A laboratory study was conducted to determine the rate of methane emission and the methanogenic population in an Indian rice soil. Methane emission was highest at 37 degrees C. The dry rice soil had a low methanogen content but this increased after vice cultivation. Addition of farmyard manure increased the methane emission, while inorganic fertilizers suppressed methane emission in uncultivated rice soil. The soil after rice cultivation was a better source of inoculum for biogas production than the spent slurry from a cattle-waste-based biogas plant.