Carrarant cuts methane emissions by 70%, lowering planet-warming effects

A new type of rice created by a simple cross could reduce the discharge of methane crops, which are strong greenhouse gases, in almost three -quarters.

Cultivation of rice is about 12 % of the artificial release of methane. Methane is a gas with a global warming effect 25 times stronger than that of carbon dioxide.

The emissions come from the soil microorganisms of the flooded paddy fields cultivated by rice. These organisms decompose chemicals known as roots that are released by plants, not only produce nutrients that can be used by plants, but also make methane in the process.

For more information about factors that affect methane production from the roots of rice, Anna Schnella Swedish University of Agriculture Science and her colleagues cultivated two US lines in the laboratory. It is a Japanese variety called Nippon Bear with average methane emissions, and a genetic modification with a small methane emission called SUSIBA2.

SUSIBA2 has reduced the number of roots that are known to be the more important driver of methane emission than Nippon Bear. However, when both strains are treated with oxantel, which is a chemical substance that inhibits the decomposition of hemalate by bacteria, the Susiba2 shares still decrease the methane. This means that there must be another factor that causes different varieties.

SUSIBA2 crops have been found to secrete high -level ethanol.

Later, the team rely on traditional breeding techniques to generate new US stocks by passing high -yielded elite varieties, along with Heidin varieties, a stock that produces low fumalate and high ethanol.

In the two -year outdoor exam in China, the new strain has generated more than 8 tons of crops per hectar, but compared to the world average of more than 4 tons, a methane is 70 % less than the breeded elite varieties. It was issued. 。

Johannes Le Curtr At New Southwales, Sydney, Australia, this study is an example of a well -performed research on the culprit behind the greenhouse gas emissions of crops.

“The core point of this study is to not use hardcore genetic engineering, editing technology, and transgenic approaches,” Le Coutre says. “They use traditional mating to create a new rice line that lowers methane synthesis.”