Combining water-saving and drought-resistant rice with plastic film mulching mitigates CH4 emissions with higher net economic benefits

Abstract

Plastic film mulching (PM) and water-saving and drought-resistant rice (WDR) are believed to increase crop yields and decrease CH4 emissions, respectively. Here, a comprehensive estimation is prepared on how the combination of PM and WDR impacts rice yields, CH4 and N2O emissions, global warming potential (GWP), greenhouse gas emission intensity (GHGI), and net economic ecosystem benefits (NEEB). Shifting continuous flooding (CF) into traditional rainfed (TF) and PM decreased CH4 emissions (35–92 %), GWP (33–91 %), and GHGI (31–88 %). Moreover, PM considerably reduced input costs and GWP costs relative to CF whereas increasing grain yields and yield gains relative to TF, thus promoting NEEB by around 3500 and 6000 CNY ha–1, respectively. Combining PM with WDR further enhanced NEEB by 935 CNY ha–1. The findings indicate that PM with the combination of WDR would be a promising strategy for lower greenhouse gas emissions and higher grain yields and economic benefits in rice agriculture.