Water Saving Rice Production Using Alternate Wetting and Drying Technique in Rice Based Cropping System in Sindh, Pakistan

Water plays a vital role in the successful rice production throughout the world. In order to counter the threat of water scarcity, water saving intervention, like alternate wetting and drying (AWD), was applied for evaluation of paddy yield production. Thus, this technique was evaluated at 9 and 13 different locations during rice growing seasons of 2013 and 2014, respectively, in Sindh, Pakistan. The check plot contained the traditional (flooded) rice cultivation technique for the comparison. The yield and yield related components showed significant results over the check plot. The highest average paddy yield recorded 6.04 tonnes per hectare reported during 2013 and 6.61 tonnes per hectare during 2014 in alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technique while the lowest average paddy yield 5.34 tonnes per hectare reported during 2013 and 5.64 tonnes per hectare during 2014 in flooded rice technique. The paddy yield results demonstrated that by utilizing AWD technique, the rice production enhanced 13.20% and 17.06% during 2013 and 2014, respectively, as compared with conventional flooded rice technique. Similar results have also been observed in traits in AWD. This technique saved 39% and 44% irrigation water during 2013 and 2014, respectively, as compared to traditional/conventional rice growing technique, therefore, based on these results, it is concluded that AWD intervention can enhance rice yield production in addition to the saving of irrigation water.