Different rice establishment methods for producing more rice per drop of water: A review

Abstract

The water crisis is threatening the sustainability of the irrigated rice system and food security in Asia. Our challenge is to develop novel technologies and production systems that allow rice production to be maintained or increased in the face of declining water availability. Water shortage is becoming severe in many rice-growing areas in the world, prompting the introduction of water-saving aerobic rice, which is direct-seeded in non-puddled, nonflooded aerobic soil, aerobic rice systems can reduce water use in rice production by as much as 50% ‘Aerobic rice’ and ‘upland rice’ are both grown under aerobic conditions. However, the former is under controlled water management, but the latter is not. Although the technology of growing rice with the new AWD and aerobic rice systems need to be further refined or developed, a broad adoption of these systems is expected to ensure rice production in water short areas, and result in significant water saving. This paper introduces principles that govern technologies and systems for reducing water inputs and increasing water productivity. We concluded that, while increasing the productivity of irrigated rice with transpired water may require breakthroughs in breeding, many technologies can reduce water inputs at the field level and increase field-level water productivity with respect to irrigation and total water inputs. Most of them, however, come at the cost of decreased yield.