Making rice greener

Climate Goal: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions released by rice farming
Project Goal: Developing and adopting ways of saving water and reducing methane emissions
Climate Cost: Rice farming releases some 60 million tons of methane a year

For more than 3 billion people around the world - 50 percent of the global population - rice is a staple of the daily diet. But not only are rice harvests highly vulnerable to climate change, rice farming is a huge source of methane emissions. Scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines are striving to ensure that rice production is sustainable and stable, has minimal negative environmental impact, and can cope with climate change. The future for populations in many parts of the world relies on the success of their research.

A film by Carl Gierstorfer