Reducing water resources diminishing sustainable production of rice in changing climate scenario
Muhammad Umair Yasin*1, Ahmad Latif Virk2, Naeem Ahmad1 Muhammad Ahmad Arain1 and Ghulam Hasan3
1 Crop Nutrition and Irrigation Management Lab, Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
2 Agro-climatology Lab, Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
3 Integrated Pest Management Lab, Department of Entomology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
*Corresponding Author Email: [email protected]
Changing climate have great influence on the availability of water resources for agricultural crop production. Water shortage is currently disturbing the stability and sustainability of agricultural production with respect to the drying tendency for the last century. Agriculture accounts for 80–90% of all freshwater used by humans, and most of that is in crop production. In many areas of Pakistan, water productivity is much less as compared to other developed countries like China, Australia and United Kingdom. Climate change have great impact on the productivity of agricultural crop production through decreasing fresh water resources. Although Pakistan is having big canal irrigation system in the world, but efficiency of our irrigation system is around 25%. Many planning’s and effort is being made to reduce water use by crops and produce ‘more yield with less water’.
For sustainable production of rice, there are many water saving strategies like direct seeding of rice. With increasing population, food demand is also increasing. Direct seeded rice not only requires less water but also less labor as compared to transplanted rice. There are some issues in direct seeding rice regarding crop management like weed management. There is no doubt that direct seeded rice produce less yield as compared to transplanted rice. The core issue behind less yield is due to weed infestation loss that is about 40%. Some strategies needs to adopt to manage weed infestation that not only enhance the yield but also high the rate of water productivity in rice.
Rice is staple food of many countries, In Pakistan it is the second most important crop after wheat. Due to diminishing water resources, sustainable productivity of rice is a great issue in future. It is believed that there is substantial potential for further improvements in understanding the physiological responses of plants to water supply. There is considerable promise within the latest molecular genetic approaches, if linked to the appropriate environmental physiology. It is assumed that the interactions between plant and environment require a team approach looking across the disciplines from genes to plants to crops in their particular environments to deliver improved water productivity and contribute to sustainability.
