Although rice has significant effects socially and politically, it also affects the environment. Rice producing has been known to cause problems such as water logging, salinity buildup, and nutrition depletion of the land. (1)

Some rice paddy fields use herbicides, which have negative effects on the environment and ecosystems. The herbicides can affect the fish living in the rice paddy waters. When a farmer uses chemicals in a rice field, the amount of chemicals he needs for the next farming season increases exponentially.

On the left, a picture of a rice paddy. On the right, an image showing the burning after a rice harvest.

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In addition, many farmers in rice paddy fields burn the straw from the rice crop. This has very negative affects on the environment as it causes environmental pollution. The temperature of the top 3 layers of the soil is greatly increased, the composition of the soil changes, and CO2 is lost to the atmosphere. With the change in the composition of the soil, more chemicals are needed to maintain the same crop yield as before. (2)

Rice paddies also pose a threat to the environment because they are a breeding ground for microbes that produce methane, a chemical that contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Around 13% of the world’s global methane emissions are caused by rice paddies. (3)

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