Support a solution

Worldwide, 100 million ha (harvested) irrigated rice fields annually provide 500 million t (rough) rice, the staple food of 3 billion people. These fields receive 35-40% of all irrigation water, making it the single biggest beneficiary of developed freshwater resources. Possibly more than half of this water is pumped, requiring large amounts of energy. Because of its flooded nature, rice fields emit 5-10% of the world’s methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Irrigation technologies that reduce water needs in rice fields are needed to help farmers cope with water scarcity while safeguarding food security. At the same time, such technologies can reduce (pumping) energy use and emission of methane.

IRRI is committed to develop and promote water-saving technologies for rice production in Asia that will not only reduce water use in rice production, but also reduce energy use (through reduced pumping of irrigation water), and reduce methane emissions. It will seek to raise and utilize funds for research on sustainable aerobic rice systems and alternate-wetting and drying technologies, on training on these water-saving technologies among farmers and extension agents in rice-growing areas, and on adaptation and adoption of these technologies by farmers. With a conservative estimate of 10% water reductions without yield loss implemented on 20 million ha rice fields threatened with water scarcity, 20 km3 water will be saved yearly and available for other uses.

Who will benefit most from your commitment?

Ultimately, farmers since they will be able to grow rice with less water and reduced irrigation costs, hence increasing their income. Irrigation system managers will see increased production in their command areas (or maintained production in the face of increasing water scarcity) through increased water productivities. Provincial and national governments will benefit from stable rice production, hence providing food security to their citizens and political stability. The environment at large will benefit since less new water resources need to be developed (eg large dams), hence this solution should be of interest to all those who cherish the environment. Finally, stable rice provision at affordable prices (through reduced irrigation/energy costs in rice production) will hugely benefit a large proportion of the world’s billion extreme poor who are net rice consumers. Thus, our solution should interest all those who take poverty alleviation at heart

See submitted Solution “water, energy, and greenhouse gas-reducing irrigation for rice” 

When rice farmers adopt water-saving technologies, we expect rice production to be maintained with less irrigation water used, increased farmer’s income through reduced irrigation costs, reduced energy use, and reduced methane emissions. Hence, monitoring options should focus on quantified irrigation water use in rice areas, rice production statistics, farmers’ income, reduced methane emissions. The latter can be estimated through various approaches such as modeling or remote sensing.

The development and dissemination of water-saving technologies by IRRI is part of our main R&D strategic plan and is incorporated into the work plan of the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP). As such, there are specific milestones and targets that we monitor through our regular GRiSP M&E. A lot of our work under GRiSP is implemented through bilaterally-funded grant projects, and each project has its own logframe with milestones and deliverables. Finally, we conduct regular adoption studies and impact assessments on the technologies we develop, and this also includes water-saving technologies.

Bas

Bouman

International Rice research institute

Philippines