Prospects of aerobic rice (Oryza sativa L ) cultivation in irrigated(Oryza sativa L.) cultivation in irrigated 

areas of India

M.D.Reddy, K.M.Dakshina Murthy and V. RamuluWater Technology Centre ANGRAUWater Technology Centre, ANGRAU, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India

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Presented in "Prospects of aerobic rice cultivation in irrigated areas of India.  National seminar on sustainable rice production system under changed climate. Held at CRRI, Cuttack, Nov 27‐29, 2010

Grow rice like other cereal: no puddling, no standingGrow rice like other cereal: no puddling, no standing water, no soil saturation, dry land preparation

(Bouman et. al. 2007 )

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Rice Scenario in IndiaRice Scenario in India

• Rice area 45 million hectares 1. 46%irrigated, 2. 28 % rain fed lowland, 3. 14 %flood prone, and 4 12 % i f d l d4. 12 %rain fed upland.

• Four seasons occur in India: winter (December‐February), summer (March‐May), rainy eb ua y), su e ( a c ay), a ysouthwestern monsoon (June‐September), and post monsoon (October‐November).

• It is cultivated during Kharif (early) (Mar ‐May to Jun –Oct), Kharif (Jun – Oct to Nov‐Feb) and summer (Nov‐Feb to Mar‐summer (Nov‐Feb to Mar‐

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•Irrigated rice in India typically grown undersubmerged conditions by keeping 5‐10 cmdepth of water

•The availability of water to agriculture andincreasing costs of water threaten thetraditional way of irrigated rice production

•Need to develop an efficient water savingpractices like aerobic rice, SRI, alternatewetting and drying in rice production

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What is aerobic rice??

The aerobic rice is "improved upland rice" in terms of yieldpotential, and "improved lowland rice" in terms of droughttolerance

Aerobic rice is a new system of rice cultivation for waterAerobic rice is a new system of rice cultivation for watersaving in rice (Bouman et al. 2005, Yang et al. 2005), in thissystem fields remain unsaturated throughout the crop

th d t ill b li d t b i th il tgrowth and water will be applied to bring the soil watercontent to field capacity.

Rice could be grown aerobically under irrigated conditionjust like upland crops, such as wheat or maize (Bouman,2001)2001)

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Aerobic rice

• Aerobic rice is a new type of rice that is aerobic‐soil‐adapted and 

Aerobic rice

input‐responsive. • It grows well in non puddle and non saturated soils with water 

content of 70% to 100% of water‐holding capacity throughout a growing season. 

• Aerobic rice can be a replacement of lowland rice wherever available water is insufficient for lowland rice but sufficient for aerobic rice. 

• Aerobic rice is targeted to more favorable environments where land is flat or terraced, and soil can be frequently brought to near field capacity by rainfall or supplemental irrigation. 

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• Aerobic rice crop yield of 3‐6 t/ha can be obtained in different regionsobtained in different regions.

• The dry seeding technology (aerobic rice) combined with other crop managementcombined with other crop management techniques like supplementary irrigation and proper fertilization, it is now possible to grow local varieties using less water but obtaining higher yields.

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The driving factor for aerobic riceg

• Water resources for agriculture are shrinking• Water resources for agriculture are shrinking

– Traditional rice cultivation – flooded for 4 – 5 months

– In India >70% of all water used to irrigate riceIn India >70% of all water used to irrigate rice

– Rice requires more water for land preparation

– In low land rice water use is 1,000 – 2,000 mm

– About 4.5 million ha in North China , 2.1million ha in pakistan and 10.4 million ha in North India  and  Central India will face water scarcity by 2025 (TuongCentral India will face water scarcity by 2025 (Tuong & Bouman )

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Trade offs and challengesTrade offs and challenges

• Interactions among scales• Nutrients

‐ Phosphorus and Nitrogen are less available under   aerobic conditionsaerobic conditions ‐ Aerobic requires more N‐Micro nutrient deficiencies in Aerobic rice

• Weeds• Weeds‐ ‐ Higher weed infestation‐ ‐Weed species shift• Sustainability

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Aerobic rice cultivars at college farm, ANGRAU, Hyderabad, Kharif 2008.10

Niches of aerobic rice in India

1. Upland flat rice growing areas where annual rainfall ishigh and rainfall with or without supplementalirrigation is sufficient to bring the soil water contentirrigation is sufficient to bring the soil water contentclose to field capacity, and farmers can applyrecommended dose of fertilizers and adopt bestmanagement practices.

2. Rainfed lowland soils which are relatively coarse‐2. Rainfed lowland soils which are relatively coarsetextured , well‐drained, and ponding of water occurs forshort period in the season.

3. Irrigated lowland areas, where farmers do not havesufficient water to keep rice fields flooded for asubstantial period of time.

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Aerobic rice production Technologyp gy

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1. Varietal development

•In India, the research on aerobic rice is limited

•Lack of high yielding varieties which can providehi h i ld d bi di i i j b khigher yields under aerobic conditions is major setbackfor aerobic rice cultivation in India

•varieties recommended for low land transplantedconditions the medium and short duration varietiesunder 120 days maturity period are recommended foraerobic conditions

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•aerobic rice cultivars called Han Dao have been developed that yieldsup to 6‐7.5 t ha‐1 under flash irrigation in bunded fields.

•Low land varieties like MTU 7014, IR 64, IR 13525 recorded 4.88, 3.87and 3.86 t/ha yield respectively

•Hyderabad also proved that medium duration varieties likeErramallelu (4.07 t/ha), Naveen (4.57 t/ha) , MTU 1010 (4.23 t/ha)( ) ( ) ( )and Tell Hamsa (3.7 t/ha) given higher yields compared with othervarieties

•It was also observed that aerobic rice technology combined withother crop management techniques like supplementary irrigation and

f ili i i i ibl l l i i d dproper fertilization, it is possible to grow local varieties recommendedfor lowlands like Erra Mallelu, Jagtial sannalu and Polasa prabha usingless water with reasonably good yields in A.P

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Tab 1. Performance of Han Deo aerobic rice varieties as observed from 1997-99 in farmers fields

in ChinaVariety  Regions of adoption Growth 

duration (days)Yield (t/ha)

Irrigations water (mm)

Han Dao Huang Huai Hai 105 115 5 0 6 0 150 225Han Dao 277

Huang‐Huai‐Hairegion

105‐115 5.0‐6.0 150‐225

Han Dao 297

Northern China 130‐140 5.0‐6.5 225‐375297Han Dao 502

Along Huai River andin Chang Jiang river

115‐130 6.0‐7.0 225‐300

valley

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Tab 2. Water input and water productivity and grain yield of rice varieties at Rajendranagar, Hyderabad (kharif

2003) under aerobic rice

Varieties Grain yield t/ha Water input Water productivity 

)

kg/m3

Varaalu 3.87 709.8 221.5

E ll l 5 28 882 7 239 5Erramallelu 5.28 882.7 239.5

Jagtial sannalu 4.94 940.4 210.1

Polasa prabha 4 68 1001 6 187 6Polasa prabha 4.68 1001.6 187.6

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Tab 3.  Performance of promising rice cultures under p gaerobic rice cultivation

Cultivar Aerobic  Transplanted*

Erramallelu 4 07 4 60Erramallelu 4.07 4.60

WGL‐14 2.14 2.00

Jagtial sannalu 2.11 1.26

Tella hamsa 3.70 2.88

IR 64 4.02 2.23

N 4 57 3 92Naveen 4.57 3.92

MTU 1010 4.23 2.42

ARB 17(1) X 06 4.48 3.68

Rajendra 3.59 2.57

Varalu 3.15 2.07

( )LSD (p=0.05) 1.20 1.37

* Transplanted with over aged seedlings (50 dys) 17

II. Cultural managementII. Cultural management

a. Time of sowing 

dry seeding in rainfed upland is recommended after receipt of 60‐75 mm rainfall . Experimental results indicated that the crop sown on  early (6th June ) received greater effective rainfall and also irrigationearly (6th June ) received greater effective rainfall and also irrigation water with higher yield 

b Method of sowingb. Method of sowing

Line sowing at 20 cm apart recorded higher grain yield over     broadcast seeding sowing in lines at 30 c m apart and transplantedbroadcast seeding, sowing in lines at 30 c m apart and transplantedrice(Anon. 2003)

close spacing at 15 cm apart produced more panicles/m2, but fewerp g p p p / ,grains per panicle. Similarly, a seed rate of 150‐kg/ha produced more panicles per square meter but fewer grains per panicle

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Tab 4. Grain yield of aerobic , wet seeded and transplanted 

Method of establishment Grain yield

rice as influenced by method of sowing

Method of establishment Grain yield (t/ha)

Broad cast sown‐ Dry 2 88Broad cast sown Dry seeding

2.88

Line sown‐ dry seeding 3.59Line sown dry seeding 3.59

Braodcast sprouted‐wet seeding

3.29g

Transplanting 3.40

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C. Irrigation and Water requirement

In majority of experiments, it was observed that compared to lowland ricecultivation, the water used by aerobic rice was lower by more than 30‐50%

At Rajendranagar, studies on water requirement of rice revealed that floodedlowland rice required about 1168 mm of water, whereas aerobic rice used only726 mm

In Andhra Pradesh studies on performance of aerobic rice under drip andsprinkler irrigation indicated that drip method of irrigation with 714 mm waterrecorded significantly higher grain yields (5208 kg/ha) compared to sprinklermethod of irrigation with 920 mm of water (4092 kg/ha).

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Tab 5. Yield of aerobic rice (Jagtial sannalu) under drip and sprinkler method of irrigation

Irrigation system

No of tillers m‐2

No of panicles m‐2

Yield (kg/ha)

Waterapplied

Drip 507 460 5208 714

Sprinkler 447 414 4092 920Sprinkler 447 414 4092 920

Tab 6. Water input , water productivity and grain yield of aerobic rice at Hyderabad

Varieties Grain yield (t/ha)

EffectiveRF

Irrigation Total Water productivity (kg/m3)

Varalu 3.87 264 445 709 221.5

Erramallelu 5.28 317 565 882 239.5

JGL 1798 4.94 322 617 939 210.1JGL 1798 4.94 322 617 939 210.1

JGL 384 4.68 324 677 1001 187.6

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d Fertilizersd. Fertilizers

The application of 80 or 100 kg N along with 50 kg each of d h f d i hi h i ldP2O5 and K2O per ha found to give higher yields.

Grain yield and all major yield components progressively y j y p p g yincreased with increased nitrogen application from 60 to 120 kg ha

Significant increase in grain yield with increase in N level from 60 to 90 and 90 to 150 kg N/ha

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e. Iron deficiency

Iron deficiency is one of the seriousnutritional disorders that encounteredin aerobically grown rice on uplandin aerobically grown rice on uplandalkaline and calcareous soils whichwere never before under ricecultivation results in decline incultivation results in decline inproductivity

Spraying of Fe SO4 @ 1% and in severep y gdeficiency even 1.5 to 2.0% along with0.1% citric acid at weekly intervals 2‐3times will correct the deficiency andincreases yields

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f. Weed managementf. Weed management

The major constraint in getting higher yields in aerobic rice is weed infestation which cause reduction in grain yieldg y

Experiments conducted at many places over India reveled that pre‐emergence application of  pendimethalin @ 1 kg a.i. ha‐1 followed by HW at 25‐30  DAS could able to reduce weed intensity considerably

In line sown crop the bullock drawn implements can effectively utilized for d t lweed control

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III. BMP for aerobic rice

1. The field should be prepared during summer with help of premonsoon showers by plowing and harrowing. Further ploughings areto be taken after recipet of monsoon so as to kill the weeds whichgerminated earlier (Stale seed bed) to obtain a smooth seed bed.

2. The dry seed has to be sown manually or mechanically at 2‐3 cmd i d t 20 25 t b d ti d t f 80deep in rows spaced at 20‐ 25 cm apart by adopting a seed rate of 80kg/ha.

3 Pre emergence application of pendimethalin @ 1 0 kg a i/ha followed3. Pre emergence application of pendimethalin @ 1.0 kg a.i/ha followedby one hand weeding at 25 DAS checks most of the weeds

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4. The total amount of nitrogen (120 kg N/ha) has to be divided intothree splits and applied one at sowing/at 2 weeks after emergencethree splits and applied one at sowing/at 2 weeks after emergenceand remaining two splits at active/maximum tillering and at panicleinitiation stage. The entire P2O5 and K2O @ 40‐60 kg/ha each andzinc at 20 kg ha‐1 are to be applied as basal.zinc at 20 kg ha are to be applied as basal.

5. Irrigation after sowing is needed if there is no sufficient rain topromote uniform emergence. Subsequent irrigation applicationsneeded when soil moisture tension at top 15‐20 cm reaches ‐20 kPaduring vegetative stage and ‐10 kPa during flowering stage. Theamount of irrigation water should be sufficient to bring the top 20cm soil to field capacity. Irrigation can be applied by either flashflood, furrow or sprinkler method.

6 FeSO spraying @ 1 0 1 5% may be advocated whenever iron6. FeSO4 spraying @ 1.0 – 1.5% may be advocated whenever irondeficiency is noticed in the field. Spraying has to be repeated 3 timesat weekly intervals depending on the crop recovery.

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IV. Conclusions

The shortage in water has forced to give emphasis ondevelopment of dry seeded rice production technology

With aerobic rice technology , apart from saving water andraising / sustaining grain yields, any system of non flooded riceg g g y y ycultivation may bring other advantages such as maintenanceof soil structure beneficial to non rice crops in the rotation,timely sowing of succeeding crop after rice extended areatimely sowing of succeeding crop after rice, extended areaunder cultivation in the command of a project

Fi ll h i d d h i f bi h dFinally there in a need to study the impact of aerobic methodof cultivation on soil fertility, pest and disease buildup andsustainability in the long term.

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Thank youThank you

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