Abstract
Italian rice production is progressively threatened by water scarcity. Some strategies have been developed to reduce water use. Nevertheless, reducing water irrigation amounts may lower paddy rice production. This publication compares the productivity and the economic performances of traditional and modern rice varieties in northern Italy using two different water management systems. The objective of this analysis is to enhance Italian rice cultivation at the economic, environmental and agronomic levels. Some positive variations of water productivity and economic water productivity were observed for the two varieties when using a lower amount of irrigation water. However, actual production costs and most water supply fees are the same for all the irrigation methods. Furthermore, the study of agronomic traits shows that during the recent years, there were no significant differences or increases of yield among varieties. Consequently, to be adopted by farmers, the irrigation costs coupled with improved rice accessions need to be optimized.
Highlights
Worldwide, rice is one of the most important crops and it represents a staple food for over half of the world’s population, with a global production of more than 700 million tons per year [1] and a harvested area reaching 165 million ha
The objective of this study is to explore the effect of different water management methods in paddy rice fields in northern Italy by evaluating their agronomic productivity and economic performances
The amount of water used in the alternately irrigated condition was more than two times lower than the amount used in the irrigated condition
Summary
Rice is one of the most important crops and it represents a staple food for over half of the world’s population, with a global production of more than 700 million tons per year [1] and a harvested area reaching 165 million ha. In Europe, where Japonica rice is cultivated, Italy is the leading rice producer, with around 227,300 ha of rice-cultivated areas [2]. Rice cultivation is a high-water-consuming crop and irrigated rice is the most spread-out agrosystem. It represents 53% of worldwide rice-cultivated areas [4]. A volume of 2.5 to 5.0 m3 is needed to produce 1 kg of rice, whereas only 0.4–0.7 m3 of water is needed for 1 kg of sorghum [5]. A large amount of total water applied at the field-level is lost by evapotranspiration, seepage and percolation [6]
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