Mitigating methane emissions from irrigated paddy fields by application of aerobically composted livestock manures in eastern China

Abstract

Livestock manure heaps and wetland rice fields are major sources of CH 4 emissions. A field experiment with an associated composting study were undertaken to investigate CH 4 emissions during manure composting and subsequent land application on paddy. Over a 24-day period in the composting experiment, CH 4 emissions from stored manure was 17 times higher than that from composting manure, indicating that composting as an aerobic process was effective in mitigating CH 4 emissions compared with manure storage, which is normally under an anaerobic environment. Stored and composted manures were subsequently applied as organic fertilizers in the field experiment. Compared with the non-fertilized control treatment, stored and composted manures increased grain yields by 30% and 21%, respectively. During the full rice-growing season, the cumulative CH 4 emission was 15.8 g CH 4 ⁄ m 2 with the application of composted manure, only one-third of that from stored manure. CH 4 emission per unit of grain yield was significantly decreased by composted manure, with a reduction of 56% from the control and 73% from stored manure. The results indicate that composted livestock manure in rice cultivation is a triple-win option through sustaining rice yield, mitigating CH 4 emissions and re-utilizing livestock waste.

Management opportunities to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from Chinese agriculture

“…2). Application of aerobically composted manure not only decreased CH 4 emission during the rice growing season, but also decreased the CH 4 emission with aerobic composting by 94%, compared to storage of manure in an anaerobic environment, which is a common method of storage (Chen et al, 2011a). Our analysis shows application of fermented biogas residue increased CH 4 emission by only 42% while non-composted or unfermented manure increased CH 4 emission by nearly 112-138%.…”

“…Combined application of chemical fertilizer and livestock manure increased CH 4 emission by about 113% compared to NPK only treatment. Application of composted manure increased CH 4 emission by only 36% and in a few cases, a decrease in CH 4 emission was observed with application of aerobically composted livestock manure (Chen et al, 2011a). Maintaining intermittent irrigation with livestock manure application can decrease CH 4 emissions by 22% compared to continuously flooded rice fields with manure applied.…”

Production of sorghum pellets for electricity generation in Indonesia: A life cycle assessment

“…In that regard, we also considered these emissions in the sensitivity analysis. Methane emissions are likely to occur under strictly anaerobic conditions (Oertel et al, 2016), such as a wet system in a rice field (Chen et al, 2011). As sorghum cultivation typically does not involve a submerged system, anaerobic conditions are unlikely to be present.…”

Rice Straw Management Effects on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Mitigation Options

“…The opportunity to mitigate N 2 O from composting, however, may be fairly small given many farms can avoid 100% N loss by injecting/incorporating manure or applying it directly to soils with high CEC, clay, or low pH. In this case, the mitigation opportunity of straw/manure compost may be primarily through avoiding CH 4 emissions from anaerobic manure storage and in-field rice straw incorporation, along with the potential indirect abatement of emissions from N fertilizer production (Chen et al 2011). An additional, yet understudied, effect of rice straw composting vs. in-field incorporation may come from increased SOC sequestration.…”