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Biodegradable plastics applied to soil stimulate the production of greenhouse gases and inhibit plant growth under aerobic conditions. This study aimed to examine the effects of biodegradable plastics on paddy rice growth and greenhouse gas emission under flooding conditions in pot experiments and also on greenhouse gas production under flooding conditions in an incubation experiment. Two series of pot experiments were conducted with rice (Oryza sativa). First series as immediate flooded and 2nd series as 2 weeks nonflooding before flooded, and both kept flooded until harvest. The following four kinds of materials were added to the sandy paddy soil, (1) nonwoven fabric sheets made of polylactic acid and polybutylene-succinate, (2) laminate sheets made of polybutylene adipate terephthalate and pulp, (3) cellulose filter paper, and (4) rice straw. Only soil was used as control. Methane (CH4) emission, measured by chamber method followed by gas chromatography, was significantly larger only in the cellulose treatment than the laminate treatment in the immediate flooded series, indicating that biodegradable plastics had no significant impact on CH4 emission from paddy rice soil. Rice growth and yield did not show significant difference among treatments in both series. Incubation experiment showed the largest CH4 production in cellulose-amended soil, followed by straw-amended and laminate amended soils, and least in fabric-amended soil, while CO2 did not show significant differences among treatments. We need further examination with different biodegradable plastics for a longer period that test used in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane is one of the greenhouse gases emitted from paddy soil ecosystems and may induce global warming and climate change; therefore, mitigation options are urgently required to establish mitigation technology to reduce methane emission without affecting rice production. Methane is produced by a balance between oxidizing agents (such as iron) and reducing agents (easily decomposable soil organic matter), according to the so-called Takai theory. To evaluate options for mitigating methane production potential and to examine the applicability of the Takai theory in Southeast Asian paddy soils, 23 soil samples were collected from Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam. These soil samples were anaerobically incubated to measure their methane production potential and examined to see whether their chemical properties, such as the ferrous, total iron, and organic matter contents, were correlated. We found a significant negative correlation between the methane production potential and the total iron content, and a positive correlation between the methane production potential and the hexose content, as an index for a soil’s easily decomposable organic matter content. The methane–C/CO2–C production ratio was also positively correlated with the mineralizable nitrogen/ferrous contents ratio, which indicated that the Takai theory, established for Japanese paddy soils, is also useful in Southeast Asian paddy soils and that the soil’s iron content is important to estimate the methane production potential. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Elution of silicon (Si) from three types of slag fertilizers was tested in a paddy field. They were made from granulated blast furnace slag, dephosphorization slag and decarburization slag, respectively. Each fertilizer, embedded in epoxy resin to expose the cross section, was analyzed to get initial two-dimensional distribution images of Si, calcium (Ca), oxygen (O), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) by electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA). These resin specimens were set in a paddy field for 75 d. Then the second two-dimensional distribution images of Si, Ca, O, Mg, Al, Mn and Fe at the same site were analyzed again by EPMA. A comparison of the two-dimensional distribution images before and after setting in paddy field elucidated the following results: (1) Si eluted clearly from dephosphorization slag and decarburization slag; (2) Si, Ca, Mg and Al distributed homogeneously in granulated blast furnace slag. X-ray diffraction (XRD) clarified that granulated blast furnace slag was amorphous. The content of plant-available Si in each slag fertilizer was evaluated by the cation exchange resin extraction method. It was the highest in dephosphorization slag fertilizer. This result corresponded to Si elution from dephosphorization slag observed by EPMA. The content of plant-available Si was low in granulated blast furnace slag but high in air-cooled blast furnace slag. Although the content of plant-available Si in decarburization slag was low, the efficacy of Si elution was the highest in decarburization slag. From X-ray diffraction analyses, calcium silicate or larnite (Ca2SiO4) was considered to be the causative substance for efficient Si elution from decarburization slag and dephosphorization slag. Because of the high content of plant-available Si, dephosphorization slag and air-cooled blast furnace slag are recommended as silicate fertilizers in paddy fields. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A microcosm-based study was conducted to evaluate the effects of application of biogas digested liquid or chemical fertilizer on CH flux, associated methanogenic archaeal community, soil chemical and microbial properties, and aboveground plant biomass in paddy soil. Our results showed that digested liquid application significantly decreased the seasonal and cumulative CH flux compared to chemical fertilizer treatment. The application of digested liquid treatment significantly decreased NH-N and soluble total nitrogen content without affecting NO-N and microbial biomass nitrogen. The soluble organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon contents were nearly similar for digested liquid and chemical fertilizer treatments. Paddy plant biomass (shoot weight, panicle numbers and weight of panicles) were found to be lower in the digested liquid treated containers but it did not affect the cumulative CH flux g yield. Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis gave similar banding patterns indicating no differences in the methanogenic archaeal diversity among the control, digested liquid and chemical fertilizer treated containers. Thus, the observed decrease in CH flux with the application of digested liquid is possibly due to the variation in the soil variables and aboveground plant biomass without affecting the methanogenic archaeal diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 13C pulse-labeling experiment was conducted under ambient CO2 and free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) conditions to understand how elevated CO2 affects the CH4 in soil bubbles and CH4 emissions from rice paddies. Two hills of rice plants enclosed by frames in ambient CO2 and FACE plots were labeled with 13CO2 at the panicle formation stage, and plants and soil bubbles were collected 2 and 51 days after the pulse labeling. CH4 and 13CH4 emissions were also measured by the closed-chamber method between the 2 bubble samplings. Conversion of photosynthate carbon to CH4 entrapped in soil bubbles and CH4 emission to the atmosphere occurred quickly, suggesting that recent photosynthates can be an important source of carbon for methanogenesis. About 1% of the 13C-labeled C taken up through photosynthesis was emitted as 13CH4 during the 7 weeks of measurement, most during the first 3 weeks after labeling. Total CH4 and 13CH4 emissions did not differ between the ambient CO2 and FACE treatments, because the entrapped CH4 in the soil and the root biomass were not affected by elevated CO2 levels in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry seeding has been identified as an option for increasing cropping intensity and productivity in rainfed ricelands. Managing drought and nutrients are important for increasing yield, but the interactive effects of drought and nutrients on dry-seeded rice ( Oryza sativa L.) growth have not been systematically investigated. Two experiments were carried out in 1994 and 1995 to analyze the effects of N fertilizer rate and the use of controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) on the growth and yield of dry-seeded rice grown on a silty clay loam (Typic Tropaquept) subjected to water stress at different crop stages. In both years, in the main plots, rice was subjected to water stress at four different stages of development. The subplots were designed to compare the effect of the application of prilled urea and CRFs Osmocote (1994) and Polyon 12 (1995). Four N rates (0, 60, 120 and 180 kg ha−1) were imposed on rice in the sub-subplots (1994 only). The N fertilizer source did not affect any of the measured parameters. Irrespective of the N the fertilizer rates, grain yield and total dry matter accumulation of rice plants stressed at the flowering stage (WSFL, 1994) and panicle initiation stage (WSPI, 1995) were significantly lower than those of well-watered plants and plants stressed at the vegetative stage. Water stress during the grain-filling stage reduced the grain yield in 1995 when the stress was severe. Application of N fertilizer increased the yield compared with zero N in all water treatments, except for the WSFL plants whose yield did not change. The WSFL treatment also significantly reduced agronomic N-use efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane (CH4) is a particularly potent greenhouse gas with a radiative forcing 23 times that of CO2 on a per mass basis. Flooded rice paddies are a major source of CH4 emissions to the Earth's atmosphere. A free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiment was conducted to evaluate changes in crop productivity and the crop ecosystem under enriched CO2 conditions during three rice growth seasons from 1998 to 2000 in a rice paddy at Shizukuishi, Iwate, Japan. To understand the influence of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations on CH4 emission, we measured methane flux from FACE rice fields and rice fields with ambient levels of CO2 during the 1999 and 2000 growing seasons. Methane production and oxidation potentials of soil samples collected when the rice was at the tillering and flowering stages in 2000 were measured in the laboratory by the anaerobic incubation and alternative propylene substrates methods, respectively. The average tiller number and root dry biomass were clearly larger in the plots with elevated CO2 during all rice growth stages. No difference in methane oxidation potential between FACE and ambient treatments was found, but the methane production potential of soils during the flowering stage was significantly greater under FACE than under ambient conditions. When free-air CO2 was enriched to 550 ppmv, the CH4 emissions from the rice paddy field increased significantly, by 38% in 1999 and 51% in 2000. The increased CH4 emissions were attributed to accelerated CH4 production potential as a result of more root exudates and root autolysis products and to increased plant-mediated CH4 emissions because of the larger rice tiller numbers under FACE conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which estimated the effect of aquatic weeds on methane flux from paddy soils throughout the period of rice growth. Materials and methods; Plant growth and peroxidase activity of rice roots; Methane oxidation activity of roots of three aquatic weeds; Discussion.

Abstract: Three types of culture experiments using paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.) were performed to examine root-uptake of 14C in the form of acetic acid: double pot experiment (hydroponics), wet culture experiment (submerged sand medium), and chamber experiment (hydroponics and submerged sand medium). The 14C radioactivity in the plant, mediums, and atmospheric carbon dioxide (14CO2) in the chamber were determined, and the distribution of 14C in the plant was visualized using autoradiography. In the double pot experiment, the shoot of the plant and the lower root which was soaked in the culture solution had 14C radioactivity, but the upper root which did not have contact with the solution had none. There were also 14C radioactivity in the grains and roots in the wet culture experiment. Results of the chamber experiment showed that 14CO2 gas was released from the culture solution in both types of cultures. Results indicated that the 14C-acetic acid absorbed by rice plant through its root would be very small. Most of the 14C-acetic acid was transformed into gaseous forms either in the culture solution or rhizosphere. A relatively longer time would be needed to assimilate 14C derived from acetic acid to grain parts after it was once absorbed by the shoot through the root. Availability of 14C for the plant in sand culture was considered to be decreased compared with that for the plant in the hydroponics experiment. It was suggested that rice plant absorbed and assimilated 14C through the plant roots not because of uptake of 14C-acetic acid but because of uptake of 14C in gaseous forms such as 14CO2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]