Rice Methane Innovation Accelerator

A globally coordinated research accelerator to fast-track innovations that reduce methane emissions from rice cultivation without compromising yields and profitability.

Rice is a vital staple food for half the global population. However, flooded rice production accounts for approximately eight percent of anthropogenic methane emissions and consumes about 40 percent of the world’s irrigation water.

The Global Methane Hub’s Rice Methane Innovation Accelerator is pioneering a globally coordinated public-good investment in a system-oriented, interdisciplinary research strategy aimed at catalyzing breakthrough research tackling rice methane. This initiative supports the development of practical solutions for rice methane mitigation that will be attractive for farmers to adopt and that are suited to the diversity of rice production systems worldwide.

Project Spotlights

Development of Global Guidelines for GHG Measurement in Rice Systems

The challenge:

Rice cultivation is a major source of global methane emissions, but most national and regional GHG reporting still relies on Tier 1 approaches that fail to capture the variability of rice ecosystems and management practices. This weakens the robustness of baseline quantification and limits the ability of policymakers and private initiatives to design and validate effective mitigation interventions. Without accessible, accurate, and comparable measurement techniques, setting credible baselines and realistic reduction targets for rice systems across scales remains a major barrier.

Breakthrough research:

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is leading a global effort with flux measurement experts from key rice-growing regions to validate a technical document consolidating best practices in GHG measurement. This work will support the update of the MIRSA guidelines (Mitigation in Irrigated Rice Systems in Asia) into a truly global standard, applicable to rice systems worldwide. The resulting technical documentation will guide practitioners in planning, setting up, and implementing scientifically sound, practical GHG measurement approaches — laying the groundwork for more accurate baselines and stronger climate policy for rice systems everywhere.

IRRI joins global effort to modernize GHG measurement guidelines for rice.

Enhancing Breeding Strategies to Reduce Methane Emissions in Rice Cultivation

The challenge:

To grow in flooded conditions, the rice plant relies on an internal pathway of dead cells, known as aerenchyma, that supply oxygen in flooded conditions but limit water uptake and grain yield when grown aerobically. Breeding low-aerenchyma rice varieties suited to aerobic, tropical conditions could offer a viable path to reducing methane emissions, but breeders currently lack the tools to rapidly and effectively select for this trait.

Breakthrough research:

By concentrating on a specific anatomical trait and utilizing advanced phenotyping technologies, this CIRAD project seeks to improve our knowledge and capacity for breeding low-methane rice varieties. Ultimately, the project aims to develop high-yielding, novel rice varieties suitable for tropical aerobic conditions, offering a viable strategy to lower methane emissions in rice farming.

Inside Rice Roots | Aerenchyma and Water Transport Tissues

Our Strategy

Launched in November 2025, and building off the Global Methane Hub’s successful Enteric Fermentation R&D Accelerator model, the Rice Methane Innovation Accelerator is guided by a Science Oversight Committee, a team of leading independent experts. They have developed a holistic, multidisciplinary strategy in which priority research outputs have been identified, as well as associated outputs that would represent breakthroughs in rice methane mitigation.

Read the full strategy

The Science Oversight Committee

The Science Oversight Committee (SOC), a team of independent experts, guides the Global Methane Hub’s Rice Methane Innovation Accelerator.

Dr. Achim Dobermann

Dr. Agnes Tirol-Padre

Dr. Anna McClung

Dr. Masa Iwagana

Dr. Venkatesan Sundaresan

Collaborate with Us

Are you a researcher whose work can help address our research questions? We invite you to tell us about your research interests and capabilities. Expressions of interest from fields outside of rice methane emissions are welcome.

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