Intermittent Irrigation in Rice Production as a Tool to Mitigate the Expected Water Scarcity

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different irrigation regimes on yield, yield attributes and water productivity. The adopted irrigation regimes were classified as follows: (oncontinuous flooding treatments (irrigation every 6 days with 7 cm depth (I1) and irrigation every 6 days with 5 cm depth (I2)) and intermittent irrigation treatments (irrigation every 6 days with 3 cm depth (I3), irrigation every 12 days with 7 cm depth (I4), irrigation every 12 days with 5 cm depth (I5) and irrigation every 12 days with 3 cm depth (I6)) on the yield and yield attributes of two rice cultivars (Giza178) and (Oraby2), in addition to its effect on water productivity.The results showed that there were significant differences between continuous flooding treatments and intermittent irrigation treatments on all the studied traits and there were no significant differences between the cultivars. Under I1, highest rice yield and water productivity for both cultivars were attained. Application of I2 or I3 caused 7 or 11% yield losses averaged over cultivars and seasons and saved 8 or 13% of the applied water.The highest water productivity (WP) was attained by Giza178 under I2 for both cultivars. The results also showed that application of I6 resulted in similar water productivity value as I1 for both cultivars and seasons.Thus, under expected water scarcity, Giza178 can be cultivated using I6 to attain the highest WP under intermittent irrigation treatments. Furthermore, legume crop need to cultivate it before rice to improve soil quality and increase yield.