Indonesia rice trials cut methane and lift yields in Central Java
Farmers in Central Java are testing a rice-growing package that Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory says can cut methane emissions by up to 50% while also raising yields. The pilot has already covered nearly 100 hectares and delivered a clear profit gain for participating growers.
Rice farmers in Indonesia’s Central Java province are testing a new production system designed to reduce climate emissions while improving farm returns. Channel NewsAsia reports that early trials led by Singapore’s Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory showed methane emissions from rice farming can be cut by up to 50 per cent. The approach combines modified irrigation practices, a specially developed fertiliser mix and climate-resilient rice varieties rather than relying on a single technological change.
Similar results were also recorded in parallel trials in India and Laos, but Central Java is a particularly important test ground because it is one of Indonesia’s largest rice-producing provinces. According to the report, the province contributes more than 16 per cent of the country’s total rice output. Farmer Kasno from Grobogan regency said many growers were initially hesitant to adopt the methods because they feared failure and possible crop loss, but acceptance improved after the project team explained how the system would work.
Kasno, who is 55, is one of 172 farmers participating in the Decarbonising Rice Project. Before joining the programme, he typically harvested about six to seven tonnes of rice per hectare. After switching to the new methods, his yields increased to around eight to nine tonnes per hectare, and he said his profits rose by about 30 per cent. Farmers taking part in the trials were supplied with rice seeds, fertilisers and pesticides to support the transition.
The first planting season began last September and ended in February this year, covering nearly 100 hectares of rice fields. Ramachandran Srinivasan, a senior principal investigator at Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, said the results were positive and that farmer yields increased by 6 per cent even though the season experienced flooding. That matters in Indonesia, where rice remains a strategic crop and where keeping output stable has direct implications for domestic food security.
For agriculture, the significance goes beyond one pilot. If the package can be scaled, it offers farmers a route to tackle two pressures at once: cutting methane from flooded paddy systems and improving economic returns per hectare. At a time when climate risk is rising and producers are facing more pressure to decarbonise, the Central Java trial shows how changes in irrigation, plant nutrition and variety choice can move from research into a practical farm-management tool with measurable yield and profit effects.