water saving in rice cultivation. rice is a water intensive crop. preferably it is not grown in...
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Water Saving in Rice Cultivation
Rice is a water intensive crop. Preferably it is not grown in
areas with scarce groundwater resources
It remains popular because it is low risk, high yield
subsistence crop
As an intermediate solution there are some water saving
cropping systems that can be considered…
Rice cultivation
Several water saving methods for rice cultivation exists.
Two examples:
System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Conservation Agriculture (Zero Tillage)
Water Saving Methods
System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
A completely new method to grow
irrigated rice using substantially less
water
Early transplanting (8-12 days seedlings) Careful transplanting (with seed,soil,root) Wide spacing (25 X 25 cm spacing) -only one
plant/hill to preserve potential tillering and rooting Weeding and aeration Water Management (keeping the soil moist but not
saturated - Intermittent wetting) Compost (Add 1.5 ton/ha of FYM +Fertilisers)
SRI – Some Principles
Fields are kept unflooded, moist and well aerated
throughout the vegetative growth A thin layer of water (1-3 cm) in the field during
the reproductive phase Wide spacing (25x 25 cm to 50x50 cm) and only
one plant/ hill Early and frequent weeding
SRI – Some Principles
Treat
ments
Through
irrigation (mm)
Through rainfall
(mm)
Total
(mm)
Tra
ditional913 296 1209
Wetting and
drying730 296 1036
SRI 673 296 969
Water application
Some monitoring results from Andra Pradesh, India
Parameters
Treatments
Tradi-tional
Wetting/
dryingSRI
Grain yield (kg/ha) 6250 6580 8380
% increase of grain yield in different treatments when compared with farmers practice
- 5.0 34.0
Amount of water (mm) applied during crop growth period through irrigation
913 730 673
% of irrigation water saved in different treatments when compared with farmers practice
- 20 26
Water use efficiency (kg/ha mm) 5.2 6.4 8.6
SRI compared with other treatments
1. Reduced/minimum soil disturbance,
2. Reduced soil compaction,
3. Residue management,
4. Innovative cropping systems, cultivar
choices etc.
Conservation Agriculture
Rice Fallows
Surface Seeding
Reduced Soil Disturbance
Stale bed method
Reduced Tillage: Direct Seeded Rice
Furrow irrigated raised beds
Rice
Reduced Soil Disturbance
Increases irrigated area Improves crop stand and yields Additional field area added
Laser Land Levelling
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
-----------Planting Time-----------
Yie
ld
December 1st week
November 2nd week
optimum planting time
0
2
4
6
8
May 24 June 8 June 23 July 8 July 23
t h
a-1
Yield Loss: 35-67kg/day/ha
Sowing date of rice in nursery Planting time, Wheat
Relation sowing date & yield for rice and wheat
Timely Planting: Higher Profits
Controlled traffic-Paired Row
ZT-Wheat
Controlled TrafficCombination of controlled traffic and paired rows also possible
Paired Rows
Reduce soil compaction: Zero-Till Technology
Stubble shaved & dried
Residues Burning
Incorporation / surface retention of residues builds up soil
structure Residues when mulched provide a better habitat for
beneficial insects to proliferate.
Anchored and loose straws in
combine harvested areas
Crop Residues Management
No additional irrigation water, 50% less weeds, Supply 20Kg N, control second flush of weeds
Brown Manuring in Direct Seeded Rice
35574
72009
36435
30464
78146
47682
33146
74327
41181
Economics of R-W system
Zero-till rice is more profitable when
preceding crop is also no-till planted
Cost
Gross return
Net return
Timely sowing Higher yields Better nutrient and water use efficiency More diverse rotations Prevent residue burning
Conservation Agriculture
Better crop stands Lower costs Less water pollution, less ground water
mining Fewer weeds and pests More C sequestration and better soil
health
Conservation Agriculture
Even in areas where there are considerable differences
between groundwater recharge and groundwater
exploitation several mitigating measures are possible to
restore the balance
Conclusion
Raj K. Gupta, Regional Facilitator, Rice-Wheat Consortium/ CIMMYT-India, New Delhi
Resource Conserving Technologies: A Paradigm
Shift for Transforming Agriculture