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Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from rice and maize production in diversified rice cropping systems

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Abstract

Traditional irrigated double-rice cropping systems have to cope with reduced water availability due to changes of climate and economic conditions. To quantify the shift in CH4 and N2O emissions when changing from traditional to diversified double cropping-systems, an experiment including flooded rice, non-flooded “aerobic” rice and maize was conducted during the dry season (February–June 2012) in the Philippines. Two automated static chamber–GC systems were used to continuously measure CH4 and N2O emissions in the three cropping systems of which each included three different nitrogen fertilization regimes. Turning away from flooded cropping systems leads to shifts in greenhouse gas emissions from CH4 under wet soil to N2O emissions under drier soil conditions. The global warming potential (GWP) of the non-flooded crops was lower compared to flooded rice, whereas high CH4 emissions under flooded conditions still override enhanced N2O emissions in the upland systems. The yield-scaled GWP favored maize over aerobic rice, due to lower yields of aerobic rice. However, the lower GHG emissions of upland systems are only beneficial if they are not overwhelmed by enhanced losses of soil organic carbon.

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Abbreviations

DAS:

Days after seeding

GHG:

Greenhouse gas

GWP:

Global warming potential

GY:

Grain yield

SOC:

Soil organic carbon

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Acknowledgments

This study was conducted as part of the multidisciplinary research project ICON. We thank the German Research Foundation (DFG) for its generous funding (FOR 1701, “Introducing Non-Flooded Crops in Rice-Dominated Landscapes: Impacts on Carbon, Nitrogen and Water Cycles [ICON]”, BU1173/13-1 and KI1413). Furthermore, we thank the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and especially the Crop and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD) for organizing the field management, providing facilities, and the support from the CESD staff as well as an anonymous reviewer for the very helpful suggestions.

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  1. Kevin Ray P. Ayag

    Present address: Kyung Hee University, Global Campus, Yongin, Gyeonggi, 446-701, South Korea

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kreuzeckbahnstr. 19, 82467, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

    Sebastian Weller, David Kraus, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl & Ralf Kiese

  2. International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Banos, Philippines

    Kevin Ray P. Ayag, Reiner Wassmann & M. C. R. Alberto

  3. International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Naivasha Rd, Nairobi, 30709, Kenya

    Klaus Butterbach-Bahl

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  1. Sebastian Weller
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  2. David Kraus
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Weller, S., Kraus, D., Ayag, K.R.P. et al. Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from rice and maize production in diversified rice cropping systems. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 101, 37–53 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-014-9658-1

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