Short communicationModifying rice crop management to ease water constraints with increased productivity, environmental benefits, and climate-resilience

- New rice crop management methods enhance grain yield with less water requirement.
- System of rice intensification (SRI) offers resistance to climate-change stresses.
- SRI management reduces GHG emissions and global warming potential of rice farming.
- Profitability of SRI management is further increased by lower production costs.

Water scarcity increasingly constrains agricultural production, particularly for rice, one of our most important food crops. Conventional paddy production is the world's largest single consumer of water. Making certain changes in current cultivation practices, as discussed here, can raise rice crop yields while reducing water and other inputs. Diminished greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, less runoff water pollution, and more climate-resilience are additional benefits. Spreading such changes in crop and water management within the rice sector can be a cost-effective response to agricultural water shortages, offering improvement in food security, adaptability to climate change, and environmental sustainability.