Abstract: The laboratory study on methane oxidation in paddy soil shows that soil sample collected before earlyrice transplanting can not oxidize atmospheric methane, but can oxidize the supplied methane quickly when its concetration is higher than 10μl·L^-1. The oxidation rate of methane is increased with its initial concentration. After preincubated under high concentration of methane(>1000 μl·L^-1) for 10 days, the soil which can not oxidize atmospheric methane begins to oxidize it. The study also shows that paddy soil with a high methane emission flux has a high potential of methane oxidation.

Key words: Paddy soil, Methane oxidation, dry matter, PAR utilization, stable yield, grain yield