Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) in Broadcast rice (Oryza sativa L.) Management to Maintain Yield, Conserve Water, and Reduce Gas Emissions in Thailand

Abstract

In Thailand, rice production accounts for the largest proportion of irrigated crop production, especially in the dry season. Water shortage problems have recently become widespread in Thailand, with implications for irrigated rice cultivation. Compared with the continuous flooding (CF) technique, the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technique can reduce the amount of water typically needed in rice systems and can reduce methane emissions produced from paddy fields. In this study, AWD (10/-10, 10/-15, and 10/-20) and CF combined with the broadcasting technique were studied at seven rice research stations in the dry seasons of 2014 and 2015. The results showed that the AWD technique reduced grain yields compared with those of CF, but the milling quality was not significantly different among the treatments. In addition, the total CH 4 emissions from the AWD treatments were less than those from CF, but the percentage of CH 4 reduction in the AWD treatments was different among the seven stations. However, the total N 2 O emissions were not significantly different between the CF and AWD treatments. Thus, if water scarcity is happening and if it is necessary to grow rice in those cases, the AWD10/-10 technique is recommended in broadcast rice systems in Thailand.

Agricultural Methane Emissions in China: Inventories, Driving Forces and Mitigation Strategies

“…This is mainly concentrated in the main rice-producing areas of Hunan, Jiangxi, Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu. Water-saving irrigation techniques in rice fields − and organic fertilizer compost decomposition and return to the field, straw aerobic return to the field, and dry season return to the field should be promoted . Methods to reduce methane emissions from enteric fermentation are mainly applicable for western regions, such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Sichuan.…”

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) breeding for a combination of shallow and deep root traits derived from lowland × upland for alternate wetting and drying systems

“…The water levels were measured once per day between 0800 hours and 0900 hours using a watermark in a water tube. A 2.5 cm diameter calibrated analog flow meter was installed on the irrigation pump and was used to monitor the volume of irrigation applied to each plot (Malumpong et al, 2020). The water used in the AWD and flooded treatments was calculated as the sum of all irrigation applied plus the total rainfall from the day of transplanting until 14 d before harvest.…”

Interaction between water, crop residue and fertilization management on the source-differentiated nitrogen uptake by rice

“…In recent decades, the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technique, in which fields are drained and re-flooded one or more times during the growing season, has become one of the most widespread water-saving irrigation technologies in paddy field (Song et al 2020). AWD saves irrigation water by up to 38% (Shao et al 2015;Carrijo et al 2017;Song et al 2021) and contributes to the reduction of CH 4 emissions, lowering the global warming potential with respect to CF (Li et al 2018;Malumpong et al 2021), while maintaining or even improving yields (Lampayan et al 2015;Lahue et al 2016).…”