This is one of those positive double whammies that's good news for both people and planet.

You may be surprised to learn that, according to the Asian Development Bank, around 8 percent of global agricultural greenhouse gas emissions are produced by growing rice. Methane is 28 times more potent as GHG than carbon dioxide - and that flooded rice paddy fields account for 12 percent of global anthropogenic methane emissions, equivalent to 1.5 percent of the total warming effect of all greenhouse gases.
So, it's good news to learn that scientists in China - in combination with the Uppsala BioCenter at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences - are experimenting with rice cultivars that have been successfully crossbred with a non-GMO variety that produces a whopping 70 percent less methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is emitted in large amounts through rice cultivation.
The team is now seeking to demonstrate the importance of this new rice to the Chinese government in the hopes that it can be offered to farmers nationwide, as it also yields more rice per acre than most other cultivars.
A two-year field trial in China demonstrated the drastic reduction in methane emissions while yielding 8.96 tons/hectare on average, compared to the 2024 global average of 4.71 tons/hectare. The team’s study has been published in Cell Molecular Plant.
“This study shows that you can have low methane and still have a rice with high yields,” Anna Schnürer told Sci-Tech Daily. “And you can do it using traditional breeding methods, without GMO, if you know what you’re looking for.”