On September 27, 2024, an international workshop was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, as part of the SATREPS project that commenced in April of this year, aiming to reduce methane emissions from rice paddies through intermittent irrigation.

The workshop discussed the detailed plan for the project, with participants from various agencies involved in intermittent irrigation projects in Cambodia and neighboring countries sharing information and exploring the possibility of closer cooperation in the future. Participants included representatives of the SATREPS project from both Cambodia and Japan, as well as representatives from Vietnam, Laos, the Asian Development Bank, the Mekong River Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), and the Japan Water Agency.

During the workshop, representatives from the Institute of Technology of Cambodia (a collaborative research institute on the Cambodian side), JIRCAS (the representative research institute from the Japanese side), the JICA Cambodia Office, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), and the Royal University of Agriculture (the representative research institute from the Cambodian side) spoke about the significance of reducing methane emissions and their expectations for the project.

Afterwards, the Asian Development Bank, the Japan Water Agency, and the Mekong River Commission introduced their ongoing projects related to intermittent irrigation. The workshop continued with three sessions (Session 1: Water Management, Session 2: GHG Monitoring, and Session 3: LCA and Carbon Credits), which comprised a total of 13 presentations, and culminated with a discussion and a Q&A session.

Through this workshop, the SATREPS project aims to develop and implement technologies to reduce methane gas emissions in paddy fields in Cambodia in cooperation with