Striding towards aerobic rice cultivation - A review

Rice research in India during the last century has resulted in the development of important technologies, adoption of which has helped in keeping rice production growth rate ahead of the population growth rate. However, the appalling paucity of water threatens the sustainability of the irrigated rice ecosystem these days. Such water shortage in many rice growing areas is prompting a search for production systems that use less water to produce rice. Though several strategies are being pursued to save water in irrigated rice ecosystem, water losses still hang on high since all those systems use prolonged periods of flooding. Aerobic rice systems, wherein the crop is established via direct seeding in unpuddled, non flooded fields and managed intensively as an upland crop, are among the most promising approaches of water saving. Achieving higher rice grain yields under irrigated aerobic conditions requires better weed management practices and effective utilization of resources that reduce the cost of cultivation. Hence, the research to improve aerobic rice yields should focus on primarily on efficient weed management to make rice cultivation more efficient in terms of returns on farmer investments and use of water resources.