Demand for rice on the global market is on a constant rise. Yet despite the Green Revolution, production levels are unable to keep up with demand. Irrigated rice production is practised by millions of farmers around the world. The technique is based on an almost permanent flooding of the paddy-fields, which is an enormous source of methane production. As a result of population pressure and frequent shortages of land and water, other methods of cultivation should be used in order to improve rice yields. Intensive Rice Cultivation developed in Madagascar in 1983 by Fr. Henri de Laulanié, is an innovative cultivation method that can increase yields considerably without the need for inputs that are often costly and hard to access for small-scale farmers.