What combination of water management and cultivation practices can reduce methane emissions from a Malaysian rice pilot without reducing yield?
Business Problem
Rice cultivation pilot plots generate significant methane emissions under conventional continuous flooding, but there is no local data on alternate wetting and drying (AWD) performance for the varieties and soil types used at Kuantan estate
Organisation
Tradewinds Plantations Bhd
Asset
Kuantan Oil Palm & Rice Estate
Status
Study Underway
Research Study
Research Question
Comparative methane emissions and yield outcomes between continuous flooding and alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation in smallholder rice plots at Kuantan Estate
Participating Organisation
Albukhary International University - Centre for Sustainable Agriculture
Academic Lead
Prof. Dr. Aiman Yusof, AIU
Operational Lead
Sustainability Manager, TWP
Confidentiality
Restricted
Timeline
Two cropping cycles (approx. 12 months) starting Q2 2025
Methodology
Randomised plot trial comparing continuous flooding vs AWD across 12 smallholder plots over two cropping cycles, chamber-based methane measurement per IPCC good practice guidance
Data Requirements
Field access to 12 plots, farmer cooperation, weather station data, soil test results
Ethics Requirements
AIU Research Ethics Committee approval required for farmer household data collection
Findings
Cycle 1 data indicates AWD plots show 28% lower methane emissions with no statistically significant yield difference versus continuous flooding
Recommendations
Preliminary recommendation to pilot AWD adoption incentive scheme with smallholder cooperative pending Cycle 2 confirmation
Implementation Status
Study Underway - Cycle 2 in progress
Research Independence Record
Designed By
Prof. Dr. Aiman Yusof, AIU
Conducted By
AIU postgraduate research team with TWP field support
Reviewed By
Independent Agronomy Reviewer (pending Cycle 2 completion)
Approved By
Not yet approved
A researcher is not automatically presented as an independent verifier of their own work.
Methodologies Produced
Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) Adoption Protocol for Malaysian Smallholder Rice Draft