Role of Alternative Electron Acceptors (AEA) to control methane flux from waterlogged paddy fields: Case studies in the southern part of West Bengal, India

The rice fields, depleted of O2, contain large amount of moisture and organic substrates to provide an ideal anaerobic environment for methanogenesis and are one of the principal anthropogenic sources of methane. In order to mitigate this emission Alternative Electron Acceptors (AEA) were altered in the soil. The experiments were carried out in four seasons at the site of Balarampur, near Baruipur, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, namely September–December, 2005 (Cultivar: Sundari), February–May, 2006 (Cultivar: Sundari), September–December, 2006 and February–May, 2007 (Cultivar: Swarna-Pankaj). The seasonal average methane flux (Fe treated), for the cultivar type “Sundari” (season: September–December, 2005), is 4.41 t ha−1, as compared to the value of 6.40 t ha−1 for the untreated soil. Similarly for February–May, 2006, the seasonal average methane flux (Fe treated) is 5.52 t ha−1, whereas the untreated flux is 5.69 t ha−1. In the third and fourth seasons we had two treatments with Ammonium Thiosulphate and Ferric Hydroxide. The seasonal average methane flux (treatment: Ammonium Thiosulphate) is 4.35 t ha−1 and 5.41 t ha−1 respectively, whereas for the ferric hydroxide treated soil it is 4.35 t ha−1 and 6.14 t ha−1 respectively. The properties related to the nutrient quality of the harvested paddy seeds supplement these results.