More Rice with Less Emissions and Lower Water Consumption

According to Gonzalez et al (2010), water use in Colombia is estimated at 16,000 m3/hectare per crop are used for the maintenance of rice cultivation in its different stages. In Chile and Peru there is no precise estimate of water use, but it is indicated that the crop uses a range of 14,000 to 18,000 and 12,000 to 17,500 m3, respectively. Furthermore, the conventional practice of continuous flooding during cultivation results in rice systems that have significant negative environmental consequences, related to increased methane emissions. Consequently, the global warming potential (GWP) associated with flooded rice production systems is greater than other cereal crops. Specifically, rice cultivation is responsible for 2,027, 18,880 and 104 Gg CO2eq in Colombia, Peru and Chile, respectively (FAOSTAT, 2016).

Irrigation management practices that include alternate periods of flooding and dry land during the non-critical growth stages of rice, known as Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), can increase water use efficiency while reducing methane emissions without affecting performance. This practice of intelligent irrigation allows greater resilience of producers to climatic variations. This project proposed a study in three different locations, Saldaña in Colombia, Ferreñafe in Peru and Parral in Chile, applying AWD technology on selected farms characterized by family farming of irrigated rice communities. Experimental plots were established during the first two years of this project, contrasting the management of conventional irrigation with two AWD alternatives at each study site. It was possible to generate in two cycles indicators of production (yield), environmental impacts (greenhouse gas emissions) and efficiency in the use of resources on the farm (comparison of water and nutrient use).

In 2021, validation areas were established on a commercial scale in fields of innovative producers with the technological advances found during the first phase of the study. During the field-scale evaluations (validation stage), the objective was to demonstrate that AWD management techniques allow a significant reduction in water consumption and possibly costs without affecting crop yield.

In addition, a socio-economic study is being carried out that aims to estimate production costs and the economic implications of water use, in order to identify the possibilities of applying the technology in the areas.