A new rice variety that significantly reduces methane emissions using soil microorganisms has been developed.
A research team led by Dr. Ryu Chung-min at the Infectious Disease Research Center of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) announced on the 25th that they have identified how genetic mutations in the low-methane rice variety "Gamtan" alter the microbial balance around the roots, reducing methane production while increasing methane-decomposing microorganisms.
The research team developed the "Gamtan" rice variety in 2023, which dramatically reduces methane emissions. The team cultivated the Gamtan variety—in which the function of GS3, a gene that regulates panicle size, has been disabled—under conditions using less nitrogen fertilizer. The results confirmed that methane emissions after the heading stage were reduced by up to 24% compared to conventional varieties. When rice was cultivated under nitrogen-deficient conditions, yields of conventional varieties decreased by 14%, while the Gamtan variety showed only a 7% yield reduction, confirming its ability to maintain stable productivity.
Low-nitrogen environments require less fertilizer use, and the Gamtan variety attracts nitrogen-fixing bacteria near its roots even under such conditions, compensating for nitrogen deficiency. This appears to be the reason the variety can maintain yields even in nitrogen-poor environments.