The Sustainability of Rice Farming
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The Sustainability of Rice Farming The Sustainability of Rice Farming D. J. Greenland Visiting Professor Department of Soil Science University of Reading, UK Former Director of Scientific Services CAB INTERNATIONAL Former Deputy Director General (Research) International Rice Research Institute Philippines CAB INTERNATIONAL in association with the International Rice Research Institute CAB INTERNATIONAL CAB INTERNATIONAL Wallingford 198 Madison Avenue Oxon OX10 8DE New York, NY 10016-4341 UK USA Tel: +44 (0) 1491 832111 Tel: +1 212 726 6490 Fax: +44 (0) 1491 833508 Fax: +1 212 686 7993 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] © CAB INTERNATIONAL 1997. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners. Published in association with: International Rice Research Institute PO Box 933 1099 Manila The Philippines A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library, London, UK ISBN 0 85199 163 7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Greenland, D.J. The sustainability of rice farming/D.J. Greenland. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-85199-163-7 (alk. paper) 1. Rice. I. Title. SB191.RSG724 1997 338.1'73184—dc21 96-46785 CIP Typeset in Photina by AMA Graphics Ltd Printed and bound in the UK by Biddles Ltd, Guildford and King's Lynn Contents Preface ix 1 The Importance of the Sustainability of Rice Farming 1 1.1 The Historical Importance of Rice 1 1.2 The Dimensions of Sustainability 2 1.3 Rice and Population Momentum 4 1.4 Increasing Rice Production 11 1.5 Potential Productivity of Rice and the Yield Gaps 18 2 The Origins and History of Rice Farming 23 2.1 The Wild Species of Rice 23 2.2 The Domestication of Rice 24 2.3 From Domestication to Cultivation 25 2.3.1 China 25 2.3.2 Southeast Asia 26 2.3.3 India 28 2.3.4 Africa 29 2.4 The Development of Water Management 29 2.5 The Origins of Upland Rice 35 2.6 The Further Spread of Cultivated Rice 36 2.7 The History of Rice Yields – From a Green Evolution to a Green Revolution 38 3 Rice Farming Today 43 3.1 The Environments in which Rice is Grown 44 3.2 Rice Production Systems Defined 48 v vi Contents 3.2.1 The flood-prone rice environment 49 3.2.2 Rainfed lowland rice 52 3.2.3 Upland rice 52 3.2.4 Irrigated rice 54 3.3 The Present Distribution and Extent of Different Rice Production Systems 55 3.4 Rice Yields in Different Production Systems 58 3.4.1 The flood-prone system 59 3.4.2 Rainfed lowland rice 59 3.4.3 Upland rice 61 3.4.4 Irrigated rice 61 3.5 Rice Yields and Energy Inputs 62 4 The Biophysical Basis of the Sustainability of Rice Farming 65 4.1 The Biophysical Components of Sustainability 65 4.2 The Physics, Chemistry and Biology of Paddy Soils in Relation to Biophysical Sustainability 66 4.2.1 Physical processes in paddy soils important to sustainability 67 4.2.2 Chemical processes in paddy soils in relation to sustainability 73 4.2.3 Organic matter in paddy soils in relation to sustaina- bility 76 4.2.4 The biology of paddy soils in relation to sustainability 82 4.2.5 The importance of green manures and Azolla to the biophysical sustainability of rice farming 84 4.3 The Pests of Rice and their Relation to Sustainability 90 4.3.1 Weed control 92 4.3.2 Diseases 92 4.3.3 Insect pests 93 4.3.4 Mammalian and bird pests 96 4.4 Biodiversity and its Significance to the Biophysical Sustainability of Rice Farming 97 4.4.1 Biodiversity of rice and related species 97 4.4.2 Biodiversity of microorganisms and invertebrates in rice fields 100 5 Maintaining the Nutrient Requirements of Rice 103 5.1 Inputs of Nutrients to Rice Production Systems 104 5.1.1 Additions from rainfall, and flood and irrigation water 104 5.1.2 Additions from sediments 105 5.1.3 Additions from biological nitrogen fixation 109 5.1.4 Additions from manures and fertilizers 113 Contents vii 5.2 Losses of Nutrients from the Soil under Rice Cultivation 117 5.2.1 Nutrient removal in the rice crop 118 5.2.2 Seepage and percolation losses 119 5.2.3 Losses by volatilization 122 5.3 The Macronutrient Balance of the Soil under Rice Cultivation 123 5.3.1 Before 1960 12 3 5.3.2 Changes in the nutrient balance post-1960 129 5.4 Secondary and Micronutrient Balances 132 5.4.1 Calcium, magnesium and sulphur 132 5.4.2 Micronutrients 135 5.5 The Long-term Sustainability of Nutrient Supplies for Rice Production 137 6 Maintaining Water Supplies for Rice 141 6.1 The Water Requirement of Rice 141 6.2 Water Supplies for Rice in Rainfed Systems 145 6.3 The Development of Diversion Irrigation 147 6.4 Managing Floodwaters 149 6.5 The Development of Storage Irrigation 153 6.6 Other Water Supply Systems 155 6.7 Waterlogging and Salinity 158 6.8 Erosion and Sedimentation 162 6.9 The Long-term Sustainability of Water Supplies for Rice 164 7 Social and Economic Factors and the Sustainability of Rice Farming 169 7.1 Rice in Asian Cultural Systems 169 7.2 Rice in the Asian Economy 170 7.3 The Costs of Inputs 175 7.3.1 Labour 176 7.3.2 Land 179 7.3.3 Water 181 7.3.4 Seed 182 7.3.5 Manures and inorganic fertilizers 183 7.3.6 Machinery, pesticides etc. 184 7.3.7 Total costs 186 7.4 The Value of Outputs 186 7.4.1 The rice grain 186 7.4.2 Straw 187 7.4.3 Other crops grown in rice-based farming systems 188 7.4.4 Animals in rice-based farming systems 189 7.4.5 Rice–fish systems 190 7.4.6 Alternative employment opportunities 190 7.4.7 Total farm income 192 viii Contents 7.5 Policies and Profitability 194 8 Concerns about the Sustainability of Rice Farming 197 8.1 Concerns Arising from Current Production Trends 198 8.1.1 Yield trends 198 8.1.2 The land base 204 8.1.3 Cropping intensity 206 8.2 Concerns about Water for Rice Production 208 8.3 Soil Fertility 209 8.4 Concerns about Pests and their Control 211 8.5 Global Warming and Rising Sea Level 212 8.6 Environmental Contamination and Loss of Biodiversity 214 8.7 Social and Economic Concerns 217 9 Increasing and Sustaining Rice Production 219 9.1 Sources of Increased Sustainable Production 219 9.2 Increasing the Efficiency of the Rice Plant 219 9.3 Increasing the Efficiency of Water Use 221 9.4 Enhancing and Using Nutrient Supplies More Efficiently 223 9.5 Controlling Pests More Efficiently 225 9.6 Finding More Land for Rice Production 226 9.6.1 Africa 226 9.6.2 South America 227 9.6.3 Australia, USA and Europe 228 9.7 Sustainability and the Rice Trade – Avoiding Local, Regional and National Rice Shortages 228 9.8 Conclusions – The Future Sustainability of Rice Production 229 Appendix 1 232 References 235 Index 265 Preface Rice is the world’s most important crop. It has supported more people for more years than any other cereal. The great civilizations of Asia emerged in the broad river deltas of China. Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent because high yields of rice sufficient to support more than the food demands of those who produced it could be sustained. The importance of rice in Asia is such that it has become deeply entwined with the cultures of the region. The terraced systems by which water is channelled to the small fields in which rice is grown have characterized the Asian landscapes for many years. The reasons why rice has been able to support so many for so long are due to the physical environment in which rice is grown. The high rainfall of the monsoon lands, and the fact that nutrients and fertile sediments are carried with the floodwaters that seasonally flow into these areas, provided the essen- tial requirements of the crop from the time that it was first cultivated several thousand years ago until recently. But now the burgeoning population of Asia has outstripped the natural capacity of the rice areas to produce the flow of nutrients and water that are the essential requirements of the crop. Nutrients now have to be supplied using heavy dressings of inorganic fertilizers, and flood waters stored behind huge dams for later release to the rice fields. Rice varieties able to produce greater yields than any grown before have been bred. These changes have averted the famines which afflicted India, China and other densely populated parts of Asia in the past and which were predicted to do so on an even wider scale in the 20th century. While the earlier methods of rice production proved sustainable for millennia the sustainability of the new methods of production. giving much greater yields, has still to be established. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines has been at the forefront of the changes which have prevented famine. While IRRI ix I x Preface is most famous for having bred the high-yielding. semi-dwarf rice varieties which were the basis of the green revolution, the Institute has always worked to increase the knowledge base on which the sustainable production of any crop depends.