Implications of Water Use and Water Scarcity Footprint for Sustainable Rice Cultivation

Thapat Silalertruksa,Shabbir Gheewala,Rattanawan Mungkung,Pariyapat Nilsalab,Wanchat Sawaengsak,Naruetep Lecksiwilai

doi:10.3390/su9122283

Abstract

Rice cultivation is a vital economic sector of many countries in Asia, including Thailand, with the well-being of people relying significantly on selling rice commodities. Water-intensive rice cultivation is facing the challenge of water scarcity. The study assessed the volumetric freshwater use and water scarcity footprint of the major and second rice cultivation systems in the Chao Phraya, Tha Chin, Mun, and Chi watersheds of Thailand. The results revealed that a wide range of freshwater use, i.e., 0.9–3.0 m3/kg of major rice and 0.9–2.3 m3/kg of second rice, and a high water use of rice was found among the watersheds in the northeastern region, like the Mun and Chi watersheds. However, the water scarcity footprint results showed that the second rice cultivation in watersheds, like in Chao Phraya and Tha Chin in the central region, need to be focused for improving the irrigation water use efficiency. The alternate wetting and drying (AWD) method was found to be a promising approach for substituting the pre-germinated seed broadcasting system to enhance the water use efficiency of second rice cultivation in the central region. Recommendations vis-à-vis the use of the water stress index as a tool for agricultural zoning policy were also discussed.

Highlights

Rice is the staple food crop feeding more than half the global population, accounting for about 19% of the world’s dietary energy supply [1]
The results revealed that the total freshwater used per unit area for rice cultivation in those four watersheds is not different, i.e., ranging between 6800 and 7500 m3/ha
The results revealed that a wide range of freshwater is used among the watersheds, i.e., 0.9–3.0 m3/kg of major rice and 0.9–2.3 m3/kg of second rice

Summary

Introduction

Rice (paddy) is the staple food crop feeding more than half the global population, accounting for about 19% of the world’s dietary energy supply [1]. For Asian countries like China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, as well as Thailand, rice cultivation is recognized as a vital economic sector vis-à-vis their socio-economic development. It is estimated that food production needs to be increased by around 60% to meet the global demands for food in 2050 [2]. Freshwater demands for food production have been projected to increase significantly in the coming decades due to population growth, urbanization, and economic development [3]. Several countries have promoted biofuels as one of the measures to boost the livelihood of farmers in rural areas along with improving the national gross domestic product (GDP). The rapid expansion of crops production leads to concerns on food and fuels competition, on water scarcity caused by the overexploitation of water for food and biofuel crops [7,8,9,10]

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Conclusion