Water conservation practices for improving water-use policy in irrigated rice

Abstract

Rice will continue to be a staple crop for the majority of the world's population and, thus, its production will require a significant commitment to maintaining large amounts of fresh available water. The water use efficiency of two traditional water management practices used in irrigated rice culture was studied: alternate flooding and drying as well as continuous flooding. The findings indicate that the alternate flooding and drying treatment could reduce water use by 13–29% and increase rice grain yield by 33–36%. These results demonstrate that there is significant potential to increase water use efficiency in wetland rice culture without reducing rice grain yield. Moreover, the results can be used to strengthen government water-use policies in irrigated rice farming systems.