How about aerobic rice and conservation agriculture?

With aerobic rice, practices of conservation agriculture, such as mulching and minimum tillage as practiced in upland crops, become available to rice farmers as well. In the Indo-Gangetic Plain, farmers are experimenting with minimum tillage practices and permanent raised beds in the rice-wheat system. Pioneering research and development work is being done by the Rice Wheat Consortium.

Various methods of mulching (e.g., using dry soil, straw, and plastic sheets) are being experimented with in aerobic rice systems in China. In hilly areas in Shiyan, Hubei Province in China, farmers on an estimated 6000 ha are adopting the use of plastic sheets to cover rice fields in which the soil is kept just below saturation. The proclaimed advantages are: earlier crop establishment (rice is established in early spring when temperatures are still low, and the plastic sheet increases the soil temperature), higher yields, less weed growth, and less water use (important during dry spells). The left-over plastic after harvest may cause environmental degradation if not properly taken care of.