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Rice is the main food staple for more than half of the global population, and as the population grows, demand for rice is expected to grow as well.
Increasing global rice production is not easy.
The negative environmental impact, water scarcity, labor shortage and slowing yield increases in many parts of the world are challenges to global rice production, according to a researcher who spent two years as a visiting scholar at the University of Nebraska.
Producing more rice on existing cropland is the challenge, and doing so while minimizing the environmental impact. An analysis of the strategies for sustainable intensification for a larger global rice bowl is provided by a new research led by a professor of agronomy. The research was published in Nature Communications.
Grassini said that comparing rice crop systems around the world in terms of productivity and efficiency in the use of applied inputs can help identify opportunities for improvement.
The global assessment was led by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the International Rice Research Institute, the African Rice Center, and the Indonesian Center for Rice Research. The study looked at rice yields and efficiency in the use of water,fertilizer, pesticides and labor across 32 rice paddies that accounted for half of the global rice harvest area.
"This study is the most comprehensive global evaluation of production systems for a major staple crop that I am aware of, and it will set the standard for future global comparison of such systems," said Kenneth G.
There is still room to increase rice production and reduce the negative environmental impact, according to the study.
"About two-thirds of the rice area included in our study has yields that are below the yield that can be attained with good agronomic practices," he said. Reducing production risk and breeding programs that release rice cultivars with improved tolerance to evolving pests and diseases are some of the things that need to be done to close the existing yield gap.
The study found that food production and environmental goals don't conflict.
It is possible to achieve high yields with small environmental impact per unit of production. There is room for many rice systems to reduce the negative impact.
Producing more and less environmental footprint is a challenge.
Grassini said that improved agronomic practices and proper institutions can help make rice cultivation more eco-friendly. The study marks a first step in identifying systems with the largest opportunities for increasing crop yields and resource-use efficiency, providing a blueprints to orient agricultural research and development programs at national to global scales.
Nature Communications has more information on the sustainable intensification of a larger global rice bowl. There is a DOI titled: 10.1038/s41467-021-27424-z.
Nature Communications is a journal.
The recipe for a larger, greener global rice bowl was retrieved fromphys.org on December 9, 2021.
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