Potential Paddy Rice Yields for Rainfed and Irrigated Agriculture in China and Korea

Abstract

Abstract YIELD, a water-balance and crop-yield model that calculates production and water consumption variables for a variety of major crops, was applied specifically for wetland rice to China and Korea in order to estimate the region's potential and actual yields for irrigated and rainfed rice production. A network of 241 stations provided the climatic data averaged over approximately a 25-year period. Highest potential yields under full irrigation for a single rice crop occurred in Kansu-Niangsia, the Yangtze River plain, Yunnan-Szechwan-Kweichow, coastal China and Korea, and the islands of Hainan and Taiwan. The yields ranged from 6,000 to 10,000 kg/ha. Smallest yields were found for the western interior and the northeast. In areas where multiple cropping was possible, total yields exceeded 16,000 kg/ha in the south. Under rainfed conditions, only the central and southern China region retained a viable production. In order to achieve optimum crop yields, about 1.000 mm of irrigation water was needed in...