IAEA-TECDOC-1847 IAEA-TECDOC-1847 IAEA TECDOC SERIES Rice Production Guidelines: Best Farm Management Practices and the Role of Isotopic Techniques Management Practices and the Role of Isotopic Best Farm Rice Production Guidelines: IAEA-TECDOC-1847 Rice Production Guidelines: Best Farm Management Practices and the Role of Isotopic Techniques International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna ISBN 978–92–0–103418–2 ISSN 1011–4289 @ RICE PRODUCTION GUIDELINES: BEST FARM MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND THE ROLE OF ISOTOPIC TECHNIQUES The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GHANA PANAMA ALBANIA GREECE PAPUA NEW GUINEA ALGERIA GRENADA PARAGUAY ANGOLA GUATEMALA PERU ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA GUYANA PHILIPPINES ARGENTINA HAITI POLAND ARMENIA HOLY SEE PORTUGAL AUSTRALIA HONDURAS QATAR AUSTRIA HUNGARY REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA AZERBAIJAN ICELAND ROMANIA BAHAMAS INDIA RUSSIAN FEDERATION BAHRAIN INDONESIA BANGLADESH IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF RWANDA BARBADOS IRAQ SAINT VINCENT AND BELARUS IRELAND THE GRENADINES BELGIUM ISRAEL SAN MARINO BELIZE ITALY SAUDI ARABIA BENIN JAMAICA SENEGAL BOLIVIA, PLURINATIONAL JAPAN SERBIA STATE OF JORDAN SEYCHELLES BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA KAZAKHSTAN SIERRA LEONE BOTSWANA KENYA SINGAPORE BRAZIL KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SLOVAKIA BRUNEI DARUSSALAM KUWAIT SLOVENIA BULGARIA KYRGYZSTAN SOUTH AFRICA BURKINA FASO LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC SPAIN BURUNDI REPUBLIC SRI LANKA CAMBODIA LATVIA SUDAN CAMEROON LEBANON SWAZILAND CANADA LESOTHO SWEDEN CENTRAL AFRICAN LIBERIA SWITZERLAND REPUBLIC LIBYA CHAD LIECHTENSTEIN SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC CHILE LITHUANIA TAJIKISTAN CHINA LUXEMBOURG THAILAND COLOMBIA MADAGASCAR THE FORMER YUGOSLAV CONGO MALAWI REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA COSTA RICA MALAYSIA TOGO CÔTE D’IVOIRE MALI TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO CROATIA MALTA TUNISIA CUBA MARSHALL ISLANDS TURKEY CYPRUS MAURITANIA TURKMENISTAN CZECH REPUBLIC MAURITIUS UGANDA DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MEXICO UKRAINE OF THE CONGO MONACO UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DENMARK MONGOLIA UNITED KINGDOM OF DJIBOUTI MONTENEGRO GREAT BRITAIN AND DOMINICA MOROCCO NORTHERN IRELAND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MOZAMBIQUE UNITED REPUBLIC ECUADOR MYANMAR OF TANZANIA EGYPT NAMIBIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA EL SALVADOR NEPAL ERITREA NETHERLANDS URUGUAY ESTONIA NEW ZEALAND UZBEKISTAN ETHIOPIA NICARAGUA VANUATU FIJI NIGER VENEZUELA, BOLIVARIAN FINLAND NIGERIA REPUBLIC OF FRANCE NORWAY VIET NAM GABON OMAN YEMEN GEORGIA PAKISTAN ZAMBIA GERMANY PALAU ZIMBABWE The Agency’s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world’’. IAEA-TECDOC-1847 RICE PRODUCTION GUIDELINES: BEST FARM MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND THE ROLE OF ISOTOPIC TECHNIQUES PREPARED BY THE JOINT FAO/IAEA DIVISION OF NUCLEAR TECHNIQUES IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2018 COPYRIGHT NOTICE All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications in printed or electronic form must be obtained and is usually subject to royalty agreements. Proposals for non-commercial reproductions and translations are welcomed and considered on a case-by-case basis. Enquiries should be addressed to the IAEA Publishing Section at: Marketing and Sales Unit, Publishing Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria fax: +43 1 2600 29302 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 email: [email protected] http://www.iaea.org/books For further information on this publication, please contact: Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria Email: [email protected] © IAEA, 2018 Printed by the IAEA in Austria June 2018 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Names: International Atomic Energy Agency. Title: Rice production guidelines : best farm management practices and the role of isotopic techniques / International Atomic Energy Agency. Description: Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2018. | Series: IAEA TECDOC series, ISSN 1011–4289 ; no. 1847 | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: IAEAL 18-01166 | ISBN 978–92–0–103418–2 (paperback : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Rice farming. | Radioactive tracers in plant nutrition. | Crops and climate. | Rice – Disease and pest resistance. FOREWORD Rice is closely linked to the culture, food security, employment and livelihoods of the Asian population and their environment. About 90% of the global rice crop is both produced and consumed in Asia. The total harvested area in 2014 was 145 million hectares, which produced 667 million tonnes of unhusked rough rice. Major rice producers, such as China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Viet Nam, Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines produce 98.4% of Asian rice. The average annual yield across all of Asia was 4.65 tonnes per hectare in 2014, and the majority of rice farmers are small holders, with farms averaging 0.5 hectares. Rice cultivation is already practiced intensively in many Asian countries. With the Asian population projected to increase to 5.5 billion by 2050, a further intensification of rice cultivation will be necessary if food security is to be assured. This is a daunting task given the limited or declining land and water resources, the expected rising costs of labour, energy and other inputs, and the mounting environmental problems of intensive farming in a changing climate. However, improved rice cultivation practices have been developed and used in different Asian countries. Many of these practices can be shared to improve rice productivity. This publication is in response to a special request from IAEA technical cooperation counterparts in Asia who have been working together on projects to enhance rice production. It provides information on the best management practices and the role of isotopic techniques to quantify nitrogen use efficiency and better understand the pathways of greenhouse gas emissions. This publication presents improved rice varieties and sustainable cultivation practices from a wide range of Asian countries. These best practices will help farmers in countries with low rice yields to improve the productivity and profitability of their rice crops through the adoption of locally adapted, ‘best’ rice varieties, together with the best farm management practices. It will enable national R&D staff to select and test these varieties and practices on farmers’ fields to promote improved rice varieties and crop management practices. The IAEA officer responsible for this publication was M. Zaman of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture. EDITORIAL NOTE This publication has been prepared from the original material as submitted by the contributors and has not been edited by the editorial staff of the IAEA. The views expressed remain the responsibility of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the IAEA or its Member States. Neither the IAEA nor its Member States assume any responsibility for consequences which may arise from the use of this publication. This publication does not address questions of responsibility, legal or otherwise, for acts or omissions on the part of any person. The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. The mention of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered) does not imply any intention to infringe proprietary rights, nor should it be construed as an endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA. The IAEA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third party Internet web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. CONTENTS SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 5 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 6 1.1. BACKGROUND ....................................................................................... 8 1.2. TRANSITION OF RICE FARMING SYSTEMS IN ASIA: .................... 8 1.2.1. Pre-industrial traditional agriculture: ............................................. 9 1.2.2. Green Revolution Agriculture: ...................................................... 9 1.2.3. Post-Green Revolution Agriculture–Intensification of Ecological Concern: ....................................................................................... 10 1.3. SMALL HOLDERS VERSUS LARGE HOLDERS RICE PRODUCTION IN ASIA: POTENTIAL, POSSIBILITIES AND ISSUES .................................................................................................... 12 1.4. GROWING RESOURCE SCARCITY AND RESOURCE