Abstract. Phytoliths are silica bodies produced by plants through bio-mineralization process. During such process, occlusion of carbon (C) also takes place within the phytoliths called phytolith occluded C (PhytOC). The PhyOC is highly stable and may substantially contribute to long-term terrestrial C sequestration. The present study aimed to investigate the phytolith and PhytOC contents variability in rice cultivars and its potential for long-term terrestial C biosequestration.The results indicate that dry matter yield of rice cultivars varied from 15.52 to 28.82 g plant , the global annual potential sink rate of PhytOC in soils through rice phytoliths would approximately be 16.4 Tg-e-CO 2 . Therefore rice crop may play a significant role in long-term C sequestration through PhytOC.

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