CUTTING RICE'S CARBON FOOTPRINT

Rice is a staple food for much of the world’s population and production will need to nearly double by 2050 to meet demand. But it is also one of the most polluting crops, responsible for 10% of all global man-made methane emissions - a greenhouse gas 84x more potent than carbon dioxide - from the vegetation that naturally rots in flooded paddy fields.

In 2015, Olam joined a partnership with the Thai Rice Department and the German development agency GIZ to promote sustainable rice cultivation, and has since been working with rice farmers to implement the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) Standard to reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of rice, while improving yields and farmer livelihoods. The project began as a pilot with 71 farmers in Ubon Ratchathani. Since then, through implementing SRP practices the farmers have reduced methane emissions by as much as 70% by improving water and
nutrient management, as well as post-harvest rice straw and stubble management. They have also raised farmers’ incomes by about 10 per cent from using good quality seeds and more efficient inputs to boost yield while lowering production cost.