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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional Plant Ecology
Volume 15 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1432460
This article is part of the Research Topic Plant Ecophysiology: Responses to Climate Changes and Stress Conditions View all 4 articles
Methane-derived microbial biostimulant reduces greenhouse gas emission and improves rice yield
Provisionally accepted- 1 String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
- 2 Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Introduction: More than half of the world's population consumes rice as their primary food. The majority of rice production is concentrated in Asia with the top 10 rice-growing countries accounting for 84% of the world's total rice cultivation. Rice production is also strongly linked to environmental changes. Among all the global sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, paddy cultivation stands out as a significant contributor to global methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. This is expected to increase further with the projected increase of 28% in global rice output by 2050. Modifications to rice management practices are necessary, both to increase yield and mitigate GHG emissions. Methods: We investigated the effect of seedling treatment, soil and foliar application of a methane-derived microbial biostimulant on grain yield and GHG emissions from rice fields, over three seasons under 100% fertilizer conditions. Further, microbial biostimulant was also tested under 75% Nitrogen (N) levels to demonstrate its effect on grain yield. To understand the mechanism of action of microbial biostimulant on crop physiology and yield, a series of physiological, transcript and metabolite analyses were also performed. Results: Our three-season open field studies demonstrated significant enhancement of grain yield, up to 39%, with simultaneous reduction in CH4 (31─ 60%) and N2O (34─ 50%) emissions, with the use of methane-derived microbial biostimulant. Under 75% N levels, a 34% increase in grain yield was observed with microbial biostimulant application. Based on the physiological, transcript, and metabolite analyses data, we were further able to outline the potential mechanisms for the diverse synergistic effects of methane-derived microbial biostimulant on paddy, including indole-3-acetic acid production, modulation of photosynthesis, tillering and panicle development, ultimately translating to superior yield. Conclusion: The reduction in GHG emission and enhanced yield observed under both recommended and reduced N conditions demonstrated that the methane-derived biostimulant can play a unique and necessary role in the paddy ecosystem. The consistent improvements seen across different field trials established that the methane-derived microbial biostimulant could be a scalable solution to intensify rice productivity with a lower GHG footprint thus creating a win-win-win solution for farmers, customers and the environment.
Keywords: Climate Change, grain yield, Methane, Microbial biostimulant, Nitrous Oxide, Global warming potential
Received: 14 May 2024; Accepted: 31 Jul 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Kumar, David, Pavithra, Sajith, Lesharadevi, Akshaya, Bassavaraddi, Navyashree, Arpitha, Sreedevi, Zainuddin, Firdous, Babu, Prashanth, Ravikumar, Basavaraj, Kumar, Kumar, Parthasarathi and Subbian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Gangigere J. Pavithra, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Gopalakrishnan K. Sajith, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Chennai, 600127, Tamil Nadu, India
Kuppan Lesharadevi, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Chennai, 600127, Tamil Nadu, India
Selvaraj Akshaya, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Chavadi Bassavaraddi, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Gopal Navyashree, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Panakanahalli S. Arpitha, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Padmanabhan Sreedevi, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Khan Zainuddin, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Bondalakunta R. Babu, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Muralidhar U. Prashanth, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Ganesan Ravikumar, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Palabhanvi Basavaraj, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Chavana S. Kumar, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Vinod M. Kumar, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
Ezhilkani Subbian, String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
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