Modern Rice Varieties Research Articles

The effects of access to credit on productivity: separating technological changes from changes in technical efficiency

Improving productivity among farm microenterprises is important, especially in low-income countries where market imperfections are pervasive and resources are scarce. Relaxing credit constraints can increase the productivity of farmers. Using a field experiment involving microenterprises in Bangladesh, we estimate the impact of access to credit on the overall productivity of rice farmers, and disentangle the total effect into technological change (frontier shift) and technical efficiency changes. We find that relative to the baseline rice output per decimal, access to credit results in, on average, approximately a 14 percent increase in yield, holding all other inputs constant. After decomposing the total effect into the frontier shift and efficiency improvement, we find that, on average, around 11 percent of the increase in output comes from changes in technology, or frontier shift, while the remaining 3 percent is attributed to improvements in technical efficiency. The efficiency gain is higher for modern hybrid rice varieties, and almost zero for traditional rice varieties. Within the treatment group, the effect is greater among pure tenant and mixed-tenant farm households compared with farmers that only cultivate their own land.

Adoption and effects of modern rice varieties in Vietnam: Micro-econometric analysis of household surveys

Modern rice varieties are considered the best solution to manage the dilemma of increasingly scarce resources and rising food demands in the developing world. Although rice is widely cultivated in Vietnam, little is known about the factors affecting the farm households’ decision to adopt modern rice varieties and its economic effects across land-size groups. Using the propensity score matching combined with the difference-in-difference (PSM–DID) method, this study examines the effects of the adoption of modern rice varieties in Vietnam. The estimates reveal that the effects are distinguishable among outcomes of interest and farm sizes. In particular, only large landholders significantly improve their productivity by adopting modern varieties, while the effect of adoption on value-added is negligible regarding farm size. The findings suggest that the Vietnamese government should enact relevant policies, especially on land consolidation and land market, to enhance the effectiveness of rice production.

Responses of Milling Quality to Nitrogen and Water Management in Modern Long Grain Rice Varieties

This study determined how nitrogen (N) fertilizer and water management affect grain yield and milling quality of 9 modern rice varieties with long, slender grain in two field experiments. The effect of N on rice grown in wetland culture was evaluated at 0, 60 and 120 kg N ha-1. In a second experiment the rice in aerobic and wetland culture were compared. The rice in both experiments were grown to maturity and evaluated for yield, head rice yield and chalkiness. Grain yield increased with increasing N application, head rice yield increased with increasing N in 8 varieties, while chalkiness was more than halved in 7 varieties. Grain N also increased with increasing N fertilizer, but high head rice yield in several varieties was associated with relatively low grain N. Under aerobic cultivation, all 9 varieties yielded less than in wetland culture, the head rice yield was lower and chalkiness was higher except in 2 varieties. In both experiments, grain yield was associated positively with head rice yield and negatively with chalkiness. Head rice yield and chalkiness were negatively associated in the water experiment but not in the N experiment. This study has shown that modern high yielding rice varieties generally respond positively to nitrogen fertilizer in better milling quality as well as in yield. Grain chalkiness of the varieties was more stable against variation in the environment than head rice yield.

АНАЛИЗ ГЕНЕТИЧЕСКИХ ВЗАИМОСВЯЗЕЙ СОРТОВ РИСА ИЗ РАЗНЫХ ЭКОЛОГО-ГЕОГРАФИЧЕСКИХ ГРУПП С ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕМ SSR МАРКЕРОВ

Microsatellite DNA markers are widely used in genetic research on rice: for studying the genetic diversity of genetic resources collections, iden-tifying microevolutionary processes within the genus Oryza L. and analyzing genetic relationships of gene pools from different regions of the world, as well as in gene mapping and performing marker-assisted selection in breeding. Given the size of the collection held by the All-Russian Rice Research Institute, which has a total of about 7,000 accessions, it is important to analyze its genetic structure and study genetic diversity, including the use of molecular genetic methods. The aim of the work was to clarify the genetic relationships among modern Russian rice varieties and varieties from different regions of Asia (Central Asia or East Asia) representing various ecogeographic groups using microsatellite DNA markers. The material of the study was 32 rice cultivars representing three different ecogeographic groups: Eastern, Central Asian and European. We used 10 SSR markers, which showed a level of polymorphism from 2 (RM11, RM316, RM19) to 8 alleles (RM1). For a total of ten loci, 46 alleles were identified. The average PIC was 0.45. The results of the Bayesian analysis and clustering using the UPGMA method made it possible to make a conclusion about the complex genetic structure of the set of the studied cultivars, which is consistent with the presence of cultivars from different ecogeographic groups (EGG). A number of cultivars that occupy an intermediate position between ecogeographic groups were identified, which obviously is a consequence of the active use of crosses between cultivars belonging to different EGGs in the process of breeding. Russian cultivars, which according to their morphological characteristics belong to the European ecogeographic group, were attributed to the group which also included some varieties from Central Asia and from the Eastern EGG. It was a consequence of the use of cultivars belonging to different ecogeographic groups in domestic breeding programs.

A Quick Method to Estimate Area under Modern Varieties of Rice

The researchers are always in search of new methods to assess the impact of new technologies. In crop improvement research, estimation of area under modern varieties not only helps in computing returns to investment in research but also in the selection of parents from among the popular varieties in breeding programs. Different methods of estimation of area under modern varieties were reviewed and the procedure of estimation in the proposed seed distribution method is explained. The estimates of the new method were compared with the estimates of the household survey method. It was found that the mean absolute error between the two methods was only 1.24, which was well below the tolerable limit of 5 percent. Out of the 23 most popular varieties listed in the household method, 21 were found in the seed distribution method. Considering the cost and time efficiency of the seed distribution method in comparison to the household survey method, the new method is recommended for area estimation of modern rice varieties of rice.

BRRI Dhan63: Exportable Premium Quality Rice Like Soru Balam Suitable for Boro Season in Bangladesh

BRRI dhan63 is a new premium quality Boro rice variety like Soru Balam which is an improvement over existing premium quality rice BRRI dhan50 (Banglamati). BRRI dhan63 has satisfactorily passed in the proposed variety trial conducted in the farmers’ field. As a result National Seed Board (NSB) has been released this variety for commercial cultivation in the dry season (Boro) of Bangladesh in 2014. BRRI dhan63 is a modern rice variety having similar plant type with BRRI dhan50. The straw colored long slender grain like Pakistani Basmati rice is the main characteristics of this variety. The important feature is the higher elongation ability of the cooked rice of BRRI dhan63. The growth duration of BRRI dhan63 is 148-150 days which is 4-6 days earlier growth duration than BRRI dhan50. Thousand grain weight of the variety is 22.1 gm. The rice has 25.0% amylose content with 8.2% protein content. The special character of the variety is it has shattering resistance. As it has long flag leaf with deep green leaf color so the whole plot looks very beautiful. BRRI dhan63 can produce 6.5 to 7.0 t/ha yield with proper management. The export quality rice BRRI dhan63 is an excellent variety for cultivating in the Boro season so that farmers can earn more profit by the cultivation of BRRI dhan63.

A northern Chinese origin of Austronesian agriculture: new evidence on traditional Formosan cereals

BackgroundGenetic data for traditional Taiwanese (Formosan) agriculture is essential for tracing the origins on the East Asian mainland of the Austronesian language family, whose homeland is generally placed in Taiwan. Three main models for the origins of the Taiwanese Neolithic have been proposed: origins in coastal north China (Shandong); in coastal central China (Yangtze Valley), and in coastal south China. A combination of linguistic and agricultural evidence helps resolve this controversial issue.ResultsWe report on botanically informed linguistic fieldwork of the agricultural vocabulary of Formosan aborigines, which converges with earlier findings in archaeology, genetics and historical linguistics to assign a lesser role for rice than was earlier thought, and a more important one for the millets. We next present the results of an investigation of domestication genes in a collection of traditional rice landraces maintained by the Formosan aborigines over a hundred years ago. The genes controlling awn length, shattering, caryopsis color, plant and panicle shapes contain the same mutated sequences as modern rice varieties everywhere else in the world, arguing against an independent domestication in south China or Taiwan. Early and traditional Formosan agriculture was based on foxtail millet, broomcorn millet and rice. We trace this suite of cereals to northeastern China in the period 6000–5000 BCE and argue, following earlier proposals, that the precursors of the Austronesians, expanded south along the coast from Shandong after c. 5000 BCE to reach northwest Taiwan in the second half of the 4th millennium BCE. This expansion introduced to Taiwan a mixed farming, fishing and intertidal foraging subsistence strategy; domesticated foxtail millet, broomcorn millet and japonica rice; a belief in the sacredness of foxtail millet; ritual ablation of the upper incisors in adolescents of both sexes; domesticated dogs; and a technological package including inter alia houses, nautical technology, and loom weaving.ConclusionWe suggest that the pre-Austronesians expanded south along the coast from that region after c. 5000 BCE to reach northwest Taiwan in the second half of the 4th millennium BCE.

Development of heat tolerant introgression lines and preliminary quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis at flowering stage in Oryza sativa L.

The efficacy of modern rice varieties has been challenged by global warming because of their incapability to tolerate heat stress. Breeding for heat tolerance (HT) is therefore essential. Molecular breeding studies on HT in hybrid rice is sparse although HT quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been discovered. China is the leading country for hybrid rice production, however, introgression of HT alleles to hybrids is not practiced in breeding programmes. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to introgress HT alleles from indica donors Bg 90-2 and Mengguandamagu to SH 527, a popular parent in hybrid variety development, and to identify the associated DNA markers with HT to facilitate hybrid rice molecular breeding in China. The BC2F2:4 introgression lines were produced by crossing donor and recurrent parents and their performances were evaluated at two provinces of China in 2011 and 2012 under normal and heat stress conditions. The data were subjected to ANOVA and HT was compared against the standard heat-check variety N22. Out of 600 SSR markers, 61 and 59 markers were polymorphic for the two crosses SH 527/ Bg 90 ‒ 2 and SH 527/ Mengguandamagu, respectively and introgression lines were subsequently genotyped. The single-marker analysis was performed to detect marker trait associations. A total of 46 HT introgression lines were obtained with 88.3 % of homozygosity for HT alleles and seven high yielding HT lines were specifically selected for the provinces. Under heat stress, 42 significant marker trait associations were detected. Two of these were previously reported in HT QTLs implying their applicability in rice breeding programmes.

Drought responsive transcriptome profiling in roots of contrasting rice genotypes

Drought avoidance is an important strategy exhibited by cereals for maintaining productivity under water deficit conditions. Most of the modern rice varieties stop their root growth during drought whereas few traditional cultivars have the ability to maintain root growth. An upland rice genotype Nootripathu was found to maintain its root growth under drought when compared to a shallow rooted IR20. Drought responsive transcriptome profiling of roots of IR20 and Nootripathu revealed that tolerant Nootripathu showed relatively more number of DEGs (4287) than susceptible IR20 (3081). Drought stress significantly affected expression of genes encoding cellulose synthases and expansins, two major gene families involved formation of cell walls in the shallow rooted drought susceptible genotype IR20. Genes involved in the biosynthesis of phytohormones namely ABA and Brassinosteroids were found to be significantly up-regulated in roots of Nootripathu during drought. Up-regulation of autophagy related genes involved in degradation of denatured/misfolded proteins in roots of IR20 indicates the severe progression of stress in IR20. Co-localization analysis of DEGs against QTL hotspots identified several putative candidate genes including a zinc finger domain containing protein, a bZIP transcription factor, a MYB factor and an OsMADS7 requiring further functional validation.

Effect of Leaf Clipping on Yield Attributes of Modern and Local Rice Varieties

Impact of five different types of leaf clipping on the yield attributes of modern (Binadhan-8) and local (Terebaile) rice variety was evaluated on pot experiments following a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Leaves were cut according to the treatment. Data were collected on panicle length (cm), filled grain panicle-1, unfilled grain panicle-1, thousand grain weight (g), grain weight panicle-1 (g). In Binadhan-8, flag leaf alone or flag leaf with 2nd leaf and 2nd and 3rd leaves cutting showed profound reduction in grain number panicle-1 (35.14, 62.62, and 51.83%, respectively) and grain weight panicle-1 (29.18, 58.37 and 48.93%, respectively) while, cutting of 2nd leaf and 3rd leaf alone exert no significant impact compared to control. Number of unfilled grain increased with higher intensity of leaf cutting. In Terebaile, only flag leaf cut showed non-significant impact on grain number panicle-1 and grain weight panicle-1. Profound impact was observed by cutting flag leaf with 2nd leaf (55.47 and 48.98%, respectively) and flag leaf with 2nd and 3rd leaf (58.96 and 63.13%, respectively). Leaf clipping had non-significant effect on thousand grain weight of modern variety Binadhan-8 while, it had significant effect in TerebaileBangladesh Rice j. 2017, 21(1): 101-104

Screening of rice landraces (Oryza sativa L.) for seedling stage salinity tolerance using morpho-physiological and molecular markers

Traditional rice landraces of coastal area in Bangladesh are distinct regarding their phenotype, response to salt stress and yield attributes. With characterization of these landraces, suitable candidate genes for salinity tolerance could be identified to introgress into modern rice varieties. Therefore, the aim of this experiment was to uncover prospective rice landraces tolerant to salinity. Relying on morphological, biochemical and molecular parameters 25 rice genotypes were tested for salt tolerance at germination and seedling stage. At germination stage 0 and 12 dSm−1 salinity were imposed on rice genotypes. Ward’s cluster analysis divided rice genotypes into three clusters (susceptible, moderately tolerant and tolerant) based on the physiological indices. The tolerant rice landraces to salinity were Sona Toly, Nakraji and Komol Bhog. At seedling stage screening was performed following IRRI standard protocol at 12 dSm−1 salinity level. Based on all morphological and biochemical parameters Komol Bhog was identified as the highly salinity tolerant landrace while Bolonga, Sona Toly, Dud Sail, Tal Mugur and Nakraji were found as tolerant to salinity. Molecular characterization using two simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers, viz. RM121 and RM337 displayed Bolonga, Til Kapor, Panbra, Sona Toly, Bina Sail, Komol Bhog, Nakraji, Tilkapur, Gajor Goria and Gota were tolerant landraces through genetic similarity in dendrogram. These identified salt-resistant landraces can be used as promising germplasm resources for breeding salt-tolerant high-yielding rice varieties in future.

Strategy of the Outer Baduy community of South Banten (Indonesia) to sustain their swidden farming traditions by temporary migration to non-Baduy areas

Iskandar BS, Iskandar J, Partasasmita R. 2018. Strategy of the Outer Baduy community of South Banten (Indonesia) to sustain their swidden farming traditions by temporary migration to non-Baduy areas. Biodiversitas 19: 453-464. The Baduy people live in the forest village of Kanekes, in Leuwidamar sub-district, Lebak district, Banten Province, Indonesia. They have long practiced a form of swidden farming based on traditional ecological knowledge and beliefs about the cosmos. Unlike the rest of the surrounding Sundanese society, the Baduy have prohibited wet rice field cultivation on their lands. Moreover, in conserving their traditional swidden farming system, the Baduy people have resisted the use of modern rice varieties, inorganic fertilizers, and synthetic pesticides. On the basis of Baduy culture, their swidden-produced rice is not sold, and for at least the past 50 years the harvested rice has not been stored away in barns but instead has been mainly used for daily home consumption and various traditional rituals. Nowadays, Baduy swidden farming is affected by many new pressures – particularly by population increase, and increasing food demand – but the forest land used for practicing their swidden farming is limited. Therefore, in order to maintain the sustainability of their swidden farming system, the Baduy people, particularly the Outer Baduy, have developed cultural strategies that include temporary outmigration (nganjor) to neighboring, non-Baduy areas where Muslim value-systems provide the main cultural dynamic. The aim of the study reported in this paper was to elucidate the cultural strategy of the Outer Baduy to maintain their sustainable swidden farming by temporary out-migration to non-Baduy areas in territory of the Muslim majority. The method used in this study was qualitative based on an ethno ecological approach. Several techniques were used, namely direct observation, participant observation, and deep interviews with competent informants who were purposively selected. The results of the study confirmed that up until now the Outer Baduy have maintained the sustainability of their swidden farming, by various means, especially by conducting contemporary outmigration to non-Baduy areas in Muslim majority territory. They plant swidden rice in a way that fulfills various traditional rituals, and by diversifying their non-rice-trading options that include growing a variety of mainly tree crops in their swidden land (huma) and in other anthropogenic land. This involves occasional negotiated out-migration to non-Baduy area for temporary swidden farming in surrounding Muslim majority territory. This has enabled the Outer Baduy swidden farming system to be maintained on a long-term basis.

Flood proofing of Ranjit, a popular variety of North-Eastern India through transfer of Sub1 rice QTL by modified marker-assisted backcross breeding

Flooding is one of the major constraints of rice production in the rainfed lowland rice ecosystem. To cope with the frequent flooding in the climate change regime, tolerant cultivars are urgently needed to protect the paddy crop from flash floods. With the help of molecular markers, a major QTL for submergence tolerance “Sub1” was introgressed into a rainfed lowland mega variety Ranjit of N.E. India, by backcrossing followed by two generations of selfing. In this modified marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC), a gene based marker Sub1BC2 and 50051 SNPs were used for foreground and background selection, respectively, in backcrosses between a Sub1 donor, Swarna-Sub1 and the recipient variety, Ranjit. The recombinant selection was skipped and background selection was deferred to BC2F2 generation. The size of the donor fragment was found to be 1.65Mb. The introgression of this small segment was possible due to large population and strict selection in segregating generations for the recurrent parent with the help of 62 DUS characters. Ranjit-Sub1, a selection in BC2F2 generation, showed background recovery of 96.54% and submergence tolerance similar to the tolerant donor parent. Yield, yield-components and grain physico-chemical properties showed successful recovery of these traits in Ranjit-Sub1, with yield potential ranging from 6.5 to 7.0 t/ha, not significantly different from the recurrent parent, Ranjit. Therefore, Ranjit-Sub1 has been recommended for Zone III for submergence stress conditions in India. The study demonstrates a rapid and highly precise strategy adopted to introgress a major QTL by BC2F2 generation into a modern rice variety using a modified MABC.

An Agronomic and Profitability Study on Rice Production: A Case of Jalgaon Village of Comilla District, Bangladesh

Performance of rice crops in farmers’ fields largely lower than varietal potential. Besides, profitability is an important aspect of production decision for the semi-subsistence farming system in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study was conducted evaluate crops management practice and performance of rice in different seasons. Farmers’ group discussion with key informant farmers was conducted for collecting and validating the data using a semi-structured questionnaire. Adoption of modern rice varieties was high in the village. Rice is planted delay in all the seasons because of three crops (rice-rice-rice) rice based cropping patterns in the village. Farmers mainly relied on household seeds (owned stored and purchase from neighboring farmers) in Aus and Aman seasons while the dealer supplied seed is the prime seed source in Boro season. The seed rates were largely higher than recommendation rates. Farmers’ fertilizers management is highly inconsistent with recommendation practice. Both manual and chemical methods are used for controlling weeds. Chemical method is mainly practiced for controlling insects and diseases of crops. Paddle and power thresher is used for threshing rice. Boro rice gave Boro rice gave higher yield (4.94 t/ha) followed by T. Aman (3.29 t/ha) and Aus (3.09 t/ha) due to better cropping environment, good management practices, higher inputs and usages of better genotypes. The performance of rice in the three seasons showed large yield gap. T. Aman gave higher gross margin (BDT 22,015/ha) followed by Boro (BDT 16,468/ha) and Aus (BDT 9,414/ha) because of higher price and lower production cost. Participation of women in the intercultural operations of crops and their role sin decision making about farming was a few. Nevertheless, they intensively participate in post-harvest processing of crops and other household activates and decisions. In short, despite a large yield gap, rice production is profitable in the three seasons at survey year’s price. The poorer access to extension service, good quality seed, phosphorous fertilizers, pesticides and power supply were identified as barrier to achieve potential performance of rice cultivars and expected level of returns. Thus, policy supports for increasing access to extension supports and quality inputs may reduce yield gap and enhance productivity and profitability of rice crops largely.

Scenario of changing dynamics in production and productivity of major cereals in India

Cereals occupy prime position in diet composition of all human beings, with rice, wheat and maize being the major staple cereals with more than 70% share among all the food grains. With the inception of green revolution, India from being a food deficit and net importer of food grains not only became self reliant but also one of the major exporters of food grains with the adoption of modern wheat and rice varieties. Thus the present study was undertaken to analyze the trends in area, production and productivity of rice, wheat and maize for the period 1990-91 to 2012-13 obtaining data from the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and coefficient of variation were also used to see the growth patterns and instability in the production and productivity of these cereals overtime. The results showed that in both rice and wheat instability increased in area, production and productivity but most of the states registered an increasing growth trends during the period. Notably Maize showed increase in area, yield and production since 2000 due to its increasing demand for industrial usage and had significant growth in the decade due to its growing commercial value with emergence of promising new hybrids. The study points out to the significant intervention of policy to helpmaintain stability in case of major cereals of India’s food security.

Optimization of Nitrogen Fertilization and Seedling Density of A New Rice Type (Oryza sativa L.) “IPB 3S”

The new plant type of rice, or ‘padi tipe baru’ (PTB) in Indonesian, is a new group of rice cultivars with a higher productivity compared to the modern rice varieties (‘varietas unggul baru’ or VUB). This study was conducted to determine the optimum dose of nitrogen fertilization and the seedling density or number of seedlings per hill to increase growth and yield of the new type of rice “IPB 3”. The experiment was conducted in the Bogor Experimental Station in January to June 2015. Nitrogen doses (90, 120, 150, 180 kg N.ha-1) and number of seeds per hill (1, 5, 10, 15 and 20) were tested. The results showed that the increased dose of nitrogen fertilizer reduced the percentage of filled grains, the rate of photosynthesis and the grain yield per hectare. Similarly, an increase in the seedling density up to 15 seeds decreased the dry matter of the crop, the number of grains per panicle, and grain weight per plant, but increased the grain yield per hectare. The optimum yield of “IPB 3S” was achieved with 90 kg N.ha-1 with 15 seeds per hill. The results of this study have provided a guideline for an improved nitrogen management in relation to rice seedling population to increase yield of a new rice type “IPB3S”.Keywords: “IPB 3S”, new plant type, fertilizer, local variety

Seasonal variation in grain yield and quality in different rice varieties

Rice grain quality and yield, which are adversely affected by suboptimum condition in the climatic environment, are expected to be affected more severely under climate change. Adaptation to climate variation therefore requires stability in grain quality as well as yield. Grain yield and quality of four modern rice varieties were shown to respond differently to the climatic condition of the wet, cool and hot season at Chiang Mai, Thailand. The variation in grain yield was associated with differential effects of season on grain filling in different varieties. A simple dilution effect on nutritional quality was indicated by inverse relation between grain yield and the concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus, iron and zinc in the endosperm, i.e. the white rice normally consumed by rice eaters. The rice varieties also showed differential response to season in their head rice yield, grain chalkiness and gelatinization temperature, independently of the grain yield. The relationship between head rice yield and grain chalkiness was not significant, although some complex physico-chemistry of the starch was suggested by the correlation between grain chalkiness and gelatinization temperature. The effects of variety and season found here suggested that evaluation of rice genotypes for adaptation to climate change will need to consider grain quality along with grain yield.

Yield capacity of modern rice varieties depending on the nutrition system

Yield capacity of modern rice varieties depending on the nutrition system

Evaluating smallholder farmers’ demand for rice variety attributes in Nepal

ABSTRACTDespite the release of many modern varieties of rice (Oryza sativa), farmers in Nepal have been cultivating relatively few rice varieties. The objective of this study is to estimate farmers’ demand for rice variety attributes and to identify the factors that influence their decision regarding varietal choice. Yield increase is considered jointly with other attributes, such as cooking and eating quality, drought tolerance, and maturity period. Choice experiments were conducted and results showed that there was significant demand from farming households for yield increase, improvement in cooking and eating quality, tolerant to drought, and short maturing varieties. The choice data were analyzed using a multinomial and random parameter logit model. From a policy perspective, results showed that for broader adoption of crop varieties, variety development programs should give priority to aforementioned attributes rather than solely on increased crop productivity.

Economic Performance of Traditional and Modern Rice Varieties under Different Water Management Systems

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.