Water saving rice technology for the future: aerobic rice
2008
Amante, M. | Zhao, D. | Sta Cruz, M.T. | Espiritu, M.J. | Ramaiah, V. | Bernier, J. | Kumar, A., International Rice Rice Research Inst. College, Laguna (Philippines). Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology Div.
In Asia, irrigated rice use more than 45 percent of the total fresh water used. By 2025, 15 out of 75 million ha of Asia's irrigated lowland rice crop are predicted to experience water shortage. At the field level, irrigated rice requires at least three times more water than cereal crops. The shrinking water resources underline the importance of saving water for future generations as well as for efficient use of the available resources. Aerobic rice and alternate wetting and drying are the two water saving rice technologies. Under alternate wetting and drying 30-35 percent water can be saved whereas aerobic rice system reduces water use by as high as 50 percent. Aerobic rice is rice that is grown like wheat, maize under dry direct seeded condition in non-puddled, non-flooded soils with moisture content ranging from 70% to 100% of field capacity in the root zone. IRRI started working on aerobic rice in 2000. The research efforts have concentrated towards developing aerobic rice that combines high yield potential, good grain quality of lowland rice with weed competitiveness, drought tolerance of the upland rice. The aerobic rice lines developed at IRRI has a yield potential of 4-5 t/ha, and may produce about 2 t/ha of yield under severe drought stress. This yielding level is significantly higher than Apo under the non-stressed upland situation, and at least doubles the yield of other traditional cultivars under severe drought situation. These lines has been disseminated and are presently being tested for their suitability to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, China, Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brazil and other countries.
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