While carbon dioxide accounts for 75% of the greenhouse gases considered the root cause of global warming, the global warming potential of methane is actually around 25 times higher than that of carbon dioxide. Wetlands and cattle burps are known sources of the gas, but approximately 10% of global methane emissions and around 40% of those in Japan stem from rice paddies. Countries throughout Asia engage in wet-rice farming, and given that their populations are increasing, we cannot ignore methane emissions from rice paddies. There is no time to lose in developing technology that increases yields while curbing methane emissions, in order to achieve sustainable rice production.