Alternate wetting and drying irrigation in direct seeded rice: A review

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is on important cereal food for more than half of the global population. Rice is a major user of fresh water accounting for approximately 50 percent of the total diverted fresh water in Asia. Due to water scarcity and huge hike in labour wage rates, direct seeded rice offers an attractive alternative for future rice production. Thus there is a need to explore alternate techniques that can sustain rice production and are resource conservative. Direct sowing of rice refers to the process of establishing a rice crop from seeds sown in the field rather than transplanting seedlings from the nursery. Direct seeded rice provides an opportunity for earlier crop establishment to make better use of early season rainfall and to increase cropping area. Effect of AWD on direct seeded rice is presented in this review paper. Direct seeded rice is a resource conservation technology as it uses less water with high efficiency, incurs low labour expenses and is conducive to mechanization. Alternate wetting and drying irrigation increased water use efficiency and water productivity of rice.