Sampanpanish 1,2* and Nittaya Ruensuk 3
1 Environmental Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University.
2 National Center of Excellence for Environmental and Hazardous Waste Management, Chulalongkorn University.
3 Pathum thani Rice Research Center
*Corresponding author. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Abstract
The effect rice variety and type of fertilizer on methane emission from paddy fields was studied at Pathum Thani Rice Research Center, Pathum Thani Province, Thailand. Two rice varieties were used, Suphanburi 1 and Pathumthani 80 and 4 methods of fertilizer application, i.e. 1) control, without added fertilizer, 2) organic fertilizer (cow manure) at 1,000 kg/rai, 3) organic fertilizer pellets at 50 kg/rai, 4) chemical fertilizer formula 16-20-0 at a rate of 30 kg/rai and 46-0-0 at a rate of 16 kg/rai. There were altogether 8 field plots and 3 air samplings were collected and analyzed. Chambers per plot were distributed and tested during the following stages: before planting the rice (0 day), seedling stage (30 days), vegetative stages (60 days), panicle-formation stage (90 days), and maturation stage (120 days). Air from each set was collected into sampling bags and analyzed to determine the amount of methane using gas chromatography. The study showed that Suphanburi 1 rice with chemical fertilizer emitted the highest quantity of methane at 1.79?0.98 mg/m2/day. We found the emission of methane was lowest in the set of Pathumthani 80 with both organic fertilizer pellets and chemical fertilizer with emission at the average rate of 0.57?0.36 and 0.53?0.62 mg/m2/day, respectively. The emission of methane was highest in the vegetative stages (60 days). The study showed that the two rice varieties and type of fertilizer produced different effects on methane emission. Therefore, it is concluded that Pathumthani 80 rice and the addition of organic fertilizer pellets could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from rice farming.
Keywords : organic fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, Suphanburi 1 rice variety, Pathumthani 80 rice variety, methane
