Bhagirath S.

Chauhan
Khawar Jabran
Gulshan Mahajan Editors

Rice Production
Worldwide
Rice Production Worldwide
Bhagirath S. Chauhan  •  Khawar Jabran
Gulshan Mahajan
Editors

Rice Production Worldwide

Editors
Bhagirath S. Chauhan Gulshan Mahajan
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Punjab Agricultural University
Food Innovation Ludhiana, Punjab, India
The University of Queensland
Gatton, Queensland, Australia

Khawar Jabran
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of
Agriculture and Natural Sciences,
Duzce University, Duzce, Turkey

ISBN 978-3-319-47514-1    ISBN 978-3-319-47516-5 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017931064

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors
or omissions that may have been made.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface

Rice is among the three most important grain crops in the world, and it has a major
contribution to fulfill the food needs across the globe. The role of rice crop is inevi-
table in the current and future global food security. Rice is grown in Asia, Americas,
Australia, Europe, and Africa following diverse production practices. Pests and
other problems, genotypes, and management practices in rice vary greatly in differ-
ent parts of the world. Such difference are needed to be highlighted in order to
understand and improve the global rice production. Our book ‘Rice Production
Worldwide’ will help the readers to understand the past trends in global rice produc-
tion, the current cultures of rice production in a global perspective, and the changes
that are required to improve and sustain the rice productivity in different regions. In
this book, we have addressed the rice origin, history, role in global food security,
rice physiology, major rice producing areas of world (their importance, characteris-
tics of rice cropping systems, management practices; salient technologies involved,
merits and demerits of the particular systems), major rice production systems (con-
ventional flooded system, aerobic rice system. etc.), rice cultivars, fertilizer man-
agement, and pest management in rice. Further, we have highlighted the harvesting,
threshing, and processing of rice as well as the role of biotechnology in improving
the rice production, quality, and nutrition. The book is equally advantageous for
academicians, researchers, students, and farming community.

Gatton, Queensland, Australia  Bhagirath S. Chauhan

Düzce, Turkey Khawar Jabran
Ludhiana, Punjab, India Gulshan Mahajan

v
Contents

1 C
 urrent Status, Challenges, and Opportunities
in Rice Production����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  1
Rajendra Prasad, Yashbir Singh Shivay, and Dinesh Kumar
2 R
 ice Production in China��������������������������������������������������������������������������  33
Lixiao Nie and Shaobing Peng
3 R
 ice Production in India ��������������������������������������������������������������������������  53
Gulshan Mahajan, Vivek Kumar, and Bhagirath S. Chauhan
4 R
 ice Production in Europe������������������������������������������������������������������������  93
Hansjoerg Kraehmer, Cyrille Thomas, and Francesco Vidotto
5 R
 ice Production in Africa������������������������������������������������������������������������  117
Negussie Zenna, Kalimuthu Senthilkumar, and Moussa Sie
6 R
 ice Production in the Americas������������������������������������������������������������  137
Vijay Singh, Shane Zhou, Zahoor Ganie, Bernal Valverde,
Luis Avila, Enio Marchesan, Aldo Merotto, Gonzalo Zorrilla,
Nilda Burgos, Jason Norsworthy, and Muthu Bagavathiannan
7 R
 ice Production in Australia ������������������������������������������������������������������  169
Ali Ahsan Bajwa and Bhagirath Singh Chauhan
8 R
 ice Production Systems ������������������������������������������������������������������������  185
A.N. Rao, S.P. Wani, M.S. Ramesha, and J.K. Ladha
9 D
 omestication and Development of Rice Cultivars������������������������������  207
Tahir Hussain Awan, Mostafa Ahmadizadeh, Khawar Jabran,
Saima Hashim, and Bhagirath Singh Chauhan
10 F
 ertilizer Management in Rice ��������������������������������������������������������������  217
Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh
11 W
 ater Management in Rice��������������������������������������������������������������������  255
Avishek Datta, Hayat Ullah, and Zannatul Ferdous

vii
viii Contents

12 I nsect Herbivores of Rice: Their Natural Regulation

and Ecologically Based Management����������������������������������������������������  279
Finbarr G. Horgan
13 I mportance and Management of Rice Diseases:
A Global Perspective��������������������������������������������������������������������������������  303
G.S. Laha, Ram Singh, D. Ladhalakshmi, S. Sunder,
M. Srinivas Prasad, C.S. Dagar, and V. Ravindra Babu
14 R
 ice Weeds and Their Management������������������������������������������������������  361
Vivek Kumar, Gulshan Mahajan, and Bhagirath S. Chauhan
15 E
 cology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice��������������������������������  393
Finbarr G. Horgan
16 H
 arvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice��������������������  419
Muhammad Riaz, Tariq Ismail, and Saeed Akhtar
17 R
 ice Physiology����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  455
Ahmad Nawaz and Muhammad Farooq
18 R
 ole of Biotechnology in Rice Production ��������������������������������������������  487
Akshaya K. Biswal, Md. Shamim, Kevin Cruzado,
Gericho Soriano, Abhijit Ghatak, MitchellRey Toleco,
and Prashant Vikram
Index������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  549
Chapter 1
Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities
in Rice Production

Rajendra Prasad, Yashbir Singh Shivay, and Dinesh Kumar

1.1  Introduction

Rice is grown in all the six continents of the world (Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe,
North America, South America) where field crop production is practiced leaving
only the icy continent of Antarctica, where no crops are grown. Rice is the staple
food for nearly half of the world’s population. Rice has been a part of the cultural
identities of several countries, and a number of festivals are related to the rich har-
vest of rice, e.g., Pongal, Onam, and Bihu in India, Rub Kwan Khao in central
Thailand (www.ricewisom.com), Harvest Moon in China and Chu Suk in Korea
(everything ESL.net), Dewi Sri in Indonesia, Santabary festival in Madagascar, and
Amu festival in Ghana. In these festivals, the first grains of rice are offered to ven-
eration God. Rice harvest festivals are also organized in southern states of the USA,
namely, Arkansas and Louisiana, as a fair with lots of fun, food, and merrymaking.
Rice is mentioned in Rig Veda and Mahabharata (Nene 2012; Prasad et al. 2016)
and in the Bible (Rubin 2004).
Rice has now become a foreign exchange earner for several countries and is
playing a role in their economies. Top ten rice exporting countries in 2014 were
India, Thailand, Pakistan, the USA, SR Vietnam, Italy, Uruguay, Brazil, China,
and Australia, respectively (Table 1.1) (Workman 2015). The largest rice import-
ing regions are Middle East and sub-Saharan and Western Africa (Adjao and
Staatz 2015).
In recent years, there have been three major studies on probable trends in the rice
markets over the coming decades, namely, USDA (2013) for the period 2011–2022,
University of Arkansas, USA (Wailes and Chavez 2012), and OECD/FAO (2013).

R. Prasad • Y.S. Shivay • D. Kumar (*)

Division of Agronomy, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 1

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_1
2 R. Prasad et al.

Table 1.1  Global rice export during 2014

D value Share
Country (million US$) (% of the world)
India 7906 32.1
Thailand 5439 22.1
Pakistan 2200 8.9
USA 2047 8.3
SR Vietnam 1713 6.9
Italy 699 2.8
Uruguay 524 2.1
Brazil 397 1.6
China 378 1.5
Australia 353 1.4
(Workman 2015)

The general conclusions are as follows: (1) Asia will continue to dominate the world
rice economy, and (2) likely increase in world rice consumption is expected at 1 %
per annum (pa); the rates may be higher in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.
According to OECD/FAO projections, rice–coarse grain price ratio may fall from
2.5 in recent years to 1.9 by 2022, and the rice–wheat price ratio may fall marginally
from 1.8 to 1.7. This indicates some disadvantage to rice over coarse grains.
Success of the Green Revolution in the late 1960s witnessed a steady rise in
Asia’s per capita rice consumption, where it increased from 85 kg per year in the
early 1960s to nearly 103 kg in the early 1990s. During the same period, global per
capita rice consumption increased from 50 to 65 kg per annum. During this period
(1960s–1990s), the global rice consumption increased from 150 to 350 million met-
ric tons (MMT) due to two factors: (1) increased per capita rice consumption and (2)
more than twofold increase in Asia’s population. However, since the early 1990s,
strong economic growth in many Asian countries, particularly in China and India,
halted the upward trend in global per capita rice consumption as consumers diversi-
fied their diet from rice to high-value products such as meat, dairy products, fruits,
and vegetables. A recent analysis has shown a declining trend in the contribution of
rice toward total calorie intake by humans in Asian countries; the contribution of
rice toward total calorie intake by humans changed from 30.2 % in 1961 to 26.8 %
in 2007  in China, while it changed from 79.1  % in 1961 to 69.8  % in 2007  in
Bangladesh (Timmer 2010). In 1961, the contribution of rice toward total calorie
intake was 30.2 % in China and 79.1 % in Bangladesh, and in 2007 it was declined
to 26.8 % in China and 69.8 % in Bangladesh. It is predicted that this trend will
provide a check and limit the demand for rice to 501 MMT as against a production
of 502.7 MMT in 2021–22 (Wailes and Chavez 2012).

1.2  Origin of Rice and Taxonomy

The cultivated rice belongs to the family Poaceae (Gramineae), subfamily

Bambusoideae, tribe Oryzeae, and genus Oryza. The genus Oryza has been divided
into four species complexes: (1) sativa complex, (2) officinalis complex, (3)
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 3

meyeriana complex, and (4) ridley complex (Khush 2005). Only Oryza sativa com-
plex has two cultivated species, namely, O. sativa and O. glaberrima Steud. Oryza
sativa, the Asian rice, is grown worldwide, while O. glaberrima is grown on a lim-
ited acreage in a few African countries. The species in other Oryza complexes are
wild types. The major problem with the wild types was lodging and shattering of
grain and domestication selection focused on plants that had less lodging and shat-
tering (Callaway 2014).
The two major subspecies of O. sativa, namely, japonica and indica, are
more closely related to distinct wild varieties than they are to each other, point-
ing to two separate regions of domestication: japonica in China and indica in
India (Gross and Zhao 2014). Japonica and indica share identical non-shatter
mutations in gene sh4. However, it is suggested (Sang and Ge 2013) that the
mutation arose in an ancestor of japonica rice first and then found its way to
indica. In China, the domestication may have taken place in the lower end of
Yangtze River Valley (Vughan et  al. 2008; Fuller et  al. 2009) or in the Pearl
River Valley (Huang et al. 2012). It is certain that the origin of rice lies in the
region of Asia covering Assam-Meghalaya area of India and river valley regions
of southeast China (Swaminathan 1984; Fuller 2011). Indicas are grown
throughout the tropics and subtropics. Traditional indicas are characterized by
tall stature, weak stem, droopy leaves, high tillering capacity, long grains, and
poor response to high nutrient input conditions. Japonicas have stiff, short
stalk, and erect type with round grains and are highly responsive to nutrient
inputs. These are limited to the temperate zones. A third subspecies, which is
broad grained and thrives under tropical conditions, was identified based on
morphology and initially called javanica, but is now known as tropical japon-
ica. Examples of this subspecies include the medium grain “Tinawon” and
“Unoy” cultivars, which are grown in the high-elevation rice terraces of the
Cordillera Mountains of northern Luzon, Philippines. Because of high yields
and economic returns, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines,
developed two cultivars of japonica suitable for tropics, which are NSIC Rc170
or IRRI 142 (now called MS11) and NSCIC Rc220 or IRRI 152 for large-scale
cultivation in the Philippines (Kang 2010).

1.3  Area, Production, and Consumption

Although rice yields are still growing, the rate of growth has been declining; com-
pound growth rate was 2.5 % per annum (pa) during 1962–1979 and declined to
1.4 % pa during 1980–2011 (Adjao and Staatz 2015). The cereal production fore-
cast by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in April–June 2015 indicated that
out of the total cereal production of 2524.3 MMT, the contribution of rice (milled),
wheat, and coarse grains is likely to be 500.5 MMT, 723.4 MMT, and 1300.3 MMT,
respectively. At the global level, the share of rice in total cereal production did not
change significantly between 1961 and 2007, starting from 24.6 % and gradually
reaching to 28.1 % (Timmer 2010); thus, about 20 % of cereal production in the
world is going to be rice.
4 R. Prasad et al.

Table 1.2  Predictions of area, production, consumption, and yield of rice

Item 2010/11 2015/16 2021/22
Area (M ha) 157.3 160.2 160.5
Production (MMT) 451.4 481.5 502.7
Consumption (MMT) 446.2 478.5 501.0
Average yield (MT ha−1) 2.87 3.01 3.13
Source: Wailes and Chavez (2012)
Mha million hectares, MMT million metric tons of milled rice, MT ha−1 metric tons of milled rice
per hectare

According to world rice outlook, rice-harvested area in the year 2015–2016 is

likely to be 160 million hectares (M ha), and it is not going to change much by the
year 2021–2022 (Table 1.2). About 80 % of the total global area under rice is in
eight Asian countries, namely, China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines,
Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar, which are not just any eight countries of over 200
countries of the United Nations; they hold 46.6 % of the world’s population. Asia as
a whole has 90 % of the world’s rice area. Comparatively, Africa has only 8 M ha
(5 %) (IRRI 2006), Latin America and the Caribbean have about 5.5 M ha (Pulver
et al. 2010), and Brazil has about 2.8 M ha (Lafranco 2010). However, the growth
rate in rice area during 1980–2011 has been 3.1 % pa in Africa as compared to only
0.4 % pa in Asia (Adjao and Staatz 2015). Considering the total rice production,
China had the largest share of 30.1 % in 2010, which is likely to decrease to 27.3 %
by 2021–2022, while India’s share may slightly increase from 21.5 % in 2010 to
22.4 % in 2021–2022 (Wailes and Chavez 2012). Asia’s share of world’s rice pro-
duction may slightly decline from 89.9 to 89.3 % over 2010–2021, while Africa’s
share may increase from 3.4 to 4.2 % (Wailes and Chavez 2012).

1.4  Milestones in the Development of Modern Rice Varieties

1.4.1  Indica–Japonica Crosses

As a sequel to the recommendations of the International Rice Commission (IRC)

Working Group, an indica × japonica hybridization program was initiated in 1951
under the auspices of FAO, United Nations. All the countries of tropical Asia par-
ticipated in the project by sending the seeds of their best indica varieties for crossing
with japonicas at the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), Cuttack, India. India
and Malaysia distributed early-maturing, nonseasonal commercial varieties derived
from this project. In India, ADT 27, which was suitable for the early monsoonal
season, replaced the earlier varieties ADT 3 and ADT 4 in the Thanjavur delta. In
Malaysia, Malinja and Mahsuri had the preferred grain quality and were recom-
mended for the irrigated areas in Wellesley province (Parthasarathy 1972). Even
today, Mahsuri is widely grown in many parts of tropical Asia, where there is poor
soil and poor water control in the monsoonal season (DeDatta 1981).
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 5

1.4.2  High-Yielding Fertilizer Responsive Varieties

In 1949, Dee-geo-woo-gen, a semidwarf rice variety, was crossed with Tsai-yuan-­

chung, a tall disease-resistant variety, and Taichung Native 1 was selected from this
cross and released for cultivation in 1956. This was the first semidwarf, non-­lodging,
high-yielding variety which had a yield potential of 6 t ha−1. Later IRRI released
IR-8 (Dee-geo-woo-gen × Peta, an Indonesian variety) in 1966, which also yielded
6 t ha−1 or more. These high-yielding indica varieties spread in Southeast Asia and
brought the Rice Revolution. Since then, IRRI has released a number of high-­
yielding varieties.

1.4.2.1  Hybrid Rice

Chinese rice breeder Yuan Longping, who is known as the father of hybrid rice, suc-
cessfully transferred the male sterility gene from wild rice to create the cytoplasmic
genetic male sterile (CMS) line and developed hybrid rice (Virmani et al. 1997).
Hybrid rice yield is reported to be as high as 13.9 t ha−1 (Anonymous 2011). Hybrid
rice is now grown in many South Asian countries, and in China it covers more than
50 % area under rice (FAO 2004).

1.4.2.2  Basmati Rice

Basmati is an aromatic rice variety. The earliest mention of basmati rice was done
by a poet Waris Shah in his authored poetic love story Heer Ranjha in 1766 (Singh
2000; Robinson 2010). Basmati rice is famous for making pulao, a delicacy in India,
Pakistan, and the Middle East and even in parts of the UK, the USA, and Canada,
where large Indian and Pakistani communities reside. The aroma in basmati rice is
due to a compound named 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (Wongpornchai et  al. 2003). The
region for origin of basmati rice is Punjab (both in India and Pakistan), and the earli-
est basmati rice variety Basmati 370 was released for commercial cultivation from
Rice Research Station, Kala Shah Kaku (now in Pakistan), in 1933 (Singh 2000).
Since yields of traditional basmati varieties were low (1 to 2.5 t ha−1) and the crop
used to get lodged on heavy fertilization, plant breeders at the Indian Agricultural
Research Institute, New Delhi, India, crossed traditional basmati varieties with
semidwarf high-yielding varieties and developed high-yielding (4–6 t ha−1) basmati
varieties. The first such variety was Pusa Basmati 1. One of the most popular bas-
mati varieties is Pusa Basmati 1121, which has a kernel length of 8.2 mm and an
elongation ratio of 2.0 to 2.5 on cooking (Anonymous 2007). It was released for
commercial cultivation in 2003, and by 2013 it covered 84 % of the total basmati
area in Punjab, 78 % in Uttar Pradesh, 68 % in Haryana, and 38 % in Uttarakhand
states. One of the latest additions is Pusa Basmati 1509. Work on the development
of high-yielding varieties of basmati rice has also been conducted in Pakistan. The
basmati rice varieties released in Pakistan include C-622, Basmati Pak (or Kernal
6 R. Prasad et al.

Basmati), Basmati 198, Basmati 370, Pak 177, Basmati 385, Shaheen Basmati,
Basmati 2000, Super Basmati and Basmati 515, and PK-386 (Zafar 2015). Shaheen
Basmati is more tolerant to salt-affected soils than other varieties, Basmati 2000 has
better threshing characteristics, and Basmati 515 has a higher-yield potential than
other varieties. Despite being released in 1996, Super Basmati is still widely grown
in Pakistan (nearly 80–90 % of area under rice). In the USA, aromatic rice variety
Texmati was developed by Rice Tec Inc., Alvin, Texas.

1.4.2.3  Genetically Modified Rice

One of the genetically modified (GM) rice is “golden rice.” Golden rice has been
engineered to express beta-carotene by introducing a combination of genes that
code for biosynthesis pathway for the production of provitamin A in the endosperm
(Ye et  al. 2000). Enhancement of Fe content in rice has also been achieved by
improving the uptake from soil and by increasing the absorption and storage of Fe
(Murray-Kolb et al. 2002; Takahashi et al. 2001). Further, GM rice has been devel-
oped that produces both beta-carotene and ferritin (Potrykus et al. 1996). However,
golden rice has been a point of controversy. There are problems in the acceptance of
GM crops in several countries (Jaffe 2005).
Herbicide-resistant (HR) rice is another group among GM rice. So far three types
of HR rice have been developed. Glyphosate- and glufosinate-resistant ones are GM
rice, whereas imidazolinone-resistant rice was developed through chemically
induced seed mutagenesis and conventional breeding (Gealy et al. 2003). HR rice
are widely grown in the USA. However, there is a potential risk of transfer of the
genes conferring HR traits to wild and weedy species (Kumar et al. 2008). Recently,
Burgos et al. (2014) from the USA have reported that continuous growing of HR
Clearfield (nontransgenic HR) rice has led to the evolution of HR weeds, which tend
to possess crop halophytes in the portion of chromosome 2 containing the acetolac-
tate synthase gene which confers herbicide resistance to Clearfield rice.

1.4.2.4  NERICA Rice

Oryza glaberrima was domesticated in Africa about 3500 years ago. It was prone to
lodging and its panicles had shattering problem. To overcome these problems, O.
sativa was introduced in Africa some 450 years ago. Oryza sativa gave higher yields
and has spread steadily in Africa. However, some O. glaberrima varieties, such as
CG 14, are more weed competitive and resistant to iron toxicity, drought, nema-
todes, waterlogging, and major African rice diseases and pests. They also adapt
better to acid soils and to soils low in phosphorus (P). Efforts are therefore under-
way to develop crosses between O. glaberrima and O. sativa since the 1990s. These
new rice types are known as NERICA (New Rice for Africa). The best NERICA
varieties combine the stress tolerance of O. glaberrima and high-yield potential of
O. sativa (Mohapatra, 2010).
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 7

1.4.2.5  Aerobic Rice

Aerobic rice varieties (ARVs) were developed to permit growing of rice as an

upland crop, such as wheat (Prasad 2011). In China, the breeding program for aero-
bic rice was initiated in the 1980s at the China Agricultural University (CAU), the
China Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), the Liaoning Province Academy
of Agricultural Sciences (LPAAS), and the Dandong Academy of Agricultural
Sciences (DAAS). This led to the development of Han Dao (HD)297, HD277, and
HD502. In addition, LPAA released Han 58 and DAAS released Danjing 5. These
new varieties have more drought tolerance, reduced plant height, higher lodging
resistance, erect upper leaves, and increased resistance to blast, higher grain yield,
and better grain quality. The HD277 and H58 are currently the most extensively
grown ARVs in China (Huaqi et al. 2002).
In Brazil, the National Research Center for Rice and Beans has developed many
ARVs. Maravilha and Primavera were the first upland rice varieties, released in
1996, that combined the grain quality and desirable aerobic rice characteristics
(Pinheiro 1999). Recently released ARVs are Talento and Soberana (Pinheiro et al.
2006) and AN Cambara (Santana 2010).
IRRI initiated its own program for developing ARVs with a focus on tropical
and subtropical regions and developed IR55423-01 (named Apo) and UPLRI-5
from the Philippines, B6144-MR-6-0-0 from Indonesia, and CT6510-24-1-2
from Columbia. Yields obtained with ARVs vary from 4.5 to 6.5 tha−1, which is
about the double or triple of that obtained with traditional upland varieties and
20–30 % less than that obtained with lowland varieties grown under flooded con-
ditions (Farooq et  al. 2009). Aerobic rice helps in doubling the water use effi-
ciency, and there is 50 % water saving relative to the conventional lowland rice
(Zhao et al. 2010).

1.5  Rice Ecosystems

Rice is grown under a wide variety of environments. The IRRI (IRRI 1993) has
categorized rice field ecosystems (RFES) into four types: upland, irrigated, rainfed
lowland, and flood-prone rice ecosystems (Fig. 1.1). The upland RFES varies from
low-lying valleys to undulating and steep sloping land with high runoff and lateral
water movement and covers less than 13 % of the world’s rice land. In the irrigated
RFES, the rice fields have assured water supply for one or more crops a year.
Irrigated lands cover about half of the world’s rice lands and produce about 75 % of
the world’s rice. The rainfed lowland RFES has both flooding and drought prob-
lems. About one quarter of the world’s rice fields are rainfed lowlands. The remain-
ing rice fields are classified as flood-prone RFES and cover about 8 % of the world
rice area. This RFES is subjected to uncontrolled flooding. The land may remain
submerged for as long as 5 months at a time with water depth from 0.5 to 4.0 m or
more, and in some areas there could be even intermittent flooding with brackish
8 R. Prasad et al.

Upland
Shifting Permanent
cultivation agriculture Rainfed
lowland
Drought- Favourable
prone
Irrigated

Rainfed lowland
Drought/submergence- Flood-
prone prone

deficit water surplus

Upland Rainfed lowland Irrigated Flood-prone

Level to steeply sloping fields; Level to slightly sloping, Leveled, bunded fields with Level to slightly sloping or
rarely flooded, aerobic soil; bunded fields; non-continuous water control; rice transplanted depressed fields; more than 10
rice direct seeded on plowed flooding of variable depth and or direct seeded in puddle soil; consecutive days of medium
dry soil or dibbled in wet, non- duration; submergence not shallow flooded with anaerobic to very deep flooding (50 to
puddled soil exceeding 50 cm for more soil during crop growth more than 300 cm) during crop
than 10 consecutive days; rice growth; rice transplanted in
transplanted in puddle soil or puddle soil or direct seeded
direct seeded on puddle or on plowed dry soil; aerobic or
plowed dry soil; alternating anaerobic soil; soil salinity or
aerobic to anaerobic soil of toxicity in tidal areas
variable frequency and duration

Fig. 1.1  Rice land ecosystems (after Greenland 1997 as adapted from IRRI 1993) (Reproduced
with the kind permission from IRRI)

water caused by tidal fluctuations. These different RFESs have varying plant nutri-
ent problems, weed species, and pest problems and demand different rice crop man-
agement strategies.

1.6  Rice Soils

The wide ranges of environmental conditions lead to an equally wide variety of rice
soils. Moorman (1978) observed that the most important soil suborders on which
rice is grown are Aquents, Aquepts, Orchepts, Tropepts, Aqualfs, and Aquults. As
regards texture, rice is grown on loamy sands to heavy clay loams or clays. It is
grown on acid soils below pH 5 to sodic soils having pH above 9. Again the rice
soils may have organic matter contents of less than 1 % in loamy sands to peat soils
having organic matter content as high as 95 %. Flooding changes the entire chemis-
try of soils. The submergence leads to gradual depletion of oxygen in the soil, and
this causes reduction of a number of nutrient ions such as nitrates, sulfates, iron,
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 9

manganese, etc. (Patrick and Mahapatra 1968). A number of chemical reactions fol-
low submergence, which affect rice plant growth. Some of these are briefly dis-
cussed here.

1.6.1  Redox Potential

The single electrochemical property that serves to distinguish a submerged soil

from a well-drained soil is the reduction of oxygen, which is measured by its redox
potential. The low potentials (0.2 to −0.4 V) of submerged soils reflect this reduced
state as a contrast to the high potentials (0.8 to 0.3 V) of aerobic soils (Ponnamperuma
1972). Iron, manganese, and sulfur availability is most affected by the changes in
redox potential.

1.6.2  Soil pH

The overall effect of soil submergence is to increase the pH of acid soils and to
depress the pH of sodic and calcareous soils, the ultimate result being convergence
to pH 7.0 (Ponnamperuma 1972) (Fig. 1.2). This permits the rice plants to grow well
on acid as well as alkaline soils too. You may consult Ponnamperuma (1972) for
further information regarding the characteristics of submerged soils.

1.6.3  Iron

Under submerged conditions Fe3+ is reduced to Fe2+. The relationship between Fe2+
and pH is given by the expression (Ponnamperuma 1972)

pFe 2 + = 2pH - 10.8

According to the above expression, the activity of Fe2+ is likely to be 3.5 ppm at
pH 7.5, 35 ppm at pH 7.0, 350 ppm at pH 6.5, and 3500 ppm at pH 6.0. Thus, a pH
change of 0.5 units above or below pH 7.0 can spell the difference between defi-
ciency and toxicity of iron in submerged soils. Iron toxicity leads to bronzing dis-
ease indicated by brown spots on the leaves, which may coalesce to cover the entire
leaf (Becker and Asch 2005). This is due to accumulation of oxidized polyphenols
(Dobermann and Fairhurst 2000). Such leaves contain 300 to 1000 μg Fe2+ g−1 dry
matter (Ottow et  al. 1983). Iron toxicity prone areas include poorly drained
Acquents, Acquepts, and Acquults in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka
10 R. Prasad et al.

8
57
7 94
99
28
35
pH 6
40
5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Fig. 1.2  Changes in soil pH due to submergence (numbers for different curves refer to soil sample
numbers; soils were clay or clay loam having 2.2 to 7.2 % organic matter, 0.08 to 4.7 % iron, and
0.0 to 0.8 % manganese) (From: Ponnamperuma, F.N. (1972) Advances in Agronomy 24:29–96)
(Reproduced with the kind permission from Elsevier Limited, Kidlington, Oxford, UK)

(Jagsujinda and Patrick 1993); acid sulfate and peat soils of Brundi, Senegl, and
Madagascar (Genon et al. 1994); lowlands of Western Africa (Audebert et al. 2006);
and flooded soils of Assam and northeast region of India (Singh et  al. 2003).
Drainage and liming help in overcoming iron deficiency (Prasad 2000).

1.6.4  Manganese

Reduced conditions in submerged rice fields also lead to reduction of Mn4+ to

Mn2+. In the soils which are rich in manganese and organic carbon, Mn2+ con-
centration can go as high as 90  ppm within a week or two after submergence
followed by subsequent decline to a stable level of 10  ppm (Ponnamperuma
1972). This leads to manganese toxicity in rice, which generally occurs in con-
currence with iron deficiency (Prasad 2007). Potassium (K) fertilization (Alam
et al. 2003) and Si application (Li et al. 2012) can ameliorate manganese defi-
ciency in rice.

1.6.5  Sulfur

Under submergence, sulfate is reduced to sulfide (S2−), and in iron-deficient soils,

H2S (hydrogen sulfide) is produced, which is toxic to rice (Tanaka et al. 1968; Joshi
et al. 1975; Armstrong and Armstrong 2005). It damages rice roots, which become
sparse, have reduced laterals, and turn black, and the disease is known as “Akiochi”
in Japan. Hydrogen sulfide production under submerged conditions adversely
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 11

affects not only rice but also acts as a host of other plant species and organisms
(Lamers et al. 2013). When sufficient iron is present, FeS is formed and gets pre-
cipitated. Submergence can therefore lead to sulfur deficiency in rice (Yamaguchi
1999).
Effects of submergence on N, P, K, and Zn are discussed under nutrient
management.

1.7  Cropping Systems (CS)

In tropical regions, one, two, or three crops of rice are taken depending upon the
rainfall and availability of irrigation water. In subtropical, subtemperate, and tem-
perate regions, upland crops, such as beans, corn, wheat, and vegetables, are grown
before or after rice. Beans and fodder legumes, such as clovers, and legume green
manures such as Sesbania aculeata improve soil fertility (George and Prasad 1989;
John et  al. 1989; Sharma and Prasad 1999). Of great interest is the rice–wheat
(Triticum aestivum) cropping system (RWCS) practiced over 18.5 million hectares
in South Asia and Southeast Asia (Prasad 2005; Ladha et al. 2009). In the Indian
subcontinent, rice is grown during rainy season (July to November) when 700–
1000  mm rainfall is received, while wheat is grown during the winter season
(November to May) on stored soil moisture with supportive irrigation. In China, rice
and wheat have several common months, and quite a bit of rain is received during
the wheat growing season. Many farmers in India and Pakistan take a third crop of
potato (Solanum tuberosum) or toria (Brassica campestris) in between rice and
wheat. Also, many farmers cultivate mung bean (Vigna radiata)/cowpea (Vigna
unguiculata)/green manure in between wheat and rice. Some of the rice-based crop-
ping systems are rice–wheat, rice–potato–wheat, rice–toria–wheat, rice–wheat–
mung bean, rice–wheat–cowpea, rice–wheat–green manure (Sesbania spp.,
Crotalaria spp.), rice–potato–wheat–green manure, rice–wheat–sunflower
(Helianthus annuus), rice–wheat–rice, rice–vegetable peas (Pisum sativum)–wheat,
rice–vegetable peas–wheat–green manure, and rice–wheat–maize (Zea mays).
There could be many more variants involving vegetables and other short-duration
crops.
The major problem of the RWCS is that rice is transplanted on a puddled soil in
the rice production system called “conventional tillage with typical puddled trans-
planted rice” (CTTPR), which has to be dried and given primary tillage for a soft
seedbed for wheat. This delays seeding of wheat resulting in serious yield losses.
Also repeated puddling adversely affects soil physical properties by destroying soil
aggregates, reducing permeability in subsurface layers, and forming hardpans at
shallow depths (Sharma et al. 2003, 2004), all of which can negatively affect the
following wheat crop (Tripathi et al. 2005). To avoid the delay in sowing wheat,
no-­till direct seeding technology has been developed, which has been very success-
ful (Kumar and Ladha 2011).
12 R. Prasad et al.

1.8  Constraints to Sustained Rice Production

The productivity and sustainability of rice and rice-based systems are threatened
because of (1) increasing scarcity of resources (land, water, and labor and machines),
(2) inefficient use of inputs (fertilizer, water, herbicides, insecticides, etc.), and (3)
the rising cost of cultivation.

1.8.1  Natural Resources

1.8.1.1  Land

Rice farm holdings in Asia are quite small, and arable land available per person is
already too little compared to developed countries like the USA (Table 1.3). Further,
more and more land is being diverted to roads, railways, and dwellings indicating a
decline in arable land. Thus, the only hope for continued sustainable rice production
is in increasing productivity per hectare.

1.8.1.2  Water

Rice growers in Asia are small holder farmers who are always on the mercy of
nature. Tuong and Bouman (2003) reported that seasonal water input for TPR varies
from 660 to 5280 mm depending on growing season, climatic conditions, soil type,
and hydrological conditions. This consists of (1) 160–1580 mm for land preparation
(puddling), 400–700  mm for evapotranspiration (ET), and 1500–3000  mm (for
loamy/sandy soils) or 100–500 mm (for heavy soils) of unavoidable losses due to
percolation and seepage. Gupta et al. (2002) estimated that water use for rice in the
Indo-Gangetic Plains varied from 1144 mm in Bihar (wetter region) to 1560 mm in
Haryana (drier region). In the Philippines, water use has been reported as 790–
1430 mm (aerobic fields) or 1240–1880 mm (flooded fields) (Bouman et al. 2005).
In Pakistan, water input was 2190–2445 mm for flooded rice, 1793–1935 mm for
alternate wetting and drying, and 1573–1635  mm for direct-seeded rice (Jabran
et al. 2015a, b). The higher water application in rice as compared to other cereals is
mostly due to water requirements for puddling and losses associated with continu-
ous flooding such as seepage and deep percolation losses to groundwater (Hafeez
et al. 2007). Seepage and percolation losses vary from 25 % to 85 % of total water
input depending on soil type and water table and 25–50 % in heavy soils with shal-
low water tables and 50–85 % in coarse-textured soil.
Total seasonal water input to rice fields varies from as little as 400 mm in heavy
clay soils with shallow groundwater tables to more than 2000 mm in coarse-­textured
(sandy or loamy) soils with deep groundwater tables. Thus, on average about 1300–
1500 mm of water is needed for irrigated rice in Asia. On an average, it takes 1432
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 13

Table 1.3  Arable land (ha 2000–

person−1) in Asian countries Country 2004 2010–2014
as compared to that in the
Bangladesh 0.05 0.05
USA
Cambodia 0.28 0.028
China 0.08 0.08
India 0.13 0.13
Indonesia 0.10 0.10
Japan 0.03 0.03
Korea, Democratic 0.09 0.09
Republic
Korea Republic 0.03 0.03
Malaysia 0.06 0.03
Myanmar 0.21 0.20
Nepal 0.09 0.08
Pakistan 0.12 0.12
Philippines 0.06 0.06
Sri Lanka 0.06 0.06
Vietnam 0.07 0.07
USA 0.52 0.49
Source: World Bank-IDA (2015) (via the Internet)

liters of water to produce 1 kg of rice in an irrigated lowland production system

(http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/growth/
water-management).
Irrigated rice receives an estimated 34–43  % of the total world’s irrigation
water or about 24–30  % of the entire world’s developed freshwater resources
(RKB 2015). Due to increase in area under irrigated rice, the use of groundwater
structures (mostly irrigation pumps) and use of groundwater in Asia have consid-
erably increased (Table 1.4). Thus, irrigated rice has resulted in lowering the
water table, and in some regions this has reached an alarming situation. For
example, in North China Plain (NCP), water table is declining by 1–3 m each
year (Shah et  al. 2000), while in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) of India, it is
declining by 0.5–0.7 m each year (Carriger and Vallee 2007; Tuong and Bouman
2003).
Increasing water scarcity has threatened the productivity and sustainability of the
irrigated rice system in Asia (Tuong et al. 2004). Irrigation water is becoming scarce
each day, and according to World Economic Forum (WEF 2011) of UNEP, several
rice-growing Asian countries are likely to face 20–40 % (average 30 %) shortage in
water availability by 2025 (Fig. 1.3).
In response to water shortage, researchers have made efforts to grow rice with
less water inputs. These include the technologies such as alternate wetting and dry-
ing, aerobic rice cultivation, dry direct-seeded rice, and rice cultivation using drip
irrigation. For details, please see the chapter “Rice Production Methods.”
14 R. Prasad et al.

Table 1.4  Number of groundwater structures (mostly irrigation pumps) and annual groundwater
use
Groundwater structures
Country (million) Groundwater use (km3 yr.−1)
Bangladesh 0.80 31
India 19 150
Nepal Terai 0.06 <1
Pakistan (Punjab province) 45 45
China 3.5 75
Iran 0.5 29
Mexico 0.07 29
USA 0.2 100
Source: Shah (2005, 2007)

Fig. 1.3  Water shortage in Water availability — 30% crop production at risk by 2025
different parts of the world
(Reproduced with the kind
permission from UNEP)

more than 40% from 20% to 10%

from 40% to 20% less than 10%
Source: UNEP

1.8.1.3  Labor

In Asia, where most rice cultivation operations such as nursery raising, transplant-
ing, weeding, and even harvesting are still done manually, the labor requirements
are very high for CTTPR and are reported to be 237 person-days ha−1 in Malaysia
(Wong and Moorka 1996), 229 person-days ha−1 in India (Thakur et al. 2004), and
139 person-days ha−1 in Bangladesh (Rahman et al. (2008). Labor availability for
agriculture is declining globally, and rice, which is a very labor-intensive crop, is
going to suffer the most. Worldwide 60 % of all child labor in the age group of 5
to 17 works in agriculture including farming, fisheries, aquaculture, forestry, and
livestock, mostly as unpaid family members (ILO 2010). Further, wages for farm
workers in South and Southeast Asia have increased; the average wage in the
2010s is five times higher than that in the 1970s, and an increase of 100 to 200 %
in the current labor wages is a realistic expectation within the next 5–10  years
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 15

(Beltran et al. 2012). The mass rural-to-urban movement of young working class
and resulting high wages of farm labor will eventually lead to mechanization of
rice cultivation in Asia.

1.8.2  Inputs
1.8.2.1  Energy: Mechanization of Rice Cultivation

Energy is required for all field operations in rice culture. The major advantage with
machines is precision and saving of time. For each ton of rice produced, more than
7000 mega joules (MJ) of energy are needed, whether provided by humans, ani-
mals, or machines (Rickman 2012). For instance, manual plowing of a hectare
requires 150 person-days, 12 days when animals are used, a day with a two-wheel
tractor, and only 1–2 hours with a four-wheel tractor; the same amount of energy of
about 1500 mega joules is required to do the job. The major difference is the time
saved (Rickman 2012). Similar is the situation with transplanting. In one study, the
mechanical transplanting of rice proved beneficial in saving of 66 % cost of trans-
planting and required only 7  % of time as compared with manual transplanting
(Sharma et al. 2002a, b). Moreover, it is seen that population of the plants in the
farmers’ field is generally low (18–20 plants m−2) because the hired labor tends to
transplant more area in a limited time for higher earnings, but it results in reduced
grain yields. Aggarwal and Singh (2015) opined that mechanical transplanting is a
promising solution to avoid yield reduction, as it helps in avoiding delay in trans-
planting under labor-scarce conditions particularly in Indo-Gangetic plains.
Similarly, the cost of rice cultivation by drum seeding was reduced by 26 % because
of mechanized paddy cultivation, and net return per acre also increased by 34 %
(Malleswara Rao et al. 2014). As regards harvesting, manual harvesting and thresh-
ing cost $100–120 per hectare, while manual harvesting with mechanical threshing
costs about $80 per hectare, which is similar to combine harvesting that costs $80–
100 per hectare (Rickman 2012). Moreover, grain losses due to shattering are much
less from rice combine harvesters compared with the manual harvesting. Rice com-
bine harvesters are expensive and relatively sophisticated machines. Small holder
farmers obviously cannot afford to buy or maintain these machines. Availability of
combine harvesters and other farm machinery on custom-hiring basis is the only
solution and is already being practiced in some countries.
In countries like the USA, Brazil, and Japan, rice cultivation is completely mech-
anized, while in developing countries it is fully manual or partially mechanized. The
majority of US rice is typically planted with seed drills after preparatory cultivation
involving several tillage and smoothing operations and basal fertilizer application.
After or before seeding, levees are established using levee disks or squeezers, and
gates and spills are established using vinyl and/or metal frames to permit mainte-
nance of shallow 5–10 cm standing water throughout the growing season, and the
16 R. Prasad et al.

fields are drained 15–25 days after heading (Synder and Slaton 2001). In Sacramento
Valley in California, rice seeding is done by airplanes in standing water (Souza
2005). Using GPS (global positioning system) equipment, pilots are able to lay the
seed exactly on target. Fertilizer and pesticide application all over the USA is done
by airplanes, and harvesting is done by combine harvesters. In Brazil, all operations
are done using tractor and other necessary equipment, while harvesting is done by
combine harvesters (Fageria et al. 2014). In Japan, paddy rice production has been
mechanized since the 1970s, and 90 % of rice transplanting is mechanized (Li et al.
2005). Also in South Korea, 100 % of the tillage, 98 % of the transplanting, 100 %
of the spraying, and 99  % of the harvesting of paddy rice production have been
mechanized (Park and Kim 2005). In Japan, again most operations are done by
especially designed equipment including transplanters, hand-operated harvesters, or
combine harvesters (Oshino 1985). In China, mechanization of rice cultivation is in
progress (Xu et al. 2011).

1.8.2.2  Fertilizer

Nitrogen

Rice crop uses about 21–25 % of the total N fertilizer consumed globally. However,
the N use efficiency in rice is very low. Agronomic efficiency of N in rice was
reported to be 13 kg grain kg−1 N from India (Prasad et al. 2000) and 10.4 kg grain
kg−1 N from China (Zhang et al. 2007a). The low nitrogen use efficiency in rice and
even in other crops is due to four N loss mechanisms, namely, surface runoff on
sloping lands, ammonia volatilization, leaching, and denitrification (Zou et al. 2005;
Towprayoon et al. 2005; Pathak et al. 2006; Ussiri and Lal 2012; Prasad et al. 2014;
Prasad and Shivay 2015). The agronomic techniques employed to reduce these
losses include deep placement and split application of N supported by balanced and
adequate application of other nutrients to boost crop growth (Prasad 2013). Another
approach has been the use of nitrification inhibitors (Prasad and Power 1995), ure-
ase inhibitors (Kiss and Simihian 2002), and slow-release N fertilizers (Prasad et al.
1971; Trenkel 1997; Shaviv 2001). These materials have met with mixed success.
The government of India has decided to coat all urea manufactured or imported in
the country with neem (Azadirachta indica Juss) (Prasad and Shivay 2015). Neem-
coated urea was developed by Prasad et al. (1994, 2007) at the Indian Agricultural
Research Institute, New Delhi, and is based on the mild nitrification-inhibiting
properties of neem (Reddy and Prasad 1975).

Phosphorus

As a contrast to N, which is available in infinite amounts in the atmosphere, P fertil-

izers are made from phosphate rocks, which are a nonrenewable resource and are
sufficient only for 1000 years or less, depending upon the processes used for their
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 17

extraction and manufacture and the methods of their use on agricultural fields (Smil
2002; Zhang et al. 2008). The global estimates of phosphate rock are at 67,000 bil-
lon metric tons (BMT), and in Asia, only China has sizeable phosphate rock depos-
its (3700 BMT) (van Kauwenbergh et al. 2013).
Although recovery efficiency of P by rice is about 15–30 %, the rest of P gets
fixed in soil (Sample et  al. 1986). Submergence of rice fields leads to a flush of
available P in soil (Kirk et al. 1990); however, continued submergence can reverse
this effect as P is precipitated in the oxidized rhizosphere and sorbed on the solid
phases during reduction (Patrick and Mahapatra 1968). A well-planned integrated P
management using organic manures, crop residues, and P-solubilizing microorgan-
isms is therefore important (Blaise et al. 2014). In the RWCS, drying during wheat
season reduces P availability (Kumar and Yadav 2001). Good response to P applica-
tion has been reported from India (Prasad 2007; Singh et al. 2014), China (Zhu et al.
2007; Bi et al. 2014; Guan et al. 2014), and Brazil (Fageria et al. 2014). Adequate P
fertilization of rice is therefore necessary for sustained good yields of rice.

Potassium

Like P, K minerals are also a nonrenewable resource. The global deposits are esti-
mated at 250 billion metric tons (BMT) (USGS 2008) with Canada having the larg-
est deposits, followed by Russia. In Asia, only China has sizeable K mineral deposits,
and in 2014/2015, it produced 5 MMT of potash fertilizers against its consumption
of over 9 MMT (Tan 2015). Response of rice to K in China is much higher than in
India. Zhang et al. (2010) observed that addition of 100 kg ha−1 to each rice crop in
rice–rice rotation was not enough to maintain initial K availability in soil. Red and
lateritic kaolinitic soils have less total K and non-exchangeable K than calcareous
illitic and vertic smectitic soils and are therefore likely to need more K fertilization
in rice (Sekhon et al. 1992). This would explain why response of rice to K fertilizers
was more (9.7 kg grainkg−1 K) in Western Ghats and Karnataka Plateau having red
and lateritic soil than in north Indian alluvial plains having calcareous illitic soils
(Tandon and Sekhon 1988). Tiwari (2014) estimated that a harvest of 200 MMT of
food grains per year will lead to a deficit of 5.8 million metric tons of K from the soil,
which has to be replenished. Thus, adequate K fertilization of rice is important.

Zinc

Nene (1966) was the first to report that Khaira disease of rice (brown/maroon color-
ing of leaves) that was due to zinc (Zn) deficiency. Good response of rice to zinc
fertilization is reported from all over the world (Alloway 2008). Further, Zn defi-
ciency in soils is also linked with low Zn concentrations in grains of cereals includ-
ing rice. Therefore, efforts are underway to develop GM rice with grains having
higher concentration of Zn (Stein 2010) as well toward agronomic biofortification
of rice with Zn (Prasad et al. 2014).
18 R. Prasad et al.

1.8.2.3  Pesticides

It is estimated that about 120–200 MMT of rice grain is lost in tropical Asia due to
insects, diseases, and weeds (Gianessi 2014). Conventional rice-growing regions
are humid to subhumid, and there are a large number of diseases such as blast,
brown leaf spot, sheath blight, bacterial blight, tungro virus, and grassy stunt virus
(Hollier et  al. 1993). Blast epidemics in Malaysia and the Philippines caused a
50–70  % yield reduction (Gianessi 2014). Similarly, the damage due to sheath
blight caused a loss of 17–25 % in Malaysia (Banniza and Holderness 2001), 10 %
in India, and 20 % in Thailand (Boukaew and Prasertan 2014). It is difficult to breed
rice varieties with high genetic resistance to these diseases; however, the develop-
ment of multiple resistances for diseases and insect pests is the only solution to the
problem (Singh et  al. 2012; Suh et  al. 2013). Details have been discussed in the
chapter “Disease Management in Rice.”
Similarly, there are a large number of insect pests that attack the rice crop. Some
important ones are brown plant hopper, white-backed plant hopper, green leaf hop-
per, rice mealy bug, rice aphid, rice leaf folder, rice swarming caterpillar, rice gall
midge, and rice gundhi bug (Pathak and Khan 1994). Stem borers alone can cause
yield losses up to 70 % in an epidemic year (Rahim et al. 1992). Insecticide sale in
South and Southeast Asia increased from US$ 409 million in 2009 to US$ 674 mil-
lion in 2012 (Gianessi 2014). Current emphasis is on integrated pest management
(IPM) (Oudejans 1999). Details have been discussed in the chapter “Insect Pest
Management in Rice.”
Weed management using herbicides has become an integral part of modern crop
production including rice. Herbicides offer great flexibility of operations, are effec-
tive, and are often cost effective as compared to any other method of weed
­management (Chauhan et al. 2012). In rice, weeds can cause 28–74 % loss in yield
(Chauhan 2012). Nevertheless, injudicious and continuous use of a single herbicide
over a long period of time may result in the evolution of resistant biotypes and a
shift in the weed flora. For example, spread of herbicide-resistant weedy rice (red
rice, Oryza sativa L.) has been reported from Italy (Busconi et al. 2012). California
rice farmers are already facing the challenge of managing herbicide-resistant weeds
(Lindquist et al. 2011). A large list of biotypes showing resistance to herbicides in
the USA is available (Vencill et al. 2012). Details have been discussed in the chapter
“Weed Management in Rice.”

1.8.3  Global Warming (GW) and Rice Production

Global warming (GW) in relation to rice cultivation has to be viewed from two
angles: (1) impact of GW on future rice production and (2) contribution of rice cul-
tivation to GW.
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 19

1.8.3.1  Impact of Global Warming on Rice Production

In a simulation study, a 2°C increase in temperature brought about a 3–10 % decrease

in grain/seed yield of rainy season crops, such as rice, groundnut (Arachis hypogaea
L.), and soybean (Glycine max L.), and a 29 % decrease in grain yield of winter
crops such as wheat (Prabhjyot-Kaur and Hundal 2006). In addition to the direct
effects of climate change on rice plants, Chauhan and Johnson (2010a, b, c) and
Chauhan et al. (2014) pointed out that increased weed growth and changed weed
flora could adversely affect rice growth and production. Many weeds are C4 plants
and have a competitive advantage over rice, a C3 plant (Yin and Struik 2008).
There are two major abiotic stresses that can affect rice production, namely,
drought and salinity. Analysis of models based on soil moisture changes, drought
indices, and precipitation minus evaporation suggests increased risk of drought in
the next 30–90  years over many land areas either by decreased precipitation or
increased evaporation (Dai 2013). However, Trenbath et al. (2014) observed that
increased heating due to global warming may cause droughts to set in earlier than
predicted. Wassman et  al. (2009) observed that current temperatures are already
approaching critical levels during the susceptible stages of the rice plant in Pakistan/
north India (during October), south India (during April, August), east India/
Bangladesh/Myanmar/Thailand/Laos/Cambodia (during March–June), Vietnam
(April/August), the Philippines (April/June), Indonesia (August), and China (dur-
ing July/August) and drought stress is expected to affect rice growth and produc-
tion. Wassmann and Dobermann (2007) observed that increasing temperatures or
hotter night temperatures can cause increased spikelet sterility and reduce grain
yield in rice.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2001) predicted that between
1990 and 2100, sea level may rise by 9–88 cm in different regions of the world. This
will affect rice production in mega-deltas in Vietnam, Myanmar, and Bangladesh
(Wassmann et al. 2009). The other hot spot with especially high climate change risk
is the Indo-Gangetic Plains (the rice–wheat copping system belt), which will be
affected by the melting of the Himalayan glaciers (Wassmann et  al. 2009).
Developing rice production systems and production technology with higher resil-
ience to flooding and salinity is the key for maintaining sustained rice production in
these areas.

1.8.3.2  Contribution of Rice Cultivation to Global Warming

Under submerged rice paddy conditions, methane (CH4) is produced due to anaero-
bic conditions, while nitrous oxide (N2O) is produced due to nitrification–denitrifi-
cation processes from the applied fertilizer N both under aerobic upland and
anaerobic lowland conditions. Both these gases contribute to GW. The global warm-
ing potential (GWP) of methane is 72 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2) (which is
20 R. Prasad et al.

taken as 1.0) for a life span of 12 years. According to Sass et al. (1999), CH4 emis-
sion is 13–17 Tg y−1 from China (Wang et  al. 1994), 2.4–6.0 Tg y−1 from India
(Parashar et al. 1994), 0.04–8.77 Tg y−1 from Japan (Yagi et al. 1994), 0.31–7.0 Tg
y−1 from the Philippines (Neue and Saas 1994), and 0.328 Tg y−1 from the USA
(Leip and Bocchi 2007). Of the total methane emission from a country, rice contrib-
utes about 1.3 % in the USA, 3.7 % in Italy, 24 % in Japan, 30 % in China, and 35 %
in India (Leip and Bocchi 2007).
Total CH4 emission from the world is anticipated at 16–34 Tg y−1 and is consid-
ered to be 63 % of total anthropogenic CH4 emission in the world (Saas et al. 1994).
However, IPCC (1996) estimated that the contribution of rice cultivation toward
total global methane emission is 5–20  %. Addition of rice straw to rice fields
increases CH4 emission (Sass et al. 1990; Rath et al. 1999). Midterm drainage dur-
ing rice-growing period or alternate wetting and drying can substantially reduce
CH4 emission from rice fields, but it increases N2O emission (Sanders et al. 2014;
Pandey et al. 2014). Methane production is negligible under non-flooded aerobic
conditions (Ramakrishna et al. 1995). However, there are uncertainties in estimating
methane emission, and recently, Tian et al. (2015) using process-based couple bio-
geochemical model estimated total methane CH4 from global terrestrial ecosystems
during 1981–2010 at 144.39 ±12.90 Tg C y−1; annual increasing trend was 0.43±0.06
Tg C y−1. The most rapid increase in methane emission during 1981–2010 was
found in natural wetlands and rice fields due to increased cultivation area and cli-
mate warming (Tian et al. 2015). Sanders et al. (2014) observed that in rice fields
CH4 contributed about 90 % of the total GWP.
The GWP of N2O is 289 times that of CO2 and its life span is 114 years. Thus its
potential for GW is much higher than CH4. However, the amounts of its emission
are much smaller than CH4. Tian et  al. (2015) predicted global N2O emission at
12.52 ± 0.74 Tg N y−1, while Davidson and Kanter (2014) estimated it to be between
10 and 12 Tg N y−1. Net anthropogenic N2O emission is estimated at 5.3 Tg Ny−1,
out of which 66  % is predicted from agriculture and business-as-usual emission
scenarios project almost doubling of N2O emissions by 2050 (Davidson and Kanter
2014). The largest increase in N2O emission during 1981–2010 occurred in upland
crops due to increasing air temperature and N fertilizer use (Tian et al. 2015).

1.9  Rice Cultivation and Environmental Pollution

Fertilizers applied to rice contribute considerably toward environmental pollution.

Only about one-third of the N fertilizer applied is taken up by the rice crop, while
the rest two-thirds, except for a small fraction being immobilized by the soil organ-
isms, is lost through ammonia volatilization, denitrification, and leaching and sur-
face runoff; estimates for these losses are at 4.1 Tg, 3.1 Tg, and 3.1 Tg, respectively
(Pathak 2013). While ammonia produced by volatilization and nitrous oxide pro-
duced by denitrification are lost to the atmosphere, nitrates are leached down the
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 21

profile or move with surface runoff (Prasad and Shivay 2014) and are responsible
for eutrophication of surface (lakes and estuaries) and groundwater. Similarly the
recovery efficiency of P fertilizer applied to rice is only 15–30 %.

1.9.1  Eutrophication of Surface and Groundwater

An important current issue is the need to reduce anthropogenic nutrient inputs to

aquatic ecosystems in order to protect drinking water supplies and to reduce eutro-
phication of lakes and estuaries including the proliferation of “algal blooms” and
“dead zones” in coastal marine ecosystems (Conley et al. 2009). Algal blooms lead
to the depletion of dissolved oxygen in water (hypoxia), which can lead to fish mor-
tality, and their decomposition impairs such waters for drinking, recreation, and
industry (Foy 2005). Since Schindler (1974) established that P was the primary
limiting nutrient for algal growth, national water policy in the USA, Canada, and
Europe during the 1970s focused on P control in the lakes; however, in the last two
decades, it has emerged that N is the main pollutant in the estuaries (Howarth and
Marino 2006). Elevated levels of N and P have been reported from the three major
lakes (Taihu, Chaohu, Dianchi) in China (Gao and Zhang 2010). Also there has been
a threefold increase in nitrate concentration in the estuary of Yangtze River during
the last 40 years, from 1.3 mg L−1 in the 1980s to 5.0 mg L−1 in 1999–2004 (Duan
et al. 2000), and a 30 % increase in phosphate concentration during the same period
from 0.056 mg L−1 in the 1980s to 0.73 mg L−1 in 1999–2004 (Zhou et al. 2008). Jin
(1995) reported that up to 35 % of N and 68 % of P in surveyed lakes was from
agricultural runoff. A good correlation between N concentration in river waters and
N fertilizer applied in the catchment areas has been recorded (Chen et al. 2000).
Duan et al. (2005) and Liu et al. (2007) observed that the risk of P loss from agri-
cultural land is increasing. In Southern China, the leaching loss from rice fields
varied from 6.7 to 27.0  kg  N−1, while that from runoff varied from 2.5 to
19.0 kg N ha−1 (Sun et al. 2003). Xia et al. (2008) reported that in rice, application
of 0, 25, 60, 120, and 240 kg P ha−1 resulted in a loss of 0.13, 0.50, 0.94, 3.02, and
5.97  kg P ha−1; thus, losses were proportionally higher as the rate of application
increased. Further Zhang et  al. (2007b) reported that losses were most within
1–2 months of application.
Due to nitrate leaching from agricultural fields, over half of the groundwater
samples in Northern China revealed nitrate concentration higher than 50 mg L−1, the
World Health Organization (WHO) recommended safe level; even nitrate concen-
tration higher than 300 mg L−1 was recorded in several samples (Dong et al. 2005).
The situation in India is not that bad, and in studies in the rice–wheat cropping
system belt in Punjab (Bharadwaj et al. 2012) as well as in the rice–rice cropping
system region in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh (Karthikeyan et  al. 2012),
about 72 % of samples of groundwater analyzed had less than 50 mg nitrate L−1, and
water was safe for drinking. This is because general rates of N and P application in
22 R. Prasad et al.

China are 150–200 kg N and 22–30 kg P ha−1 (Jin et al. 2002), while those in India
are only 86–163 kg N and 4.4–25.8 kg P ha−1 (Sharma et al. 2010). However, in
China efforts are being made to determine ecologically optimum rather than the
conventional economic optimum rates of N for rice (Xia and Yan 2012). This would
lead to reduced N application in rice.

1.9.2  Depletion of Ozone Layer

Ozone in the stratosphere of the earth’s atmosphere works as a bio-protective filter

against ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which can cause skin cancer (Narayanan et al.
2010) and cataract in eyes (Roberts 2011) of the humans. Ultraviolet radiation is
also reported to adversely affect plant growth (Hollosy 2002; Zuk-Golaszewska
et  al. 2003). Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a major cause of ozone layer depletion
(Ravishankara et al. 2009), and about two-thirds of N2O is produced by nitrifica-
tion–denitrification reactions in agricultural fields from the applied fertilizer N
(Zumft 1997; Lassey and Harvey 2007; Thomson et al. 2011). Rice cultivation due
to changes in redox potential caused by submergence has therefore a role in the
destruction of ozone layer in the stratosphere.

1.10  Summary and Conclusions

Rice is the staple food for nearly half of the world’s population which makes it a
crop of focus. As rice is grown on a variety of soils under diverse ecological condi-
tions in all the six inhabited continents of the world, hence diverse and site-specific
production technologies are required rather than a single production technology.
Compared with the past (1962–1979; rice yield growth rate 2.5 %), the growth rate
of rice yields per  annum has been declined (1980–2011; rice yield growth rate
1.4 %).
Natural resources, land, water, and labor are becoming scarcer worldwide, and
rice is going to suffer the most, because with the present production technologies,
its water and labor requirements are the highest among field crops. In this back-
drop, the rice production technologies with lower labor and water input hold sig-
nificance. Growing rice under water-saving production systems and adoption of
mechanization in developing countries are important in this regard. However, prac-
tical and social constraints in the way of such developments are desired to be
resolved using current knowledge, research, and available resources. For example,
weed infestation is an important issue of aerobic rice cultivation, while high finan-
cial requirement is a constraint in the installment of drip irrigation infrastructures
in the rice production systems. Such issues are desired to be resolved for sustain-
able rice production. Other salient research issues in the rice production include the
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 23

development of site-specific integrated nutrient management plans, addressing the

environmental problems resulting from the overuse of N, and the development of
integrated pest management plan.

References

Adjao RT, Staatz JM (2015) Asian rice economy changes and implications for Sub-Sharan Africa.
Glob Food Sec 5:50–55
Aggarwal N, Singh A (2015) Crop performance, nutrient uptake vis-a-vis weed suppressive ability
of mechanically transplanted rice (Oryza sativa) as influenced by age of seedlings and planting
density. Indian J Agron 60(2):255–260
Alam S, Kamal S, Kawai S (2003) Amelioration of manganese toxicity in young rice seedlings
with potassium. J Plant Nutr 26(6):1301–1314
Alloway BJ (2008) Zinc in soils and crop nutrition. International Zinc Association, Brussels and
International Fertilizer Industry Association, Paris
Anonymous (2007) Pusa 1121 proved a major hit with the farmers. Hindu Business Line, 28 Dec
2007 (Wikipedia)
Anonymous (2011) Hope for hybrid rice. Chinese Daily, 21 Sept 2011
Armstrong J, Armstrong W (2005) Rice-sulfide induced barriers to root radial oxygen, Fe2+ and
water uptake and lateral root emergence. Ann Bot (London) 96:625–638
Audebert A, LT N, Kiepe P, Miller D, Berks B (eds) (2006) Iron toxicity in rice based systems in
Western Africa. African Rice Center (WARDA), Cotonou, p. 175
Banniza S, Holderness M (2001) Rice sheath blight-pathogen biology and diversity. Major fungal
diseases of rice: recent advances, Springer Netherlands, pp. 201–211
Becker M, Asch F (2005) Iron toxicity in rice-conditions and management concepts. J Plant Nutr
Soil Sci 168(4):558–673
Beltran JC, Pannell DJ, Doole GJ (2012) Economic implications of herbicide resistance and labor
costs for management of annual barnyard grass in Philippine rice farming systems. Crop Prot
31:31–39
Bharadwaj A, Garg S, Sondhi SK, Tanuja DS (2012) Nitrate concentration of shallow aquifer
groundwater in the central districts of Punjab. J Environ Sci Eng 54(1):90–97
Bi L, XiaJ LK, LiD YX (2014) Effect of long term chemical fertilization on trends of rice yield and
nutrient use efficiency under double rice cultivation in sub-tropical China. Plant Soil Environ
60(12):537–543
Blaise D, Venugopalan MV, Singh G (2014) Phosphorus management. In: Prasad R, Kumar D,
Rana DS, Shivay YS, Tewatia RK (eds) Textbook of plant nutrient management. Indian Society
of Agronomy, New Delhi, pp. 92–121
Boukaew S, Prasertan P (2014) Suppression of rice sheath blight disease using a heat stable culture
filtrate from Streptomyces philanti RM-1-138. Crop Prot 61:1–10
Bouman BAM, Peng S, Castaneda AR, Visperas RM (2005) Yield and water use of irrigated tropi-
cal aerobic rice systems. Agric Water Manag 74:87–105
Burgos NR, Singh V, Tseng TM, Black H, Young ND, Huang Z, Hyma KE, Gealy DR, Caicedo AL
(2014) The impact of herbicide resistant rice technology on phenotypic diversity and popula-
tion structure of United States weedy rice. Plant Physiol 155(3):1208–1220
Busconi M, Rosi D, Lorenzoni C, Baldi G, Fogher C (2012) Spread of herbicide resistant weedy
rice (red rice, Oryza sativa L) after 5 years of clear field rice cultivation in Italy. Plant Biol
(Stuttg) 14(5):751–759
Callaway E (2014) The birth of rice. Nature 514:S58–S59
Carriger S, Vallee D (2007) More crop per drop. Rice Today 6(2):10–13
24 R. Prasad et al.

Chauhan BS (2012) Weed ecology and weed management strategies for dry-seeded rice in Asia.
Weed Tech 26(1):1–13
Chauhan BS, Johnson DE (2010a) The role of seed ecology in improving weed management strat-
egies in the tropics. Adv Agron 105:221–262
Chauhan BS, Johnson DE (2010b) Implications of a narrow crop row spacing and delayed
Echinochloa colona and Echinochloa crus-galli emergence for weed growth and crop yield
loss in aerobic rice field. Field Crops Res 117:177–182
Chauhan BS, Johnson DE (2010c) Weedy rice (Oryza sativa L) I. Grain characteristics and growth
response to competition of weedy rice variants from five Asian countries. Weed Sci
58:374–380
Chauhan BS, Singh RG, Mahajan G (2012) Impact of climate change on weeds in rice-wheat crop-
ping system. Curr Sci 102(9):1254–1255
Chauhan BS, Prabhujyot-Kaur MG et al (2014) Global warming and its possible impact on agri-
culture in India. Adv Agron 123:65–121
Chen JS, Gao XM, He DW, Xia WH (2000) Nitrogen contamination in the Yangtze River System,
China. J Hazard Mat 73:107–117
Conley DJ, Paerl HW, Howarth RW et al (2009) Controlling eutrophication: nitrogen and phospho-
rus. Science 323:1014–1015
Dai A (2013) Increasing drought under global warming in observations and models. Nat Climate
Change 3:52–58
Davidson EA, Kanter D (2014) Inventories and scenarios of nitrous oxide emissions. IOP
Science Environ Res Letol 9 No 10 (http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/9/10/105012/
article)
De Datta SK (1981) Principles and practices of rice production. Wiley, New York
Dobermann A, Fairhurst T (2000) Rice nutrient disorders and nutrient management. International
Rice Research Institute, Phosphate & Potash Institute of India, Manila
Dong ZH, Li J, Sun LM (2005) Nitrate contamination in the groundwater of intensive vegetable
cultivation areas in Shouguang City, Shandong Province, China. J  Agro-Environ Sci
24(6):1139–1144
Duan SW, Zhang S, Huang HY (2000) Transport of dissolved inorganic nitrogen from the major
rivers to estuaries in China. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 57:13–22
Duan YH, Zhang NM, Hong B, Chen JJ (2005) Factors influencing the N and P losses from farm-
land runoff in Dianchi watershed. Chin J Econ-Agric 13:116–118 (in Chinese)
Fageria NK, Wander AE, Silva SC (2014) Rice (Oryza sativa) cultivation in Brazil. Indian J Agron
59(3):350–358
FAO (2004) Hybrid rice for food security-fact sheet. Food and Agricultural Organization of the
UN, Rome
Farooq M, Kobayashi N, Wahid A, Ito O, Basar SMA (2009) Strategies for producing more rice
with less water. Adv Agron 101:351–388
Foy RH (2005) The return of phosphorus paradigm: agricultural phosphorus and eutrophication.
In: Sims JT, Sharpley AN (eds) Phosphorus in agriculture and the environment. Agronomy
monograph 46. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp. 911–939
Fuller DQ (2011) Finding plant domestication in the Indian sub-continent. Curr Anthropol
52(S4):S347–S362
Fuller DQ, Zheng Y, Zhao Z, Chen X, Hosoye LA, Sun GP (2009) The domestication process and
domestication rate in rice: spikelet bases from the lower Yangtze. Science 323:1607–1610
Gao D, Zhang T (2010) Eutrophication in a Chinese context: understanding various physical and
socio-economic aspects. Ambio 39(5–6):385–393
Gealy DR, Mitten DH, Rutgers JN (2003) Gene flow between red rice (Oryza sativa) and herbicide
resistant rice (O. sativa) for weed management. Weed Technol 16:627–645
Genon JG, Dehepcee N, Delavaux B, Dufey JE, Hennebert PA (1994) Redox conditions and iron
chemistry in high land swamps of Brundi. Plant and Soil 166:165–171
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 25

George M, Prasad R (1989) Studies on the effect of legumes on fertilizer utilization by rice using
15 N techniques in rice based multiple cropping systems. Res Dev Agric 6:115–118
Gianessi L (2014) Importance of pesticides for growing rice in South and Southeast Asia.
International pesticide benefits case study no 108 (October 2014), Crop Protection Research
Institute, Crop Life Foundation, Washington DC (www.croplifefoundtion.org)
Greenland DJ (1997) The sustainability of rice farming. CABI International, Internaional Rice
Research Institute, Los Banos
Gross BL, Zhao Z (2014) Archaelogical and genetic insights into the origins of domesticated rice.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111:6190–6197
Guan G, TuS LH, Yang J, Zhang T, Wen S, Wang L (2014) Phosphorus fertilization modes affect
crop yield, nutrient uptake and soil biological properties in rice-wheat cropping system. Soil
Sci Soc Am J 77(1):166–172
Gupta RK, Naresh RK, Hobbs PR, Ladha JK (2002) Adopting conservation agriculture in rice–
wheat systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains—New opportunities for saving on water. In:
Bouman BAM, Hengsdijk H, Hardy B, Bindraban B, Toung TP, Ladha JK (eds) Proc Int Wkshp
Water-Wise Rice Production. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 207–222
Hafeez MM, Bouman BAM, Van de Giesen N, Vlek P (2007) Scale effects on water use and water
productivity in a rice-based irrigation system (UPRIIS) in the Philippines. Agric Water Manag
92:81–89
Hollier CA, Groth GE, Rush MC, Webster RK (1993) Diseases of rice. American Phytopathology
Society, St Paul
Hollosy F (2002) Effect of ultraviolet radiation on plant cell. Micron 33:179–197
Howarth RW, Marino R (2006) Nitrogen as the liming nutrient for eutrophication in coastal marine
ecosystem: evolving view over three decades. Limnol Oceanogr 51(1, part 2):364–376
Huang X, Kurata N, Wei X, Wang Z, Wang A, Zhao Q, Zhao Y, Liu K et al (2012) A map of rice
genome reveals the origin of cultivated rice. Nature 490:497–501
Huaqi W, Bouman BAM, Zhao D, Changgui W, Moya PF (2002) Aerobic rice in northern China:
opportunities and challenges. In: Bouman BAM, Hengsdijk H, Hardy B, Bindraban PS, Tuong
TP, Ladha JK (eds) Water-wise rice production. International Rice Research Institute, Los
Banos, pp. 143–154
ILO (2010) Accelerating action against child labor-Global report under the follow-up to the ILO
declaration on fundamentals, principles and rights at work. International Labor Organization,
Geneva
IPCC (1996) Report Inter-Governmental panel on climate change of the United Nations. World
Meteorological Organization, Vienna and United Nations Environment Program, Nairobi
IPCC (2001) Report Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations, World
Meteorological Organization, Vienna and United Nations Environment Program, Nairobi
IRRI (1993) Rice Almanac ( Maclean JL, Dawe DC, Hardy B, Hettel GP eds). International Rice
Research Institute, Los Banos, p 257
IRRI (2006) Bringing hope, improving lives-strategies. Plan 2007–2015. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Banos, p. 61
Jabran K, Ehsanullah M, Hussain M, Farooq M, Yaseen UZ, Chauhan BS (2015a) Mulching
reduces spikelet sterility and improves water productivity, yield, and quality of fine rice under
water-saving rice production systems. J Agron Crop Sci 201:389–400. doi:10.1111/jac.12099
Jabran K, Ehsanullah M, Farooq M, Hussain NH, Chauhan BS (2015b) Water saving, water pro-
ductivity and yield outputs of fine-grain rice cultivars under conventional and water-saving rice
production systems. Exp Agric 51:567–581. doi:10.1017/S0014479714000477
Jaffe G (2005) Regulating transgenic crops: a comparative analysis of different regulatory pro-
cesses. In: Chopra VL, Shantharam S, Sharma RP (eds) Biosafety of transgenic rice. National
Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi, pp. 103–117
Jagsujinda A, Patrick WH (1993) Evaluation of toxic conditions associated with oranging symp-
toms of rice in a flooded oxisol in Sumatra, Indonesia. Plant and Soil 152:237–243
26 R. Prasad et al.

Jin XC (1995) Lake eutrophication in China. In: Jin XC (ed) Lake environment in China. Oceanic
Press, Beijing, pp. 267–322
Jin J, Wu R, Liu R (2002) Rice production and fertilization in China. Better Crops Int 16:26–29
John PS, Prasad R, Pandey RK, Buresh RJ (1989) Nitrogen economy in rice-based cropping sys-
tems through cowpea green manure or cowpea residue. Fert News 34(9):19–26
Joshi MM, Ibrahim IKA, Hollis JP (1975) H2S- effects on physiology of rice plants in relation to
straight head disease. Phytopathology 65:1165–1170
Kang KH (2010) Made for the tropics. Rice Today 9(2):34–35
Kartkeyan B, Rajendran R, Murgan R, Lakshmanan E (2012) Nitrate pollution in groundwater in
some rural areas of Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh. J Environ Sci Eng 54(1):64–70
Khush GS (2005) Taxonomy, ecology and agronomy of rice cultivation vis-à-vis genetic engineer-
ing of rice. In: Chopra VL, Santharam S, Sharma RP (eds) Biosafety of transgenic rice. National
Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi, pp. 26–37
Kirk JD, Yu TR, Chaudhary FA (1990) Phosphorus chemistry in relation to water regime. In:
Phosphorus requirements for sustainable agriculture in Asia and Oceania. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Banos, pp. 211–223
Kiss S, Simihaian M (2002) Improving efficiency of urea fertilizers by inhibition of soil urease
activity. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht
Kumar A, Yadav DS (2001) Long-term effects of fertilizers on the soil fertility and productivity of
a rice–wheat system J. Agron. Crop Sci 186:47–54.
Kumar V, Ladha JK (2011) Direct seeding of rice: recent developments and future research needs.
Adv Agron 111:297–413
Kumar V, Bellinder RR, Brainard DC, Malik RK, Gupta RK (2008) Risk of herbicide-resistant rice
in India: a review. Crop Prot 27:320–329
Ladha JK, Kumar V, Alam MM, Sharma S, Gathala M, Chandna P, Saharawat YS, Balasubramanian
V (2009) Integrating crop and resource management technologies for enhanced productivity,
profitability, and sustainability of the rice-wheat system in South Asia. In: Ladha JK, Singh Y,
Erenstein O, Hardy B (eds) Integrated crop and resource management in the rice–wheat system
of South Asia. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 69–108
Lafranco B (2010) Pressure in the south. Rice Today 9(3):17
Lamers LPM, Govers LL, Janessen ICJM et al (2013) Sulfide as a phytotoxin-a review. Front Plant
Sci 4:268, 1–14 (doi: 10.3389/fpls.213.00268)
Lassey K, Harvey M (2007) Nitrous oxide: the serious side of laughing gas. Water Atmos
15:1–10
Leip A, Bocchi S (2007) Contribution of rice production to greenhouse emission in Europe.Proc
4th Temperate Rice Conf, 25–28 June 2007, Novara, Italy. p 32–33
Li Y, Xu L, Xiang Z, Deng L (2005) Research advances of rice planting mechanization in Japan.
Trans CSAE 21(11):182–185
Li P, Song A, Li Z, Fan F, Liang Y (2012) Silicon ameliorates manganese toxicity by regulating Mn
transport and anti-oxidant reactions in rice (Oryza sativa L). Plant and Soil
354(1–2):409–419
Lindquist BA, Koffler K, Hill JE, van Kessel C (2011) Rice field drainage affects nitrogen dynam-
ics and management. California Agric 65(2):80–84
Liu JL, Liao WH, Zhang ZX et al (2007) The response of vegetable yield to phosphate fertilizer
and organic manure and environmental risk assessment of phosphorus accumulated in soil.
Scientia Agric Sinica 40(5):959–965
Malleswara Rao SSN, Patil DV, Srihari Rao B, Reddy GR (2014) Performance evaluation of a
manually operated paddy drum seeder – a cost saving technology for paddy cultivation. Agric
Eng Int: CIGR J 16(1):75–83
Mohapatra S (2010) Pockets of gold. 2010. Rice Today 9(2):32–33
Moorman FR (1978) Morphology and classification of soils on which rice is grown. In: Soils and
rice, International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 27

Murray-Kolb LE, Takaiwa F, Goto F, Yoshihara T, Theil EC, Beard LL (2002) Transgenic rice is a
source of iron for iron-depleted rats. J Nutr 132:957–960
Narayanan DL, Saladi RN, Fox JL (2010) Ultraviolet radiation and skin cancer. Int J Dermatol
40(9):978–986
Nene YL (1966) Symptoms, causes and control of khaira disease of paddy. Bull Indian Phytopath
Soc 3:97–101
Nene YL (2012) Rice is also mentioned in Rig Veda? Asian Agri-History 16:403–409
Neue HU, Sass R (1994) Trace gas emission from rice fields. In: Prinn RG (ed) Global atmo-
spheric- biospheric chemistry, Environ Science Research, vol 48. Plenum, New  York,
pp. 119–148
OECD/FAO (2013) OECD-FAO agricultural outlook 2011–2020, OECD publishing and food and
agricultural. Organization of the UN, Rome, p. 60
Oshino KK (1985) Mechanization of rice production. Econ Geog 61(4):323–331
Ottow JCG, Benckiser G, Watanabe I, Santiago S (1983) Multiple nutritional soil stress as the pre-­
requisite for ion toxicity of wetland rice. Trop Agric (Trinidad) 60:102–106
Oudejans JHM (1999) Studies on IPM Policy in SE Asia: Two centuries of plant protection in
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, Wageningen Agric Univ Papers, Wageningen, p  99–91:
161–164
Pandey A, Mai VT, Vu DQ et al (2014) Organic matter and water management to reduce methane
and nitrous oxide emissions from rice fields in Vietnam. Agric Ecosyst Environ 196:137–146
Parashar DC et al (1994) Methane budget from Indian paddy fields. In: Minami K, Mosier A, Sass
RL (eds) CH4 and N2O: global emission and controls from rice fields. National Institute of
Agro-Environmental Sciences, Yokendo/Tokyo, pp. 27–39
Park W, Kim S (2005) Mechanizing paddy rice cultivation in Korea. Rice is life: scientific perspec-
tives for the 21st century, proceedings of the World Rice Research Conference Tokyo and
Tsukuba, Japan, 4–7 November, p. 226.
Parthasarthy N (1972) Rice breeding in Tropical Asia up to 1960. Rice Breeding. International
Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, pp. 5–29
Pathak H (2013) Nitrogen and climate change: Interactions, impacts, mitigation and adaptation.
J Indian Soc Soil Sci 60:109–119
Pathak MD, Khan ZR (1994) Insect pests of rice. International center of insect physiology and
ecology. International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos
Pathak H, Li C, Wassermann R, Ladha JK (2006) Simulation of nitrogen balance in rice-wheat
systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:1612–1633
Patrick WH Jr, Mahapatra IC (1968) Transformation and availability to rice of nitrogen and phos-
phorus in water logged soils. Adv Agron 20:323–359
Pinheiro B da S (1999). Characteristicas morphologicas da planta relacionadas a produtivadade. In
(VieraNRA, SantosA B, dos Sant’Ana de. Guimeraes EP (eds) A Cultura do Arroz no Brasil.
Embrapa Arroz e Feijao, Santo Antonio de Goias, Go, pp. 116–147
Pinheiro B d S, Castro EM d, Guimaraes CM (2006) Sustainability and profitability of aerobic rice
production in Brazil. Field Crops Res 97:34–42
Ponnamperuma FN (1972) The chemistry of submerged soils. Adv Agron 24:29–96
Potrykus I, Armstrong GA, Beyer P et al (1996) Transgenic indica rice for the benefit of less devel-
oped countries: toward fungal, insect, and viral resistance and accumulation of beta-carotene in
the endosperm. In: Proceedings of third International rice genetics symposium, October1995,
Manila. International Rice Research Institute, Philippines.
Prabhjyot-Kaur, Hundal SS (2006) Effect of possible futuristic climate change scenarios on pro-
ductivity of some kharif and rabi crops in the central agro-climatic zone of Punjab. J Agric Phys
6:21–27
Prasad R (2000) A text book of rice agronomy. Jain Brothers, New Delhi
Prasad R (2005) Rice-wheat cropping systems. Adv Agron 86:255–339
Prasad R (2007) Crop nutrition-principles and practices. New Vishal Publications, New Delhi
28 R. Prasad et al.

Prasad R (2011) Aerobic rice systems. Adv Agron 111:207–255

Prasad R (2013) Fertilizer nitrogen, food security, health and the environment. Proc Natn Sci Acad
79(4):997–110
Prasad R, Power JF (1995) Nitrification inhibitors for agriculture, health and the environment. Adv
Agron 54:233–281
Prasad R, Shivay YS (2014) Fertilizer nitrogen for the life, agriculture and the environment. Indian
J Fert 11(8):47–53
Prasad R, Shivay YS (2015) Fertilizer nitrogen for the life, agriculture and the environment. Indian
J Fert 11(8):47–53
Prasad R, Rajale JB, Lakhdive BA (1971) Nitrification retarders and slow-release nitrogen fertil-
izers. Adv Agron 23:337–383
Prasad R, Singh S, Saxena VS, Devakumar C (1994) Coating prilled urea with neem (Azadirachta
indica Juss) oil for efficient nitrogen use. Naturwissenschaften 86:538–539
Prasad R, Singh R, Rani A, Singh D (2000) Partial factor productivity of nitrogen and its use effi-
ciency in rice and wheat. Fert News 45(5):63–65
Prasad R, Shivay YS, Kumar D, Sharma SN, Devakumar C (2007) Neem for sustainable agricul-
ture and the environment – a review. Proc Nat Acad Acad Sci Sect B 77:313–330
Prasad R, Shivay YS, Kumar D (2014) Agronomic biofortification of cereal grains with iron and
zinc. Adv Agron 125:55–91
Prasad R, Shivay YS, Nene YL (2016) Asia’s contribution to evolution of world agriculture. Asian
Agri-History 20(4): 233–250 (in Press)
Pulver E, Jaramillo S, Moreira S, Zorilla G (2010) Catching the rains. Rice Today 9(3):14–16
Rahim A, Jabbar A, Hashim AA, Khan NA (1992) Chemical control of yellow stem borer in Sindh.
Pakistan J Agric Res 13(4):380–389
Rahman MB, Hossain SMA, Biswas JC, Islam SA, Sarkar ABS, Rahman MA (2008) Studies on
the performances of wet-seeded and transplanted Aman and Boro rice. Eco-Friendly Agric
J 1:18–25
Ramakrishna B, Satpathy SN, Patnaik P, Adhya TK, Rao VR, Sethunathan N (1995) Methane
production in two Indian soils. Geomicrobiol J 13:193–199
Rath AK, Mohanty SR, Mishra S, Kumaraswamy S, Ramakrishna B, Sethunathan N (1999)
Methane production in unamended and straw-amended soil at different moisture levels. Biol
Fertil Soils 28:145–149
Ravishankara AR, Daniel JS, Portman RW (2009) Nitrous oxide (N2O): the dominant ozone-
depleting substance emitted in the 21st century. Science 326:123–125
Reddy RNS, Prasad R (1975) Studies on mineralization of urea, coated urea and nitrification inhib-
itor treated urea. J Soil Sci 36:304–312
Rickman J (2012) Humans and machines. Rice Today 11(2):28–29
RKB (2015) Rural knowledge Bank. International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos (via
internet)
Roberts JE (2011) Ultraviolet radiation as a risk factor for cataract and macular degeneration. Eye
Contact Lens 37(4):246–249
Robinson DF (2010) Confronting biopiracy: challenges and international database. Earthscan,
p. 47
Rubin JS (2004) The maker’s diet. Penguin, New York
Sample EC, Sopex RJ, Racz CJ (1986) Reactions of phosphate fertilizers in soils. In: Khasawneth
FE, Sample EC, Kamprath EJ (eds) The role of phosphorus in agriculture, 2nd print. American
Society of Agronomy, and Soil Science Society of America, Madison
Sanders BD, Samson M, Buresh RJ (2014) Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from flooded rice
fields as affected by water and straw management between rice crops. Geoderma
235:355–362
Sang T, Ge S (2013) Understanding rice domestication and implications for cultivar improvement.
Curr Opin Plant Biol 16:139–146
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 29

Santana MR (2010) Shift to rice. Rice Today 9(3):16

Sass RL, Fisher FM Jr, Harcombe PA, Turner FT (1990) Mitigation of methane emssions from rice
fields: possible adverse effects of incorporated rice straw. Global Biogeochem Cycles
5:275–287
Sass RL, Fisher FM Jr, Ding A (1999) Exchange of methane from rice fields: national, regional and
global budgets. J Geophys Res 104(D21):26943–26951
Schindler DW (1974) Eutrophication and recovery in experimental lakes: implications for lake
management. Science 184:897–899
Sekhon GS, Brar MS, Subba Rao A (1992) Potassium in some Benchmark soils of India. Potash
Research Institute of India, Gurgaon
Shah T (2005) Groundwater and human development: Challenges and opportunities in livelihoods
and environment. Water Sci Technol 51:27–37
Shah T (2007) The groundwater economy of South Asia: An assessment of size, significance and
socio-ecological impacts. In: Giordano M, Villholth KG (eds) The agricultural groundwater
revolution: opportunities and threats to development. CABI International, Oxfordshire, pp. 7–36
Shah T, Molden D, Sakthivadivel R, Seckler D (2000) The global groundwater situation: overview
of opportunities and challenges. International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo
Sharma SN, Prasad R (1999) Effect of Sesbania green manuring and mungbean residue incorporation in
productivity and nitrogen uptake of a rice-wheat cropping systems. Bioresource Tech 67:171–175
Sharma PK, Bhushan L, Ladha JK, Naresh PK, Gupta RK, Balasubramanian BV, Bouman BM
(2002a) Crop water relations in rice–wheat cropping under different tillage systems and water
management practices in amarginally sodic, medium textured soil. In: Bouman BAM,
Hengsdijk H, Hardy B, Bindraban PS, Tuong TP, Ladha JK (eds) Water-wise rice production.
International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, pp. 223–235
Sharma SN, Bohra JS, Singh PK, Srivastava RK (2002b) Effect of tillage and mechanization on
production potential of rice (Oryza sativa)–wheat (Triticum aestivum) cropping system. Indian
J Agron 47(3):305–310
Sharma PK, Ladha JK, Bhushan L (2003) Soil physical effects of puddling in rice-wheat cropping
systems. In: Ladha JK, Hill JE, Duxbury JM, Gupta RK, Buresh RJ (eds) Improving the
Productivity and Sustainability of Rice-Wheat Systems: Issues and Impacts. ASA Special
Publication 65, Madison, pp. 97–113
Sharma P, Tripathi RP, Singh S, Kumar R (2004) Effects of tillage on soil physical properties and
crop performance under rice-wheat system. J Indian Soc Soil Sci 62:12–16
Sharma SN, Prasad R, Shivay YS, Dwivedi MK, Kumar S, Davari MR, Ram M, Kumar D (2010)
Relative efficiency of diammonium phosphate and mussoorie phosphate rock on productivity
and phosphorus balance in a rice-rape seed–mungbean cropping system. Nutr Cycl Agroecocyst
86:199–209
Shaviv A (2001) Advances in controlled-release fertilizers. Adv Agron 71:1–49
Singh VP (2000) Aromatic rices. In: Singh RK, Singh US, Khush GS (eds) The basmati rices of
India. Oxford & IBH, New Delhi, pp. 135–156
Singh K, Sharma HC, Sarangi SK, Sudhakar PC (2003) Iron nutrition in rice. Fert News 48(2):21–31
Singh A, Singh VK, Singh SP et al (2012) Molecular breeding for the development of multiple
disease resistance in Basmati rice. AoB Plants. 2012:pls029. 10.1093/aobpla/pls029. Epub
2012 Nov 2)
Singh VK, Dwivedi BS, Tiwari KN, Majumdar K, Rani M, Singh SK, Timsina J (2014) Optimizing
nutrient management strategies for rice–wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India and
adjacent region for higher productivity, nutrient use efficiency and profits. Field Crops Res
164:30–44
Smil V (2002) Phosphorus in the environment: natural flows and the human interferences. Annu
Rev Energy Environ 25:53–88
Souza C (2005) Pilots take to the air to plant rice crops. AgAlert May 18:2005
Stein AJ (2010) Global impact of human mineral nutrition. Plant and Soil 335:133–154
30 R. Prasad et al.

Suh JP, Jeung JU, Noh TH et al (2013) Development of breeding lines with three pyramidad resis-
tance genes that confer broad spectrum bacterial blight resistance and their molecular analysis
in rice. Rice 6.5 (11 ages) (http://thericejournal.com/content/6/1/5)
Sun B, Wang XX, Zhang TL (2003) Influencing factors of the nutrient leaching in red soils. J Agro-
Environ Sci 22(3):257–262
Swaminathan MS (1984) Rice in 2000 AD. report of the national relevance no. 1. Indian National
Science Academy, New Delhi, p. 23
Synder CS, Slaton NA (2001) Rice production in the United States-an overview. Better Crops
85(3):3–7
Takahashi M, Nakanishi S, Kawasaki S, Nishizawa NK, Mori S (2001) Enhanced tolerance of rice
to low iron availability in alkaline soils using Barley nicotianamine aminotransferase genes.
Nat Biotechnol 19:466–469
Tan L (2015) Global fertilizer outlook-8. China fertilizer industry struggling because of overcapac-
ity. The Progressive Farmer, Jan 9, 2015
Tanaka A, Ranjit P, Mullariyawa RP, Yasu T (1968) Possibility of H2S induced iron toxicity in rice
plants. Soil Sci Plant Nutr 14:1–6
Tandon HLS, Sekhon GS (1988) Potassium research and agricultural production in India. Fertilizer
Development & Consultation Organization, New Delhi
Thakur AK, Roychowdhury S, Kundu DK, Singh R (2004) Evaluation of planting methods in
irrigated rice. Arch Agron. Soil Sci 50:631–640
Thomson AJ, Gianopoulos G, Pretty J, Baggs EM, Richardson DJ (2011) Biological sources and
sinks of nitrous oxide and strategies to mitigate emissions. Philos Trans R Soc Lond Biol Sci
367(1593):1157–1168
Tian H, Chen G, Lu Ch et al (2015) Global methane and nitrous oxide emissions from terrestrial
ecosystems due to multiple environmental changes. Ecosyst Health Sustain 1 art 4 (http://dx.
doi.10.1890/EHS14-0015.1)
Timmer P (2010) Food security in Asia and the changing role of rice. The Asia Foundation
Occasional Paper No. 4
Tiwari KN (2014) Potassium management. In: Prasad R, Kumar D, Rana DS, Shivay YS, Tewatia
RK (eds) A textbook of plant nutrient management. Indian Society of Agronomy, New Delhi,
pp. 122–143
Towprayoon S, Smakgahn K, Poonkaew S (2005) Mitigation of methane and nitrous oxide emis-
sions from drained rice fields. Chemosphere 59(11):1547–1556
Trenbath KE, Dai A, van der Schrier G et al (2014) Global warming and changes in drought. Nat
Climate Change 4:17–22
Trenkel M (1997) Controlled-release and stabilized fertilizers. International Fertilizer Industry
Association, Paris, p. 151
Tripathi RP, Sharma P, Singh S (2005) Tillage index: an approach to optimize tillage in rice-wheat
system. Soil Till Res 80:125–137
Tuong TP, Bouman BAM (2003) Rice production in water-scarce environments. In: Kijne JW,
Barker R, Molden D (eds) Water productivity in agriculture: limits and opportunities for
improvements. CABI Publishing, Cambridge, pp. 53–67
Tuong TP, Bouman BAM, Mortimer M (2004) More rice, less water—Integrated approaches for
increasing water productivity in irrigated rice-based systems in Asia. In “Proceedings of the 4th
International Crop Science Congress, 26 September–1October 2004, Brisbane, Australia on
“New directions for a diverse planet” (www.cropscience.org.au.)
USDA (2013) USDA Agricultural Projections to 2022. Outlook No OCE-131, US Department of
Agriculture, Maryland, p. 105
USGS (2008) Mineral commodity summaries and potash, January 2008. US Geological Survey,
Washington DC
Ussiri D, Lal R (2012) Soil emission of nitrous oxide and its mitigation. Springer-Verlaag,
Netherland, p. 395
1  Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities in Rice Production 31

Van-Kauwenbergh SJ, Stewart M, Mikkelsen R (2013) World reserves of phosphate rocks and
unfolding a dynamic story. Better Crops 97(3):18–20
Vencill WK, Nichols RL, Webster TM et al (2012) Herbicide resistance toward an understanding
of resistance development and impact of herbicide-resistance crops. Weed Sci 60(Spl):2–30
Virmani SS, Siddique EA, Muralidharan K (1997) Advances in hybrid rice technology. International
Rice Research Institute, Manila
Vughan DA, Lu B, Tomooka N (2008) The evolving story of rice evolution. Plant Sci
174(4):394–408
Wailes EJ and Chavez EC (2012) World rice outlook-International rice baseline with deterministic
and stochastic projections 2012–2021. Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness,
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Wang MX, Dai A, Huang J et al (1994) Sources of methane in China. In: Minami K, Mosier A, RL
S (eds) CH4 and N2O: global emission and controls from rice fields. National Institute of Agro-­
Environmental Sciences, Yokendo/Tokyo, pp. 9–26
Wassmann R, Dobermann A (2007) Climate change adaptation through rice production in regions
with high poverty levels. ICRISAT J Agric Res 4(1):1–24
Wassmann R, Jagdish SVK, Sumfleth K et al (2009) Rapid vulnerability of climate change impacts
on Asian rice production and scope for adoption. Adv Agron 102:91–133
WEF (2011) Realizing a new vision for agriculture: a road map for stakeholders. World Economic
Forum, Switzerland, p. 29
Wong HS, Morooka Y. (1996). Economy of direct seeding rice farming. Recent advances in
Malaysian Rice Production. Muda Agricultural Development Authority and Japan: Japan
International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, Malaysia, pp. 275–287
Wongpornchai S, Sriseadka T, Choonvisase S (2003) Identification and quantification of the rice
aroma compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrolline in bread flowers (Vallaris glabr Ktze). J  Agric Food
Chem 51(2):457–462
Workman D (2015) Rice exports by country. World’s Top Exports (WTEx), 21 August 2015 (via
internet)
World Bank-IDA (2015). http://data.worldbank.org/
Xia Y, Yan X (2012) Ecologically optimum nitrogen application rates in rice cropping in the Taihu
Lake region of China. Sustain Sci 7:33–44
Xia TX, Li WC, Pan ZJ (2008) Risk assessment on soil environment quality and losses of nitrogen
and phosphorus from the gravel soils under different farming practices in the watershed of Lake
Fuxian. J Lake Sci 20:110–116
Xu L, Yang M, Brian LS (2011) System of field operations for double-cropped paddy rice produc-
tion mechanization in South China. Proc Agric Biosyst Eng Conf. Paper 32. ­(http://lib.dr.
iastate.edu/abe_eng_conf/32)
Yagi K, Tsuruta H, Minami K, Chairoj P, Chotikul W (1994) Methane emission from Japanese and
Thai fields. In: Minami K, Mosier A, Sass RL (eds) CH4 and N2O: global emission and controls
from rice fields. National Institute of Agro-Environmental Sciences, Yokendo/Tokyo
Yamaguchi J (1999) Sulphur deficiency of rice plants in the Lower Volta Area, Ghana. Soil Sci
Plan Nutr 45(2):367–373
Ye X, Al-babili S, Kloti A, Zhang J, Lucca P, Beter P, Potrykus I (2000) Engineering the pro-­
vitamin A (beta carotene) biosythesis pathway into (carotenoid free) rice endosperm. Science
287:303–305
Yin X, Struik PC (2008) Applying modelling experiences from the past to shape crop system biology:
the need to converge crop physiology and functional genomics. New Phytol 179(3):629–642
Zafar Y. 2015. Genetic diversity of rice in Pakistan. National Institute of Genomics and Advanced
Biotechnology (NIGAB), Islamabad, Pakistan; Available online: http://ec.europa.eu/
agriculture/analysis/external/basmati/rice_pakistan_zafar_en.pdf.
Zhang F, Zhang W, Fan M, Wang J (2007a) Improving fertilizer use efficiency through management
practices-Chinese experience. The Fertilizer Association of India Annual Seminar Papers, New Delhi
32 R. Prasad et al.

Zhang ZJ, Jy Z, He R, Wang ZD, Zhu YM (2007b) Phosphorus interaction in floodwater of paddy
field during rice growing season in Tai Lake Basin. Environ Pollut 145:425–433
Zhang W, Ma W, Ji Y, Fan M, Oenema O, Zhang F (2008) Efficiency, economics, and environmen-
tal implications of phosphorus resource use and the fertilizer industry in China. Nutr Cycl
Agroecosyst 80:131–144
Zhang G, Siyu, G, Jumai L, Minggang X (2010) The relationship between fertilizer and yield of
high-yield paddy in middle and lower reaches of Yangtze river. Soil Fert Sci China 1:75–80.
Zhao DL, Atlin GN, Amante M, Cruz TS, Kumar A (2010) Developing aerobic rice cultivars for
water-short irrigated and drought prone rainfed areas in the tropics. Crop Sci 50:2268–2276
Zhou MJ, Shen ZL, Yu RC (2008) Response of a coastal phytoplankton community to increased
nutrients from Changjiang (Yangtze) River. Continental Shelf Res 28:1483–1489
Zhu JP, Chang ZZ, Zheng JC, Chen LG (2007) Analysis on nitrogen and phosphorus losses and
economic returns of major cropping systems in Tai Lake region. Jiangsu Agri Sci 2007(3):612–
613 (in Chinese)
Zou J, Hung Y, Jiang J, Zheng X, Saas RL (2005) A 3-year field measurement of methane and
nitrous oxide emission from rice paddies in China: effects of water regime, crop residue and
fertilizer application. Global Biogeochem Cycles 19:GB2012. doi:10.1029/2004GB002401
Zuk-Golaszewska K, Upadhyay MK, Golaszweski G (2003) The effect of UVB radiation on plant
growth and development. Plant Cell Environ 49(3):135–140
Zumft WG (1997) Cell biology and molecular basis of denitrification. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev
61:533–616
Chapter 2
Rice Production in China

Lixiao Nie and Shaobing Peng

2.1  Summary

Rice is one of the prominent cereal crops in China, and about 65 % of Chinese
people rely on rice. Nearly 95 % of the rice grown in China is produced under
traditional puddled transplanted conditions in China with prolonged periods of
flooding. However, several factors have threatened the sustainability and produc-
tivity of traditional puddled transplanted rice production system, such as climate
change, decline in rice planting area, scarcity of labor availability, narrow genetic
background of rice varieties, overuse of fertilizers and chemicals, poor extension
system, and oversimplified crop management. Chinese government and rice sci-
entists put sincere efforts to cope with these constraints. New breeding techniques
such as marker-assisted selection, transformation, and genetic engineering were
adopted to increase yield potential. Synergy among fertilizer, water, and pest and
weed management should be considered to maximize overall efficiency of the rice
production system. Nowadays, labor shortage in rural areas is the major con-
straint to the flood-­transplanted rice production in China, and the mechanization
for rice production is the key to solve this problem. Direct seeding rice is a prom-
ising planting technique in face of water and labor shortages in rice cultivation
with advantages of less input requirement, more economic returns, and less meth-
ane and CO2 emissions.

L. Nie (*) • S. Peng

National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, MOA Key Laboratory of Crop
Ecophysiology and Farming System in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of
Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University,
Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 33

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_2
34 L. Nie and S. Peng

2.2  Introduction

China is a leading rice-producing country in the world, contributing 28.7 % of the

global rice production (FAOSTAT 2013). Rice is a major staple food in China and
the subsistence crop for most of the resource-poor farmers and consumers in rural
areas. Rice is grown in almost every province of China except Qinghai. Three-­
quarters of the total rice area is planted with indica rice varieties and the rest with
japonica rice varieties. Indica rice varieties are generally grown in the south and
japonicas in the north. During the past decades, China became self-sufficient in
basic food for the first time in modern history. Hybrid rice is one of the greatest
innovations and miracles in the world, which contributed greatly to the food secu-
rity in China in the past 30 years. Hybrid rice varieties occupy about 50 % of China’s
total rice planting areas (Yuan 2003).
China ranks first in the world in total annual rice production (about 203.6 mil-
lion tons in 2013). Despite the sufficient current rice production, an additional
20 % increase in rice yield is still desired to meet the demands of the growing
population by the 2020s (Peng et al. 2009). Land resources suitable for rice cul-
tivation are currently limited in China; hence, improvement in the rice productiv-
ity is necessary to meet the future food demands. However, available evidence
indicates that increasing trends in the Chinese rice yields have slowed down in
recent decades (Cassman et al. 2003; Peng et al. 2009; Ray et al. 2012). Yield gap
analyses reveal that Chinese rice yields have been approaching their biophysical
potential ceiling in recent years (Cassman et al. 2003; Lobell et al. 2009; Licker
et al. 2010; Neumann et al. 2010; van Wart et al. 2013). Recently, a simulation
model has indicated that the current average Chinese rice yield is approximately
82 % of the national yield potential (van Wart et al. 2013). Reaching potential
yield ceiling has been considered as the yield stagnation (Cassman 1999; van
Wart et al. 2013).
China’s agricultural production is facing the global climate change, population
increase, serious disease and insect damage, labor shortage, water scarcity, yield
stagnation, and environmental pollution. All these factors are threatening the sus-
tainability and productivity of rice production systems in China.

2.3  History, Importance, Area, and Production

More than 28 % of the total global rice is produced in China, and the stability of rice
production in China plays an important role in the world’s food security (FAOSTAT
2013). It is one of the prominent cereal crops in China as about 65 % of Chinese
people rely on rice (Zhang et al. 2005). Rice was grown on 18 % of the total arable
area of China, representing 34.6 % of the total Chinese grain production (FAOSTAT
2013). In China, nearly 95  % of the rice grown is produced under traditionally
2  Rice Production in China 35

puddled conditions subjected to transplanting with prolonged periods of flooding

(Peng et al. 2009).
Rice production in China has increased more than three times over the past six
decades due to vertical increase in grain yield per plant, per unit area rather than
horizontal expansion of area. The increase in grain yield has resulted from the
development of new varieties such as semidwarf varieties in the 1950s and hybrid
rice varieties in the 1970s and from improved crop management practices such as
nitrogen fertilization and irrigation (Peng et al. 2009). Since the 1990s, the adoption
of hybrid rice varieties has been widely increased because of the heterosis from
hybridization. The proportion of hybrid rice varieties to the total rice planting area
was hovering around 60–65 %; however, the proportion has never exceeded 70 % in
China (Mao et al. 2006).
Although rice production in China is distributed across temperate, subtropical,
and tropical areas, most of the rice is produced in the subtropical areas. Based on
the climate and cropping systems, rice production in China has been classified
into six agroecological zones and 15 subzones (China National Rice Research
Institute 1988).

2.4  Rice-Based Cropping Systems

Southern China is the main rice production area in China, accounting for 94 % of
national rice planting area and 88 % of national rice production (Ma et al. 2013).
The rice-based cropping systems in China are diverse due to a diversity in agrocli-
matic zones. There are three major rice cropping patterns in China: single rice crop-
ping per year, annual rice-upland crop rotations, and double rice cropping annually.
Single rice cropping system is mainly located in Northern China, and it accounts for
17 % of the total rice production in China (National Bureau of Statistics of China
2011). Annual rice-upland crop rotation system (rice-wheat or rice-rapeseed rota-
tion) is mainly located in Central China (in the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei,
and Sichuan along the Yangtze River Valley), and it accounts for 49  % of total
Chinese rice production (National Bureau of Statistics of China 2011). Double rice
cropping system mainly located in South China accounts for 34 % of the total rice
production in China (National Bureau of Statistics of China 2011). However, plant-
ing area of double rice cropping in China has been decreasing continuously. The
proportion of double rice cropping area to total rice production area has dropped
from 71 % in 1970s to about 40 % at present (Bai 2013; Zhu et al. 2013). The main
reasons for this decline are labor shortage, low degree of mechanization, and low
production efficiency for double rice cropping. However, the planting area of single
rice cropping system with japonica rice varieties in Northeast China has increased
by 485 % because of the relative high comparative profits of rice production and the
improvement of people’s living standards (Xu et  al. 2010; National Bureau of
Statistics of China 2011).
36 L. Nie and S. Peng

2.5  Varieties and Genetic Improvement

Hybrid rice research was initiated by Prof. Yuan Longping in the1960s. In the 1970s,
the first hybrid combination was developed with good heterosis and high grain
yield. Technology for large-scale hybrid seed production was fully developed in
1975. The release of hybrid rice for commercial production was started in 1976.
Since then, China became the first country to adopt hybrid rice technology over a
large production area (Ma and Yuan 2015). At present, hybrid rice cultivars occu-
pied more than half of the total rice-growing area in China, including both three-line
system and two-line system hybrid rice varieties (Virmani et  al. 2003). In recent
years, two-line hybrid varieties are grown in 3 million ha. It has been demonstrated
that the two-line system hybrids provide 5–10 % higher yield than the three-line
system hybrids (Ma and Yuan 2015).
The methods for rice breeding include both conventional breeding and molecular
breeding. Conventional breeding selects genotypes indirectly through phenotypes
which are generally effective for qualitative traits but not for quantitative traits,
while molecular breeding refers to the development of new rice varieties by integrat-
ing the means of modern biotechnology into conventional breeding methods, which
mainly involve marker-assisted selection and molecular breeding. The transforma-
tion of rice breeding from conventional genetics to molecular design of new variet-
ies is a general trend, which ensures the breeding of new varieties with improved
agronomic traits in terms of the yield, grain quality, resource-use efficiency, disease
and pest resistance, and stress tolerance. In recent years, great efforts have been
made in rice genome sequencing, and there have been significant developments in
functional genomics. A number of genes have been successfully transferred in mega
rice varieties. Multiple chromosome segment substitution lines are constructed, and
a large number of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been identified.
In order to meet the food requirement of China in the twenty-first century, a
super rice breeding program was launched in 1996 by the Ministry of Agriculture in
China. Following the super rice breeding program, Prof. Yuan put forwarded the
theory of super hybrid rice, emphasizing on the plant morphological improvement
and utilization of the inter-subspecific heterosis. To increase rice production quanti-
tatively and qualitatively in harmony with the environment, Zhang (2007) proposed
strategies for developing Green Super Rice (GSR) in 2007. GSR should possess the
following characteristics: adequate resistances to major diseases and insects, high
efficiency in nutrient uptake and utilization, resistance to drought and other abiotic
stresses, good quality, and increased yield potential. The general strategy is to
develop green super rice (GSR) by introducing and evaluating the rice germplasm
resources originating from all over the world, developing the introgression popula-
tions, and mapping the elite genes/QTLs with the molecular markers through the
collaborative research of ten institutes in different ecological areas. After 10 years
of struggle, a national molecular rice breeding network and a molecular breeding
platform have been developed, and a series of new varieties with high yield potential
and water-saving, disease, and insect resistance were developed.
2  Rice Production in China 37

In recent years, great progress has been made on molecular breeding in rice, and
the productivity per unit area has been significantly improved in China. More atten-
tion has been given to the development and utilization of wild rice, because wild
rice provides rich genetic resources with good traits such as strong pest resistance
and stress tolerance. Furthermore, a great focus has been given for understanding
the vital role of wide compatibility resources in rice heterosis.

2.6  Rice Production Methods

Rice planting methods in any specific area rely on the prevailing environment, eco-
logical conditions, and the socioeconomic factors. Traditional rice planting technol-
ogy based on artificial transplanting will no longer be able to meet the social and
economic requirements; therefore, it is inevitable to develop cost-efficient and
labor-saving rice planting methods. Major rice planting methods include manual
transplanting, direct seeding (manual and mechanical direct seeding), throwing
transplanting, mechanical transplanting, and ratooning rice. Area of manual trans-
planting is continuously declining due to the labor shortage in rural areas, and now
manual transplanting is mainly limited to areas of relatively high population den-
sity, low per capita arable land area, small-scale farming, and abundant labor force.
Area of direct-seeded rice (DSR) has increased from 2 % in 2000 to about 11 % of
the total rice area in 2009. Over the same period, mechanical transplanting increased
from 2 % to about 13% of rice area (Zhang et al. 2012).
In Europe, America, and Australia, most of the rice was produced by direct seed-
ing, whereas Japan and South Korea farmers mainly adopted mechanical transplant-
ing for rice cultivation and to some extent mechanical direct seeding. DSR
technology has been proposed to reduce water and other input requirements, for
saving energy and labor demand, lowering the risk of methane emission, and
increasing the system productivity. DSR refers to the process of establishing the
crop from seeds sown in the field rather than by transplanting seedlings from the
nursery. There are three principal methods of DSR systems: dry seeding (sowing dry
seeds into dry soil), wet seeding (sowing dry or pre-germinated seeds on puddled
soil), and water seeding (seeds sown into standing water). DSR, especially dry DSR,
is becoming popular nowadays because of less water consumption, reduced labor
intensity, easy mechanization during crop establishment, and less methane emis-
sion. In the world, 23 % of rice is grown under DSR system. In China, the planting
area for DSR is increasing rapidly since the 1990s, and DSR is mainly located in the
middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River in Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Guangdong,
Yunnan, Hubei, and Xinjiang provinces. The proportion of DSR area to total rice
planting area in China has increased to around 10 %. Wet seeding accounts for over
80 % of DSR planting area, and manual broadcasting is common in this method (Su
et al. 2014). Taking Zhejiang Province as an example, the DSR developed fast from
the 1990s (Wang 2015). During 1995–1999, the proportion of DSR planting area to
total rice planting area in Zhejiang Province was around 10  %, which increased
38 L. Nie and S. Peng

Fig. 2.1  The proportion of

to total rice planting area in Zhejiang province (%)

50
DSR planting area to total
rice planting area from
1995 to 2013 in Zhejiang

The proportion of DSR area

40
Province, China (Modified
from Wang 2015)
30

20

10

0
1995-1999 2000-2003 2004-2008 2009-2013
Year

from 11 % in 1999 to 20 % in 2003; and during 2008–2013, this proportion reached
to 37 % (Fig. 2.1) of the total rice production area.

2.7  Major Production Constraints

2.7.1  I nstability in Rice Planting Area and Decline in Labor

Availability

In China, the annual cultivated area of rice has reached 30 million ha, which is
one-­third of the total area of grain crops. During the past three decades, the rice
cultivation area has reached the highest record of 33.5 million ha in 1990, and
since then, it declined gradually. In 2003, the area under rice in China was dropped
to 26.8 million ha. China has introduced many encouragement policies, resulting
in restorative growth in rice planting since 2004. In 2013, rice planting area
climbed to 30.6 million ha (Fig. 2.2). The reduction in rice planting area was
largely caused by the construction of new buildings and roads and reforestation on
marginal arable land. Rice is often in a disadvantageous position when it competes
with cash crops for planting area. Therefore, most of the future increase in rice
production must come from greater yields on existing crop land to avoid environ-
mental degradation, destruction of natural ecosystem, and loss of biodiversity
(Cassman 1999).
Accompanied by the instability in rice planting area, the expansion of urban
areas has led to a labor shortage for agricultural production in rural areas (Cai and
Chen 2000). In recent years, massive labor force in the age group of 18–40 years has
migrated to the cities, and both the quantity and quality of labor for rice production
have markedly declined (Fang et al. 2004). Consequently, the daily wage of labor
for rice farming has doubled in less than 10 years (Peng et al. 2009).
2  Rice Production in China 39

Fig. 2.2  Rice planting a

area (a), total rice 180
production (b), and grain
yield (c) in China and the 160
world from 1961 to 2013

Planting area (Million ha)

140
(FAOSTAT, 2015)
120 World
100
80
60
40 China

20
0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

b
800

700
Rice production (Million ton)

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

c
7

6
Grain yield (t ha-1)

1
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
40 L. Nie and S. Peng

2.7.2  Narrow Genetic Background

Narrow genetic background of parent materials is the main cause for the low crop
yield, quality, and weak stress resistance (both biotic and abiotic), while wild rice
provides rich genetic resources with good traits such as strong pest resistance and
stress tolerance. More than 95  % of wild rice germplasm collections worldwide
have never been used in any breeding program primarily because of the technical
limitations of the conventional breeding approach (Li 2005). The direct conse-
quence of this under use of germplasm resources by conventional breeding
approaches has been documented to low genetic diversity in commercially grown
rice cultivars and their vulnerability to biotic and abiotic stresses. The situation is
even worst in China because 50 % of the rice planting area is occupied by hybrid
rice (Yuan 2003). Hybrid rice varieties were developed using a few male sterile lines
as the female parent (Fang et al. 2004). Most of the restorer lines used as a male
parent were related to tropical indica rice varieties.

2.7.3  Overuse of Fertilizers

The excessive use of nitrogenous (N) fertilizer has resulted in decreased nitrogen-­
use efficiency and critical negative effects on the environment (Cassman 1999).
China is currently the world’s largest consumer of N fertilizers. In 2006, annual N
fertilizer consumption in China was 31 million metric tons being 31.7 % (almost 1/3
of worldwide use) of the global N consumption (Heffer and Prud’homme 2008).
The average rate of N application for rice production in China was 180 kg per hect-
are, about 75 % higher than the world average (Peng et al. 2002). Because of the
high rate of N application, only 20–30 % of N is taken up by the rice plant in current
season, and a large proportion of N is lost to the environment (Peng et al. 2006).
Therefore, rice grain yield has increased by only 5–10 kg for every kilogram of N
fertilizer input in China (Peng et al. 2006). Overapplication of N fertilizer may actu-
ally decrease grain yield by increasing susceptibility to lodging and damage from
pests and diseases. The excessive use of N fertilizer is also partially responsible for
the overuse of pesticides (Peng et al. 2002). On an average, Chinese rice farmers
used 40 % higher pesticides than the actual requirement (Huang et al. 2003).

2.7.4  P
 oor Extension System and Oversimplified Crop
Management

China has about 150,000 agro-tech extension and service stations with 1.03 million
staff members (Fang et al. 2004; Peng et al. 2009). Because of insufficient financial
support from the government, many extension staff members have to earn part of
2  Rice Production in China 41

their salary from selling agrochemicals and seeds to farmers. Therefore, a new tech-
nology may not be available to the farmers quickly because of a weak extension
system. This phenomenon is associated with the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides
by Chinese rice farmers and consequently caused rice yield loss (Fang et al. 2004).
The labor input for rice production has significantly decreased in China, espe-
cially in economically developed regions because of labor migration and increase in
labor wages. As a consequence, many rice farmers have greatly simplified crop
management practices (Cai and Chen 2000; Peng et al. 2009). For example, some
rice farmers apply fertilizers only once before crop establishment during the whole
growing season to avoid in-season fertilizer application. Some farmers transplant
rice at extremely wide spacing to reduce labor cost. As a result, rice grain yield will
decline under these oversimplified crop management practices.

2.8  Challenges and Opportunities

2.8.1  Increasing Yield Potential

Rice varieties with higher yield potential must be developed to enhance average
farm yield in order to increase total rice production (Peng et al. 1999). In the past,
great improvement in rice yield potential was achieved with ample supply of water
and nutrients (Peng and Bouman 2007). China has been at the forefront in develop-
ing high-yielding varieties using semidwarf, hybrid, and new plant-type breeding
approaches. China’s “super” rice breeding project has developed many F1 hybrid
varieties using the combination of ideotype approach and inter-subspecific heterosis
(Yu and Lei 2001; Min et al. 2002). In on-farm demonstrations, these hybrid variet-
ies produced grain yield of 12 tons per hectare, which was 8–15 % higher than that
of the hybrid check varieties. Yield records have been frequently broken by newly
developed super hybrid rice varieties. However, it is not easy to achieve high yields
with the “super” rice varieties consistently across seasons and locations. Because of
water scarcity and environmental stresses, increase in rice yield with less water and
chemical input is a great challenge (Peng and Bouman 2007). Zhang (2007) pro-
posed strategies for developing GSR.  To increase yield potential, new breeding
techniques such as marker-assisted selection, transformation, and genetic engineer-
ing should be combined effectively with the conventional breeding methods.

2.8.2  Varieties with Abiotic and Biotic Resistance

Rice production in China faces abiotic stresses such as drought, heat, cold, submer-
gence, etc. Due to global warming, drought and heat episodes are more frequent than
ever before, causing yield losses in the major rice-growing areas (Tao et al. 2003).
42 L. Nie and S. Peng

Scientists have dissected the genetic basis and mapped the genes (QTLs) in crosses
between drought-tolerant germplasm and elite cultivars (Yue et al. 2006). A molecu-
lar breeding approach has been used to develop new varieties with drought tolerance,
and many candidate genes have been identified for engineering drought tolerance in
rice (Zhang 2007). Studies demonstrated significant genotypic variation in high
temperature-induced spikelet sterility, and tolerant varieties were identified
(Prasad et al. 2006).
In China, rice crop also suffers from insect infestation (e.g., brown plant hop-
per, stem borer, etc.) and diseases (blast, bacterial blight, sheath blight, leaf blight,
false smut), which are causing huge yield losses every year (Wang et al. 2005).
Infestations of brown plant hopper have become severe in recent years, probably
because of the breakdown in ecosystem stability caused by the heavy use of pes-
ticides and the increase in air temperature associated with global warming. It was
estimated that China lost 2.77 million tons of rice because of brown plant hopper
outbreaks in 2005. Scientists in China have already isolated and cloned many
genes with disease and insect resistance from cultivated and wild rice species
(Zhang 2007). These genes with multiple resistances have been transferred into
the local varieties through transformation or backcrossing. Bt-transgenic rice is a
successful example for controlling stem borer although it has not been released
officially for commercial production (Huang et al. 2005). For disease resistance,
another strategy is to focus on quantitative resistance (mostly polygenic) that pro-
vides broad-spectrum resistance against multiple pathogen races or different
pathogens (Mew et al. 2004). This can be combined with major resistance genes
to achieve a higher crop resistance.
Because weeds germinate concurrently with rice and there is no water layer to
suppress weed growth, DSR fields are more species rich with greater diversity in
weed flora than flood-transplanted rice (Tomita et al. 2003; Rao et al. 2007; Jabran
et al. 2015). High weed infestation can incur 74 % yield losses under dry DSR
system, and sometimes it may result in total crop failure (Jabran et  al. 2012;
Jabran and Chauhan 2015). In China, weeding in dry DSR is usually done by
labor; however, farmers have been shifting to herbicides application because of
less labor availability and high labor cost. In recent years, a series of herbicides
have been successfully used, including single herbicides and the combination of
different herbicides to control weeds. Although herbicides have played an impor-
tant role in controlling rice weeds, nonetheless, intensive use of herbicides brought
negative effects on the rice seed emergence, risk of herbicide resistance in weeds,
and environmental pollution (Heap 2012). Various nonchemical methods of weed
control have been explored, such as development of weed-competitive cultivars,
increasing seeding rate, and use of crop residue as mulches. Development of vari-
eties with early seedling vigor and rapid leaf area development during the early
vegetative stage has been proven to be the most cost-effective strategy for weed
suppression (Mahajan and Chauhan 2013). However, further studies on genotypic
variation in weed tolerance traits, including early seedling vigor and allelopathy,
are needed.
2  Rice Production in China 43

2.8.3  Integrated Crop Management

It is generally believed that the contribution of optimal crop management to yield

increase is greater than that of new varieties (Fang et  al. 2004). Optimum crop
management practices have been developed in China in the past. Scientists in
Jiangsu province have highlighted the plant and canopy morphological parameters
to guide the crop management at different growth stages for achieving maximum
grain yield (Ling et al. 1993; Su et al. 2002). In order to raise rice seedlings for
transplanting, dry bed has been adopted nationally since 1990s instead of wet bed
by modifying the technology originated from Japan (Chen 2003). Another popular
practice since the 1990s was seedling throwing. In 1999, the total rice planting area
using seedling throwing reached 6 million hectares in China (Zhu 2000).
Rectangular planting with wide spacing between rows and narrow spacing between
hills within a row has become a common planting geometry for panicle-weight-
type rice varieties such as “super” hybrid rice (Zou 2006). Zhong et  al. (2007)
technically specified “Three Controls” nutrient management technology for irri-
gated rice, which includes four parts, i.e., the determination of total fertilizer-N
input, fertilizer-N timing and split rates at key growth stages, amount and timing of
phosphorus and potassium requirement, and adoption of the other crop manage-
ment measures. Some of these technologies have significantly contributed in
increased rice yield, although their impact on the environment and on resource-use
efficiency was largely ignored.
Socioeconomic assessment was not commonly conducted for each new technol-
ogy, and there was a lack of integration among the different components of crop
management practices. In the future, new crop management technologies will have
to be developed using system approaches as rice farming faces many challenges in
China. The newly developed practices should have a sound scientific basis. Synergy
among fertilizer, water, and pest management should be considered to maximize
overall efficiency of the production system. Furthermore, a new technology should
not be based merely on yield and farmers’ profit, but its short- and long-term impacts
on the environment, i.e., sustainability, should also be considered. Sustainability of
the rice production systems can be maintained only when the natural resource base
is protected and ecosystem services of the rice system are maximized. These points
have been addressed on site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) in six provinces
of China and its dissemination through farmer participatory research (Peng et al.
2006; Hu et al. 2007).

2.9  Nitrogen Fertilizer and Pest Management

The average rate of N application for rice production in China is180  kg ha−1
(Peng et al. 2010), and N rates of 150 to 250 kg ha−1 are common (Wang et al.
2001; Peng et  al. 2006). In Jiangsu Province, the average N rate reached to
44 L. Nie and S. Peng

300  kg  ha−1 (Peng et  al. 2010). It has been reported that indigenous N supply
capacity of irrigated rice fields in China was about 50 % higher than other major
rice-growing countries; therefore, yield response of rice crop to N fertilizer appli-
cation is low. Overapplication of N fertilizer may actually decrease grain yield by
increasing susceptibility to lodging (Pham et  al. 2004) and damage from pests
and diseases (Cu et al. 1996). Peng et al. (2006) reported that the average agro-
nomic N use efficiency was 5–10  kg grains kg−1  N in the farmers’ production
fields of China. The abnormal high rates of N fertilizer input and improper timing
of N application in China have led to low N use efficiency.
Site-specific N management (SSNM) was developed to increase N use efficiency
of irrigated rice (Dobermann and Cassman 2002). It was reported that SSNM
recorded higher grain yield and N use efficiency compared with farmers’ N fertil-
izer practice in China (Peng et al. 2002). After a decade of collaborative research
work on SSNM between IRRI and Chinese scientists, researchers and farmers have
a deep understanding of N fertilizer management for irrigated rice in China. SSNM
is becoming a matured technology for improving both fertilizer-N use efficiency
and grain yield. However, the procedure of SSNM is too complicated, and it is dif-
ficult to accurately estimate N response and select the right agronomic N use effi-
ciency based on SSNM procedure. To disseminate SSNM technology widely in
China, we should further simplify the procedure of SSNM.  Therefore, future
research is needed to develop SSNM based on remote sensing technology for its
large-scale implications.
In China, insect pests, diseases, and weeds are the major challenges to rice pro-
duction (Oerke and Dehne 2004). Globally, an average of 35 % of potential crop
yield is lost due to preharvest pests (Oerke 2006), while actual losses were esti-
mated at 40 % for rice grains (Oerke and Dehne 2004). Pesticides, as an important
input in agricultural production, have made a great contribution to the development
of agriculture and food supply to mankind (Wang and Li 2007). Existing data have
indicated that one-third of pest-induced yield losses worldwide were avoided and
recovered because of application of agrochemicals (Liu et  al. 2002). At present,
China is ranked first in the world regarding production ability and application of
pesticides. However, Chinese farmers usually overestimate the crop losses caused
by pests resulting in an indiscriminate and overuse of pesticides in rice production
(Fang et al. 2004). To avoid yield losses, farmers sometimes spray their rice crop
weekly to control pests and diseases. Econometric analysis showed that education
and quality of the extension system are the major determinants for the improper
perceptions of farmer’s regarding yield losses.
Overuse of pesticides has raised several environmental issues and led to several
health hazards; therefore, several nonchemical approaches for controlling rice
­diseases, insect pests, and weeds have been studied and implicated, specifically,
e.g., (1) using rice resistance genomic diversity;(2) changing rice seeding time/
transplanting date;(3) rearing fish, frogs, or ducks in rice paddy fields; (4) soaking
2  Rice Production in China 45

rice seeds in biogas fermentative liquid and cultivating seedlings with biogas fer-
mentative residues; and (6) using Frequoscillation Pest-killing Lamps (Huang
et al. 2014).

2.10  Harvesting and Yields

In this modern era, rice harvesting through mechanical means is common in China.
Mechanical harvest is divided into “mechanical cutting and mechanical picking”
and “harvesting by combine harvester.” At present, combine harvester is used in
more than 80 % of the rice planting area of China (Huang and Guo 2014). Harvesting
of rice by using combine harvester gives the highest efficiency and the lowest cost;
however, seed moisture content should be considered. Especially in some places
without drying facilities, rice can be harvested when seed moisture content drops
below the safe water content. It was estimated that more than 80 % of the rice area
cannot be harvested at proper time due to poor dehydration, which usually causes
5–10 % of yield loss (Huang and Guo 2014).
Rice processing is a combination of several operations to convert paddy rice into
well-milled silky-white rice, which has superior cooking quality attributes. The
marketing values of rice as an agricultural product depend on its physical characters
after the processing. The percentage of whole grain is the most important parameter
for the rice processing industry (Marchezan 1991). In China, the brown rice per-
centage and head rice percentage are relatively lower compared with that in Japan.
A multiyear survey (2008–2012) reported that brown rice percentage and head rice
percentage in China are 63.4–66.3 % and around 55 %, respectively, and are declin-
ing year by year (Tan et al. 2014). The decline in brown rice percentage and head
rice percentage was mainly caused by overprocessing, because at present, rice pro-
cessing industry in China is still in the stage of pursuing the appearance quality (Tan
et al. 2014). Overprocessing has resulted in the loss of nutrients and the increase in
the amount of by-products. Accuracy in processing may increase the brown rice
percentage and head rice percentage (Tan et al. 2014).
Rice aging during storage is a complicated process, which involves changes
in the physical and chemical properties of rice grain. Starch, protein, and lipids
are the main rice grain components which affect cooking and eating quality.
Safe storage plays an important role in reducing food losses and ensuring rice
quality. According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
15–16 % of the rice was lost due to improper storage and postharvest processing
(FAOSTAT 2006). The edible quality of rice will obviously change with storage
time and storage conditions, mainly expressed as decrease in viscosity, taste,
and aroma. At present, China has a wide range of uniform regulations on the safe
water content (13.5 % for indica rice and 14.5 % for japonica rice). However,
46 L. Nie and S. Peng

with increasing mechanized farming, traditional rice drying after the harvest is
gradually simplified due to lack of space and other reasons, and the rice grains
with high moisture content are directly transferred to the market. Previously,
Huang (2014) reported that mold growth on rice surface was reduced at 20°C
storage. It was also observed that rice respiration, enzyme activity, and propaga-
tion of insects and mold during storage were inhibited below 10  °C (Huang
2014). The safe moisture content of rice in China for a long-­term storage at
room temperature is limited to 13.5 %; however, for low temperature storage,
the safe moisture content of rice can be kept below 15.5 % for japonica rice and
14.5 % for indica rice (Han et al. 2014).

2.11  Heavy Metal Pollution

In China, nearly 10 billion (100 million) ha of arable land has been contaminated by
heavy metals mainly, cadmium, arsenic, lead, copper, nickel, zinc, mercury, and
chromium (Jin 2014). In Zhujiang delta region of southern China, 28 % of soil has
been reported to be contaminated with heavy metals (Xue et al. 2013). Soil contami-
nation by the heavy metals is governed by several factors including solid-waste
disposal and atmospheric deposition. Moreover, fertilizer and pesticide use, appli-
cation of the wastewater irrigation, and sewage sludge in the field are also consid-
ered to be the major cause of heavy metal accumulation (Cui et al. 2005; Wilson and
Pyatt 2007; Khan et al. 2008).
Rice has been considered to be a major source of heavy metal intake by humans
in Asian countries (Tsukahara et al. 2003; Mondal and Polya 2008; Solidum et al.
2012). It is crucial to develop practical and effective strategies for reducing the
amount and mobility of heavy metals in soil or to limit their uptake and accumula-
tion in rice grains. Zhao et al. (2010) and Kawasaki et al. (2012) reported a great
impact of water management practices on dynamics of heavy metals in soil and
their subsequent uptake by rice. Sun et al. (2014) and Liu et al. (2014) suggested
that a significant reduction in heavy metals’ accumulation in rice grains could be
achieved by aerobic-flooded cultivation of rice. It was reported that aerobic and
alternate wet and dry cultivation of rice reduced the As and Mo concentration in
milled rice, compared to the traditional flooded rice, and decreased the Zn, Mn, Ni,
Cu, Cd, and Co concentration in milled rice, compared with upland/aerobic rice
(Fig. 2.3).
Bioavailability of heavy metals is closely related to soil pH and soil redox poten-
tial (Eh) (Fu et al. 2008; Talukder et al. 2012). Many studies have shown that the
availability of metal elements was closely related to the decreasing pH (Itanna 1998;
Sukreeyapongse et al. 2002). Along with pH, Eh is also influenced by soil water
conditions, thus affecting the elements of availability in soil (Fu et al. 2008; Talukder
et al. 2012). There are still many other factors influenced by soil water conditions
that affect the heavy metal concentration in rice grain, such as the organic matter
content, EC of soil, root activity, and rhizosphere environment (Liu et  al. 2001;
Zarcinas et al. 2004).
 2  Rice Production in China 47

a e
25000 35

30
Mn concentration (mg/kg)

Co concentration (mg/kg)
20000
25

15000
20

15
10000

10
5000
5

0 0

b f
2000 6000

5000
Cu concentration (mg/kg)
Ni concentration (mg/kg)

1500
4000

1000 3000

2000
500
1000

0 0

c g
25000 700

600
Mo concentration (mg/kg)

20000
Zn concentration (mg/kg)

500

15000
400

300
10000

200
5000
100

0 0

d h
500 300

250
Cd concentration (mg/kg)

400
As concentration (mg/kg)

200
300
150
200
100

100
50

0 0
A A-F F A A-F F

Fig. 2.3  Mn (a), Ni (b), Zn (c), Cd (d), Co (e), Cu (f), Mo (g), and As (h) concentrations in milled
rice in aerobic rice (A), aerobic-flooded rice (A–F), and flooded rice (F) at Wuxue County, Hubei
Province, China. Each column represents an average of four rice genotypes over 2 years. Error bars
are ±SE
48 L. Nie and S. Peng

2.12  Conclusions

Due to the increasing population and limited land resources, increases in rice pro-
duction of China mainly depend on yield improvement rather than expansion of
planting area. In such circumstances, scientific and technological innovation will
continue to play an important role in increasing rice yields. Developing new tech-
nologies of crop management using system approaches is inevitable as rice farming
faces many challenges in China. New technology should mainly be judged based on
its short- and long-term impacts on the environment along with yield and farmers’
profit. Synergy among fertilizer, water, and pest and weed management should be
considered to maximize overall efficiency of the rice production system.
Great achievements in super hybrid rice breeding have been made in recent years
in China, and the yield of some hybrids is approaching their genetic potential.
Therefore, further increase in yield seems to be rather difficult. Exploitation of indica/
japonica heterosis can improve the level of yield. With the development of molecular
marker technology in rice, the subspecies differentiation of parents can be determined,
and the proper contribution of indica and japonica characters in the hybrids can be
established for higher yields in combination with harmonious plant types. Furthermore,
incorporating the characteristics of high photosynthetic rate in other species (C4) into
rice plants could be worthwhile for future super hybrid rice breeding.

References

Bai R (2013) Vigorous promotion for the mechanization of rice production in the double paddy
cropping region. http://www.camn.agri.gov.cn/Html/2013_08_19/2_1842_2013_08_19_248
41.html. (in Chinese)
Cai H, Chen Q (2000) Rice research in China in the early 21st century. Chin Rice Res Newsl
8:14–16
Cassman KG (1999) Ecological intensification of cereal production systems: yield potential, soil
quality, and precision agriculture. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 96(11):5952–5959
Cassman KG, Dobermann A, Walters DT, Yang H (2003) Meeting cereal demand while protecting
natural resources and improving environmental quality. Annu Rev Env Res 28:315–358
Chen J (2003) Evolution and development of rice planting pattern. J Shenyang Agric Univ 34:389–
393 (in Chinese with English abstract)
China National Rice Research Institute (1988) Regional Zonation of Rice Cropping in China. Zhejiang
Publishing Press of Science and Technology, Hangzhou (in Chinese with English summary)
Cu RM, Mew TW, Cassman KG, Teng PS (1996) Effect of sheath blight on yield in tropical, inten-
sive rice production system. Plant Dis 80:1103–1108
Cui Y, Zhu Y, Zhai R, Huang Y, Qiu Y, Liang J (2005) Exposure to metal mixtures and human
health impacts in a contaminated area in Nanning. China Environ Int 31:784–790
Dobermann A, Cassman KG (2002) Plant nutrient management for enhanced productivity in inten-
sive grain production systems of the United States and Asia. Plant Soil 247:153–175
Fang F, Zhang X, Wang D, Liao X (2004) Influence of science and technology advancement on
development of Chinese rice production and scientific strategy. Res Agric Modernization
25:177–181 (in Chinese with English abstract)
FAOSTAT (2006) FAO Statistical databases. www.fao.org. Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) of the United Nations, Rome.
2  Rice Production in China 49

FAOSTAT (2011) FAO Statistical databases. www.fao.org. Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) of the United Nations, Rome.
FAOSTAT (2013) Data base available online at http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html#HOME.
Accessed 26 Sept 2013.
FAOSTAT (2015) Database available online at http://faostat3.fao.org/download/Q/QC/E. Accessed
17 Jul 2015.
Fu J, Zhou Q, Liu J, Liu W, Wang T, Zhang Q, Jiang G (2008) High levels of heavy metals in rice
(Oryza sativa L.) from a typical E-waste recycling area in southeast China and its potential risk
to human health. Chemosphere 71:1269–1275
Han Y, Li C, Zhang Y, Liu D, Cao HJ (2014) Research on moisture control and conditioning of rice
in storage and processing. Cereal Food Ind 21:44–46 (in Chinese)
Heap I (2012) International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds. www.weedscience.org
Heffer P, Prud’homme M (2008) Outlook for world fertilizer demand, supply, and supply/demand
balance. Turk J Agric For 32:159–164
Hu R, Cao J, Huang J, Peng S, Huang J, Zhong X, Zou Y, Yang J, Buresh RJ (2007) Farmer partici-
patory testing of standard and modified site-specific nitrogen management for irrigated rice in
China. Agr Syst 94:331–340
Huang Y (2014) Study on application of high moisture japonica rice technology. Cereal Food Ind
21:62–64 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Huang Z, Guo W (2014) The application of the swather in the rice harvest. Modern Agr 6:59–60
(in Chinese)
Huang J, Qiao F, Zhang L, Rozelle S (2003) Farm pesticide, rice production, and human health.
[Online]. Available online: www.idrc.ca/uploads/user-S/10536115330ACF268.pdf.
Huang J, Hu R, Rozelle S, Pray C (2005) Insect-resistant GM rice in farmers’ fields: assessing
productivity and health effects in China. Science 308:688–690
Huang S, Wang L, Liu L, Fu Q, Zhu D (2014) Nonchemical pest control in China rice: a review.
Agron Sustain Dev 34:275–291
Itanna F (1998) Comparative study on soil pollution with toxic substances on farmlands close to
old and new industrial sites in Ethiopia. Bull Chem Soc Ethiop 12:105–112
Jabran K, Chauhan BS (2015) Weed management in aerobic rice systems. Crop Prot 78:151–163.
doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2015.09.005
Jabran K, MB E, Hussain M, Farooq M, Babar M, Doğan MN, Lee D-J (2012) Application of
bispyribac-sodium provides effective weed control in direct-planted rice on a sandy loam soil.
Weed Biol Manag 12:136–145
Jabran K, MB E, Farooq M, Hussain M, Haider N, Chauhan BS (2015) Water saving, water pro-
ductivity and yield outputs of fine-grain rice cultivars under conventional and water-saving rice
production systems. Exp Agric 51:567–581. doi:10.1017/S0014479714000477
Jin JY (2012) Changes in the efficiency of fertilizer use in China. J  Sci Food Agric
92:1006–1009
Jin Y (2014) The first national soil survey: nearly 20 % of farmland was contaminated.The Beijing
News, 2014, Chinese
Kawasaki A, Arao T, Ishikawa S (2012) Reducing cadmium content of rice grains by means of
flooding and a few problems. J Food Hygiene Soc Japan 67:478–483
Khan S, Cao Q, Zheng Y, Huang Y, Zhu Y (2008) Health risks of heavy metals in contaminated
soils and food crops irrigated with wastewater in Beijing. China Environ Pollut 152:686–692
Li ZK (2005) Strategies for molecular rice breeding in China. Mol Breeding 3:603–608
Licker R, Johnston M, Foley JA, Barford C, Kucharik CJ, Monfreda C, Ramankutty N (2010)
Mind the gap: how do climate and agricultural management explain the ‘yield gap’ of crop-
lands around the world? Global Ecol Biogeogr 19:769–782
Ling Q, Zhang H, Cai J, Su Z, Ling L (1993) Investigation on the population quality of high yield and
its optimizing control program in rice. Sci Agric Sin 26:1–11 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Liu M, Li H, Xia LJ, Yang L (2001) Effect of Fe, Mn coating formed on roots on Cd uptake by rice
varieties. Acta Ecologica Sinica 21:598–602
Liu CJ, Men WJ, Liu YJ, Zhang H (2002) Soil pollution by pesticides and polluted soil biorestora-
tion. Agric Syst Sci Integr Study 4:295–297 (in Chinese with English abstract)
50 L. Nie and S. Peng

Liu S, Zhang L, Jiang J, Chen N, Yang X, Xiong Z, Zou J (2012) Methane and nitrous oxide emis-
sions from rice seedling nurseries under flooding and moist irrigation regimes in southeast
China. Sci Total Environ 426:166–171
Liu HY, Hussain S, Peng SB, Huang JL, Cui KH, Nie LX (2014) Potentially toxic elements con-
centration in milled rice differ among various planting patterns. Field Crop Res 168:19–26
Lobell DB, Cassman KG, Field CB (2009) Crop yield gaps: their importance, magnitudes, and
causes. Annu Rev Env Resour 34:179–204
Lu B, Qin D, Fan J, Fang Z, Li J, Liu H, Chi M, Xu D (2009) Present situation, tendency and
problems of direct seeding rice production in Jiangsu Province. China Rice 2:45–47 (in
Chinese)
Ma G, Yuan L (2015) Hybrid rice achievements, development and prospect in China. J Integr Agric
14:197–205
Ma J, Ma E, Xu H, Yagi K, Cai ZC (2009) Wheat straw management affects CH4 and N2O emis-
sions from rice fields. Soil Biol Biochem 41:1022–1028
Ma X, Wu S, Li YE, Zhang X, Gao Q, Wu Y (2013) Rice re-cultivation in southern China: an
option for enhanced climate change resilience in rice production. J Geogr Sci 23:67–84
Mahajan G, Chauhan BS (2013) The role of cultivars in managing weeds in dry-seeded rice pro-
duction systems. Crop Prot 49:52–57
Mao C, Wan Y, Ma G, Shi Y, Zhou H, Song Z, Wei S, Xie L, Wei S (2006) Current status analysis
of hybrid rice development in China. Hybrid Rice 21(6):1–5 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Marchezan E (1991) Época de semeadura e rendimento industrial em grãos inteiros de cultivares
de arroz (Oryza sativa L.). Piracicaba, 1991. 106p. Tese (Doutorado)  – Escola Superior de
Agricultura “Luiz de Queiróz”, Universidade de São Paulo
Mei F, Wu X, Yao C, Li L, Wang L, Chen Q (1988) Rice cropping regionalization in China. Chin
J Rice Sci 2:97–110
Mew TW, Leung H, Savary S, Cruz CMV, Leach JE (2004) Looking ahead in rice disease research
and management. Crit Rev Plant Sci 23:103–127
Min S, Cheng S, Zhu D (2002) China’s “super” rice breeding and demonstration in the rice produc-
tion fields: an overview. China Rice 2:5–7 (in Chinese)
Mondal D, Polya DA (2008) Rice is a major exposure route for arsenic in Chakdaha block, Nadia
district, West Bengal, India: a probabilistic risk assessment. Appl Geochem 23:2987–2998
National Bureau of Statistics of China (2011) China statistical yearbook. China Statistical
Publisher, Beijing
Neumann K, Verburg PH, Stehfest E, Muller C (2010) The yield gap of global grain production: a
spatial analysis. Agr Syst 103(5):316–326
Oerke EC (2006) Crop losses to pests. J Agric Sci 144:31–43
Oerke EC, Dehne HW (2004) Safeguarding production – losses in major crops and the role of crop
protection. Crop Prot 23(4):275–285
Peng S, Bouman BAM (2007) Prospects for genetic improvement to increase lowland rice yields
with less water and nitrogen. In: Spiertz JHJ, Struik PC, van Laareds HH (eds) Scale and com-
plexity in plant systems research: gene-plant-crop relations. Springer, the Netherlands,
pp. 249–264
Peng S, Cassman KG, Virmani SS, Sheehy J, Khush GS (1999) Yield potential trends of tropical
rice since the release of IR8 and the challenge of increasing rice yield potential. Crop Sci
39:1552–1559
Peng S, Huang J, Zhong X, Yang J, Wang G, Zou Y, Zhang F, Zhu Q, Buresh JR, Witt C (2002)
Research strategy in improving fertilizer-nitrogen use efficiency of irrigated rice in China.
Agric Sci China 35(9):1095–1103
Peng S, Buresh JR, Huang J, Yang J, Zou Y, Zhong X, Wang G, Zhang F (2006) Strategies for
overcoming low agronomic nitrogen use efficiency in irrigated rice systems in China. Field
Crop Res 96:37–47
Peng S, Tang Q, Zou Y (2009) Current status and challenges of rice production in China. Plant
Prod Sci 12:3–8
2  Rice Production in China 51

Peng SB, Buresh JR, Huang JL, Zhong XH, Zou YB, Yang JC, Wang GH, Liu YY, Hu RF, Tang
QY, Cui KH, Zhang FS, Dobermann A (2010) Improving nitrogen fertilization in rice by site-­
specific N management. A review Agron Sustain Dev 30:649–656
Pham QD, Abe A, Hirano M, Sagawa S, Kuroda E (2004) Analysis of lodging-resistant character-
istics of different rice genotypes grown under the standard and nitrogen-free basal dressing
accompanied with sparse planting density practices. Plant Prod Sci 7:243–251
Prasad PVV, Boote KJ, Allen LH Jr, Sheehy JE, Thomas JMG (2006) Species, ecotype and cultivar
differences in spikelet fertility and harvest index of rice in response to high temperature stress.
Field Crop Res 95:398–411
Rao AN, Johnson DE, Sivaprasad B, Ladha JK, Mortimer AM (2007) Weed management in direct-­
seeded rice. Adv Agron 93:153–255
Ray DK, Ramankutty N, Mueller ND, West PC, Foley JA (2012) Recent patterns of crop yield
growth and stagnation. Nat Commun 3:1293
Solidum J, Dykimching E, Agaceta C, Cayco A (2012) Assessment and identification of heavy
metals in different types of cooked rice available in the Philippine market. 2nd International
conference on environmental and agriculture engineering IPCBEE. International Proceedings
of Chemical. Biol Environ Eng (IPCBEE) 37:35–39
Su Z, Ni Y, Zhang Y, Du Y (2002) Parameters of plant morphology and their regulation for high-­
yielding rice crop. Farming Syst Cultivation 1:14–15 (in Chinese)
Su B, Chen H, Zhu D (2014) Development status and Countermeasures of rice direct seeding cul-
tivation technique. Bull Agric Sci Technol 1:7–11 (in Chinese)
Sukreeyapongse O, Holm PE, Strobel BW, Panichsakpatana S, Magid J, Hansen HCB (2002) pH
dependent release of cadmium, copper, and lead from natural and sludge-amended soils.
J Environ Qual 31:1901–1909
Sun LM, Zheng MM, Liu HY, Peng SB, Huang JL, Cui KH, Nie LX (2014) Water management
practices affect arsenic and cadmium accumulation in rice grains. Sci World J 2014:596438
Talukder ASMHM, Meisner CA, Sarkar MAR, Islam MS, Sayre KD, Duxbury JM, Lauren JG
(2012) Effect of water management, arsenic and phosphorus levels on rice in a high-arsenic
soil-water system: II. Arsenic Uptake Ecotox Environ Safe 80:145–151
Tan B, Wu NN, Tan Y (2014) Discussion on problems in development of rice processing industry
in China. Sci Technol Cereals Oils Foods 22(2):1–5 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Tao F, Yokozawa M, Hayashi Y, Lin E (2003) Future climate change, the agricultural water cycle,
and agricultural production in China. Agric Ecosyst Environ 95:203–215
Tomita S, Miyagawa S, Kono Y, Noichana C, Inamura T, Nagata Y, Sributta A, Nawata E (2003)
Rice yield losses by competition with weeds in rain fed paddy fields in north-east Thailand.
Weed Biol Manag 3:162–171
Tsukahara T, Ezaki T, Moriguchi J, Furuki K, Shimbo S, Matsuda-Inoguchi N, Ikeda M (2003)
Rice as the most influential source of cadmium intake among general Japanese population. Sci
Total Environ 305:41–51
van Wart J, Kersebaum KC, Peng SB, Milner M, Cassman KG (2013) Estimating crop yield poten-
tial at regional to national scales. Field Crop Res 143:34–43
Virmani SS, Mao CX, Hardy B (2003) Hybrid rice for food security, poverty alleviation, and envi-
ronmental protection. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Hybrid Rice,
Hanoi, Vietnam, 14–17 May 2002. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, 407 p
Wang Y (2015) Review and evaluation of rice direct seeding technology in Zhejiang province.
China Rice 21(2):1–3 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Wang SN, Li WC (2007) Pesticides application status, effects and strategies in China. Modern Prev
Med 20:3853–3855 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Wang W, Chalk PM, Chen D, Smith CJ (2001) Nitrogen mineralisation, immobilisation and loss,
and their role in determining differences in net nitrogen production during waterlogged and
aerobic incubation of soils. Soil Biol Biochem 33(10):1305–1315
Wang Y, Xue Y, Li J (2005) Towards molecular breeding and improvement of rice in China. Trends
Plant Sci 10:610–614
52 L. Nie and S. Peng

Wilson B, Pyatt FB (2007) Heavy metal dispersion, persistence, and bioaccumulation around an
ancient copper mine situated in Anglesey. UK Ecotox Environ Safe 66:224–231
Witt C, Cassman KG, Olk DC, Biker U, Liboon SP, Samson MI, Ottow JCG (2000) Crop rotation
and residue management effects on carbon sequestration, nitrogen cycling and productivity of
irrigated rice systems. Plant Soil 225(1–2):263–278
Xu C, Li F, Zhou X, Fang F (2010) Comparative studies on benefit of rice production in China.
Manage Agric Sci Tech 29:20–26
Xue B, Diao F, Ren X (2013) The proportion of the soil contaminated by heavy metals reached
28 % in Zhujiang delta region of southern China. Southern Metropolis Daily. http://news.sci-
encenet.cn/htmlnews/2013/7/279913.shtm. Accessed 11 July 2013. (in Chinese)
Yu C, Lei J (2001) Theory and practice of super rice breeding in China. Acta Agric Jiangxi 13:51–
59 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Yu Y, Huang Y, Zhang W (2012) Changes in rice yields in China since 1980 associated with culti-
var improvement, climate and crop management. Field Crop Res 136:65–75
Yuan LP (2003) Recent progress in breeding super hybrid rice in China. In: Virmani SS, Mao CX,
Hardy B (eds) Hybrid rice for food security, poverty alleviation, and environmental protection:
Proc. of the 4th Int. Symp, On Hybrid Rice, Hanoi, Vietnam, May 14–17, vol 2002. International
Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines, pp. 3–6
Yue B, Xue W, Xiong L, Yu X, Luo L, Cui K, Jin D, Xing Y, Zhang Q (2006) Genetic basis of
drought resistance at reproductive stage in rice: Separation of drought tolerance from drought
avoidance. Genetics 172:1213–1228
Zarcinas BA, McLaughlin MJ, Cozens G (2004) Heavy metals in soils and crops in Southeast Asia.
2. Environ Geochem Health 26:359–371
Zhang Q (2007) Strategies for developing green super rice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
104:16402–16409
Zhang X, Wang D, Fang F, Zhen Y, Liao X (2005) Food safety and rice production in China. Res
Agr Modernization 26:85–88 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Zhang Y, Zhu D, Xiong H, Chen H, Xiang J, Lin X (2012) Development and transition of rice
planting in China. Agric Sci Technol 13(6):1270–1276
Zhao F, McGrath S, Meharg AA (2010) Arsenic as a food chain contaminant: mechanisms of plant
uptake and metabolism and mitigation strategies. Annu Rev Plant Biol 61:535–559
Zhong X, Huang N, Zheng H, Peng S, Buresh RJ (2007) Specification for the “Three Controls”
nutrient management technology for irrigated rice. Guangdong Agric Sci 5:13–15 (in Chinese)
Zhu Z (2000) Problem and developmental trend of rice seedling throwing technology. Crop Sci
3:7–8 (in Chinese)
Zhu D, Chen H, Xu Y, Zhang Y (2013) The limiting factors of mechanization in double cropping
rice production in China and development countermeasures. China Rice 19(4):1–4 (in Chinese)
Zou Y (2006) Research progress in high-yielding crop management for indica “super” hybrid rice.
Farming Syst Cultiv 5:1–5 (in Chinese)
Chapter 3
Rice Production in India

Gulshan Mahajan, Vivek Kumar, and Bhagirath S. Chauhan

3.1  Introduction

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a principal food crop of south and southeastern countries.
It is the staple food for more than two-thirds of the Indian population, thus holds the
key for food security and plays a pivotal role in national economy. The demand for
rice is expected to grow continuously as population is continuously growing.
The rice plant belongs to the genus Oryza of Poaceae (old Gramineae) family.
The genus Oryza includes 24 species, of which only two species, viz., Oryza sativa
and Oryza glaberrima, are cultivable and the rest 22 species are wild. Rice varieties
which belong to sativa are further grouped into three subspecies, viz., indica, japon-
ica, and javanica. India is the producer of rice varieties which belongs to the sub-
species indica (DRD 2014). Rice is an annual plant which usually grows to a height
of 0.5–2 m; however, there are some varieties which can grow up to 6 or 9 m high.
Some rice varieties are also in existence which can grow when the flood water level
gradually rises.

G. Mahajan (*)
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana, Punjab 141004, India
e-mail: [email protected]
V. Kumar
Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab 141004, India
B.S. Chauhan
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of
Queensland, Gatton 4343, QLD, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 53

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_3
54 G. Mahajan et al.

No doubt, India has its own position in rice area and production in the world, but
still there are some problems and constraints in rice production in the country.
Highlighting issues regarding constraints for increasing and maintaining the pro-
ductivity of rice-based systems are (1) the inefficient use of resources (water, labor,
and fertilizers) and their growing scarcity, (2) effect of climate change, (3) rising
fuel prices and emerging energy crisis, (4) reducing farm profitability, and (5)
emerging socioeconomic changes such as migration of labor to urban areas, liking
for nonagricultural work, and concerns about environmental pollution (Ladha et al.
2009). Besides this, fragmentation of land and abiotic and biotic stress are also main
issues which are threatening rice productivity and sustainability. To tackle these
problems, new agronomic management and technological innovations are needed.
Currently, water productivity for rice in India is 2500–3500 l/kg. In order to deal
with the problem of degrading water resource base, there is a need to improve the
water productivity of rice by bringing from the current level of 2500–3500 l/kg to
the level of 2000 l/kg (Mohapatra et al. 2013). It can be done by conservation till-
age, drip irrigation, soil amendment, and mulching. Nutrient use efficiency needs to
be enhanced for increasing and sustaining the rice productivity in India. There is a
need to increase nitrogen, phosphorus, and zinc use efficiencies by 20–40, 40–50,
and 50–100 %, respectively, for various rice production systems (Mohapatra et al.
2013). This is possible through agronomic manipulations, e.g., time and method of
application, vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae, biofertilizers, and precision manage-
ment of nutrients. Besides this, there is a need to work aggressively in collaboration
with plant breeders to develop effective screening tools to identify novel germplasm
with greater input (water, nutrient) use efficiency, e.g., root studies for high input
use efficiency, screening genotypes on the basis of nutrient uptake efficiency indi-
ces, stress and biochemical indices, etc.
Reducing labor dependence by one-third from the current level may increase
profitability in rice production (Mohapatra et  al. 2013). This is possible through
mechanization in different practices of rice cultivation, viz., land preparation, sow-
ing methods, nutrition management, harvesting, etc. Combination of various stresses
(abiotic, biotic, and nutritional) also limits rice yields (Mohapatra et al. 2013). The
major abiotic stress which prevents rice crops from realizing their full yield poten-
tial is due to drought, heat, cold, salinity, and submergence. Similarly, biotic stresses,
viz., pests and diseases, destroy a large portion of produce during cultivation and
storage. For a sustainable yield over the years, these biotic and abiotic stresses need
to be removed. Stress tolerance is complex phenomena and require various
approaches for providing solution to plants experiencing the multiple environmen-
tal stresses (Mohapatra et al. 2013). Field screening of novel germplasm is required
to find putative stress-related genes for developing resilient set of new germplasm
which can better adapt to withstand with a stressful environment.
The most common method for rice establishment is transplanting of young seed-
lings into puddled soil (wet tillage) in India. But this production method is becom-
ing less profitable these days because it is a water-, labor-, and energy-intensive
method and these resources are becoming increasingly scarce (Kumar and Ladha
2011). Besides this, transplanted rice causes the deterioration of physical properties
of soil and also emits methane gas (an important greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere.
All these factors act as a driver of the shift from puddled transplanting to direct
3  Rice Production in India 55

seeding of rice (DSR). DSR is the technology which is water, labor, and energy
efficient along with eco-friendly characteristics and can be used as a potential alter-
native to conventional puddled transplanted rice (Kumar and Ladha 2011). No
doubt, direct seeding method has several benefits as compared to puddled trans-
planting, which include similar yield level, economized irrigation water, labor,
reduced cost of production and thus increased net returns, and methane emission
reduction. However, there are also some risks associated with adoption of direct
seeding method. These include the introduction of hard-to-control and herbicide-­
resistant weed flora; evolution of weedy rice; higher emissions of nitrous oxide, a
potent greenhouse gas; nutrient disorders, especially N and micronutrients such as
Fe and Zn; and increases in soilborne pathogens such as nematodes (Kumar and
Ladha 2011).
Rice can be grown under diverse climatic conditions. It is best suited in the
regions having high humidity and temperature, prolonged sunshine hours, and
assured water supply. Rice can grow well on soils over wide range of pH 5 to 9 and
with low permeability soils that provide better environment for its growth. Generally,
the loamy soils are best suited for rice cultivation. Because of the adaptability of rice
to different soil conditions, it is said that it can be grown on any type of soils includ-
ing alkaline and acidic soils. This wide physical adaptability of rice plant allows the
rice plants to be grown below sea level which includes the Kuttanad area of Kerala
up to a height of 2000  m in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, hills of
Uttaranchal, and northeastern hill (NEH) region.
56 G. Mahajan et al.

Host: http://somarmeteorologia.com.br/v3/figuras/culturas/india/india-­arrozkharif.gif
In India, the rice-growing areas have been broadly grouped into five regions
(Meera et al. 2014a):

3.1.1  Northeastern Region

The northeastern region includes Assam and northeastern states. The main rice-­
growing area in Assam is the basin of Brahmaputra River. In this area, rice is culti-
vated under rainfed conditions, because the area receives very heavy rainfall.

3.1.2  Eastern Region

This region includes Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal. In India, the basins of Ganges and Mahanadi
rivers are the major rice-growing region with the highest intensity of rice cultiva-
tion. This region also receives heavy rainfall, so rice is generally grown under rain-
fed conditions.

3.1.3  Northern Region

Punjab, Haryana, Uttrakhand, Western Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and

Jammu and Kashmir are included in northern region. In winter season, low tempera-
ture is experienced in this region, and a single crop of rice can be grown from May–
July to September–October.

3.1.4  Western Region

This region includes Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan. Rice is largely grown
under rainfed conditions during June–August to October–December.

3.1.5  Southern Region

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu cover the southern region.
Major rice-growing areas in this region are the deltaic tracts of Krishna, Godavari,
and Cauvery rivers and the non-deltaic rainfed areas of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil
Nadu. In the deltaic tracts, rice cultivation is done under irrigated conditions.
3  Rice Production in India 57

3.2  Important Growing Ecology of Rice

In terms of photoperiodism, rice is a short-day plant. However, several varieties

have been introduced which are nonsensitive to photoperiodic conditions. With the
introduction of photoperiod and thermo-insensitive and relatively short-duration
varieties of rice, remarkable changes have been observed in the cropping system
concepts (Sharma et al. 2004). On the basis of soil variations and agroclimatic con-
ditions in the major rice-growing states of the country, different rice-based cropping
systems have been adopted in the different ecologies. India is the only country in the
world which has much diversity in rice ecosystems. Because of this diversity in rice
ecosystem, four different types of ecosystems have been developed in India (Meera
et al. 2014a). These are:
1 . Irrigated rice ecosystem
2. Rainfed upland rice ecosystem
3. Rainfed lowland rice ecosystem
4. Flood-prone rice ecosystem

3.2.1  Irrigated Rice Ecosystem

Under the irrigated ecosystem, wet season (June to October) is the main season for rice
cultivation; however, in a small area, rice is also grown in dry season (November to May)
(Rao et al. 2008). In India, about 22 million hectares area is under irrigated rice ecosys-
tems, which is about 49.5 % of the total rice area in the country. Major states where rice
is grown under irrigated conditions are Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal
Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and
Gujarat. Bunding of paddy fields is the prerequisite for irrigated rice cultivation.

3.2.2  Rainfed Upland Rice Ecosystem

Globally, upland ecosystem for rice cultivation is present in Asia, Africa, and Latin
America. In India, Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, eastern parts of Madhya
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and northeastern hill region cover 85 % of the upland rice
area (Rao et al. 2008). In the country, about six million hectares of area is under upland
rainfed rice, which accounts 13.5 % of the total area under rice crop in the country.
Monsoon season is the main season for rice cultivation in this ecosystem. The tem-
perature range in this zone is from 25 to 40 °C in July and from 6 to 25 °C in January,
and it receives rainfall in the range of 1000–2000 mm or more. In this ecosystem,
mostly direct sown rice is grown, and the rice fields are generally dry, unbunded.
About 55 % of the total rice area in this zone contain red laterite and lateritic soils such
as mixed red and yellow, red sandy, red loam, lateritic, and mixed red and brown hill
soils. Besides this, alluvial soil also occupies nearly 27 % of the total rice area.
58 G. Mahajan et al.

3.2.3  Rainfed Lowland Rice Ecosystem

In India, rainfed lowland rice is grown in around 14.4 million hectares, mostly in
Eastern India, where availability of soil moisture remains for longer period. This
area accounts 32.4 % of the total rice area of the country. In these areas, mostly
photosensitive varieties having 140 days duration are grown. There is much varia-
tions in water depth in this ecosystem, which can be shallow (up to 25 cm), medium
deep (up to 50 cm), or deep (up to 2 m). Depending on the water depth in the field,
medium- to long-duration cultivars are grown. For better performance, these culti-
vars should have tolerance to drought at initial stage and submergence at later stage,
moderate to high tillering ability, photosensitivity, tolerance to pest and diseases,
and elongation ability in semi-deep or deepwater situations.
There is lack of technology in rice production in this ecosystem so there is much
variations in production. The major problems in rainfed lowland ecosystem are
erratic yields due to drought/flood conditions and poor soil quality.

3.2.4  Flood-Prone Rice Ecosystem

Flood-prone rice is adapted in those areas where farmers have to face temporary
submergence of 1–10 days or long period submergence of 1–5 months in depths
from 50 to 400 cm or more. This is also adapted where daily tidal fluctuations may
also cause complete submergence (Mohanty et al. 2013). Globally, flood-prone eco-
systems are found in South and Southeast Asia as extreme floods, and drought often
occurred in these areas. In India, 26 % of the total cultivated area and 4.6 % of the
total rice-grown area are under flood-prone rice ecosystems. Yield in these ecosys-
tems are very low (1.5 t ha−1) and variable. June to November is the main season for
flood occurrence during the wet season. Rice varieties are selected according to
their level of tolerance to submergence.

3.3  History, Importance, Area, and Production

3.3.1  History

Rice is believed to be originated in Asia. Among the different rice species, the domi-
nant rice species Oryza sativa has originated in Southeast Asia. Rice is thought to
be developed from wild grass that was grown in the foothills of the Far Eastern
Himalayas. It is also believed that the origin of rice plant may be in Southern India,
and after its origination, it was adopted in the North India and then in China.
Thereafter, it spread to Korea, then about 2000 B.C. in Philippines, and then about
1000 B.C. in Japan and Indonesia (DRD 2014). Some scientists (De Condole 1986;
Watt 1892) believe that cultivated rice was originated in Southern India. However,
3  Rice Production in India 59

some others (Vavilov 1926) thought that India and Burma (Myanmar) was the place
where cultivated rice was originated. After origin, it spread around the world very
slowly, but once it reached in any area, it became an important product for the
people from agriculture and economic point of view.
It is believed by the historians that the area covering the foothills of the Eastern
Himalayas (i.e., northeastern India), stretching through Burma, Thailand, Laos,
Vietnam, and Southern China, domesticated indica variety of rice. At the same time,
the japonica variety from wild rice was domesticated by Southern China, which was
introduced to India thereafter. It seems that after its adoption in the northern plains,
it proceeded to Southern India around 1400 B.C. Then it spread to all those areas
which were under the influence of rivers, e.g., fertile alluvial plains watered by riv-
ers. In Assam and Nepal, some perennial wild rice varieties are still being grown
(DRD 2014). The word rice is considered to be derived from the Tamil word arisi.
Rice was first mentioned in the Yajur Veda (1500–800 B.C.) and then frequently
referred in Sanskrit texts.
Chatterjee (1948) suggested that genus Oryza has altogether 24 species, of which
2, viz., Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima, are cultivated and 22 are wild. In most
of the rice-growing areas, O. sativa is prevalent; however, O. glaberrima is grown
in West Africa only. So he believed that the cultivated rice might have two centers
of origin: West Africa and Southeastern Asia including Myanmar, India, and
Thailand.

3.3.2  Importance

India is one of the important centers of rice farming and occupied the largest area
under rice cultivation (DRD 2014). In the Indian subcontinent in 2011–2012, more
than a quarter of the cultivated land was occupied by rice. In the southern and east-
ern parts of India, it is considered as a very important and essential part of the daily
meal. Rice plays a vital role in shaping the diets, culture, and economics of thou-
sands of millions of peoples in the world. It will not be wrong to say that “rice is
life” for more than 50 % of the humanity. Rice is an important staple food crop for
more than 50 % of the world population. Besides this, rice straw, husk, and bran are
also used as cattle feed, in cottage industry for preparation of hats, mats, ropes,
sound absorbents, straw board, and as litter material and fuel sources. Keeping its
importance in view, the year 2004 was designated as the “International Year of
Rice” by the United Nation (DRD 2014).

3.3.3  Area and Production

At the global level, rice is the most widely grown crop which occupies an area of
about 161.8 million hectares, of which Asia covers about 143.2 million hectares.
Similarly, out of the total world rice production of 701.1 million tons of paddy,
60 G. Mahajan et al.

Asia contributes approximately 633.7 million tons (FAO Statistical Yearbook

2013). Although the largest area under rice crop in the world (43 m ha) is in India,
average productivity is much higher in the USA, China, and Japan, i.e., nearly
more than twice of that in India. No doubt, much increase in productivity has been
reported from 1950–1951 to 2011–2012 in India. In 1950–1951, rice productivity
in India was 6.68 q ha−1, which increased to 23.95 q ha−1 in 2011–2012. An increas-
ing trend in rice production has been shown from 1950 to1951, and a record level
of 105.3 million tons was achieved in 2011–2012 (Mohapatra et  al. 2013).
Introduction of high-yielding and fertilizer-responsive varieties combined with
improved package of practices introduced by agricultural scientists for different
regions are the main reasons for increase in productivity of rice which is about
258 % (Mohapatra et al. 2013).
Kharif season is considered as the main season for rice cultivation in the country
as the major share of rice is cultivated during this time. However, rabi/summer sea-
son also contributes a small share of rice in the assured irrigation conditions.
Monsoon plays a very important role in Indian rice production as rice production is
dependent on monsoon rains to a great extent. Only 59 % of the total rice area is
covered under assured irrigation (DRD 2014).
The most important rice-growing and rice-consuming area in India is in the
eastern region which accounts for about 63.3  % of India’s rice-growing area. It
comprises of West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and
Eastern Madhya Pradesh. In this region, only 35 % of the total people reside; how-
ever, their demand is about 49 % of the rice grown in the country (Thiyagarajan and
Gujja 2013).
Area, production, and yield of rice during 2010–2011 and 2013–2014 in major
producing states is given in Table 3.1.

3.4  Rice-Based Cropping Systems

In any particular area, there are four main factors on which a cropping system
depends: water resources, land topography, soil textural properties, and marketing
facilities in the area. All these factors vary to a greater extent even within an area or
region. In South Asia, particularly in India, the importance of rice-based multiple
cropping systems is appreciated because of the changes occurring in socioeconomic
system, population, and food production dynamics by the turn of the century. Now,
rice-based cropping systems have dominated over all the other cropping systems in
the country, as rice is grown all over the country with a number of crops either in
intercropping or in sequence with rice, most of these are 1 year cropping systems.
In the past, crops other than rice were not grown in the current traditional rice-­
growing areas, because of prevailing climatic conditions, inadequate arrangements
of drainage, and lack of irrigation facilities. But now, either double cropping of rice
or inclusion of rabi crops in sequence with rice is being adopted. It has become pos-
sible due to the improvement in irrigation facilities (Srivastava and Mahapatra
3  Rice Production in India 61

Table 3.1  State-wise area, production, and yield of rice during 2010–2011 and 2013–2014
2010–2011 2013–2014a
Area Production Yield Area Production Yield
States (m ha) (mt) (kg ha−1) (m ha) (mt) (kg ha−1)
Andhra Pradesh 4.75 14.42 3035 4.51 13.03 2891
Assam 2.57 4.74 843 2.27 4.78 2101
Bihar 2.83 3.10 1095 3.11 5.51 1774
Chhattisgarh 3.70 6.16 1663 3.80 6.72 1766
Gujarat 0.81 1.50 1852 0.79 1.62 2053
Haryana 1.25 3.47 2789 1.23 4.00 3256
Jharkhand 0.72 1.11 1541 1.22 2.74 2238
Karnataka 1.54 4.19 2719 1.33 3.76 2828
Madhya Pradesh 1.60 1.77 1106 1.93 2.78 1438
Maharastra 1.52 2.70 1776 1.56 2.95 1891
Odisha 4.23 6.83 1616 4.18 7.58 1815
Punjab 2.83 10.84 3828 2.85 11.27 3952
Tamil Nadu 1.91 5.79 3040 1.79 5.54 3100
Uttar Pradesh 5.66 11.99 2120 1.79 5.54 3100
West Bengal 4.94 13.05 2639 5.50 15.31 2786
Others 1.79 3.82 – 1.71 3.83 –
All India 42.86 95.98 2239 43.95 106.54 2424
Source: Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2014 (2015)
a
Fourth Advance Estimates

2012). Besides this, introduction of high-yielding photo- and thermo-insensitive

rice varieties of relatively shorter duration also brought remarkable changes in the
cropping system concept (Sharma et al. 2004).
The Project Directorate of Cropping System Research (PDCSR) has identified
approximately 500 cropping systems on the basis of rational spread of crops in dif-
ferent agroclimatic regions of the country, of which only 30 cropping systems are
important as there is a sizable area under these cropping systems (Yadav et al. 1998).
The largest area in the country is covered by various rice-based cropping systems
such as rice-wheat, rice-rice, rice-chickpea/lentil, rice-mustard/linseed, and rice-­
peanut. Among different rice-based cropping systems, the major share of food grain
pool of the nation is contributed by rice-wheat and rice-rice cropping systems. Other
rice-based cropping systems such as rice-mustard, rice-peanut, rice-chickpea, rice-­
green gram, etc., have their significant contribution to the national production of
oilseed and pulse crops (Tiwari et al. 2013).
In India, more than 44 million hectare area is occupied by rice under three
major ecosystems, rainfed uplands (16 % area), irrigated medium lands (45 %),
and rainfed lowlands (39 %), with a productivity of 0.87, 2.24 and 1.55 t ha−1,
respectively (Tiwari et  al. 2013). Thus, rice-based production systems provide
livelihood for more than 50 million households. The population has already
crossed one billion mark, and by the year 2030, it is expected to reach around 1.5
billion. To meet the demand of Indian population, currently the food grain demand
62 G. Mahajan et al.

is estimated at 240 million tons. Keeping this in view, the National Food Security
Mission had been launched by the Government of India to achieve the production
of additional 10, 8, and 2 million tons of rice, wheat, and pulses, respectively
(NFSM 2012). The mission met with an overwhelming success and achieved the
targeted additional production of rice, wheat, and pulses. The mission is now
continued with new targets of additional production of food grains of 25 million
tons of food grains comprising of 10 million tons rice, 8 million tons of wheat, 4
million tons of pulses, and 3 million tons of coarse cereals by 2017. In order to
make agriculture an attractive, profitable, and sustainable enterprise, it is neces-
sary to shift from traditional food grain production systems to newer cropping
systems under rice-based production systems depending upon the agroclimatic
conditions (Rao et al. 2008). State-wise area under different rice-based cropping
systems is given in Table 3.2.
For the revolutionary increase in rice production, it is necessary to divert the
kharif area to the rice crop in kharif season in the states of Punjab, Haryana,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, western Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan
where irrigation facilities are available. Actually, in most parts of the country in the
states mentioned above, such a change in the cropping pattern has already been
occurred. It is expected that the major irrigated kharif areas will be under the rice
crop during the course of the next decade (Srivastava and Mahapatra 2012).

3.4.1  Rice-Based Cropping Systems Under Different Ecologies

The multiple crop demonstrations have been conducted under the National
Demonstration Scheme to find the efficient cropping system in different parts of the
country. These demonstrations have shown that a rice-wheat rotation can give a total
annual production of over 10 t ha−1 year−1 in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal
Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab. In the north and the northwestern parts of the coun-
try, rice followed by wheat has proved to be a very productive and profitable crop
sequence. However, rice followed by rice is the most efficient system in terms of
production in the south and southeastern states of the country. In Eastern India, for
the slightly dry hot zone, the rice-wheat rotation was the best under the upland to
medium land conditions and for the slightly moist and hot zone; rice-rice rotation
was the best under medium to lowland conditions. In Western and Central India, the
highest production in kharif was obtained from the rice crop. However, wheat which
follows rice produces less yields as compared to the wheat crop grown after maize
or sorghum. Thus, a yield level of 10–15 t ha−1 year−1 can be obtained in all the rice-
growing ecologies with a proper selection of crops, varieties, and agronomic prac-
tices (Srivastava and Mahapatra 2012).
In multilocational experiments conducted under the Cropping System Research
Projects, many rice-based cropping systems suited to different soil and climatic
conditions have been identified in terms of agronomic productivity, physiological
output, and economic feasibility (Annual Report 2001–2002). Promising rice-based
3  Rice Production in India 63

Table 3.2  State-wise area under different rice-based cropping system in India
Cropping Area Cropping Area
system State (‘000 ha) system State (‘000 ha)
Rice-wheat Assam 100.0 Rice-rice Andhra Pradesh 1393.0
Bihar 1511.1 Assam 1131.0
Gujarat 248.7 Gujarat 257.3
Haryana 867.0 Karnataka 684.7
Himachal 58.3 Kerala 143.3
Pradesh
Jammu and 305.5 Odisha 139.5
Kashmir
Madhya Pradesh 594.8 Tamil Nadu 2145.2
Maharashtra 56.1 Total 5894.0
Punjab 1750.0 Rice-­ Gujarat 90.7
vegetables
Uttar Pradesh 4122.7 Maharashtra 89.1
West Bengal 233.1 Odisha 100.0
Total 9847.3 Tamil Nadu 20.9
Rice-fallow Bihar 1554.0 West Bengal 941.9
Jammu and 127.0 Total 1243.5
Kashmir
Karnataka 242.0 Rice-lathyrus Bihar 88.0
Madhya Pradesh 2038.1 Madhya Pradesh 862.0
Maharashtra 458.8 Total 950.0
Total 4419.9 Rice-mustard Bihar 12.0
Rice-peanut Andhra Pradesh 188.0 Madhya Pradesh 52.0
Karnataka 55.0 Odisha 22.6
Maharashtra 5.1 Uttar Pradesh 35.8
Odisha 14.7 West Bengal 358.3
Tamil Nadu 760.1 Total 480.7
Total 1022.9 Rice-black Andhra Pradesh 367.0
gram
Rice-gram Maharashtra 105.9 Odisha 231.9
Odisha 24.5 Total 598.9
Uttar Pradesh 78.5 Rice-green Andhra Pradesh 143.0
gram
Total 208.9 Karnataka 19.0
Rice-­ Bihar 52.0 Odisha 435.5
sugarcane
Gujarat 370.4 Total 597.5
Tamil Nadu 10.2 Rice-potato West Bengal 462.4
Total 432.6 Rice-jute West Bengal 120.1
Source: Yadav and Rao (2001)
64 G. Mahajan et al.

Table 3.3  Existing and proposed rice-based cropping systems under different agroclimatic zones
of India
Agroclimatic zone Cropping system
Existing Proposed
Indo Gangetic Rice-wheat, rice-pulses, Rice-winter maize-cowpea, rice-berseem,
Plains rice-potato, rice-toria-wheat, rice-peanut-sesame, rice-wheat-pulse,
rice-maize-berseem, rice-rice, rice-early potato-peanut, rice-linseed/pea/
rice-potato-sesame lentil, rice-potato-soybean, rice-­
sunflower-­green gram
Eastern Himalayan Rice-wheat, rice-pulses Rice-toria-wheat, rice-berseem-soybean,
region rice-sunflower, rice-vegetables
Western Rice-mustard, rice-wheat, Rice-potato, rice-berseem (relay
Himalayan region rice-linseed, rice-oats, cropping), rice-toria-wheat, rice +
rice-berseem soybean intercropping
Western dry region Usually sole crop of rice Rice-wheat, rice-mustard, rice-peanut,
grown in limited areas, rice-potato, rice-sunflower
rice-mustard
East-west coast Rice-black gram, rice-peanut, Rice-sunflower, rice-peanut-cowpea,
plains rice-finger millet, rice-rice rice-potato-sesame, rice-maize-cowpea,
rice-vegetables, rice-relay cropping with
black gram, field pea, lathyrus in rainfed
system
Eastern, western, Usually monocropping with Rice-sunflower, rice-peanut, rice-black
central, and rice, intercropping with gram, rice-chilly
southern plateau pulses or oilseeds is practiced
regions
Island region Rice monocropping, rice-rice, Rice-peanut, rice-sunflower, rice-winter
rice-green gram/black gram maize, rice-rice, rice-vegetables
Source: Rao et al. (2008)

cropping systems with high productivity and intensive land use for diverse agrocli-
matic situations of India are given in Table 3.3 (Rao et al. 2008).
Different ecologies have their specific cropping systems in India. In rainfed
upland ecosystems, short-duration varieties of 90–105 days are cultivated. The sow-
ing is completed during the onset of monsoon, so as to vacate the fields early for the
second crop (Saha et al. 2003). Major crops in this ecosystem are mustard, castor,
linseed, safflower, black gram, lentil, horse gram, etc., which take advantage of
residual soil moisture and late monsoon rains. System productivity and farmer
income can also be improved by intercropping of rice with short-duration pulses
like green gram, black gram, or oilseeds like peanut (Tiwari et al. 2013). Cropping
intensity and total productivity of the system is very low in northeastern hill (NEH)
region because successful rabi cropping is very difficult. It can be increased by
intercropping soybean, pigeon pea, and peanut with rice. Rice + pigeon pea (4:1 row
ratio) and rice + peanut/soybean (4:2 row ratio) have been found promising in NEH
regions. Intercropping with legumes helps in reducing weed problem, improving
soil fertility, and enhancing farm income (Das et al. 2012).
3  Rice Production in India 65

Under the irrigated medium land situations, the major cropping systems are rice-­
rice, rice-wheat, rice-winter maize, rice-peanut, rice-sunflower, rice-potato, rice-­
mustard, rice-chickpea, and rice-winter vegetables. The cropping intensity of this
system is 200 %. However, there is still scope to increase the cropping intensity by
introducing a third crop of short-duration pulses like cowpea, green gram, black
gram, or oilseed crops like sesame. This can be possible only in those areas where
facilities are available to provide 1–2 lifesaving irrigations to the third crop. In West
Bengal, rice-potato-sesame, rice-wheat-green gram, and rice-wheat-jute are found
most suitable. While in Punjab conditions, rice-potato-sunflower, rice-potato-winter
maize, and rice-toria-sunflower have been found to be more productive than the
conventional system of 200  % cropping intensity with rice-wheat or rice-winter
maize (Tiwari et al. 2013).
In the rainfed lowland ecosystem, medium to long duration rice varieties of 140–
155 days are usually grown in shallow lowlands of Eastern India. Some short-­
duration crops like green gram and black gram are grown with residual soil moisture
in harvested rice fields (Saha and Moharana 2005). In intermediate deep and deep-
water rice ecologies of east coast and lower Gangetic Plains of India, long-duration
(155–180 days) photosensitive rice varieties can be grown. In these areas, rainwater
is harvested during the monsoon period of June–September which is used in grow-
ing several winter vegetables like pumpkin, bitter guard, okra, and chili, along with
other crops like black gram, green gram, sunflower, peanut, and sesame during the
dry season. Generally, monocropping of rice is done in the salt-affected rainfed
coastal areas. However, certain salt-tolerant crops like sunflower, chili, watermelon,
sugar beet, cotton, and barley are grown along with rice, depending on the avail-
ability of harvested rainwater, soil, and climatic conditions (Singh et al. 2006).
For the successful cultivation of rice-based cropping system, it is very important
to select suitable varieties and adjust the dates of planting. Development of efficient
rice-based cropping systems for irrigated and rainfed areas and their evaluation in
respect of their production potential with or without resources constraints per unit
area per unit time and their long-range effects on improvement of soil health is the
remedy for increasing rice production (Srivastava and Mahapatra 2012).

3.5  Varieties and Genetic Improvement

For the diversity in rice varieties, India is considered one of the richest countries in
the world (Table 3.4). Several different rice varieties have been reported in India,
depending on variations in the soil structure, plant characteristics, weather condi-
tions, and purposes of use. It has been estimated by Dr. R.H. Richharia, one of the
most outstanding rice scientists of the world, that during the Vedic period, about
400,000 varieties of rice existed in India (Thiyagarajan and Gujja 2013). Even now,
as many as 200,000 rice varieties have been estimated to exist in India.
66 G. Mahajan et al.

Table 3.4  Some of the State Popular variety

popular varieties developed
Andhra MTU 1, MTU 15, HR 19
before 1960 in India
Pradhesh
Madhya Pradesh Hybrid 2, Hybrid 18, Dubraj
Mumbai Kolamba strains
Orissa T 141, SR 26 B
Punjab Basmati 370
Tamil Nadu CO 26, ASD 1, GEB 24 m,
CO 2, CO 25,
Uttar Pradesh T 136, N 22
West Bengal Chinsura 7
Source: Krishnaiah (1998)

Over the last 50 years in tropical Asia, India has released the greatest number
(643) of varieties. India may therefore be chosen as a case study for evaluating the
genetic diversity of cultivated varieties. In the last 30 years, 632 varieties were
developed and released for commercial cultivation in India for different ecosystems.
Of the 632 varieties, 14 (2.2  %) for deepwater, 30 (4.7  %) for rainfed semi-­
deepwater, 33 (5.2  %) for hill ecologies, 87 (13.7  %) for rainfed uplands, 123
(19.4 %) for rainfed shallow lowlands, and 374 (59 %) were released for the irri-
gated ecosystem. About 77 % of the total rice area in the country is occupied by
high-yielding varieties (FAO 2003). As a result of concerted efforts over the last two
decades, more than 50 hybrids have been released so far. Important hybrids from
public sector are KRH-2, DRRH-2, and Pusa RH 10 and from private sectors PHB
71, PA 6201, PA 6444, and PA 6129. The yield advantage of hybrids is in the range
of 15–20 % over the high-yielding inbreds. However, still area under hybrid rice has
reached only about 1.5 m ha. Some of the considered reasons for poor adoption of
hybrid rice technology are (i) lack of hybrid seed availability at reasonable cost and
weak infrastructure for quality hybrid seed production, (ii) low magnitude of het-
erosis, (iii) poor grain and cooking quality, (iv) low yield on seed parent resulting
into high seed cost, (v) susceptibility of hybrids to biotic stresses (blight, blast,
BPH), and (vi) lack of suitable hybrids for fragile ecosystem (drought, salinity,
submergence, acidity, low temperature). There is a need for mapping of heterotic
QTLs in promising hybrids and their transfer to breed super parental lines. There is
also need for utilization of yield enhancing heterotic QTL from land races and wild
relatives. Improved version of KMR 3, the male parent of KRH 2 carrying heterotic
gene block from same land races, and O. rufipogon have been developed which are
likely to enhance the level of heterosis. Development of Pusa RH 10, the first super
fine grain aromatic rice hybrid has proved that if the parental lines are carefully bred
and selected, the hybrid with excellent grain and cooking quality can be developed.
Now several genes conferring resistance to bacterial blight, blast, brown plant hop-
per have been identified and mapped using molecular markers. The potential of
3  Rice Production in India 67

marker-assisted selection has been amply demonstrated in breeding for resistance to

bacterial blight (BB) through development of inbreds PR-124, Improved Pusa
Basmati 1, Punjab Basmati 3, and Improved Samba Mahsuri. The fragile rice eco-
system consisting of drought, submergence, salinity/alkalinity, acidity, and low-­
temperature stress constitutes more than 50 % area under rice in India. Now with the
availability of tightly linked markers for gene like Sub 1 (Swarna Sub 1) and Saltol
conferring seedling stage submergence (Pokkali rice) and salinity tolerance (CSR-­
30), it should be possible to incorporate these genes into elite material. Similarly
genes for phosphorus uptake (Pup 1) and drought tolerance (Sahbaghi Dhan, Dhan
201, Dhan 202) are now mapped and are being deplored to harness their potential
through improved lines in stress environment.
At present, in 28 state agricultural universities (SAUs), more than 125 rice
research stations are working on all aspects of rice. Identification of several varieties
was done by intensive selection from local population in different parts of India. It
proved to be the stepping stone for the modern breeding program in which high- and
stable-yielding varieties with resistance to major diseases and insects were
developed.

3.6  Rice Production Methods

Four rice agroecosystems have been identified and categorized by the International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI). These are (1) irrigated rice ecosystems, (2) rainfed
lowland rice ecosystems, (3) upland rice ecosystems, and (4) deepwater rice eco-
systems. For all these conditions, one set of cultural practices cannot be used effi-
ciently. For example, transplanting is the main method of rice establishment in
irrigated areas, but in some areas, direct seeding is being done. There are three
principal systems which have been adopted in India. These are dry system, semidry
system, and wet system. Soil types, topography of the land, rainfall pattern, etc.,
are the factors which affect the selection of method to be adopted (Srivastava and
Mahapatra 2012). Besides this, availability of labor is also an important factor,
which affects the choice of establishment method. Thiyagarajan and Gujja (2013)
found that the source and availability of water are the most important factors which
finally decide the method of crop establishment in the different ecosystems (Table
3.5). There are mainly two types of soils in India in which rice is grown, i.e.,
uplands and lowlands. Broadly, rice sowing methods can be classified into two
methods:
(a) Dry or semidry upland cultivation. This method is further divided into two
categories:
(i) Broadcasting the seed
(ii) Sowing the seed using a plough or a drill
68 G. Mahajan et al.

Table 3.5  Methods of crop establishment in different rice ecosystems having different sources of
water in India
Rice
ecosystem Water sources Crop establishment method
Irrigated Perennial and seasonal river Transplanting in puddled soil
(rainfed, reservoir fed, snow fed) Seeds broadcasting in puddled soil
System tanks filled by river water Drum seeding in puddled soil
Seasonal tanks filled with rainwater Seedling throwing in puddle soil
Groundwater Direct seeding in dry condition and
(whole season and supplementary) convert into wetland after rains
Rainfed High rainfall Transplanting in puddled soil
wetland Direct seeding in dry condition and
convert into wetland after rains
Rainfed Low rainfall Seeds broadcasting in dry condition
dryland Seed-drill sowing (tractor drawn) in dry
condition
Seed-drill sowing (animal drawn) in
dry condition
Line sowing behind plough in dry
condition
Deepwater Rainfall flooding Seeds broadcasting in dry condition
and fields flooded with rain water
Source: Thiyagarajan and Gujja (2013)

(b) Wet or lowland cultivation. This method also is further divided into two

categories:
(i) Transplanting in puddled fields
( ii) Broadcasting sprouted seeds in puddled field
Broadly speaking, main methods of raising rice crop are direct seeding and trans-
planting. In case of transplanting, seedlings are raised in the seed bed before they
are transplanted in the main field, whereas in case of direct seeding, seeds are sown
straight to the main field either by broadcast seeding or by row seeding in wet or dry
soil. This is the basic difference between these two methods.

3.6.1  Direct-Seeded Rice

The main method of rice establishment in the country is transplanting. But this produc-
tion system is water, labor, and energy intensive. Nowadays, these resources are
becoming increasingly scarce, so this system is becoming less profitable. This system
also adversely affects the soil physical properties, thus the performance of succeeding
upland crops, e.g., wheat, and deteriorates the environment quality by contributing to
methane emissions. All these factors played an important role to increase in demand
for shifting from puddled transplanting to direct seeding of rice (DSR) in irrigated rice
ecosystems (Kumar and Ladha 2011; Mahajan et al. 2012; Chauhan et al. 2012).
3  Rice Production in India 69

Table 3.6  Classification of direct-seeded rice systems with seed and seedbed conditions and area
Direct Seedbed
seeding condition and
system Area Seed condition environment Seeding method
Dry Mostly in rainfed Dry seeds Dry soil, mostly Broadcasting; drilling
direct-­ areas and some in aerobic or sowing in rows
seeded irrigated areas with
precise water
control
Wet Mostly in irrigated Pre-germinated Puddled soil, Various
direct-­ areas with good seeds may be aerobic
seeded drainage or anaerobic
Water In irrigated areas Dry or Standing water, Broadcasting on
seeding with good land pre-germinated mostly anaerobic standing
leveling and in seeds Water
areas with red rice
problem
Source: Thakur et al. (2004) and Balasubramanian and Hill (2002)

DSR refers to the process of establishing a rice crop from seeds sown in the
field rather than by transplanting seedlings from the nursery. This method is
mostly adopted in rainfed uplands, medium lands, and lowlands where rainfall is
uncertain, the topography is undulating, and fields are unbunded. Actually, direct
seeding is not a new concept; rather it is the oldest method of rice establishment.
DSR was the most common method before the 1950s but was gradually replaced
by puddled transplanting (Grigg 1974; Pandey and Velasco 2005). In DSR, there
are three principal methods: wet seeding (sowing pre-germinated seeds on wet
puddled soils), dry seeding (sowing dry seeds into dry soil), and water seeding
(seeds sown into standing water). All these methods are different form each other
by different land preparations or by different crop establishment methods or by
both (Table 3.6).

3.6.1.1  Direct Seeding on Dry Seed Bed or Dry-Direct Seeded Rice

In this method, plowing and leveling are done properly before or at the onset of
monsoon. Rice seeds are directly sown in the field at row spacings of 15–20 cm
using seed rates of 25–50 kg ha−1 depending on variety and time of planting and are
covered with soil by shallow tillage or planking (Mahajan et al. 2011; Mahajan and
Chauhan 2016). In dry DSR, different methods are used, including:
1. Broadcasting of dry seeds on unpuddled soil after either zero tillage or conven-
tional tillage
2. Dibbled method in a well-prepared field
3. Drilling of seeds in rows after conventional tillage or reduced tillage using a
power tiller-operated seeder
70 G. Mahajan et al.

A seed-cum-fertilizer drill can be used for DSR in conventional or zero tillage

which drills the seeds and places the fertilizer simultaneously. The seedbed condi-
tion in this system is unpuddled and dry, so the aerobic environment is provided to
seed. Rainfed upland, lowland, and flood-prone areas of Asia are the main regions
where this method is traditionally practiced (Rao et al. 2007). However, as the water
scarcity is increasing in irrigated areas also, so this method is gaining importance in
these areas. In spite of promising benefits from the adoption of dry DSR, farmers
may not be able to adopt this technology until the problems of cultivation in dry
DSR is solved and the technologies are fine-tuned to suit farmers’ conditions.
Adoption of dry DSR on a large scale is possible; however, public-private part-
nerships and prioritizing resources are the key to success. To achieve success in dry
DSR, precise laser- leveled fields, drills having improved seed metering systems,
and trained tractor drivers and pesticide operators are the key components. The sow-
ing of DSR at shallow depth is important for good establishment. Short-duration
cultivars, hybrids, and basmati rice gave superior performance under dry seeding,
but breeding rice cultivars for dry seeding is the important thrust area for further
productivity gains in dry DSR (Mahajan et al. 2015). Weeds pose a serious problem
in dry DSR for high productivity. Pre- and postemergence herbicide applications are
needed for effective weed management; however, the choice of herbicides varies
according to dominant weed flora (Mahajan et al. 2009, 2015). For effective and
sustainable management of weeds in dry DSR and for delaying herbicide resistance
in weeds, integrated weed management strategies are needed in dry DSR. Effective
weed management in dry DSR starts from the timing and method of land prepara-
tion, choice of herbicides relative to the dominant weed species and soil moisture at
the time of application, and the effect of weather on weeds and during herbicide
application.

3.6.1.2  Direct Seeding on Puddled Seedbed or Wet Direct-Seeded Rice

In wet direct seeding method, field is puddled by repeated plowing and laddering in
standing water. The mud is then leveled, and the excess water is drained to ensure
good establishment of seedlings. Then, the pre-germinated seeds are sown with a
radicle varying in size from 1 to 3 mm on or into puddle soil. These seeds are either
broadcast by hand or sown in line using a drum seeder at the seeding rate of 80–
100 kg ha−1. This method is further classified into two categories, i.e., aerobic wet-­
seeded rice and anaerobic wet-seeded rice. In aerobic wet-seeded rice, pre-germinated
seeds are sown on the surface of puddled soil, so the seed environment becomes
aerobic. When pre-germinated seeds are sown/drilled into puddled soil, the seed
environment is mostly anaerobic, hence known as anaerobic wet direct-seeded rice.
In both aerobic and anaerobic methods, seeds are either broadcast or sown in line
using an anaerobic seeder with a furrow opener and closer (Balasubramanian and
Hill 2002) or a drum seeder (Rashid et al. 2009; Khan et al. 2009).
3  Rice Production in India 71

3.6.1.3  Water Seeding

In this method, seeds are water soaked and incubated for 24 h, and then these pre-­
germinated seeds are broadcasted in standing water on puddled soils, and this pro-
cess is known as wet-water seeding. When these pre-germinated seeds are
broadcasted in standing water on unpuddled soil, process is known as dry-water
seeding (Kumar and Ladha 2011). Seeds sink in the standing water getting a good
anchorage. Those rice varieties are most suitable for water seeding which are toler-
ant to a low level of dissolved oxygen, lowlight, and other stress environments
(Balasubramanian and Hill 2002). Besides irrigated areas, water seeding is popular
in those areas also, where chances of early flood occurrence are more and drainage
of excess water become difficult task in that fields.

3.6.2  Transplanted Rice

It is the most elaborate method of cultivation of rice in the country. It is clear from
the name of method that seed is sown in one place and the seedlings are transplanted
to another after specific growth. This method is practiced to ensure higher yields
and less weed problem. It is practiced in those areas where irrigation facilities are
available or where water is not a limiting factor. First, the seedlings are raised in a
nursery, and then 4–6-week-old seedlings are transplanted into puddled fields with
standing water. Transplanting gives the rice crop a head start over emerging weeds
and ensures a uniform plant stand (Chauhan et al. 2012; Thiyagarajan and Gujja
2013). Transplanting may also allow crop intensification as the crop remains for less
time in the field. Transplanting shortens the duration of the crop in the main field,
thus providing opportunity to the farmers to accommodate rice crop to an uncertain
and finite water supply. This provides the ability to farmers to make adjustments in
the planting dates in response to water availability.
In transplanting method, internal structure of soils is broken down by puddling;
thus, water loss through percolation is reduced and water holding capacity in the
surface layer of soil is increased by development of a plow pan or hard layer. This
is the way how utility of limited water is extended in transplanting systems (Maclean
et al. 2002). Raising of nursery is the prerequisite for this system. The agronomic
techniques involved are raising healthy wet nursery and transplanting in the main
field with optimum population. Generally, nursery is raised on an area of 8–10 % of
the total area for transplanting. Seedlings can be raised in wet or dry nursery beds,
depending upon water availability. A new approach for nursery raising, called dapog
method, and in this method a thick stand of seedlings is raised in plastic sheets
­without any contact with soil. This technique was developed in the Philippines
(Thiyagarajan and Gujja 2013). Transplanting method is further divided into two
categories, i.e., manual transplanting and mechanical transplanting.
72 G. Mahajan et al.

3.6.2.1  Manual Transplanting

Manual transplanting is the most widely used method in India for transplanting
of rice. Costly machines are not required in this method, so it is most suited for
labor-­surplus areas and for small rice fields. For manual transplanting, any
method of nursery raising, viz., wet, dry, or mat type, can be used. Manual trans-
planting of seedlings is very much practiced in irrigation command rice areas of
the country. No doubt, it gives uniform crop stand; it is quite expensive and
requires a lot of labor besides involving a lot of drudgery (Manjunatha et  al.
2009). Depending on soil type, 1 ha of rice requires 25–30 person days to estab-
lish. Manual transplanting is done either at random or in straight rows (Rice
Knowledge Bank 2015a).

Random Method

Seedlings are transplanted without any definite row arrangement in this method. By
manual transplanting method, equal distances between hills are difficult to deter-
mine. But it must be ensured that the estimated distances should not be too close or
too wide as compared to the recommended spacing.

Straight-Row Method

In this method, a uniform spacing between plants is maintained. The seedlings are
transplanted in straight rows. The optimum plant spacing is 20 × 10 cm or 20 × 15 cm
under normal conditions, but it can be slightly narrower, i.e., 15  ×  10  cm under
subnormal conditions (Meera et al. 2014b). In the straight row transplanting method,
application of herbicides, fertilizers, or insecticides and management practices such
as hand or rotary weeding are very easy to be practiced.

3.6.2.2  Mechanical Transplanting

Mechanical transplanting of rice is the method of transplanting young rice seed-

lings, which have been grown in a mat nursery, by using a self-propelled rice trans-
planter. It is the most promising option for rice transplanting as it ensures timely
transplanting, saves labor, and attains optimum plant density that ultimately contrib-
utes to high yield (Manjunatha et  al. 2009; Manes et  al. 2013). In conventional
manual transplanting practice, for transplanting one acre, 8–12 laborers are required.
However, only three people can transplant up to four acres in a day by using a self-­
propelled rice transplanter (Rickman et al. 2015). Kamboj et al. (2013) revealed that
rice can be easily grown by mechanical transplanting method under non-puddled
and no-till conditions with yield advantages over the conventional puddled
3  Rice Production in India 73

transplanting system. For mechanical transplanting method, mat-type method is

used for nursery raising. In mat-type nursery, rice seedlings are raised on a thin
layer of soil and farm yard manure (FYM) or compost mixture placed on a poly-
thene sheet (Rickman et al. 2015).

3.7  Major Production Constraints

Though India has its own position in the world for rice area and production, yet it
is still counted in the countries with the lowest rice yields. Rice yield has been
reported lower than the national average yield in about 70 % of the 414 rice-grow-
ing districts of the country (Srivastava and Mahapatra 2012). It clearly shows that
even after the implication of high-yield technology, a sizable area of the country is
categorized as low producing. Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, West Bengal, and
Uttar Pradesh occupy 60 % area of low rice-producing states. Even in the irrigated
rice areas, also, 32 % area produces less than the average yield. As compared to
China and Egypt, where yields are 6.1 and 8.3 t ha−1, respectively, India’s yields in
irrigated fields are too low, i.e., 4.2 tons paddy ha−1 (Tiwari 2002). It has been
revealed in the yield gap analysis that we achieve 30–40 % less yield than that of
the potential yield which is achievable by using the available high-yielding culti-
vars on high productivity irrigated land. The major reasons for this gap are the
degraded and less fertile soils, pockets of endemic pests and diseases, defects in
cropping systems, low input use, and less adoption of high-yielding technology
(Srivastava and Mahapatra 2012).
Although it is a well-recognized fact that the key to India’s sustained food secu-
rity lies in the rice-producing region, still we have inadequate understanding of the
production constraints which tend to reduce yield and factor productivity in rice
farming. In the past, several studies have been conducted to examine the production
constraints at the farm level (Mahapatra 1995; Siddiq 1996). The Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR) in 1987 had undertaken the “Special Research to
Development Programme.” Similarly, the Ministry of Agriculture conducted
“Special Rice Production Programme” and “Front Line Demonstration” since 1990.
But India is still lagging behind to make strategies to remove them.
The problems and constraints faced by the farmers in rice production vary, not
only from state to state but also from area to area. The eastern region is the major
rice-growing region of the country, and almost every year, this region has to face the
problem of high rainfall and severe flood. However, in the upland ecology, either
high rainfall or drought situations cause the yield reduction. Besides this, desired
yield response to the balanced application of fertilizers cannot be achieved due to
some soil-related problems in some specific regions. Nonavailability of quality
seeds of suitable high-yielding varieties is also a big constraint in rice production in
some areas. A list of major constraints in different states or agroecologies is given
by CRRI (2011) (Table 3.7).
74 G. Mahajan et al.

Table 3.7  Major constraints of different states or agroecologies of India

Constraints States/agroecologies
Saline and alkali soils Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat,
West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil
Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, etc.
Poor adoption of production technology Mostly in uplands and lowlands
Delayed and prolong transplanting as a Mostly rainfed lowlands
result of delay in monsoon
Low and imbalanced use of fertilizers Northeastern and eastern states
Use of traditional varieties Mostly eastern states
Flash floods, waterlogging due to poor West Bengal, Assam, north Bihar, and eastern
drainage Uttar Pradesh
Erratic rainfall with poor soils Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and some parts of Uttar
Pradesh
Small and marginal farmers with poor Mostly eastern states of India
resources to use optimum/recommended
inputs
Source: CRRI (2011)

The main problems and constraints for rice production in India have been
grouped into three categories (Thanh and Singh 2006). These are:
1. Agroecological constraints
2. Technical constraints
3. Socioeconomic constraints

3.7.1  Agroecological Constraints

Analysis on the agroecological constraints revealed that Indian farmers face five
main problems or constraints in rice production (Thanh and Singh 2006).
Dependence of farmers on the monsoon is the foremost production constrains in
India. Sowing of rice crop in West Bengal regions is dependent mostly on monsoon,
and almost all farmers grow only one crop per year due to this problem. Land or soil
problem is also considered as the major rice production constraint. Uneven topog-
raphy, waterlogging, degraded land/soil, soil salinity, and lack of fertility are the
main factors which cause the land constraints. Environment pollution, lack of water
for irrigation, and small land holding are the other important agroecological rice
production constraints.

3.7.2  Technical Constraints

The results of technological constraints analysis revealed that Indian farmers per-
ceived 11 technical constraints (Thanh and Singh 2006). Major rice diseases, viz.,
blast, sheath blight, stem rot, and pests, viz., stem borer, are considered as major
3  Rice Production in India 75

constraints in rice production. Lack of proper cultivars, postharvest technologies,

and storage facilities cause the reduction in rice production and productivity in
many regions of India. For example, in many regions of West Bengal, even now the
farmers use traditional low-yielding cultivars and traditional manual methods of
postharvest technology. Low price of rice produce, less availability and high price
of fertilizers, plant protection and weed problems, lack of skilled labor, and poor
processing facilities are the other technical constraints for Indian rice-producing
farmers.

3.7.3  Socioeconomic Constraints

The most important socioeconomic constraint is the poor infrastructures like

nonavailability of transporting facilities and problems of poor road for trans-
portation (Thanh and Singh 2006). Production cost of rice is increasing day by
day due to increase in the price of important inputs such as herbicides, fertiliz-
ers, insecticides, fungicides, fuels and electricity charges for irrigation, etc.,
which led to decrease in net profits. Besides this, inadequate inputs, lack of
trainings, credit problems, poor extension services, and lack of support from
local governments are also considered as socioeconomic constraints for rice
productions.
Barker (1979) classified the constraints to high yields into two categories: those
that affect the crop potential under a farmer’s environment and those that affect a
farmer’s ability and willingness to achieve the potential yield on the farm. Rice
productivity in different growing zones is affected adversely due to all these prob-
lems/constraints. According to Mahapatra (1994), different production constraints
can be classified into six broad categories:
(a) Biophysical constraints
(b) Technological constraints
(c) Administrative constraints
(d) Institutional constraints
(e) Procedural constraints
(f) Socioeconomic constraints
Widawsky and O’Toole (1996), by including rice biotechnology programs, clas-
sified the constraints into biotic and abiotic constraints. Thus, the factors which
restrict the adoption of improved technologies and attainment of potential yield may
be biotic and abiotic, or technical and socioeconomic, or combinations of these.
There is a need to make a multidisciplinary approach for solving these constraints
as these factors are intertwined with each other.
Besides these constraints, a new challenge of climate change and its conse-
quences are expected to be a big problem in future to achieve a high productivity
of rice. There is a need to formulate the agricultural research in such a way that
the constraints are converted into opportunities, not only for increasing the rice
production but also for providing food security to the poor farmers of the
country.
76 G. Mahajan et al.

3.8  Challenges and Opportunities

3.8.1  Challenges

Total rice area in the country is 44 million hectare, out of which, 18.8 million
hectare is under rainfed conditions and 67 % of that lies in the Eastern India
only (Mohapatra et al. 2013). The challenges may include land fragmentation/
degradation, water scarcity, shifting of labor to other sectors, declining profit
margin, increasing cultivation cost, distress sale, ensuring nutritional and food
security to the people lying below poverty line, lack of infrastructure for stor-
age, intellectual property regime, postharvest losses, and emerging environ-
mental issues in areas of intensive agriculture. The detailed information about
the major challenges for rice production has been given below (Mohapatra et al.
2013).

3.8.1.1  Land Scenario

Population is increasing at an alarming rate in India, so, per capita total land avail-
ability is reducing (Mohapatra et al. 2013). In 2001, total land availability per capita
was 0.32 ha in India as compared to the world average of 2.19 ha. But it is estimated
to be decreased to 0.23 ha in 2025 and 0.19 ha in 2050. Area is shifting from agri-
cultural to nonagricultural uses over the years, so area under nonagricultural uses is
increasing. Because of the fast growth of industrialization, urbanization, and the
population, farmers have been encouraged to exploit marginal lands for rice cultiva-
tion. This cultivation of rice on marginal lands like acid soils, tidal lands, forest
lands, etc., limits the rice yield.

3.8.1.2  Soil-Related Challenges

Deterioration of Soil Quality

At the farm as well as at the ecosystem level, the quality of Indian soils is being
deteriorated gradually (Mohapatra et al. 2013). Loss of organic carbon, erosion,
nutrient imbalance, compaction, salinization, waterlogging, decline in soil bio-
diversity, urbanization, and contamination with heavy metals and pesticides are
the major challenges to the soil quality in the country. Defective farming prac-
tices like increased use of machinery, permanent waterlogging and rice mono-
culture, continuous soil puddling and submergence, injudicious use of inputs
(fertilizer, pesticides), excessive use for irrigation, and contamination of under-
ground water with toxic industrial wastes in rice cultivation cause the deteriora-
tion of the soil quality.
3  Rice Production in India 77

Excessive Mining of Soil

With the introduction of improved rice varieties, soil mining has become a big chal-
lenge in rice-producing regions (Mohapatra et  al. 2013). Improved rice varieties
have the ability to exhaust soil fertility more rapidly as compared to traditional
varieties. On an average, for the production of one ton of rough rice (paddy),
20 kg N, 11 kg P2O5, 30 kg K2O, 3 kg S, 7 kg Ca, 3 kg Mg, 150 g Fe, 675 g Mn, 40 g
Zn, 18 g Cu, 15 g B, 2 g Mo, and 52 kg Si are removed by rice crop from soil.
However, only macronutrients in the form of fertilizers are applied to soil, while
some essential micro- and secondary nutrients are neglected. Thus, in the long run,
deficiency of the microelements has been emerging causing an imbalance in soil
nutrient status and adversely affecting the grain yield.

3.8.1.3  Water-Related Challenges

About 55 % of the areas cultivated to rice are under irrigation in India. In the com-
ing years, due to spatial and temporal variations, increasing competition of water
among different sectors coupled with the climate change (high evaporation, con-
tinuous droughts), water-related challenges are going to be broadened. The success
of rice crop primarily depends on the availability of water. The major water-related
challenges in the country are the following.

Decreasing Availability of Water

It has been estimated that about 22 % of the geographic area and 17 % of the popu-
lation will be under absolute water scarcity by 2050 (Mohapatra et al. 2013). The
per capita water availability is projected to be 1235 cubic meters in 2050 as com-
pared to 1704 cubic meters in 2010. As the demand for drinking and industrial water
as well as for the energy sector is increasing, the availability of water for agriculture,
especially for rice cultivation, will decrease substantially.

Water Use Efficiency

Water is considered as the most important input for rice cultivation. It is a well-­
known fact that for producing 1 kg of rice, 2500–3500 l of water are used in many
areas (Mohapatra et al. 2013). However, more amount of water is being used in the
states like Punjab and Haryana, to produce the same quantity of rice. So, there is a
need to make strategies to increase the water use efficiency. This has prompted the
respective state governments to issue advisory to avoid transplanting rice during the
period of high evaporative demand (May–June). The genetic improvement in rice
plant to improve water use efficiency has become a challenge, and it needs strategic
78 G. Mahajan et al.

interventions. The recent study of Sharda et al. (2016) on use of solar-operated drip
irrigation in direct-seeded rice has shown that drip irrigation in rice can bring three-
fold transformation in cultivating rice in South Asia with high water-, energy-, and
nutrient-use efficiency while ensuring the food and livelihood security. This was the
first study on drip irrigation in rice in South Asia and in future policy might be tilted
toward promotion of use of such type of system in rice for water saving.

Deterioration of Water Quality

In the last two decades, water quality has become a serious concern (Mohapatra
et al. 2013). Saline water intrusion and injudicious use of fertilizers and pesticides
are the major factors which caused deterioration of groundwater quality with high
arsenic, iron, and fluoride content. It is estimated that in the coming years, water
quality would further decline with the increased rate of urbanization, industrializa-
tion, and overexploitation of natural resources.

3.8.1.4  Widening Yield Gap and Stagnation of Yield

The yield gap is the gap between the research station yield and actual farm yield.
The yield gap derived as the percent difference between achievable (experimental)
and average farmer’s yield in India reveals that the bridgeable gap is quite wide,
even though some reduction has been reported recently. It is in the range of 35–75 %
in the country with the exceptions of Tamil Nadu (15  %) and Punjab (22  %)
(Srivastava and Mahapatra 2012). In the eastern states, yield gap is higher than other
regions.
Moreover, yield stagnation has been reached in the irrigated region of northwest
India where favorable climatic conditions such as high solar radiation, long day
length, and low night temperature exist. Though yield gap has been reduced by the
interventions of modern varieties coupled with improved agronomic practices in
recent years, bridging the yield gap would not be easy because of the diversity pre-
vailing in the country in agroecological and socioeconomic conditions (Mohapatra
et al. 2013).

3.8.1.5  Biotic Stresses

Due to the introduction of modern semidwarf varieties and increased use of nitrogen
fertilizers and insecticides, biotic challenges have been increased in the country. In
relation to the economic losses to the crops, the status of pests like stem borers,
brown plant hoppers, and leaf folders and diseases such as bacterial blight, blast,
and sheath rot has changed from low to high (Mohapatra et al. 2013). It is estimated
3  Rice Production in India 79

that due to climate change and increased use of chemicals, the pest scenario will be
very different by 2050 from today’s scenario (Mohapatra et al. 2013). The occur-
rence of insects-pests and diseases, which were considered minor in the past, is
increasing these days. Therefore, there is a challenge for the scientists to minimize
losses due to these stresses by developing tolerant varieties and sustainable manage-
ment practices.

3.8.1.6  Climate Change/Variability

Potential negative impacts of the climate change such as increased CO2 and tem-
perature, deficit or excess rainfall, and rise in sea level are expected on rice varieties
and farming practices (Mohapatra et  al. 2013). It has been confirmed from the
researches that there is a positive effect of elevated CO2 level on rice production
(Mohapatra et al. 2013). However, the associated events, such as altered patterns of
rainfall, rise in temperatures, and possibly increased events of drought and floods,
may increase production risks and affect the rice yield adversely. The rise in tem-
perature may not be a real challenge for rice in India. Rather, the extreme events of
climate change such as floods, drought, and cyclones and other related problems
such as salinity pose the real challenge to rice in India.

3.8.1.7  Rice Quality

In the wake of climate change, physical, chemical, and nutritional quality charac-
teristics are more likely to be negatively influenced by the environmental factors
(salinity, drought, and temperature extremes) (Mohapatra et al. 2013). So improv-
ing and maintaining the quality characteristics of rice is an important challenge in
the future. However, it is estimated that the consumer will be more informative
and health conscious with a higher purchasing capacity by 2050. Therefore, in the
future, preference for nutrient-rich and good cooking quality rice will be
increased.

3.8.1.8  Lack of Mechanization

The current level of the average farm power availability is 1.7 kW ha−1, which needs
to be increased to at least 3.0 kW ha−1 for timely and quality operation in heavy
fields (Mohapatra et al. 2013). The main problem for mechanization in India is the
fragmentation of land holding which is not suitable for adoption of machineries and
difficulty in consolidation of land holdings. Due to disaggregation of the joint fam-
ily system, an increase in land fragmentation is expected. Thus, inadequacy of farm
power and machinery is a big challenge for rice production in India.
80 G. Mahajan et al.

3.8.1.9  Environmental Problems

Production of methane gas is the foremost serious problem in flooded rice produc-
tion systems (Mohapatra et al. 2013). Besides this, problems of groundwater deple-
tion, waterlogging, salinity and alkalinity, greenhouse gas emission, and water
pollution are also caused by the irrigated rice in India as well as other parts of the
world. The excessive use of agrochemicals in rice production may cause these prob-
lems and, thus, health hazards through drained water.

3.8.2  Opportunities

India has the first and second position in area and production of rice in the world,
respectively. Though modern varieties and advanced agronomic practices have been
developed in the country, there are still huge gaps between actual yield obtained by
farmers and the potential yield (CRRI 2011). It is estimated that postharvest losses
are about 20–30 %. Nitrogen fertilizer or water utilization efficiencies remain varied
between 30 and 50 % that can be increased by developing good management prac-
tices. Therefore, the priorities are given to narrowing yield and efficiency gaps,
valuing addition to cropping or farming systems, and reducing postharvest losses to
increase rice production and farmers’ net profit while keeping the environment safe.
Knowledge in rice functional genomics for precise trait modification is still very
limited in India. It makes the task difficult for manipulation of the traits precisely for
gaining maximum economic benefits as the important traits are mostly of geneti-
cally complex nature (Mohapatra et al. 2013). Recent scientific advances in marker-­
assisted breeding and genomics have made the way for exploiting gene bank
materials at large scale for identifying and embedding the genes responsible for
more complicated target traits. There are many stresses such as biotic and abiotic
and their combination and nutritional factors, which limit the crop yields. These
multiple environmental stresses cannot be removed by a single approach. So the
development of a resilient set of new germplasm which can better adapt to the stress
environments is needed. It is feasible to identify and pyramid stress tolerance mul-
tiple genes in high-yielding genotype background and would be practicable for tai-
loring novel rice varieties in future.
It is expected that in the coming decades, hybrid rice can give a quantum jump to
overall rice production in India (Mohapatra et al. 2013). Some progress in hybrid
rice in irrigated areas of subhumid to semiarid regions has already been made.
However, there is a need to enhance the yield through increasing magnitude of het-
erosis and introgression of known disease and pest tolerance genes in the parents.
Hybrids for rainfed lowland ecosystems of high rainfall regions also need to be
developed. Under such situations, there is a need to increase the yield potential of
hybrids by improving the magnitude of heterosis by developing suitable parental
lines. Besides this, grain protein and micronutrient contents in rice can be improved
3  Rice Production in India 81

by using conventional and modern biotechnological approaches by utilizing exist-

ing genetic variability. It is necessary because in spite of having a remarkable prog-
ress for rice production in the country, malnutrition due to micronutrient, protein,
and calorie deficiency is still a problem among the poor population in rural areas
(Mohapatra et al. 2013).
Identification of superior alleles and bioprospecting novel genes for abiotic and
biotic stress tolerance, resource use efficiency, nutritional quality, male sterility/
fertility restoration, and yield traits are the main focus of rice research during the
current scenario. There is a huge potential for increasing the rice productivity by
developing C4 rice. It is expected that genes present in C3 species can be recruited
into cell-specific functions in the C4 pathway without alterations to their gene
sequence. Transgenic technologies are likely to be used to engineer N2-fixing rice
and new rice plants that have a new photosynthetic pathway.
Conservation agriculture has potential to increase and sustain the crop productiv-
ity (Mohapatra et al. 2013). Conservation agriculture will become a common and an
easy practice in the coming days because of development of third- and fourth-­
generation machinery. This type of machinery performs multiple functions includ-
ing residue incorporation/retention, sowing, and fertilizer application with the help
of different sensors and GIS platform.

3.9  Fertilizer and Pest Management

3.9.1  Fertilizer Management

Like any other crop, rice also requires all the 16 essential elements for its growth
and completion of life cycle. Farmers usually use chemical fertilizers for macronu-
trients only to compensate the nutritional losses, while loss of some essential sec-
ondary and micronutrients is neglected. Results of the long-term rice-based cropping
system experiments conducted on different agroecological regions revealed that the
continuous and indiscriminate use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer leads to long- and
short-term deterioration, influencing the sustainability of rice due to deficiencies of
macro- and micronutrients like S, Mg, Mn, and Zn (Thiyagarajan and Gujja 2013).
Integrated nutrient management (INM) is an approach that aims to increase agri-
cultural production and safeguard the environment for future generations. INM
approach involves the use of both organic and inorganic plant nutrients for achiev-
ing high crop productivity, preventing soil degradation, and also helps in meeting
future food supply needs. The main aim of INM is to improve soil health and sustain
a high level of productivity and production (Prasad et al. 1995).
Panda et al. (2007) found that higher crop productivity and a more favorable bal-
ance of nutrients in the soil can be maintained by applying combined NPK fertiliz-
ers at optimum levels in balanced proportions on the basis of soil test along with
FYM at 5–10 t ha−1 year−1 to kharif rice in multiple cropping systems as compared
82 G. Mahajan et al.

to N, NP, or even NPK fertilizers. Besides the FYM, other sources of nutrition like
incorporation of residues of cereal crops; green manuring with Sesbania or dual-­
purpose grain legumes like green gram, black gram, or cowpea; and biofertilizers
such as blue-green algae, Azolla, Azospirillum, Azotobacter, etc., have shown prom-
ise in improving soil health and crop productivity. So all these sources can substitute
a part of the recommended dose of chemical N fertilizer, without affecting the crop
yield. Panda et al. (2004) suggested some INM practices for different rice ecosys-
tems which can increase rice yield significantly and improve soil fertility. In uplands,
75 % of optimum NPK + 5 ton FYM + green gram/black gram intercrop as green
manure between the paired rows of rice has been suggested. In medium lands/irri-
gated rice, 50–75  % NPK + 5 ton FYM ha−1 + in situ Sesbania/sunhemp green
manuring and, in shallow lowland rice, Sesbania green manuring supplemented
with N topdressing have been suggested for improving rice productivity and soil
conditions.
Site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) for sustaining rice production is a
novel approach which involves science-based principles for guiding the judicious
and efficient application of fertilizers as and when needed by crops. Inherent spatial
variability associated with fields during crop production are recognized by this
approach and thus provides the guidelines for optimal use of indigenous nutrients
originating from soil, plant residues, manures, and irrigation water (Satyanarayana
et  al. 2011). Instead of reducing or increasing the fertilizer use, the main aim of
SSNM is to apply nutrients at the optimal rate and time in order to achieve high rice
yield and high nutrient use efficiency (Buresh et al. 2005). For the implementation
of SSNM in rice crop, early applications at 14 DAT or 21 DAS of N, P, and K are
done, adjusted to plant need. Subsequent topdressing of N is done on the basis of
plant’s need as determined with the leaf color chart (LCC) and application of K
adjusted to plant need at early panicle initiation. The SSNM approach, in which
determination of nitrogen fertilizer needs through use of the LCC and determination
of fertilizer P and K needs through use of nutrient omission plot technique, can
consistently increase grain yield and profit in farmer’s fields (Swarup et al. 2008).
The common fertilizer dose cannot be recommended for different regions,
because in different agroclimatic zones, soil fertility status varies to a considerable
extent. Therefore, keeping in view the variation in soil fertility and local conditions,
agricultural departments of various states and state agricultural universities have
formulated fertilizer recommendations for rice crop in respective states.

3.9.2  Pest Management

Until now, more than 100 species of insects as the pest of rice have been reported in
India. Of these pest species, a dozen are of economic significance. A yield loss of
about 1  t  ha−1 can be averted if these insect pests are not controlled effectively
(Pasalu et  al. 2008). Pasalu et  al. (2004) found that leaf folder, leafhoppers, and
plant hoppers which were of minor importance have now gained the status of major
3  Rice Production in India 83

rice pests. Other pests, viz., whorl maggot, rice hispa, green leafhopper, gundhi bug,
and thrips, are considered as the minor pests of rice crop (Pasalu et al. 2008). Gall
midge has become a serious pest in many areas and has also extended its activity to
dry season, particularly in the coastal areas. In Punjab and Haryana, stem borer was
not known earlier, but now it is considered as a deadly pest in these states. Sporadic
pests like ear-cutting caterpillar, rice hispa, and gundhi bug have been causing seri-
ous damage to rice (Pasalu et al. 2004).
Dhaliwal and Arora (1993) reported that pests cause 25  % loss in rice crop.
However, Pasalu et al. (2004) estimated the yield losses ranging from 21 to 51 %
due to moderate to serious incidence of plant hoppers, stem borer, gall midge, and
other sporadic pests in the rice-growing regions of the country. Assessment of losses
in rice crop was analyzed at 135 multilocation trails under the All India Coordinated
Rice Improvement Project which revealed that the losses due to insect pests are
28.8 % (Pasalu et al. 2008).
Different approaches have been developed for controlling the insect pests. These
are host plant resistance, cultural control, chemical control, use of botanical pesti-
cides, biological control, use of biopesticides, insect sex pheromones, etc. As rice is
grown in different agroecosystems, the conditions of climate, soil, and seasons vary
under each zone. Hence, the pattern of insect infestation differs from region to
region and from season to season.
To tackle these problems, the best strategy is to adopt an integrated pest manage-
ment (IPM) approach. The development of suitable IPM strategies is necessary to
overcome the insect pest constraints for realizing yield potential of rice. A frame-
work for integrated knowledge, skill, and information on rice pest management is
provided by rice IPM. Regular pest monitoring, research on the optimal use of pes-
ticide, complimentary weed control strategies, and alternative cultural and biologi-
cal controls are included in an IPM approach (Prakash et al. 2014).

3.10  Harvesting and Yield

Harvesting is the process of collecting the mature rice crop from the field. Paddy
harvesting activities include cutting, stacking, handling, threshing, cleaning, and
hauling.

3.10.1  Harvesting Time

The most suitable time of harvesting is when panicles turn into golden yellow and
the grains contain about 20 % moisture (DRD 2014). A heavy loss of crop occurs
due to shattering of grains and damage by birds and rodents if moisture content in
the paddy grains reaches 16–17 % in the standing crop in the fields. When 80 % of
the panicles become straw colored and 20 % grains in lower portions are in the hard
84 G. Mahajan et al.

dough stage, the crop is ready to harvest (Expert System for Paddy 2015). Optimum
time of harvesting has been specified by the extensive studies. The results of the
various studies revealed that right time of harvesting can be specified on the basis of
three criteria, viz., (i) the moisture content of the grains, (ii) the dry matter of the
plant or seed, and (iii) the number of days after planting or flowering (Rice
Knowledge Bank 2015b).

3.10.2  Methods of Harvesting

Nearly 15–20  days after 50  % flowering, the grains in the lowest portion of the
panicles are in the dough stage, irrigation is stopped to the crop, and grains are
allowed to harden. Depending on the amount of mechanization and the size of oper-
ation, rice can be harvested manually or mechanically. The manual harvesting is
mainly practiced in developing countries, while in the developed countries, mechan-
ical harvesting using reaper windrower, reaper binder, combine harvester, stripper
harvester, etc., are practiced. However, during the past decade, mechanical harvest-
ing has become popular in India. The different harvesting systems are discussed
below (Rice Knowledge Bank 2015b):

3.10.2.1  Manual Harvesting and Threshing

Manual harvesting is a traditional method in which long stalks are cut by sickle
about 10–15 cm above the ground. Depending on the sociocultural acceptance of
the harvesting labor, there are many variations in the sickle design. For 2 or 3 days,
the stalks are laid in small bundles on the stubble to dry their panicles. In manual
harvesting, traditional threshing tools such as simple treadle threshers or threshing
racks are utilized. Manual harvesting also make use of animals for trampling or by
hand using sharp sickles or knives. Grain recovery in manual harvesting method is
about 55–60 % (Expert System for Paddy 2015).

3.10.2.2  Manual Harvesting and Mechanical Threshing

Rice is harvested manually, and then cleaning is done with a machine thresher. In
mechanical threshing, usually the portable thresher is used. Because of high labor
requirements of manual threshing, it has been replaced by small stationary machine
threshers. Stationary threshing is generally done in the field or near to the field.

3.10.2.3  Machine Reaping and Machine Threshing

The crop is cut and then laid in a line by a reaper. Threshing is done by a thresher,
and cleaning can be performed either manually or by machine.
3  Rice Production in India 85

3.10.2.4  Combine Harvesting

All operations are combined in combine harvesters like crop cutting and its feeding
into threshing mechanism, threshing, cleaning, and discharge of grain into a trolley
or directly into the bags. Straw is usually discharged behind the combine in a wind-
row. It gives about 50 % recovery (Expert System for Paddy 2015).
There are a number of factors which affect the selection of appropriate harvest-
ing system (Rice Knowledge Bank 2015b). These are the availability of labor, capi-
tal outlay of the farm, availability of time, field layout and accessibility of machines,
lodging characters rice varieties, the demand for quality rice, and the demand for
straw.

3.11  Threshing and Processing

3.11.1  Threshing

Paddy threshing is the process in which paddy kernels or grains are detached from
the panicles through rubbing action, impact, and stripping. Threshing should be
done immediately after harvesting to maintain the high quality of the harvested
grains. Grain quality is affected adversely by field drying and stacking for several
days due to overdrying. The rubbing action occurs when paddy is threshed by tram-
pling by humans, animals, or tractors. If threshing is done by carelessness, the
potential yield of rice crop is reduced to a great extent. This occurred when good
grains are allowed to remain on the panicles or due to grain scattering during
improper threshing. Threshing can be done either manually or by using machines
(Expert System for Paddy 2015).

3.11.1.1  Manual Threshing

Manual threshing is a common method. In this method, separating of grain from the
panicle is done by treading, hand beating, or holding the crop against a rotating
drum with rasp bars or spikes. Hand beating methods are used for threshing of rice
when grains from panicles tend to be easily shattered. Hand threshing methods
include the trampling or foot threshing, beating against a threshing rack, the use of
a stick or flail for threshing the crop, and using a pedal or treadle thresher.
Another traditional method which is included in manual threshing is the ani-
mal threshing, i.e., threshing with the use of animals. This method is usually
carried out at a specific location near the field or in the village. Tractors, if avail-
able, can also be used instead of animals for treading. Winnowing is done to
clean the grain after animal treading. Besides this, threshing by a pedal thresher
or treadle thresher, which consists of threshing drum, base, transmission unit,
and a foot crank, is also carried out. The threshing drum rotates by pedaling, and
panicles are applied against the threshing drum. In this method, chaff, small
86 G. Mahajan et al.

straws, and foreign matters are dropped along with the threshed grain, so win-
nowing is necessary after threshing.

3.11.1.2  Machine Threshing

Mechanical threshing has several benefits as compared to other methods as it

removes rice grains from the plant, reduces labor requirements, and speeds up
threshing, thus reducing losses. Small stationary machine called threshers is being
used for paddy threshing. Peg-toothed threshing drums are fitted in many stationary
paddy threshers; however, threshers fitted with rasp bars or wire loop are used as
well. Feed-in-type threshers are mostly used threshers in which the entire crop is fed
into the thresher. Besides this, hold-on threshers, in which only panicle is fed
through the machine, are also used. Generally, these have a lower capacity as com-
pared to feed-in threshers. These threshers are primarily used in the situation where
rice straw is to be bundled and stored for later use. Large stationary threshers, in
which additional cleaning devices, such as centrifugal blower, an oscillating screen,
and wind board are fitted, are also in use in some regions. Threshed grain need not
to be cleaned for further handling in these threshers.

3.11.2  Processing of Rice

3.11.2.1  Drying

Drying is the process in which excess moisture from the grains is removed. After dry-
ing, the rice grain is ready for processing. Storage life of the grains is increased with
proper drying. Besides this, proper drying also ensures the reduction of biological
respiration, and thus prevention of deterioration in quality as biological respiration
causes the loss of grains quality and milling recovery. There are mainly three methods
of drying, viz., mechanical drying, chemical drying, and sun drying. Mechanical dry-
ing is the process in which natural or heated air is passed through the grain mass to
evaporate the moisture from it. The use of mechanical dryers is more reliable as dry-
ing can be done anytime of the year. In chemical drying method, common salt solu-
tion having specific gravity of 1.1 to 1.2 is sprayed on the ears of the mature paddy
crop. Sun drying is the traditional and the most economical method of drying the
paddy grains. Grains are spread on drying surfaces such as plastic sheets, mats, con-
crete pavement, or even on fields to dry naturally (Expert System for Paddy 2015).

3.11.3  Parboiling

Parboiling is a pre-milling process in which a hydrothermal treatment is given to

rough rice to improve its milling and cooking quality, storability, and nutritive value
(Expert System for Paddy 2015). There are three steps involved in this process:
3  Rice Production in India 87

soaking, steaming, and drying. Since time immemorial, parboiling of paddy has
been practiced in Indian households. In the Eastern and part of Southern India,
Eastern Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, the parboiling process is followed
extensively. In the process of parboiling, the rice grains are hardened sufficiently
which lead to a high milling and head rice recovery. Cooking qualities of rice are
also improved with parboiling process. Gelatinization of the starch granules and
hardening of the endosperm occurs by parboiling which makes rice grains translu-
cent. Chalky grains and those with chalky back, belly, or core become completely
translucent on parboiling.
Traditionally, either single or double boiling method was used for parboiling. In
the single boiling method, unhulled rice is soaked in water at room temperature.
Then open steaming is done for 20–30 min using iron kettles followed by sun dry-
ing. In the double streaming method, first steaming is done to raise the temperature
of unhusked rice and then soaked in cold water for 24–36  h. Thereafter, second
steaming for 20–30 min is done followed by sun drying.

3.11.4  Milling

Milling is an important step in postproduction of rice. Milling is done to remove the

husk and the bran layers and produce an edible, white rice kernel that is sufficiently
milled and free of impurities. It is the process in which rice grain is transformed into
a form suitable for human consumption. So utmost care should be taken during
milling process so that the head rice recovery percentage can be improved. In this
process, the rice which is obtained after milling is called raw rice. Nature of rice
milling losses can be qualitative or quantitative. Qualitative losses are manifested
low head rice recovery or high percentage of broken kernel, while low milling
recovery reflects the quantitative or physical loss in rice grains. There are basically
two methods of milling (DRD 2014).

3.11.4.1  Traditional Method

This is the traditional method in which rice is milled by hand-pounding method.

This method was in practice before the advent of mechanical milling. Implements
used in this method are hand stone (Chakki), mortar and pestle, and dhenki. The rice
milled by this method contains more nutritive value than the machine milling rice.

3.11.4.2  Mechanical Method

This is the method in which milling is performed by machines. The traditional

hand-pounding method has steadily decreased with the introduction of mechanized
mills. The main mills, which are in use, are huller mills, sheller-huller mills, and
sheller-cone polisher mills.
88 G. Mahajan et al.

3.12  Conclusions

Rice is the staple food for more than 50 % of the world population and 85 % of
Indian population. The demand for rice is expected to grow continuously as popu-
lation increases. No doubt, rice production had increased in the past three decades
continuously beginning with the green revolution. But it has stagnated since 1999.
It is estimated that by 2020 at least 115–120 million tons of milled rice is to be
produced in India to maintain the present level of self-sufficiency. The challenges
before India are the decreasing area and water availability for rice, scarcity of
labor for growing rice, increasing cost of cultivation and decreasing profitability,
distress sale, problem of ensuring food and nutritional security to the people below
the poverty line, storage losses, and emerging problems of climate change. This
calls for the implementation of such strategies which could change the challenges
and constraints to opportunities in the near future. There is a need to enhance the
application of modern scientific tools and technologies to further boost the rice
production. To solve the emerging problems, modernization, intensification, and
strengthening of basic, applied, and strategic rice research in areas of rice breed-
ing, agronomy, protection, and environmental research in the wake of climate
change along with relevant social science disciplines are essential. There is a
strong need to monitor rice-based production systems in terms of crop varieties,
nutrient dynamics, water table, quality of irrigation water, method of irrigation
and insect pests, diseases, and weed problems to evolve site-specific and inte-
grated management techniques. Enriching rice varieties with genetic resources by
tapping the biodiversity is of immense importance. It can be proved helpful for
improving yield potential, nutritional quality of grain, tolerance to major biotic
and abiotic stresses, and input use efficiency. All the strategies need to be planned
in such a way that enhancement in rice production could be achieved and main-
tained without deteriorating the quality of environment and without resource base
depletion.

References

Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2014 (2015) Area, production and yield of principal crops.
Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. pp 74
Annual Report (2001–2002) All India Coordinated Research Project on Cropping System, Project
Directorate of Cropping Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut. pp 13
Balasubramanian V, Hill JE (2002) Direct seeding of rice in Asia: emerging issues and strategic
research needs for the 21st century. In: Pandey S, Mortimer M, Wade L, Tuong TP, Lopez K,
Hardy B (eds) Direct seeding: research strategies and opportunities. International Rice
Research Institute Los Baños, Manila, pp. 15–42
Barker R (1979) Adoption and production impact of new rice technology: the yield constraints
problems. In: Farm level constraints to high rice yield in Asia. IRRI, Los Baños
Buresh RJ, Witt C, Ramanathan S, Mishra B, Chandrashekharan B, Rajehdran R (2005) Site spe-
cific nutrient management managing N, P and K for rice. Fert News 50:25–28 & 31–37
3  Rice Production in India 89

Chatterjee D (1948) A modified key and enumeration of species of Oryza sativa L. Indian J Agric
Sci 18:185–192
Chauhan BS, Mahajan G, Sardana V, Timsina J, Jat ML (2012) Productivity and sustainability of
rice-wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of Indian sub-continent; Issues, oppor-
tunities, and strategies. Adv Agron 23:65–112
CRRI (2011) Vision 2030, Central Rice Research Institute. Indian Council of Agricultural
Research, Cuttack
Das A, Patel DP, Ramkrushna GI, Munda GC, Ngachan SV, Choudhury BU, Mohapatra KP,
Rajkhowa DJ, Kumar R, Panwar AS (2012) Improved rice production technology-for resource
conservation and climate resilience (Farmer’s guide), Extension bulletin no 78. ICAR Research
Complex for NEH Region, Umiam
De Condole A (1986) Origin of cultivated plants. Kegan Paul, Trench and Company, London
Dhaliwal GS, Arora R (1993) Changing status of insect pests and their management strategies. In:
Gill KS, Dhaliwal GS, Hansara BS (eds) Changing scenario of Indian agriculture.
Commonwealth Publishers, New Delhi
DRD (2014) Status paper on rice. Directorate of Rice Development. Govt. of India, Patna
Expert System for Paddy (2015) Post harvest technology. http://agritech.tnau.ac.in
FAO (2003) Genetic diversity in rice. progress in rice genetic improvement for food security. In:
Proceedings of the 20th session of the international rice commission. Bangkok, 23–26 July
2002
FAO Statistical Yearbook (2013) World food and agriculture. Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations, Rome
Grigg DE (1974) The agricultural systems of the world: an evolutionary approach. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge
Kamboj BR, Yadav DB, Yadav A, Goel NK, Gill G, Malik RK, Chauhan BS (2013) Mechanized
transplanting of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in nonpuddled and no-till conditions in the rice-wheat
cropping system in Haryana, India. Am J Plant Sci 4:2409–2413
Khan MAH, Alam MM, Hossain MI, Rashid MH, Mollah MIU, Quddus MA, Miah MIB, Sikder
MAA, Ladha JK (2009) Validation and delivery of improved technologies in the rice-wheat
ecosystem in Bangladesh. In: Ladha JK, Singh Y, Erenstein O, Hardy B (eds) Integrated crop
and resource management in the rice–wheat system of south Asia. International Rice Research
Institute, Los Baños, pp. 197–220
Krishnaiah K (1998) Rice research in India. Indian J Agric Sci 68:385–395
Kumar V, Ladha JK (2011) Direct seeding of rice: Recent developments and future research needs.
Adv Agron 111:297–413
Ladha JK, Kumar V, Alam MM, Sharma S, Gathala M, Chandna P, Saharawat YS, Balasubramanian
V (2009) Integrating crop and resource management technologies for enhanced productivity,
profitability, and sustainability of the rice-wheat system in South Asia. In: Ladha JK, Singh Y,
Erenstein O, Hardy B (eds) Integrated crop and resource management in the rice–wheat system
of south Asia. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 69–108
Maclean JL, Dawe D, Hardy B, Hettel GP (2002) Rice Almanac, 3rd edn. CABI Publishing,
Wallingford
Mahajan G, Chauhan BS (2016) Performance of dry direct-seeded rice in response to genotype and
seeding rate. Agron J 108:257–265
Mahajan G, Chauhan BS, Johnson DE (2009) Weed management in aerobic rice in Northwestern
Indo-Gangetic Plains. J Crop Improv 23:366–382
Mahajan G, Chauhan BS, Timsina J, Singh PP, Singh K (2012) Crop performance and water- and
nitrogen-use efficiencies in dry-seeded rice in response to irrigation and fertilizer levels in
North West India. Field Crop Res 134:59–70
Mahajan G, Timsina J, Singh K (2011) Performance and water use efficiency of rice relative to
establishment methods in northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plains. J Crop Improv 25:597–617
Mahajan G, Ramesha MS, Chauhan BS (2015) Genotypic differences for water-use efficiency and
weed competitiveness in dry direct-seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.). Agron J 107:1573–1583
90 G. Mahajan et al.

Mahapatra IC (1994) Rice production constraints and relevant strategy and packages for increasing
productivity in eastern India. Paper presented in seminar on agricultural productivity in eastern
India, Pusa, Samastipur
Mahapatra IC (1995) Rice production constraints and remedial measures for eastern India. Oryza
32:207–229
Manes GS, Dixit A, Singh A, Mahal GS, Mahajan G (2013) Feasibility of mechanical transplanter
for paddy transplanting in Punjab. Agric Mech Asia Africa Latin Am 44:14–17
Manjunatha BN, Patil ASP, Gowda JV, Paramesh V (2009) Effect of different system of rice intensi-
fication on yield, water requirement and water use efficiency (WUE). J Crop Weed 5:310–312
Meera SN, Kumar RM, Muthuraman P, Rao LVS, Viraktamath BC (2014a) Important Rice grow-
ing ecologies. A handbook of package of practices for rice. Directorate of Rice Research, Book
No. 80/2014. pp 13–14
Meera SN, Kumar RM, Muthuraman P, Rao LVS, Viraktamath BC (2014b) General package of
practices. A handbook of package of practices for rice. Directorate of Rice Research, Book No.
80/2014. pp 3–12
Mohanty S, Tripathi R, Shahid M, Kumar A, Thilagam VK, Nayak AK (2013) Rice ecosystems in
India. Crop Production Division, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack
Mohapatra T, Nayak AK, Raja R, Shahid M (2013) Vision 2050. Central Rice Research Institute.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Cuttack
NFSM (2012) National food security mission. Operational guidelines (12th five year plan).
Department of Agriculture & Cooperation Ministry of Agriculture Government of India Krishi
Bhawan, New Delhi
Panda D, Panda N, Sarakar AK, Rath AK (2004) Integrated nutrient management in rice based
cropping systems of different agro-ecologies. In: Panda D, Sasmal S, Nayak SK, Singh DP,
Saha S (eds) Proceedings of national symposium on recent advances in rice based farming
system. Association of Rice Research Workers, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack,
pp. 114–134
Panda D, Samantaray RN, Misra AK, Senapati HK (2007) Nutrient balance in rice. Indian J Fert
3:33–38
Pandey S, Velasco L (2005) Trends in crop establishment methods in Asia and research issues. In:
Rice is life: Scientific perspectives for the 21st century, Proceedings of the world rice research
conference, 4–7 Nov 2004, Tsukuba, pp 178–181
Pasalu IC, Mishra B, Krishnaiah NV, Katti G (2004) Integrated pest management in rice in India:
Status and prospects. In: Birthal PS, Sharma OP (eds) Proceedings 11. Integrated pest manage-
ment in Indian agriculture. National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research
(NCAP)/National Centre for Integrated Pest Management (NCIPM), New Delhi, pp. 25–49
Pasalu IC, Prakash A, Mohanty SK, Krishnamurthy P, Katti G, Tewari SN, Prasad JS, Krishnaiah
NV (2008) Bio-intensive integrated pest management in rice. In: Singh DP, Dani RC, Rao KS,
Nayak SK, Panda D, Dash RN, Mishra AK, Ghosh A (eds) Proceedings of the national sympo-
sium on ‘research priorities and stretegies in rice production system for second green revolu-
tion’, 20–22 Nov 2007. Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, pp. 53–78
Prakash A, Bentur JS, Prasad MS, Tanwar RK, Sharma OP, Bhagat S, Sehgal M, Singh SP, Singh
M, Chattopadhyay C, Sushil SN, Sinha AK, Asre R, Kapoor KS, Satyagopal K, Jeyakumar P
(2014) Integrated pest management for rice. pp 43
Prasad B, Prasad J, Prasad R (1995) Nutrient management for sustained rice and wheat production
in calcareous soil amended with green manures, organic manure and zinc. Fert News 40:39–41
Rao AN, Johnson DE, Sivaprasad B, Ladha JK, Mortimer AM (2007) Weed management in direct-­
seeded rice. Adv Agron 93:153–255
Rao KS, Sharma SK, Singh SP, Sharma NK, Mishra GN, Saha S (2008) Sustainable cropping
systems for different rice ecologies. In: Singh DP, Dani RC, Rao KS, Nayak SK, Panda D, Dash
RN, Mishra AK, Ghosh A (eds) Rice research priorities and strategies for second green revolu-
tion. Proceedings of the national symposium on ‘Research priorities and stretegies in rice pro-
duction system for second green revolution’, 20–22 Nov 2007. Central Rice Research Institute,
Cuttack, pp. 165–188
3  Rice Production in India 91

Rashid MH, Alam MM, Khan MAH, Ladha JK (2009) Productivity and resource use of direct-
(drum)-seeded and transplanted rice in puddled soils in rice-rice and rice-wheat ecosystem.
Field Crop Res 113:274–281
Rice Knowledge Bank (2015a) Transplanting. http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org
Rice Knowledge Bank (2015b) Harvesting. http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org
Rickman JF, Mussgnug F, Khanda CM, Satpathy SD, Parida N, Singla K, Kumar V, Banik NC,
Iftikar W, Mishra A, Yadav S, Kumar V, Malik RK, McDonald AJ (2015) Operational manual
for mechanical transplanting of rice. Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia Phase II
(CSISA)
Saha S, Dani RC, Beura J (2003) Integrated crop management for rainfed upland rice. NATP Tech.
Bull.14. Central Rice Research Institute
Saha S, Moharana M (2005) Utera cultivation-A viable technology option for rainfed shallow
lowland of coastal Orissa. Indian Farm 56:13–15 and 19
Satyanarayana T, Majumdar K, Biradar DP (2011) New approaches and tools for site-specific
nutrient management with reference to potassium. Karnataka J Agric Sci 24:86–90
Sharda R, Mahajan G, Siag M, Singh A, Chauhan BS (2016) Performance of drip irrigated dry-­
seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.) in South Asia. Paddy Water Environ. doi:10.1007/
s10333-016-531-5
Sharma SK, Subbaiah SV, Rao KS, Gangwar KS (2004) Rice based cropping systems for rainfed
upland, rainfed lowland and irrigated areas of different states of India. In: Proceeding of
national symposium on “Recent advances in rice based farming systems”. Central Rice
Research Institute, Cuttack. pp 26–57
Siddiq EA (1996) Constraints to rice production in eastern India. In: Proceedings of the interna-
tional symposium on rainfed rice for sustainable food security, 23–25 Sept, CRRI
Singh DP, Mahata KR, Saha S, Ismail AM (2006) Crop diversification options for rice based crop-
ping system for higher land and water productivity in coastal saline areas of eastern India. In:
Abrtr 2nd International Rice congress on “Science, technology and trade for peace and pros-
perity”. IARI, New Delhi. pp 475
Srivastava VC, Mahapatra IC (2012) Advances in rice production technology. Agrobios, Jodhpur
Swarup A, Panda D, Mishra B, Kundu DK (2008) Water and nutrient management for sustainable
rice production. In: Singh DP, Dani RC, Rao KS, Nayak SK, Panda D, Dash RN, Mishra AK,
Ghosh A (eds) Rice research priorities and strategies for second green revolution. In:
Proceedings of the national symposium on ‘research priorities and stretegies in rice production
system for second green revolution’, 20–22 Nov 2007. Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack.
pp 79–102
Thakur AK, Roychowdhury S, Kundu DK, Singh R (2004) Evaluation of planting methods in
irrigated rice. Arch Agron Soil Sci 50:631–640
Thanh NC, Singh B (2006) Constraints faced by the farmers in rice production and export.
Omonrice 14:97–110
Thiyagarajan TM, Gujja B (2013) Transforming rice production with SRI (System of Rice
Intensification), Knowledge and practice. National Consortium on SRI (NCS) 2013
Tiwari KN (2002) Rice production and nutrient management in India. Better Crops Int 16:18–22
Tiwari RK, Jha A, Tripathi SK, Khan IM, Rao SK (2013) Rice based cropping system and climate
change. JNKVV Res J 47:239–247
Vavilov NI (1926) Studies on the origin of cultivated plants. Bull Appl Bot Plant Breed 16:1–248
Watt G (1892) Dictionary of economic products of India. Department of Revenue and Agriculture,
Government of India. 5:502–654
Widawsky D, O’Toole JC (1996) Prioritizing the rice biotechnology research agenda for eastern
India. In: Evenson RE, Herdt RW, Hossain M (eds) Rice research in Asia: progress and priori-
ties. CAB international/IRRI, Los Baños
Yadav RL, Prasad K, Singh RK (1998) Predominant cropping system of India. Project Directorate
Cropping System Research (PDCSR), Meerut
Yadav RL, Rao AVMS (2001) Atlas of cropping systems in India. Project Directorate of Cropping
Systems Research bulletin No. 2001–2, pp 96
Chapter 4
Rice Production in Europe

Hansjoerg Kraehmer, Cyrille Thomas, and Francesco Vidotto

4.1  Summary

Rice cultivation in Europe is restricted to a few southern European countries. In

2015, the rice-growing acreage of Italy and Spain together comprised around 75 % of
a total area of around half a million hectares. The milled rice equivalents in the EU
amounted to 0.4 % of the global rice production. Japonica rice varieties are dominat-
ing in Europe. Rice is planted in spring and harvested in autumn. All rice fields in
Europe are irrigated. Most rice seed is drilled. In some Spanish areas, pregerminated
rice is sown by air. Average yields per hectare range between 4 and 8 tons. In some
regions 10 tons can easily be achieved. Monocot weeds are prevailing with wild rice,
Echinochloa, Cyperus and Heteranthera species being the most frequent representa-
tives. Hydrellia griseola, Chilo suppressalis, Eysarcoris inconspicuus and
Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus have to be regarded as the most serious insect problems.
Magnaporthe grisea, Cochliobolus miyabeanus and Gibberella fujikuroi are the most
widespread disease-causing organisms. A wide range of chemical and biological
products is registered for rice protection. For some countries, however, costs for the
registration of new products are too high compared with the low acreage so that lack-
ing product innovation becomes a major problem. The acreage of Clearfield rice is
continuously growing primarily due to wild rice as an increasing problem. Water
shortage is a problem in a few areas in Spain primarily. Irrigated rice provides a habi-
tat for a great number of organisms such as migratory birds and deserves special
attention as far as biodiversity is concerned. Greenhouse gas emission and heavy

H. Kraehmer (*)
Bayer CropScience AG, Frankfurt, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
C. Thomas
Centre Français du Riz, Arles, France
F. Vidotto
Università di Torino, Grugliasco, Italy
© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 93
B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_4
94 H. Kraehmer et al.

Table 4.1  Acreages of rice compared with other European crops between 1963 and 2013
(hectares)
Rice Wheat Barley Maize Oilseed rape
1963 464,155 92,488,648 33,791,853 18,413,089 577,863
1988 1,107,301 75,008,416 48,056,455 15,553,984 3,529,714
2013 648,320 57,598,857 24,593,497 19,072,882 9,307,459
Source: FAOSTAT, Europe+ (including Russia)

metal concentration in rice fields have been a problem in some areas in the past. New
cultivation methods with a reduced water consumption and new rice varieties should,
however, contribute to the reduction of these problems.

4.2  Introduction

Rice has been grown in Europe for many centuries. Several detailed compilations
on the history of rice cultivation have been published in recent years, for example,
by Ferrero and Vidotto (2010). Rice was already known as a crop in Greece more
than 2000 years ago. First reports on the farming of rice in other European countries
mostly date back to medieval times. A real change towards larger-scale rice produc-
tion started, however, only at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twenti-
eth century. In the 1980s, the European rice acreage exceeded one million hectares.
In 2015, less than half a million hectares were devoted to rice culture in the European
Union. This figure is quite small compared with other arable crops as we will show
in the next paragraph. It makes clear, however, that rice plays an economic factor
and that the area of rice has also an impact on ecology and environment. Some
opponents of modern agriculture ask why rice is grown in Europe at all and if the
implications of rice cultivation such as methane production should result in political
actions against rice cultivation. The main objectives of this chapter are therefore to
show where and how rice is grown in Europe, which environmental impacts and
problems are associated with rice cultivation and which role rice cultivation plays
compared with other crops in Europe.

4.3  Why and Where Is Rice Cultivated in Europe?

The acreage of rice in Europe was always rather small when compared with other
crops such as wheat, barley, maize or oilseed rape (Table 4.1).
One can notice a considerable fluctuation in rice and other crops’ acreages which
has to do with political and technological changes in Europe over the last 50 years.
At this point, it has to be mentioned that the statistical data for Europe may vary
depending on the definition of Europe. Data for the European Union (EU) and its
4  Rice Production in Europe 95

Table 4.2  Import and export of European rice compared with selected Asian rice-producing
countries (1000 tons)
EU China India Thailand Vietnam
Year Import Export Import Export Import Export Import Export Import Export
2000 1094 303 278 656 – 4687 – 6549 300 4295
2010 1235 278 366 619 – 2228 300 9047 400 6734
2015 1500 220 4500 400 – 9000 300 11,000 400 6700
Source: USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service, Production Supply and Distribution (PS&D) and
Grain: World Markets and Trade as of April 2015

member states are different from the geographically defined European continent
which includes, for example, large parts of Russia. A considerable amount of rice is
grown in the Black Sea area of Russia. FAOSTAT data in 1963 include 147,000 ha of
rice in Russia, for example, and 671,000 ha in 1988, whereas 188,981 ha are reported
in 2013. The following paragraphs concentrate on rice in the EU primarily.
When we compare the Asian rice acreages and their drastic increase
(110,827,165 ha in 1963, 130,260,774 ha in 1988 and 146,945,430 in 2013 – figures
based on FAOSTAT), we might regard rice production in Europe as negligible.
Europe has a constant demand for rice as depicted by data from the USDA (Table
4.2). The European Union imported annual amounts of 1.1 to 1.5 million tons of
rice between 2000 and 2015 compared with 0.15 to 0.3 million exported tons (milled
equivalents and broken rice). More than three quarters of the imported rice in
2013/2014 came from four countries: India, Cambodia, Thailand and Pakistan
(Committee for the Common Organization of Agricultural Markets 2015). Most of
the imported rice was indica rice (about two-thirds). Between 2010 and 2015, some
Asian countries succeeded in raising their rice export figures considerably such as
India, Thailand and Vietnam. China’ s rice imports were increased, however, from
0.278 million tons in the year 2000 to 4.5 million tons in 2015, whereas Chinese
exports were lowered from around 3 million tons in 2000 to 0.4 million tons in
2015. Total global exports and imports increased from 22.8 million tons in 2000 to
42.6 million in 2015.
Another way to exemplify the global situation of rice production is the compari-
son of production, consumption and stocks. The annual global production of rice
between 2012 and 2015 ranged between 490 and 500 million tons, and the con-
sumption was between 477 and 500 million tons during the same period of time.
Annual stocks amounted to 100 to 200 million tons (EU Rice Economic Fact Sheet
of the European Commission, March 2015b). Less than 10  % of the global rice
production is traded (42.6 million tons of around 500 million tons), and food secu-
rity plays a high role. Several countries have banned the export of rice from time to
time for this reason (e.g. in 2008, DEFRA 2010). The total European production in
milled equivalents ranges below two million tons which is less than 0.4 % of the
global figure.
In conclusion, European rice production can never contribute to a global over-
production. In contrast, it helps to safeguard domestic demands.
96 H. Kraehmer et al.

Fig. 4.1  Rice-growing areas in the EU

Table 4.3  Acreages of rice (2013) in the EU and some market data
Acreage (ha) t Yield (t/ha) Pricea Price indexb
Bulgaria 10,000 54,900 5.49 325 142
France 20,300 82,000 4.04 536 251
Greece 29,200 227,000 7.77 287 126
Hungary 2500 9800 3.92 No data 132
Italy 212,500 1,339,000 6.30 474 157
Portugal 31,200 168,300 5.39 380 154
Romania 11,579 54,646 4.71 No data 218
Spain 113,200 851,500 7.52 355 134
Source: FAOSTAT
a
Product price in 2012 in US$/t
b
2004–2006 equal 100

Rice is grown in several countries of the EU as Fig. 4.1 and Table 4.3 demonstrate.
The major areas of rice cultivation in Italy are located in the Po valley, in France
in the Rhone delta and in Central Greece near Thessaloniki. In Spain, rice fields can
be found near Aragon; in the Ebro Delta, near Valencia; in the Guadalquivir Valley;
and in Portugal in the Tejo and Mondego Valleys (Ferrero 2007). The Plovdiv and
the Pazardzhik regions in Bulgaria (Boyadjiev 1996); the counties Ialomiţa, Brăila,
Olt and Dolj in Romania; and the Great Hungarian Plain are typical rice cultivation
areas of Eastern Europe. A few thousand hectares of rice are grown in Macedonia
(Pacanoski and Glatkova 2009).
Italy and Spain are the two leading rice-producing countries in Europe with more
than 75 % of the acreage.
4  Rice Production in Europe 97

Table 4.4  Japonica- and indica-type rice acreages within the EU between 2010 and 2015
2010 2015
Japonica Indica Japonica Indica
Bulgaria 11,059 70 9839 31
France 16,000 2800 13,743 1207
Greece 10,520 23,200 15,433 10,573
Hungary 2500 0 2191 0
Italy 174,159 73,494 164,234 55,298
Portugal 22,903 5027 16,243 12,425
Romania 5300 8000 9528 1733
Spain 63,718 58,747 58,235 43,003
EU 306,000 171,000 290,000 124,000
Source: DG AGRI/Member States

Table 4.5  European rice Rice group Grain length (L) Length/width ratio (L/W)
classification based on grain
Round grain L ≦5.2 mm L/W <2
shape
Medium 5.2 < L L/W ≤3
grain ≦6.0 mm
Long grain A L >6.0 mm 2 < L/W <3
Long grain B L >6.0 mm L/W ≥3

Yields vary considerably in different European countries. The highest yield val-
ues are achieved in Greece and Spain. This may have to do with the difference in
yields for japonica- and indica-type rice. Greece and Spain produce relatively high
amounts of indica-type rice. Average yields for japonica-type rice range between
6.2 and 6.5 t/ha, whereas indica-type rice yields between 7.1 and 7.8 t/ha. Japonica-­
type rice is, however, cultivated on two-thirds of the European acreage, while
indica-type rice on one-third only. This may appear as contradictory to the preferred
European consumption of indica-type rice. The price for japonica-type rice is, how-
ever, higher on the world market than that of indica-type rice (Table 4.4).
It must be noticed here that a strict genetic separation of indica varieties and
japonica varieties is not possible. Introgression of traditional indica and japonica
types has increased globally, and the distinctiveness of varietal types has decreased
(Sleper and Poehlman 2006).
Also, exotic rice germplasm is constantly introduced to national breeding pro-
grams (Cai et al. 2013). On the other hand, rice is categorized not only on the basis
of indica- and japonica-subspecies properties but also on length, shape and cooking
characteristics.
Following the Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013 (European Parliament 2013), rice
is classified in the EU on the basis of the length/width ratio of the grain into the
groups “round”, “medium”, “long A” and “long B” (Table 4.5).
Grain length cannot directly be used for the distinction between japonica-
and indica-type rice. A few japonica-type rice varieties have to be classified as
98 H. Kraehmer et al.

long-­grain rice such as the Japanese varieties Nongken 58 and Dali (Wang et al.
2014) or various American varieties with a tropical japonica background (Sleper
and Poehlman 2006).
The rice market is regulated by the EU rice regulatory regime as of February
2015 (European Commission 2015a). It is part of the European Parliament and
Council Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013. This regulation defines rules for buying-­in
and selling of agricultural products under public intervention. Six EU member
states (Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain) out of the eight rice-­
producing member states have notified the Commission about their decision to
apply voluntary couple payments to the production of rice as from 2015. Global
market prices for the four Asian countries Cambodia, India, Thailand and Pakistan
ranged between 355 and 430 US$ for milled indica rice in March 2015 (Committee
for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets 2015). The prices for milled
rice in the EU were considerably higher, for example, Italian indica-type rice
achieved 640€ in March 2015. Variable conversion rates from € to US$ have to be
kept in mind. It becomes, however, evident that the difference is quite high. Major
differences exist between milled and paddy rice; also, prices differ between coun-
tries. The 3-year average price for japonica-type paddy rice between 2011 and 2014
was at 307 €/t in Italy and at 288 €/t in Spain and the indica-type paddy rice at 275
€/t in Italy and at 271 €/t in Spain.

4.4  How Is Rice Grown in Europe?

An excellent overview on rice cropping in Italy, Spain and France was edited by
Ferrero and Vidotto (2006). As in most regions with Mediterranean climate,
European rice is planted in spring. Other than in most European countries, it is sown
in Italy sometimes in the end of March or beginning of April and harvested between
September and October. The planting period can, however, be extended over a wide
time range – even to the end of May. Figure 4.2 shows how rice is usually managed
in Italy. Before planting, the seedbed is usually prepared by ploughing the field.
Fields are laser-levelled annually or every second year (Fig. 4.3). On around 70 %
of the fields, rice was broadcast-seeded into flooded fields in 2012 with a centrifugal
spreader that can also be used for the application of fertilizers (shown in Fig. 4.6).
The seed is usually soaked in water for 24 h to make it sink and germinate in the
flooded field. On 30 % of the acreage, rice was drilled into dry soil referred to as the
year 2012 (Fig. 4.4). This technology is especially used in fields when Clearfield
rice varieties are adopted. These varieties were selected from rice tissue cultures in
which tolerance to imidazolinones was observed. The Clearfield technology allows
the control of weedy rice, a widespread problem in European rice. The application
of agrochemicals is often easier in dry-seeded rice than in flooded fields. Most trac-
tors are equipped with special metal wheels to enter wet rice fields (Fig. 4.5).
Tractors with such wheels are usually quite powerful but heavy. They cannot drive
on streets and have to be transported by a second tractor (Fig. 4.6). A few farmers
4  Rice Production in Europe 99

Fig. 4.2  Rice management in Italy (From Vidotto 2013)

Fig. 4.3  Laser levelling done before sowing of rice

therefore use normal tyres as shown in Fig. 4.7. The figure shows, however, that
such a tractor leaves relatively wide tracks in a field.
More than one-third of the acreage was planted with Clearfield (CL) rice in 2014
(data based on ENR (Ente Nazionale Risi)). Out of more than 140 planted varieties
in 2014, around 10 were grown on 8000 hectares or more each: CL26 (~18,500 ha),
Sole CL (~15,400  ha), Centauro (~14,400  ha), Volano (~14,100  ha), Luna CL
(12,000 ha), Sirio CL (~11,300 ha), Selenio (~10,700 ha), Gladio (9800 ha), Delfino
(~8800 ha) and Baldo (~8000 ha).
100 H. Kraehmer et al.

Fig. 4.4  Dry-seeded rice in San Martino Siccomario, Italy (May 28, 2015)

Fig. 4.5  Herbicide application with especially equipped tractor wheels near Stroppiana, Italy
4  Rice Production in Europe 101

Fig. 4.6  Transport of especially equipped tractor, Ente Nazionale Risi, Castello d’Agogna, Italy

Fig. 4.7  Fertilizer application in Mas de la Furane, France

102 H. Kraehmer et al.

Seeding rates range between 100 and 200 kg seed per ha depending on variety
and crop management. In some areas as in the Grange area, rice has been grown as
a monoculture for more than 100 years. Outside this area, maize or soybeans are
sometimes planted as rotational crops. The dams are, however, kept for later rice
crops.
In Spain, rice is sown in May, sometimes even in June. In most cases, pregermi-
nated seeds are sown by airplanes on paddies filled with water. In rare cases, rice is
transplanted. The crop is usually harvested in October. New varieties in Spain are
regularly characterized by regional institutions such as the IRTA in Catalonia or by
the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias. Popular varieties are Tebre,
Sollana, Bomba, Bahia, Balilla x Solana, Montsianell, Gleva, Guadiamar, J. Sendra,
Bahia, Senia, Sirio, Piñana or Fonsa. New varieties registered in 2013 are Linda,
Basholi, Mata, Montell, Carlet and Riet.
In Andalucía, around 80 % of the rice fields were planted with Puntal in 2015;
the second most frequent variety was J. Sendra. In Extremadura, 70 % of the area
was grown with Gladio and Thaibonnet and 30 % with Thaiperla and Hispagran.
Gleva is the most cultivated variety in Cataluña (Delta del Ebro); the second most
frequent varieties are J. Sendra and Montsianell. Valencia grows mainly japonica-­
type rice: Gleva, J. Sendra, Montsianell, Bahia and Senia. Clearfield varieties (e.g.
Sirio) are gaining ground in all areas.
Typical Portuguese varieties are Agulha and Carolino. Agulha is a long-grain
indica-type rice variety. Carolino is a native short grain japonica-type variety that is
similar to the Italian Arborio. Another quite common variety in Portugal is the
Italian japonica-type variety Ariete.
Like in Spain, planting dates in the French Camargue are different from those in
Italy. Due to the risk of low temperatures, rice is usually sown between April 20 and
mid-May (Delmotte et al. 2011) or even later. A small proportion of rice is drilled;
in most farms, however, broadcast seeding with a fertilizer equipment (Fig. 4.7) is
the standard.
In France, 34 rice varieties were available in the year 2014 (http://oryza.com/
news/rice-news-europe-middle-east/oryza-highlights-34-rice-varieties-grown-
france). Half of these were developed directly in France
• Long B: Adret, Albaron, Gine, Paty, Rousty Seyne, Vigueirat
• Long A: Arelate, Caban, Cambon, Riege, Sirbal, Tiber
• Round: Cigalon, Gageron
• Medium: Manobi
• Aromatic: Aychade
The remaining varieties have been developed in Italy.
Irrigation of rice fields in the Camargue prevents the accumulation of salt on the
soil surface and allows its cultivation in rotation with rainfed crops; in some areas,
continuous rice cultivation is practised (Delmotte et al. 2011).
Fertilizer in most European countries is either applied pre-seeding or after plant-
ing. In Italy, the following amounts are typical: 80–120  kg  N, 100–150  kg K2O,
4  Rice Production in Europe 103

50–70 kg P2O5 pre-seeding or 80–120 kg N after planting. In France, 50 kg N before,

50 kg N at tillering and 50 kg at panicle initiation are common practice.
Rice farms in the EU are managed by highly educated farmers. More than 50 %
of all Italian rice farmers have either a high school or a university degree. Their
farms are usually larger than 100 hectares.

4.5  General Agricultural Problems in European Rice Fields

4.5.1  Weeds

The most frequent weed species in Europe are representatives of the Poaceae,
Cyperaceae, Alismataceae, Butomaceae and Pontederiaceae families. Echinochloa
species, weedy rice (Oryza sativa) and Heteranthera species cause considerable
competition in European rice fields. This is also the case for Cyperus difformis L.,
Cyperus serotinus Rottb., Schoenoplectus mucronatus (L.) Palla, Bolboschoenus
maritimus (L.) Palla and Alisma plantago-aquatica L. Leptochloa species such as
Leptochloa fusca subsp. uninervia (J. Presl) N. Snow seem to have gained ground
within recent years (Osca 2013). Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Nees, a serious Asian
weed, was spotted in Italy for the first time in the beginning of this century (Benvenuti
et al. 2004). It has, however, not become a problem yet and seems to be rare still.
The spectrum of rice weeds in dry-seeded rice appears to be different from that of
wet-seeded rice. Heteranthera reniformis Ruiz & Pav., Schoenoplectus mucronatus,
Bolboschoenus maritimus, Butomus umbellatus L. and Alisma plantago-­aquatica
appear to be more frequent in wet-seeded rice, whereas grass species such as
Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.and Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers. and dicots such
as Polygonum persicaria L. and Portulaca oleracea L. seem to be more frequent in
dry-drilled fields. Weedy rice, a considerable problem, seems to be no longer the
serious weed that it was in the past. It has, however, to be considered that the toler-
ance to imidazolinones is starting to outcross into weedy rice (Ziska et al. 2015) as
discussed below. The dominant weed genus in rice is Echinochloa. The species in
this genus are usually difficult to distinguish. The red colour of the stem is normally
associated with E. crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv.; white biotypes are often identified as
Echinochloa erecta (Pollacci) Pignatti. Intermediate forms are regarded as hybrids.
Echinochloa phyllopogon (Stapf) Koss. is usually associated with hairs on the stem
and hairs between leaf blade and sheath. Unfortunately, Echinochloa oryzoides
(Ard.) Fritsch is sometimes regarded as synonymous with Echinochloa phyllopogon
(Stapf) Koss. (e.g. by Hirosue et al. 2000). Other authors regard E. phyllopogon as
identical with E. oryzicola (e.g. Iwakami et al. 2012). E. colona (L.) Link is described
as an awnless species in contrast to E. crus-galli. It is, however, obvious that awn-
less biotypes also exist within the species E. crus-galli. Monochoria vaginalis
(Burm.f.) C. Presl ex Kunth is a problem weed in many parts of the world. It can be
a major problem in Southeast Asia, in Australia and in the Americas. It does not
104 H. Kraehmer et al.

Table 4.6  Importance of representatives of frequent weed genera in rice based on data kindly
provided by the Centre Français du Riz
Genus France Greece Italy Portugal Spain
Alisma xx xx xxx xx xx
Bidens xx – xx x –
Bolboschoenus xxx – xxx – xxx
Butomus x x x – –
Cyperus xxx xxx xx xxx xxx
Digitaria x x Xx x –
Echinochloa xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx
Heteranthera xxx xx xxx xxx xxx
Leersia xxx xxx xx xxx xx
Leptochloa xx xxx x xxx xxx
Lindernia xx – xx – xx
Oryza xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx
Panicum x xx x –
Paspalum xx xx x xx x
Polygonum xxx x xx xx x
Schoenoplectus xxx – xxx xxx xxx
Setaria x – x – x
Typha xxx xx x xx xx
x minor importance, xx intermediate importance, xxx major importance
In some countries, regional differences have to be kept in mind

play, however, a role in Europe. Minor differences in the weed spectrum of European
countries can be observed (Table 4.6). Country- or region-specific weed spectra
have been summarized by a number of authors, e.g. by Vidotto (2013) or Sparacino
et al. (1996) for Italy, Galhano et al. (2011) for Spain, Audebert et al. (2013) for
France, Vasconcelos et al. (1999) for Portugal, Pinke et al. (2014) for Hungary or
Pacanoski and Glatkova (2009) for Macedonia.
The spectrum of registered herbicides differs from country to country. Table 4.7
shows that the choice of products with different mode of actions (MoAs) is highest
in Italy and Spain (Table 4.8).
For crop selectivity reasons, many products have, however a limitation in appli-
cation ranges.
In dry-seeded rice, clomazone- and pendimethalin-based products are primarily
applied pre-emergence. Due to the rather small acreage in France, not many herbi-
cide options are available.
Resistance of rice weeds to herbicides has been reported in Europe starting
from the mid-1990s (Sattin et al. 1999). Most prominent today are publications
on weeds resistant to ALS or AHAS inhibitors (ALS, acetolactate synthase;
AHAS, acetohydroxy acid synthase) and ACCase inhibitors (ACCase, acetyl
coenzyme A carboxylase). Panozzo et al. (2013) characterized the basis of resis-
tance for 14 Echinochloa crus-galli populations. Seven populations were highly
cross-resistant to ALS inhibitors, two were resistant to a ­sulfonylurea but not to
4  Rice Production in Europe 105

Table 4.7  Herbicides registered in Italy, France and Spain for application in rice
Registered
MoA, target sitea Common name Chemical family Timingb in
ACCase Clethodim Cyclohexane diones C Spain
Cycloxydim Cyclohexane diones A Italy, Spain,
France
Profoxydim Cyclohexane diones A, C Italy, Spain
Cyhalofop butyl Aryloxyphenoxy- C Italy, Spain,
propanoates France
Propaquizafop Aryloxyphenoxy- A Italy, Spain
propanoates
AHAS or ALS Azimsulfuron Sulphonylureas C Italy,
France,
Spain
Bensulfuron-­ Sulphonylureas C Italy,
methyl France,
Spain
Halosulfuron Sulphonylureas C Italy, Spain
Imazosulfuron Sulphonylureas C Italy, Spain
Orthosulfamuron Sulphonylureas C Italy
Ethoxysulfuron Sulphonylureas C Italy
Penoxsulam Sulphonylureas C Italy,
France,
Spain
Imazamox Imidazolinones C Italy, Spain
Bispyribac-sodium Pyrimidinyl benzoates C Italy, Spain
Auxins 2,4-DB Phenoxy-carboxylic C Italy
acids
MCPA Phenoxy-carboxylic C Italy, Spain
acids
Triclopyr Pyridine-carboxylic C Italy
acids
Quinclorac Quinoline-carboxylic C Italyc
acids
DOXP synthase Clomazone Isoxazolidinones A, B, C Italy, Spain
EPSP synthase Glyphosate Glycines A, B, C Italy
Fatty acid and lipid Molinate Thiocarbamates C Spain
biosynthesis
Inhibition of cell Flufenacet Oxoacetamides A, B France,
division Italy
Microtubule assembly Pendimethalin Dinitroanilines A, B Italy
Protoporphyrinogen Oxadiazon Oxadiazoles A, B, C Italy,
oxidase Spainc
PS I – inhibitors Diquat Bipyridyliums A, B, C Italyd
PS II – inhibitors Bentazone Benzothiadiazinones C Spain

(continued)
106 H. Kraehmer et al.

Table 4.7 (continued)
Registered
MoA, target sitea Common name Chemical family Timingb in
Bromoxynil Nitriles C Italy
Propanil Amides C Italyc,
Spaine
VLCFAs Pretilachlor Chloroacetamides A, B, C Italyc
a
According to HRAC (Herbicide Resistance Action Committee) January 2015
b
A pre-sowing, B pre-emergence, C post
c
Approved use in rice as a derogation for a limited period in emergency situations
d
Only for desiccation of rice seed production
e
Exceptional registration

Table 4.8 Herbicide Common names Timinga Registered in

mixtures for use in rice
Bensulfuron-methyl + C Spain
molinate
Bensulfuron-methyl + A Italy
metsulfuron-methyl
Penoxsulam+cyhalofop C Spain
Pendimethalin+clomazone A, B, C Italy
2,4-D + MCPA C Italy
A pre-sowing, B pre-emergence, C post
a

an imidazolinone and five were multiple resistant to ALS and the ACCase inhib-
itor profoxydim. Other studies showed that the structure of Echinochloa popula-
tions in Italian rice fields and the related variability of herbicide sensitivity are
much more complex than previously expected (Vidotto et al. 2007). Busi et al.
(2006) compared biotypes of Cyperus difformis and of Schoenoplectus mucro-
natus from California, Italy and Spain to describe cross-resistance phenomena
to a number of ALS herbicides. Calha et  al. (2007) detected Portuguese bio-
types of Alisma plantago-aquatica which were resistant to bensulfuron-methyl.
Busconi et al. (2012) summarize the distribution of AHAS-resistant weedy rice
in Italy and discuss the consequences of outcrossing of the Clearfield tolerance
genes into weedy rice. According to GIRE, the Italian Herbicide Resistance
Working Group, 30  % of all rice fields are infested with herbicide-­resistant
weeds (http://oryza.com/italian-government-approves-use-chemicals-­control-
herbicide-resistant-weeds).
Unfortunately, herbicides with new modes of action have become quite rare,
and the number of registered products is continuously reduced (Kraehmer et al.
2014a, b). This fact leads to ever-increasing resistance risks and to challenges for
farmers.
4  Rice Production in Europe 107

4.5.2  Insects

The smaller rice leaf miner Hydrellia griseola Fallen (Diptera) is the globally most
widely distributed and one of the most economically significant Hydrellia species
(Hesler 1995). Also, the Asiatic rice borer or striped rice stemborer, Chilo suppres-
salis Walker (Lepidoptera), and the white-spotted stink bug, Eysarcoris incon-
spicuus H.  Sc. (Hemiptera), can cause considerable damage. The latter one
especially in Andalusian rice fields. The invasive rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus
oryzophilus Kuschel (Coleoptera), is impacting yields in several European parts
today. Resistance of insects to insecticides is not regarded as a problem today.
Table 4.9 shows insecticides applied in Italy and Spain.

4.5.3  Diseases

Major diseases of European rice are fungal diseases such as rice blast caused by
Magnaporthe grisea (T.T.  Hebert) M.E.  Barr, brown spot disease caused by
Cochliobolus miyabeanus (Ito &. Kurib.) Drechsler and bakanae disease by
Gibberella fujikuroi (Sawada) Wollenw. Resistance to fungicides is  – like with
insecticides – not regarded as a problem in European rice yet. Rice is treated once
or twice with fungicides depending on growth stage and region in Italy. There are
also a number of different compounds and tools used as seed dressings as
Pseudomonas chlororaphis which we will not discuss here.
Table 4.10 contains registered fungicides and mixtures in Spain and Italy.
Prochloraz and tebuconazole mixtures are registered in Spain. Fungal diseases are
not regarded as a major problem in France due to the dry Mistral wind that is blow-
ing over a long time of the year.

4.6  Environmental Effects Associated with Rice Cultivation

4.6.1  Water Consumption

According to the World Bank green data (Voegle and Badiee 2013), 16.9 % of all agri-
cultural land in Italy are irrigated. Agriculture withdraws 44 % of the total freshwater
available. In the northern rice-growing areas of the river Po area, there is, however,
usually enough water available early in the season so that all crops can be normally
irrigated and no groundwater problems are to be expected. Aerobic rice systems as
propagated in some Asian countries with a water shortage are not recommended in
northern Italy. The situation varies, however, from country to country. The amount of
108 H. Kraehmer et al.

Table 4.9  Insecticides available for use in rice in Italy and Spain
MoA, target Chemical family/ Main target Registered
sitea Common name proteins insects in
Ecdysone Tebufenozide Diacylhydrazines Chilo Spain
receptor suppressalis
agonist Mythimna
unipuncta
Spodoptera
spp.
Microbial Bacillus thuringiensis B.t. proteins Mythimna Spain
disruptors of aizawai unipuncta
insect Spodoptera
midgut spp.
Bacillus thuringiensis B.t. proteins Mythimna Spain
kurstaki unipuncta
Spodoptera
spp.
Sodium Pyrethroids Cyhalothrin Lissorhoptrus Italy
channel oryzophilus
modulators
Cypermethrin Lissorhoptrus Italy
oryzophilus
Aphids
Deltamethrin Aphids Italy
Etofenprox Eysarcoris Spain
ventralis
Pyrethrum extract Various Italy
Modulators Pyridinecarboxamide Flonicamid Aphids Italyb,
of Spainc
chordotonal
organs
a
According to IRAC (Insecticide Resistance Action Committee) December 2014
b
Approved use in rice as a derogation for a limited period in emergency situations
c
Exceptional registration

irrigation is also dependent on the amount of local rain or water evaporation. In the
Vercelli region (Italy), between 15,000 and 40,000 m3 irrigation water per hectare of
rice are quite common per season (Blengini and Busto 2009); in the Camargue
23,000 m3 irrigation water per ha were published by Desplanques et al. (2006). These
are dimensions which are comparable to water amounts used in other parts of the world
as in Argentinian irrigated rice where the amounts vary from 13,000 to 19,000 m3/ha
and season (Marano and Filippi 2015). An overview on the EU irrigation situation was
published in the Final Report of the Working Group “MED-­RICE” prepared for the
European Commission in the framework of Council Directive 91/414/EEC (MED-
Rice (2003). Hydrologic water balances were discussed for the central Ebro valley by
Playán et al. (2008). These authors stressed that the seasonal consumptive water use
appears to be similar to other irrigated spring cereals grown in the area.
4  Rice Production in Europe 109

Table 4.10  Fungicides available for use in rice in Italy and Spain
Main
target
MoA, target sitea Common name Chemical family disease Registered in
C14-demethylase Flutriafol Triazoles Rice blast Italy
Brown
spot
Tebuconazole Triazoles Rice blast Spain
Brown
spot
Propiconazole Triazoles Brown Italy, Spain
spot
Prochloraz Imidazoles Rice blast Spain
Brown
spot
Inhibition of Azoxystrobin Methoxyacrylates Rice blast Italy, Spain
complex III Brown
spot
Melanin synthesis Tricyclazole Triazolo-benzothiazoles Rice blast Italyb, Spainc
Signal Iprodione Dicarboximides Italy
Transduction
a
According to FRAC (Fungicide Resistance Action Committee) January 2015
b
Approved use in rice as a derogation for a limited period in emergency situations
c
Exceptional registration expected

4.6.2  Gas Emission

Methane and N2O emissions from rice fields have become a major concern since
their detection in the last century. Both gases so-called greenhouse gases are
regarded as major components of global warming. The reasons for the emissions
from rice fields are anaerobic degradation processes in the paddy water as caused by
microorganisms such as Archaea species (Liu and Whitman 2008). A few measures
for the mitigation of methane production in agriculture have been suggested by vari-
ous scientists as summarized by Smith et  al. (2008). In Italy, several studies on
methane production of rice fields were carried out within the last decades. Dan et al.
(2001) could demonstrate the stimulating influence of fertilizers on methane emis-
sion. Lüke et al. (2010) reported on the biogeography of methane-oxidizing bacteria
(MOBs) in Italian wetland rice.

4.6.3  Heavy Metals

Unfortunately, rice is assimilating some heavy metals into its grains. For example,
arsenic (As) may be found in rice of different parts of the world (Sommella et al.
2013). The concentrations of As in Italian rice may vary from about 0.1 mg/kg grain
110 H. Kraehmer et al.

to 0.3 mg/kg grains depending on sample site, variety and region; Cr-values range
from 0.1 mg/kg to 1.0 mg/kg grains; those for Cd are usually lower and are detected
at rates between 0.01 and 0.1 mg/kg.
As values from Spanish rice were compared with those for Chinese and US rice
samples in another study (Carbonell-Barrachina et al. 2012) and were proved to be
lower.

4.6.4  Biodiversity

Irrigated rice provides a special habitat for a great number of organisms and contrib-
utes to the existence of species which could hardly survive in a nonirrigated envi-
ronment of other arable crops. Already, Carretero (1986) reported three decades ago
about 29 emergent and 20 floating or submerged plant taxa in rice fields of the
Valencia and Tarragona provinces of Spain. Vasconcelos et al. (1999) listed 47 spe-
cies of vascular plants in 19 families and 7 species of algae in Portuguese rice fields.
In the Camargue alone 178 plant species are directly associated with the cultivation
of rice (http://plantes-rizieres-camargue.cirad.fr/generalites/la_flore_du_milieu_
rizicole/introduction). Some scientists regard the vegetation associated with rice as
poor (e.g. Pinke et al. 2014). They make, however, clear that it is composed of plants
of phylogenetically diverse origin.
Picazo et al. (2010, 2012) stress the importance of aquatic systems including rice
fields for water beetles in Iberia and the Mediterranean basin.
Sánchez-Guzmán et al. (2007) demonstrated how rice cultivation can mitigate
the general loss of wetland for migratory water birds. Toral and Figuerola (2010)
highlighted the reduction of natural wetlands in the Mediterranean region by
80–90 % in the twentieth century due to pressure from human population growth
and the conversion of wetlands into agricultural and urbanized areas. They provided
an evidence that rice fields play a major role for water birds today in Andalucia.
Unfortunately, European rice field habitats have become home for a number of
invasive species such as the alien crayfish Procambarus clarkii Girard (Barbaresi
and Gherardi 2000) or various ostracods such as Candonocypris novaezelandiae,
Stenocypris macedonica, Cypris subglobosa and Hemicypris barbadensis (Valls
et al. 2014). Some scientists are concerned about the resurgence risk of Malaria with
Anopheles atroparvus as its vector (Sainz-Elipe et al. 2010).

4.7  Trends, Chances and Opportunities

4.7.1  Weed Management

It has already been mentioned that the number of herbicide registrations has declined
continuously over the last years. It is therefore encouraging to see that still some
new technologies for rice are introduced by the agrochemical industry. According to
4  Rice Production in Europe 111

an announcement by Delta Farm Press of April 1, 2015, BASF is about to launch a

new weed management system under the trade name Provisia. The new Provisia rice
trait will be tolerant to ACCase inhibitors; it is a non-GMO trait that was found
through selection and backcrossing into commercial rice varieties (http://deltafarm-
press.com/rice/new-tools-continue-provide-us-rice-farmers-edge).
With this technology, farmers will have an additional tool to control some widely
distributed weeds such as Echinochloa species and weedy rice. This system was
also presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the Weed Science Society of America
and the Canadian Weed Science Society in Vancouver (Harden et al. 2014). It can be
expected that this technology will arrive at European rice fields soon.

4.7.2  Hybrid Rice

Non-GMO hybrid rice cultivation in Italy was started in the year 2012 (Tesio et al.
2014). The first varieties were Clearfield varieties and were planted on around
1800 ha. Recommended seeding rates for conventional direct-seeded varieties usu-
ally range between 100 and 200 kg/ha. Seeding rates for hybrid rice are much lower
(26.5 kg per ha). The number of tillers in hybrid rice is usually higher than in con-
ventional varieties. In Spain, hybrid rice was commercially sold in 2015. Relatively
high costs for the seed and the long growing period of the first varieties did not lead
to a high acceptance of the technology so far. This may change, however, with the
introduction of more and cheaper varieties.

4.7.3  Gas Emission

Maris et al. (2015) analysed the influence of continuous and intermittent irrigation
on the greenhouse gas emission of rice fields and found considerable differences.
Dry periods as practiced today with dry-seeded rice can reduce the greenhouse gas
emission considerably.
It appears probable therefore that new cultivation methods may contribute to a
considerable reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

4.7.4  Heavy Metals

Several scientists have observed already in the past that differences in the uptake of
heavy metals are based on rice genetics (e.g. Ahmed et al. 2011). Snehlata Shrivastav
reported on July 15, 2015 in the Times of India that scientists at the CSIR-National
Botanical Research Institute (CSIR-NBRI), Lucknow, have developed a variety of
rice that minimizes the uptake of arsenic from the soil (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.
com/City/Nagpur/Scientists-develop-rice-that-wouldnt-take-arsenic-from-­soil/
112 H. Kraehmer et al.

articleshow/48075568.cms). It has to be expected that further investigations into the

rice genome will end up with new varieties in Europe also which help to reduce the
risk of heavy metal accumulation in rice grains in the future.

4.7.5  Biodiversity

Some European rice-growing areas are close to natural parks or protected areas such
as in the Camargue or in the Ebro Delta (Parc Natural del Delta de l’Ebre). Some
initiatives strive therefore for a reduction of the use of agrochemicals in these areas.
A very small proportion of farmers have started to produce organic rice a few years
ago (Delmotte et al. 2011). In the Camargue, average yields range between 6.3 (for
conventional rice) and 4.3/ha (for organic rice). Unfortunately, yields may be highly
variable. The worst problem for organic rice production is apparently weed
competition.

4.8  Conclusions

The area on which rice is grown in Europe is rather small compared with other rice-­
growing areas, especially in Asia. It has even decreased considerably during the last
25 years. In some areas, the acreage has become so small that new agrochemicals
are no longer registered. The milled rice equivalents in the EU amount to 0.4 % of
the global rice production and can therefore not be regarded as a potential source of
overproduction. There is, however, a constant demand for rice in the EU which can
be safeguarded by a few European nations.
Due to comparable climatic and growing conditions, a number of weed problems
in Europe are very similar to those in other rice-growing areas as demonstrated, for
example, by Kraehmer et al. (2015). Wild rice, Echinochloa, Cyperus and Heteranthera
species, are the most dominant species all over Europe. It can be expected that the
pressure caused by Leptochloa species will increase similar to other rice-growing
areas in the world. The acreage of Clearfield rice is growing due to its advantage of
controlling wild rice. Resistance to herbicides creates an increasing risk resulting in
an urgent need of herbicides with new mode of actions. Similar to weed spectra,
European rice diseases and insect problems are also not unique and have been threats
like in other parts of the world. Three major environmental issues result in discussions
about rice cultivation in Europe: greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and
heavy metal accumulation. New crop management approaches seem, however, to
reduce anticipated problems to a great extent. On the other, it must not be ignored that
rice fields are important habitats for a number of plant and animal species, and they
are an important resort for migratory water birds. They considerably contribute to
biodiversity in an industrialized agricultural landscape.
4  Rice Production in Europe 113

Acknowledgements  This chapter is the result of a common approach with a number of col-
leagues who assisted us with their generous help and advice from the beginning:
Alberto Boebl and Marco Sobrero from Bayer CropScience S.r.l. (Italy), Francisco Javier Perez
Dominguez from Bayer CropScience, S.L. (Spain),
Jean-Claude Mouret, INRA UMR (France), Carlotta Caresana and Marco Romani of the Ente
Nazionale Risi (Italy).

References

Ahmed ZU, Panaullah GM, Gauch H, McCouch SR, Tyagi W, Kabir MS, Duxbury JM (2011)
Genotype and environment effects on rice (Oryza sativa L.) grain arsenic concentration in
Bangladesh. Plant and Soil 338:367–382
Audebert A, Mouret JC, Roques S, Carrara A, Hammond R, Gaungoo A, Sanusan S, Marnotte P
(2013) Colonization and infestation ability of Bolboschoenus maritimus Palla in rice paddies of
the Camargue, France. Weed Biol Manag 13:70–78
Barbaresi S, Gherardi F (2000) The invasion of the alien crayfish Procambarus clarkii in Europe,
with particular reference to Italy. Biol Invasions 2:259–264
Benvenuti S, Dinelli G, Bonetti A (2004) Germination ecology of Leptochloa chinensis: a new
weed in the Italian rice agro-environment. Weed Res 44:87–96
Blengini GA, Busto M (2009) The life cycle of rice: LCA of alternative agri-food chain manage-
ment systems in Vercelli (Italy). J Environ Manage 90:1512–1522
Boyadjiev P (1996) Rice production in Bulgaria. In: Chataigner J (ed) Economie du riz dans le
Bassin Méditerranéen. Cahiers Options Méditerranéennes, vol 15. CIHEAM, Montpellier, p. 29
Busconi M, Rossi D, Lorenzoni C, Baldi G, Fogher C (2012) Spread of herbicide-resistant weedy
rice (red rice, Oryza sativa L.) after 5 years of Clearfield rice cultivation in Italy. Plant Biol
14:751–759
Busi R, Vidotto F, Fischer AJ, Oscuna MD, De Prado R, Ferrero A (2006) Patterns of resistance to
ALS herbicides in smallflower umbrella sedge (Cyperus difformis) and ricefield bulrush
(Schoenoplectus mucronatus). Weed Technol 20:1004–1014. doi:10.1614/WT-05-178.1
Cai X, Fan J, Jiang Z, Basso B, Sala F, Spada A, Grassi F, Lu B-R (2013) The puzzle of Italian rice
origin and evolution: determining genetic divergence and affinity of rice germplasm from Italy
and Asia. PLoS One 8(11):e80351. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0080351 (http://www.plosone.
org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080351&representation=
PDF)
Calha IM, Osuna MD, Serra C, Moreira I, De Prado R, Rocha F (2007) Mechanism of resistance
to bensulfuron-methyl in Alisma plantago-aquatica biotypes from Portuguese rice paddy
fields. Weed Res 47:231–240
Carbonell-Barrachina AA, Wu X, Ramírez-Gandolfo A, Norton GJ, Burló F, Deacon C, Meharg
AA (2012) Inorganic arsenic contents in rice-based infant foods from Spain, UK, China and
USA. Environ Pollut 163:77–83
Carretero JL (1986) Rice field flora and vegetation in the provinces of Valencia and Tarragona.
Collect Bot 17:113–124
Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets (2015) Rice market. DG
Agriculture and Rural Development European Commission AGRI/C/4  – http://ec.europa.eu/
agriculture/cereals/presentations/rice/market-situation_en.pdf
Dan J, Krüger M, Frenzel P, Conrad R (2001) Effect of a late season urea fertilization on methane
emission from a rice field in Italy. Agric Ecosyst Environ 83:191–199
DEFRA (2010) The 2007/08 Agricultural price spikes: causes and policy implications. HM
Government 2010. http://www.liquidbiofuels.org.nz/documents/Resources/ag-price_100105.
pdf . Accessed 24 Apr 2015
114 H. Kraehmer et al.

Delmotte S, Tittonell P, Moureta J-C, Hammond R, Lopez-Ridaura S (2011) On farm assess-

ment of rice yield variability and productivity gaps between organic and conventional crop-
ping systems under Mediterranean climate. Eur J  Agr 35:223–236. doi:10.1016/j.
eja.2011.06.006
Desplanques V, Cary L, Mouret JC, Trolard F, Bourrié G, Grauby O, Meunier JD (2006) Silicon
transfers in a rice field in Camargue (France). J Geochem Explor 88:190–193
European Commission (2015a) The EU rice regulatory regime. European Commission Directorate-­
General for agriculture and rural development, Directorate C.  Single CMO, economics and
analysis of agricultural markets C.4. Arable crops  – http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cereals/
factsheet-rice_en.pdf. Accessed 3 Oct 2015
European Commission (2015b) EU rice economic fact sheet. European Commission / Directorate-­
general for agriculture and rural development; Directorate C.  Single CMO, economics and
analysis of agricultural markets C.4. Arable crops  – http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/cereals/
trade/rice/economic-fact-sheet_en.pdf. Accessed 24 Apr 2015
European Parliament (2013) Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agri-
cultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No. 922/72, (EEC) No. 234/79,
(EC) No. 1037/2001 and (EC) No. 1234/2007. (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/
TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013R1308&from=EN). Accessed 3 Oct 2015
Ferrero A (2007) Rice scenario in the European Union. Cahiers Agricultures 16:272–274
Ferrero A, Vidotto F (2006) Agro-economical traits of rice cultivation in Europe and India. Edizioni
Mercurio S.r.l, Vercelli
Ferrero A, Vidotto F (2010) History of rice in Europe. In: Sharma SD (ed) Rice – origin, antiquity
and history. Science Publishers – CRC Press, Enfield, pp. 341–372
Galhano V, Gomes-Laranjo J, Fernández-Valiente E, Videira R, Peixoto F (2011) Impact of herbi-
cides on non-target organisms in sustainable irrigated rice production systems: state of
­knowledge and future prospects. In: Kortekamp A (ed) Herbicides and environment. InTech,
Rijeka, pp. 45–72
Harden J, Carlson D, Mankin L, Luzzi B, Stevenson-Paulik J, Guice JB, Youmans C, Hong H,
Castro H, Sandhu R, Hofelt C, McKean A, Scott M, More D (2014) Provisia™: a new vision
in red rice control. Proceedings of the 2014 Weed Science Society of America / Canadian Weed
Science Society Annual Meeting (Vancouver; February 3, 2014 – February 6, 2014) Abstract
198
Hesler LS (1995) Bibliography on Hydrellia griseola Fallen (Diptera: Ephydridae) and review of
its biology and pest status. Insecta Mundi 9:25–35
Hirosue T, Yamasue Y, Yabuno T (2000) Shattering habit and dormancy of spikelets in a cultivated
form of Echinochloa oryzicola recently found in China. Weed Res 40:449–456
Iwakami S, Uchino A, Watanabe H, Yamasue Y, Inamura T (2012) Isolation and expression of
genes for acetolactate synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase in Echinochloa phyllopogon, a
polyploidy weed species. Pest Manag Sci 68:1098–1106
Kraehmer H, Laber B, Rosinger C, Schulz A (2014a) Herbicides as weed control agents: state of
the art: I. Weed control research and safener technology: the path to modern agriculture. Plant
Physiol 166:1119–1131
Kraehmer H, van Almsick A, Beffa R, Dietrich H, Eckes P, Hacker E, Hain R, Strek HJ, Stuebler
H, Willms L (2014b) Herbicides as weed control agents: state of the art: II. Recent achieve-
ments. Plant Physiol 166:1132–1148
Kraehmer H, Jabran K, Mennan H, Chauhan BS (2015) Global distribution of rice weeds  – a
review. Crop Prot 80:73–86
Liu Y, Whitman WB (2008) Metabolic, phylogenetic, and ecological diversity of the methanogenic
Archaea. Ann NY Acad Sci 1125:171–189 . doi:10.1196/annals.1419.019©2008 New  York
Academy of Sciences
Lüke C, Krause S, Caviglio S, Greppi D, Lupotto E, Frenzel P (2010) Biogeography of wetland
rice methanotrophs. Environ Microbiol 12:862–872
4  Rice Production in Europe 115

Marano RP, Filippi RA (2015) Water Footprint in paddy rice systems. Its determination in the
provinces of Santa Fe and Entre Ríos, Argentina. Ecol Indic 56:229–236
Maris SC, Teira-Esmatges MR, Català MM (2015) Influence of irrigation frequency on greenhouse
gases emission from a paddy soil. Paddy Water Environ 14:199. doi:10.1007/
s10333-015-0490-2
MED-Rice (2003). Guidance document for environmental risk assessments of active substances
used on rice in the EU for Annex I Inclusion. Document prepared by Working Group on MED-­
Rice, EU Document Reference SANCO/1090/2000 – rev.1, Brussels, June 2003, 108 pp; http://
ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/guidance_documents/docs/med_rice_2003_en.pdf.
Accessed 22 July 2015
Osca JM (2013) Expansion of Leptochloa fusca ssp. uninerva and Leptochloa fusca ssp. fascicu-
laris in rice fields in Valencia, eastern Spain. Weed Res 53:479–488
Pacanoski Z, Glatkova G (2009) The use of herbicides for weed control in direct wet-seeded rice
(Oryza sativa L.) in rice production regions in the republic of Macedonia. Plant Protect Sci
45:113–118
Panozzo S, Scarabel L, Tranel PJ, Sattin M (2013) Target-site resistance to ALS inhibitors in the
polyploid species Echinochloa crus-galli. Pestic Biochem Physiol 105:93–101
Picazo F, Moreno JL, Millán A (2010) The contribution of standing waters to aquatic biodiversity:
the case of water beetles in south-eastern Iberia. Aquatic Ecol 44:205–216
Picazo F, Bilton DT, Moreno JL, Sánchez-Fernández D, Millán A (2012) Water beetle biodiversity
in Mediterranean standing waters: assemblage composition, environmental drivers and nested-
ness patterns. Insect Conserv Diver 5:146–158. doi:10.1111/j.1752-4598.2011.00144.x
Pinke G, Csiky J, Mesterházy A, Tari L, Pál RW, Botta-Dukát Z, Czúcz B (2014) The impact of
management on weeds and aquatic plant communities in Hungarian rice crops. Weed Res
54:388–397
Playán E, Pérez-Coveta O, Martínez-Cob A, Herrero J, García-Navarro P, Latorre B, Brufau P,
Garcés J (2008) Overland water and salt flows in a set of rice paddies. Agric Water Manag
95:645–658
Sainz-Elipe S, Latorre JM, Escosa R, Masià M, Fuentes MV, Mas-Coma S, Bargues MD (2010)
Malaria resurgence risk in southern Europe: climate assessment in an historically endemic area
of rice fields at the Mediterranean shore of Spain. Malar J  9:221.
doi:10.1186/1475-2875-9-221
Sánchez-Guzmán JM, Morán R, Masero JA, Corbacho C, Costillo E, Villegas A, Santiago-Quesada
F (2007) Identifying new buffer areas for conserving water birds in the Mediterranean basin:
the importance of the rice fields in Extremadura, Spain. Biodivers Conserv 16:3333–3344
Sattin M, Berto D, Zanin G, Tabacchi M (1999) Resistance to ALS inhibitors in weeds of rice in
north-western Italy. In: Proceedings of 1999 Brighton crop protection conference. CPC
Publications, Brighton, pp. 783–790
Sleper DA, Poehlman JM (2006) Breeding field crops, 5th edn. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford
Smith P, Martino D, Cai Z, Gwary D, Janzen H, Kumar P, McCarl B, Ogle S (2008) Greenhouse
gas mitigation in agriculture. Phil Trans R Soc B 363:789–813. doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.2184
Sommella A, Deacon C, Norton G, Pigna M, Violante A, Meharg AA (2013) Total arsenic, inor-
ganic arsenic, and other elements concentrations in Italian rice grain varies with origin and
type. Environ Pollut 181:38–43
Sparacino A, Bocchi S, Ferro R, Riva N, Tano F (1996) The use of herbicides for weed control in
flooded rice in North Italy. Hydrobiologia 340:265–269
Tesio F, Tabacchi M, Cerioli S, Follis F (2014) Sustainable hybrid rice cultivation in Italy. A
review. Agron Sustain Dev 34:93–102
Toral MG, Figuerola J (2010) Unraveling the importance of rice fields for waterbird populations in
Europe. Biodivers. Conserv 19:3459–3469
Valls L, Rueda J, Mesquita-Joanes F (2014) Rice fields as facilitators of freshwater invasions in
protected wetlands: the case of Ostracoda (Crustacea) in the Albufera Natural Park (E Spain).
Zool Stud 53:68. doi:10.1186/s40555-014-0068-5
116 H. Kraehmer et al.

Vasconcelos T, Tavares M, Gaspar N (1999) Aquatic plants in rice fields of the Tagus Valley,
Portugal. Hydrobiologia 415:59–65
Vidotto F, Tesio F, Tabacchi M, Ferrero A (2007) Herbicide sensitivity of Echinochloa spp. acces-
sions in Italian rice fields. Crop Prot 26:285–293
Vidotto F (2013) Weed management in Italian rice fields. In: JMO Lluch, DG de Barreda Ferraz,
VC Zeising, NP Seva (eds). XIV Congresso de la Sociedad Española de Malherbologia,
Editorial Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, Valencia, pp  139–144, ISBN:
978-84-9048-131-8
Voegle J, Badiee S (2013) The little green data book. The World Bank, Washington, DC. p 111.
ISBN (electronic) 978-0-8213-9814-2
Wang J, Wei L, Zheng T, Zhao X, Ali J, Xu J, Li Z (2014) Simple sequence repeat markers reveal
multiple loci governing grain-size variations in a japonica rice (Oryza sativa L.) mutant induced
by cosmic radiation during space flight. Euphytica 196:225–236
Ziska LH, Gealy DR, Burgos N, Caicedo AL, Gressel J, Lawton-Rauh AL, Avila LA, Theisen G,
Norsworthy J, Ferrero A, Vidotto F, Johnson DE, Ferreira FG, Marchesan E, Menezes V, Cohn
MA, Linscombe S, Carmona L, Tang R, Merotto A (2015) Weedy (red) rice: an emerging con-
straint to global rice production. Adv Agronomy 129:181–228 Elsevier
Chapter 5
Rice Production in Africa

Negussie Zenna, Kalimuthu Senthilkumar, and Moussa Sie

5.1  Introduction

Due to high demand, rice production has increased continuously over several
decades, from a growth rate of 1.76 % in 1991–2001 to 3.96 % during 2002–2013.
This rapid growth rate has made rice the fastest emerging cereal crop in sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) and the second major source of energy on the continent (Seck et al.
2012). However, currently rice production is lower than the demand that is driven
by rapid population growth and the preference by urban dwellers for rice as a con-
venient and easy-to-cook cereal compared to traditional dishes (Seck et al. 2013).
Rice is thus one of the most valued food crops on the continent and a very important
political crop, shortage or price fluctuation of which can result in civil unrest, as
witnessed during the rice crisis in 2007–2008 (Seck et al. 2013).
Although Africa has vast natural resources and the potential to produce enough
food for its 900 million people, only 60 % of its demand for rice is produced locally,
the rest being imported. Analysts indicate that the current dependence on the

N. Zenna, PhD (*)

Africa Rice Center, Lot: 1126D69, Tsivatrinikamo, PK 3 Route de Betafo
Antsirabe, 101 Antananarivo, Madagascar
e-mail: [email protected]
K. Senthilkumar, PhD
Africa Rice Center, Mikocheni B Kawe, Old Bagamoyo Rd. Avocado Street,
P.O. Box 33581, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Sie, PhD
Africa Rice Center, Centre national de la recherche appliquée au développement rural
(FOFIFA), BP 1690, Ampandrianomby, Antananarivo, Madagascar
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 117

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_5
118 N. Zenna et al.

i­nternational market is not sustainable because supply is unreliable and rice prices
fluctuate (Wopereis et al. 2013). To overcome this chronic food insecurity, African
policy makers have developed ambitious plans for achieving food self-sufficiency and
to turn rice into a profitable venture for farmers and other stakeholders. To realize the
plans, a wide range of research-for-development activities are being undertaken in
partnership with various institutions within and outside of Africa (Tollens et al. 2013).
This chapter provides historical highlights on rice in Africa, its production systems,
challenges, and current major activities toward self-sufficiency, as well as the role of
the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) as a center of excellence for rice research in Africa.

5.2  History and Importance of Rice in Africa

5.2.1  History

Through thousands of years of rice cultivation experience, African farmers have

generated diverse rice genetic resources, which are well adapted to diverse agro-
ecologies and multiple biotic and abiotic stresses on the continent (Sanni et al.
2013). African rice, Oryza glaberrima Steud, is one of the two cultivated species,
and was independently domesticated from its wild ancestor O. barthii in the Niger
River delta about 3000 years ago (Jones et al. 1997). Since then, it has spread to
two secondary centers of domestication, one along the coast in The Gambia,
Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau and the second in the Guinea forest between Sierra
Leone and the western part of Côte d’Ivoire (Portères 1962, 1976). Molecular
investigations through isozyme studies followed by simple sequence repeat (SSR)
and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) confirmed the uniqueness of African
rice and its close genetic relationship to O. barthii (Second 1982; Semon et al.
2005). In its evolution as a cultivated crop, O. glaberrima has shaped the diet and
culture of Africa region, and it even helped Africa to overcome famine in 1203
(GRiSP 2015). Highly sophisticated rice cultivation technologies and cultural
practices existed in West Africa, with a variety of production systems used in dif-
ferent environments and landscapes, including the construction of elaborate
canals and dikes in coastal swamps (Carney 2001). This indigenous rice produc-
tion knowledge is believed to have been transferred to North America, through the
slave trade that transported people from West Africa to the Americas. This tech-
nology transfer seems to have contributed to the economy as well as food culture
of Carolina. For instance, a rice recipe called Hoppin’ John or red rice that is
popular in Georgia and South Carolina came from the West African recipe called
Jollo Rice (Carney 2001).
However, after the introduction of Asian rice O. sativa into Africa through East
Africa by traders from India in the early 1500s (Harlan and Stemler 1976; Ng et al.
1991), O. sativa has spread westward (Portères 1962) and the cultivation of O. glaber-
rima has declined. O. sativa is now widely cultivated on the continent. Although the
two cultivated species have some traits in common, they are significantly different
5  Rice Production in Africa 119

Table 5.1  Differentiating characteristics of cultivated rice species and their wild progenitors
Origin Species Distribution Biological type Reproduction
Asian
Cultivated Oryza sativa (with Asia Intermediate Self-pollinated plant
species two sub spp. indica (often) and
and japonica) intermediate
Wild species Oryza rufipogon Asia, Annual Self-pollinated and
Australia, and Intermediate cross-pollinated
America plant, intermediate,
and vegetative
reproduction
African
Cultivated Oryza glaberrima Africa Annual Self-pollinated plant
species
Wild species Oryza barthii Africa Annual Self-pollinated plant
Oryza longistaminata Africa Perennial Cross-pollinated
plant and vegetative
reproduction
Adapted from Agnoun et al. (2012) with permission

from each other (Linares 2002; Agnoun et al. 2012) (Table 5.1). Through thousands of
years of production in the region, O. glaberrima is well adapted for cultivation in West
Africa and possesses important traits such as tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses; on
the other hand, O. sativa produces much higher yields and therefore has higher com-
mercial value. Rice breeders have been exploiting the stress tolerance of O. glaberrima
to improve O. sativa for different stress tolerance traits while maintaining high yields
(Futakuchi et al. 2012).
The collection, conservation, and utilization of genetic diversity of the indige-
nous cultivated and wild rice species in Africa is the responsibility of AfricaRice and
the genetic resources are kept in trust for humanity under the auspices of the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The AfricaRice gene
bank currently has more than 20,000 accessions of O. sativa and O. glaberrima as
well as wild species (O. longisataminata, O. barthii, and O. stapfii) (Sanni et  al.
2013). Using these genetic resources, African scientists have generated “New Rice
for Africa” (NERICA) varieties, which combine the high-yielding traits of O. sativa
with the stress-adaptive traits of African rice, and ushered in the green revolution in
Africa (Sie et al. 2012). The genome of O. glaberrima has been sequenced through
collaborative effort, thus providing new opportunities for quick and efficient exploi-
tation of the genome to develop climate-resilient varieties (Wang et al. 2011).
The ever increasing demand for rice is dynamically shaping the rice production
system, intensification, and expansion. Consequently, rice is now grown in 40
African countries on nearly 10 million ha of land (AfricaRice 2011; Diagne et al.
2013) (Fig. 5.1). The five major rice producing countries are Nigeria (1,895,697 ha),
Madagascar (1,183,614 ha), Guinea (1,005,822 ha), Côte d’Ivoire (968,271 ha), and
Tanzania (942,438) (Diagne et al. 2013). Many of the rice growing countries have
favorable policies and national strategic rice development plans, with a keen focus
120 N. Zenna et al.

Fig. 5.1  Paddy rice production in Africa (Reprint from (AfricaRice 2011) with permission)

on satisfying demand with local production and benefiting farmers and other stake-
holders along the whole value chain (JICA 2009).

5.2.2  Current Trends in Rice Production and Consumption

Rice production and consumption in SSA have progressed at variable rates. From
1961 to 2006, annual rice production growth rate was 3.18 % compared to 2.9 % for
annual increase in demand (AfricaRice 2008). Then the increase in production was
attained mainly from area expansion. However, from 2007 to 2012, an unprece-
dented production growth rate of 8.4 % per year occurred. This leap occurred after
the rice crisis of 2007–2008 that triggered positive interventions by governments to
boost local production—70 % of the increase was due to higher yields per unit area
5  Rice Production in Africa 121

and only 29 % to area expansion. The annual yield increase that is equivalent to
108 kg/ha between 2007 and 2012 is comparable to the one obtained in Asia during
the green revolution (Seck et al. 2013). However, despite these developments, the
overall rice demand in Africa has outstripped local production and 40 % of the rice
consumed is imported. Consumption rate is expected to increase by 130 % in 2035
compared to 2010 (Seck et al. 2013), which urges African rice producers to increase
their production capacity drastically to meet the ever increasing demand with local
produce.

5.3  Major Rice Production Ecologies in Africa

In Africa, rice is grown in rainfed upland and aquatic environments. Based on

topography, water management and genetic adaptability, the aquatic environment is
subdivided into four major ecologies: rainfed lowland, deep water, mangrove, and
irrigated ecology (Sie et al. 2012). High elevation is considered as a special ecology
due to its specific requirement for cold-tolerant varieties (AfricaRice 2011).

5.3.1  Rainfed Upland

Rainfed upland is the second largest rice production ecology in sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA) (Diagne et al. 2013) (Table 5.2). In this ecology, rice is grown without soil
surface flooding. Most farmers in this ecology are resource poor and cannot afford
agricultural inputs. Consequently, they practice the “slash and burn” system as well
as permanent rice cultivation without a fallow period. Forest areas are cleared to
exploit the natural fertility of the forest soil. However, since no measure is taken to
improve the soil fertility and due to weed pressure, rice yields decline drastically
after one season and farmers have to constantly clear new forest areas for cultiva-
tion, a system called the “shifting cultivation” (Balasubramanian et al. 2007). In
sloppy areas, where rice is grown continuously, it is intercropped with other locally
adopted crops as a risk management strategy in case the rice crop fails due to
drought or poor soil fertility.
Land preparation is carried out manually with a hand-hoe or with the help of
Oxen, to be followed by broadcasting or direct seeding 80 kg of seed per hectare.
Weeding is done one or two times per season depending on the availability of family
labor. The major weed species encountered are Cyperus spp., Imperata cylindrical,
Chromolaena odorata, Digitaria horizontalis, Euphorbia heterophylla, Ageratum
conyzoides, and Striga spp. (Rodenburg et al. 2009).
The major biotic stresses are blast, African rice gall midge (AfRGM), stem bor-
ers, bacterial leaf blight (BLB), and rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) (Table 5.2).
Despite huge losses caused by insects and diseases, SSA farmers rarely apply
appropriate management techniques. They mostly depend on the innate potential of
the variety to resist all biotic constraints, while a few control blast with fungicides
122 N. Zenna et al.

Table 5.2  Rice production ecologies in Africa and production potential and yield limiting factors
Rice Shared Yield-limiting factors
production production Yield: actual/ Input
ecologies area (%) potential (t/ha) Abiotic factors Biotic factors use
Rainfed 30 1.2/2–5 P and N Weeds, Very
upland deficiency, termites, stem low
acidity, Al borers,
toxicity, drought, AfRGM
erosion, poor soil Disease (blast,
fertility BLB, RYMV),
birds,
nematodes, and
rodents
Aquatic
Rainfed 33 1.9/3–6 Water control, N Weeds, Low
lowland and P deficiency, termites, stem
Fe toxicity borers,
AfRGM
Disease (blast,
BLB, RYMV),
birds
Mangrove 4 <1/2–4 Acid sulfate, Insect pests, Very
and deep salinity, Fe diseases, birds low
water toxicity, excess
water
Irrigated 26 1.9–3.7/5–12 N deficiency, Weeds, stem High
salinity and borers,
alkalinity, AfRGM
extreme Disease (blast,
temperatures BLB, RYMV),
birds
High 7 1.2/2–6 Cold, Fe toxicity, Weeds, stem Low
elevation P and N borers
(upland and deficiency, excess Disease (blast,
lowland) water BLB, RYMV),
birds
Updated from Diagne et al. (2013), Dramé et al. (2013), Haefele and Wopereis (2004)

and by burning stubbles and weeds after harvest to control viruses. In general rice is
harvestedand threshed manually, although a few farmers thresh with semiautomatic
pedal-operated machines.
Farmers in SSA often experience crop failure as a result of poor cultural prac-
tices (such as low inputs, suboptimal crop management practices, and inadequate
weed management) and lack of climate resilient varieties. Major constraints per
ecology are presented in Table 5.2.
Upland varieties (such as Dourado Precoce and Iguape Cateto), were initially intro-
duced from Brazil but were later replaced by IRAT (Institute for Research in Tropical
Agriculture, France) varieties (such as IRAT 10, IRAT 144, and IRAT 13) and recently
by NERICA (New Rice for Africa) varieties. Yields under current crop management
practices by farmers average 1.2 ton/ha (Dramé et al. 2013) compared to 5 ton/ha with
5  Rice Production in Africa 123

improved NERICA varieties, indicating a huge gap that needs to be closed. Côte
d’Ivoire has the largest upland area in Africa (615,325  ha) followed by Nigeria
(557,256 ha) and Guinea (532,329 ha) (Diagne et al. 2013). The major genotypes
found in this ecology are O. sativa tropical japonica type and O. glaberrima.

5.3.2  Aquatic Ecology

In SSA about 130 million ha (Diagne et al. 2013) is considered to be under the
aquatic ecology, but less than 5% is cultivated with rice (Balasubramanian et al.
2007). Lowland varieties were introduced mainly from Asia—the earliest ones
were photoperiod sensitive and susceptible to biotic and abiotic stresses. Some of
these accessions with indica background were adopted by farmers due to their con-
sumer preference (e.g., Gambiaka in West Africa, Supa in East Africa, Makalaoka
in Southern Africa, particularly Madagascar). They have long grains, good eating
and cooking qualities and aroma but give low yields. Although improved versions
have been developed through conventional or mutation breeding techniques and
released by National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) institutions, the gap
between the potential of the germplasm and actual farmers’ yields is still very large.

5.3.2.1  Rainfed Lowland

The rainfed lowland ecology, which comprises gentle slopes and inland valleys, is
the largest ecology, covering 33 % of the whole rice production area, and relies on
rainfall and ground water (Diagne et al. 2013). Fields could be bunded or unbunded,
but there is no water control, with droughts and floods being potential problems
Hatibu et al. 2000. Rice is broadcasted or transplanted and one rice crop is culti-
vated per year followed by vegetables where residual moisture is available. The
great potential for rice production in this ecology is highly compromised by biotic
and abiotic constraints, including weeds, insect pests (such as stem borers,
AfRGM, and rice sucking bugs), and diseases (rice blast, brown spot of rice, and
RYMV) (Table 5.2).
Nigeria has the largest rainfed lowland area (1,039,935 ha) followed by Tanzania
(677,806 ha) and Madagascar (322,688 ha) (Harlan and Stemler 1976). Since most
lowland rice farmers apply minimal inputs and suboptimal crop management prac-
tices, the average yield of 1.9 ton/ha is much lower than the potential of up to 6.0 ton/
ha (Dramé et al. 2013). Both O. sativa indica and O. glaberrima are grown in this
ecology, of which deep water and mangrove swamps are subdivisions.

Deep Water Ecology

Deep water ecology is found in the low-lying wetlands of Madagascar and the
poorly drained inland valleys of Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. Deep
water rice, also called floating rice, is sown before the floodwaters rise and
124 N. Zenna et al.

flowers just before maximum water depth is reached. Deep water rice varieties
that can elongate to a maximum water depth of 1.0 m or more and float are suit-
able for this ecology. They can elongate at a rate of 2–3 cm/day (Catling 1992)
and up to 6 m high and produce adventitious roots to extract nutrients directly
from the water. The deep water ecology is currently shrinking due to the expan-
sion of dam construction that restricts the flow of water. Due to the stresses in this
ecology, which include drought, stem borers, and weeds, the average yield is
about 0.9 ton/ha (Lancon 2002).

Mangrove Ecology

Large tracts of rice production areas in SSA experience excess flooding, tidal sub-
mergence, saltwater intrusion, salinity, and acid sulfate soils. Mangrove swamp rice
is found mostly in Guinea Bissau, The Gambia, and Guinea Conakry (Defoer et al.
2007). In this ecology, rice can be grown during the rainy season, when freshwater
floods create a salt-free period of 4–6  months. Yields are below 1  ton/ha due to
salinity, crabs, and other stresses (Lancon 2002). The major constraints for rice
cultivation in both mangrove and deep water ecologies are low input management
followed by insect pests and diseases (Table 5.2).

5.3.2.2  Irrigated Lowland

Irrigated rice is grown in bunded fields with assured irrigation for one or more crops
per year. The irrigated ecology is subdivided into irrigated wet season ecology and
irrigated dry season ecology, based on the source of water (IRRI 2002). This ecol-
ogy is relatively new to Africa and only 26% of the aquatic area is irrigated (Diagne
et al. 2013). Rice is produced under irrigation in the Sahel, humid forest, and
savanna zones and at high elevations. This ecology requires substantial investment
but yields good returns on investment. The major water sources are dams, diversion
from rivers, or wells (Saito et al. 2013).
In SSA, Madagascar has the largest irrigated area (782,487 ha) followed by
Egypt (518,320 ha) and Mali (335,269 ha) (Diagne et al. 2013). In Madagascar,
irrigated rice is produced in both wet and dry seasons in well leveled terraces with
water from small earth dams on streams and small rivers. Irrigation schemes are
smaller in the humid forest and savanna zones than in the Sahel - rainfall is the
principal source of water and water control is difficult. Consequently, irrigation is
used as a supplement to protect the crop during dry spells in the cropping season.
Yields are generally lower than in the Sahel due to less solar radiation, poor soil
fertility, pests and diseases (Balasubramanian et al. 2007).
Land preparation is predominantly by manual labor although animal‐drawn tools
or hand tractors are also used wherever possible. Large tractors are used only in
large public or privately owned fields. Direct seeding is a common practice in the
Sahelian zone while transplanting is practiced in the other zones. Seed is sown at
5  Rice Production in Africa 125

30-40 kg/ha either in nurseries or by direct sowing. Farmers widely use organic
manure and compost to improve the soil, while few progressive farmers apply diam-
monium phosphate (DAP) as basal fertilizer, urea as top dressing, and other com-
pound fertilizers, such as NPK.
Weeds are less diverse in the aquatic than in the upland ecology. The most com-
mon weed species are Sphenoclea zeylanica, Cyperus difformis, Echinochloa spp.,
Oryza spp (wild and weedy rices), and Rhamphicarpa fistulosa (Rodenburg et al.
2009). Manual weeding is done two to three times per season, depending on labor
availability. Mechanical weeders are currently being popularized by AfricaRice and
its development partners. Chemical herbicides are used by a few farmers, especially
in large farms.
Rice is mostly harvested manually and less than 1% is harvested with machines.
Similarly, 80% of the threshing is done manually, sometimes with the help of oxen
and tractors, while 15% is with semi-automatic pedal-operated machines; motor-
ized threshers such as Votex and ASI-threshers (developed by AfricaRice in Senegal)
are used in less than 5% of cases (AfricaRice 2012; Rickman et al. 2013).
The major genotype cultivated in this ecology is O. sativa indica type. In the
Sahel as a result of high solar radiation, good water management, low disease pres-
sure, and other favorable conditions, average yields in the Sahel are high – up to 9
t/ha (especially during the dry season) and up to 12 t/ha has been achieved with
good agricultural practices (Haefele and Wopereis 2004). Nevertheless, extreme
yield fluctuations have been observed due to; sub-optimal crop management prac-
tices; poor maintenance of irrigation facilities; extreme temperatures and other fac-
tors that are not conducive for rice production. As a result, double cropping occurs
in only 10% of the area (Wopereis et al. 2013).

5.3.3  High Elevation

About 7 % of Africa’s rice production area occurs in the high elevation zone, above
1200 m above sea level (MASL) (Saito et al. 2013). In the tropical highlands of East
and Central Africa and Madagascar, rice is produced up to 1900 MASL (Fig. 5.2).
This zone includes fertile rolling uplands, high plateau, and mountainous terrain in
the archipelago stretching from Ethiopia southward to Angola and Zimbabwe and
has some of the best agricultural lands in Africa (HarvestChoice 2014).
The high elevation consists of both upland and aquatic ecologies. The primary
constraints are altitudinal low temperatures and flooding during the cropping season
(Zenna et al. 2010) (Table 5.2). National and international agricultural research cen-
ters give this zone special attention because of its potential for rice production,
intensification and expansion, and its unique requirement for cold-tolerant varieties.
Several cold-­tolerant varieties with japonica genetic background have been intro-
duced, tested and released through the AfricaRice breeding task force mechanism
(Zenna 2015). Varieties with temperate japonica genetic background, which thrive
well in cold-prone areas, are more adapted to this ecology than those with indica
126 N. Zenna et al.

Fig. 5.2  Rice production at Betafo, Madagascar; high elevation plateau, 1800 MASL, in
Madgascar (Photo: Moussa Sie)

genetic background. Japonicas can be furthermore subdivided into tropical japonica

and temperate japonica, and both are being cultivated in Africa.

5.4  Genetic Resource Utilization

The plethora of biotic and abiotic stresses that constrain rice production in Africa
and climate change provide a great opportunity for developing varieties that per-
form well under dynamic stress conditions. The AfricaRice gene bank contains
more than 20,000 rice accessions, including 2500 O. glaberrima (Sie et al. 2012)
and offer a unique opportunity for collaborative breeding programs to generate new
varieties in demand.
The earliest breeding programs in Africa focused on the introduction of varieties
from Asia and many aquatic rice varieties were successfully released under the name
“Sahel”. However, there were no introductions for the upland ecology. To strengthen
the rice breeding programs of national agricultural research institutions in SSA,
AfricaRice (formerly known as WARDA) established regional breeding initiatives
through which WAB 56–50, WAB 56–104, and WAB 56–125 were developed for
the upland ecology before the advent of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) variet-
ies. NERICA varieties inherited desirable qualities of O. glaberrima (e.g. drought
tolerance, weed competitiveness, and diseases tolerance) and the high yielding
potential of O. sativa (Jones et al. 1997; Dingkuhn et al. 1999). The most desirable
quality attributes of NERICA varieties are early maturity, tolerance of specific biotic
5  Rice Production in Africa 127

and abiotic stresses, and yields that are generally as good as for O. sativa varieties
(Sie et al. 2012). There are currently 18 upland NERICA (NERICA 1–18) and 60
lowland NERICA (NERICA-L 1–60) varieties. NERICA 4 (rainfed upland) and
NERICA-L 19 (rainfed lowland and irrigated ecologies) have been widely adopted
by many countries in Africa. They were released through the participatory varietal
selection system (PVS) (Sie et al. 2010) initially in Guinea in the 1990s and later in
several countries across the continent. Nigeria has adopted NERICA 1 and NERICA
2 on about 200,000 ha. In Uganda, different NERICA varieties were cultivated on
35,000  ha in 2007 alone, and this enabled the country to halve its rice imports
between 2002 and 2007. Similar successes have been reported in other countries,
such as Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Togo
(Tollens et  al. 2013). The impact of NERICA adoption on poverty reduction in
Benin and Uganda has been documented (Sie et al. 2012). Consequently, NERICA
has become a brand name for good rice in Africa and is probably better known than
AfricaRice, the organization that developed it (Sie et al. 2012).
PVS was an essential vehicle for sensitizing rice producers to adopt NERICA vari-
eties—many rice lines were presented to farmers in village-based demonstration plots.
Farmers were then asked to select their favorite lines at various stages of plant growth
and to indicate the reasons for their choices. Over the following two seasons, farmers
took increasing control of their chosen “varieties”. Special attention was paid to feed-
back from women (Fig. 5.3), because most of Africa’s rice farmers are women, and
their preferences often turned out to be quite different from those of men. PVS data
were also used to facilitate the varietal release process and seed production and the
quick adoption of varieties. The PVS technique worked well throughout West and
Central Africa as part of the NERICA project, providing the farmers with their pre-
ferred varieties and generating valuable feedback for rice breeders (Sie et al. 2012).
Although conventional breeding has been successfully used to develop new variet-
ies, it is essential to complement this with molecular breeding to accelerate the develop-
ment of varieties with tolerance of abiotic and biotic stresses, especially those that are
controlled by several genes. In collaboration with AfricaRice and other international
organizations, National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) scientists are now
using genomic tools in their breeding programs to introduce traits of interest into local
popular varieties (Ndjiondjop et al. 2013). For example, AfricaRice and its partners
have identified several useful genes that are now introduced into a number of popular
varieties through marker-assisted breeding technique (AfricaRice 2012; Ndjiondjop
et  al. 2013) and these are being used in marker-assisted breeding to improve many
varieties in West Africa.
In response to the reality of climate change, the new breeding direction at AfricaRice
is set to develop rice varieties that are resilient to the changing environment in Africa
(AfricaRice 2010; Dramé et al. 2013). Consequently, AfricaRice has set up the Africa-
wide Rice Breeding Task Force (BTF), a systematic continent-wide breeding approach
involving a variety of partners. The BTF is expected to accelerate the development,
exchange, and release of rice varieties (Mohapatra 2011). For example, it was used to
launch “ARICA” (“Advanced Rice for Africa”) (Kumashiro 2016) (Fig. 5.4), a new
128 N. Zenna et al.

Fig. 5.3 Participatory
varietal selection (PVS)
activities in the rainfed
upland ecology in Ivory,
Madagascar (Photo:
Moussa Sie)

Fig. 5.4  Scheme for the

development and release of
Advance rice for Africa
(ARICA) varieties through
the Africa-wide breeding
task force mechanism
(Modified from
(Kumashiro 2016) with
permission)

generation of high-perfovrming rice varieties. ARICA varieties are the next generation
of rice varieties for Africa, following the success of the NERICA varieties developed
in the 1990s and the first decade of this century. Some of the 18 ARICA varieties nomi-
nated across ecologies through the BTF mechanism have already been released in
Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, Mali, and Uganda (Kumashiro et al. 2013).
On the other hand hybrid rice production is gaining momentum in Africa. Starting
from 2000, several African countries, such as Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Madagascar,
Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda, have evaluated rice hybrids imported
from China. Only Egypt has succeeded in developing a hybrid-­rice breeding pro-
gram and produces Egyptian hybrids on a commercial scale. Yields of 12–14 ton/ha
have been reported for these hybrids (El Namaky and Demont 2013). Considering
the potential of the hybrid technology, AfricaRice initiated a hybrid-rice program,
5  Rice Production in Africa 129

based at its Sahel Station in Senegal, in 2010, to enhance irrigated rice production
(AfricaRice 2010). The hybrid program is now an integral part of the BTF program.
Thus 36 multienvironment trials were conducted for the first generation of hybrid
lines in Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania through which hybrids
with about 20 % yield advantage over the inbred lines were identified. Several of the
hybrids emanating from the program are being tested in different countries. Such
encouraging results from the breeding program coupled with a sustainable seed pro-
duction mechanism will boost African rice production capacity (El Namaky and
Demont 2013). Hybrid rice technology is expected to contribute to food security in
Africa through: (i) exploitation of hybrid vigor to enhance productivity and (ii)
involvement of the private sector in seed production research and development (El
Namaky and Demont 2013; Kanfany et al. 2014).

5.5  C
 hallenges and Opportunities in African Rice
Production

There are large differences (3.2–5.9  ton/ha) between potential and actual yields
obtained by farmers (“yield gaps”) across all rice growing environments (Table 5.2)
(Saito et  al. 2013). There is, therefore, considerable scope for increasing yields
(Becker et al. 2003). These yield gaps can be closed by introducing improved vari-
eties and good agricultural practices (GAP). GAP is an integrated set of recom-
mended crop, soil, water, and weed management practices (Nhamo et  al. 2014).
GAP for the lowland ecology may include animal or motorized traction for fine soil
tillage, proper bund making, and leveling, use of certified seeds of improved variet-
ies, sowing or transplanting in lines, application of judicious doses of composite
fertilizers, and optimally timed weed control using appropriate herbicide dosages
followed by weeding with mechanical weeders Becker et al. 2003; Rodenburg and
Johnson 2009; Wopereis and Defoer 2007; Mghase et al. 2013; Senthilkumar et al.
2014. Integrated rice management (IRM) options developed by AfricaRice (Lancon
2002) include mechanization, soil-fertility management, and weed management
and have increased yields by about 2 ton/ha and benefited farmers in Burkina Faso,
Mauritania, and Senegal (Haefele et al. 2000, 2001; Segada et al. 2004, 2005).
However, for timely and optimal field management operations, small scale machin-
eries are indispensable.
Lack of appropriate tools for land preparation, harvesting, and postharvest opera-
tions is another major bottleneck that makes rice cultivation laborious and time
consuming in Africa. For example, lack of appropriate machinery can delay rice
harvesting and reduce grain quality (Rickman et al. 2013). The adoption of locally
manufactured small-scale machinery is an essential support for rice production in
Africa. Consequently, through its Mechanization Task Force, AfricaRice is assisting
its NARS partners to identify small-scale machinery and adapting them to local
conditions. Private manufacturers who are trained at AfricaRice are now producing
130 N. Zenna et al.

and selling mechanical weeders, threshers, and harvesters in different countries

(AfricaRice 2012). Availability of such tools can help rice producers to improve the
quality of their product and avoid massive losses during the production process.
Crop production generates income for 70  % of farm households in SSA but
postharvest losses significantly reduce farmers’ real incomes—up to 35 % of the
produce is lost during pre- and postharvest processes in the field (CGIAR 2013).
Postharvest losses in SSA may be quantitative (15 % and 25 %) or qualitative (esti-
mated by the price difference in imported and locally produced rice) (15–50 %). In
Nigeria alone, an estimated 25 % of the total local production is lost due to ineffi-
cient postharvest handling and processing (Oguntade et al. 2014).
A reduction in the pre- and postharvest losses is necessary to ensure good quality
produce and make rice cultivation a profitable business. Grain quality depends not
only on the variety, but also on the whole crop production environment and postpro-
duction management (Futakuchi et al. 2013). In general, locally produced rice in
Africa is of lower quality than imported rice, is unable to compete favorably with
imported rice, and thus has a limited market share (Manful 2012). Currently, grain
quality analysis is carried out on all accessions and breeding lines nominated for
multienvironment trials at AfricaRice. The evaluation includes cooking and tasting
qualities and aroma. Only entries that satisfy the basic requirements are then distrib-
uted for evaluation through the BTF mechanism (Futakuchi et al. 2013). The con-
cern for grain quality could be of major importance to the market; however, quality
seed availability could have an immense value for producers to deliver the quality
product.
Most African countries have weak seed systems that lack the necessary staff,
equipment, and funding. This hinders the availability of sufficient quality seed of

Fig. 5.5  Seed production

scheme in Africa—
conventional seed
production is indicated by
solid arrows, while
community seed
production system (CBSS)
is shown with dotted
arrows (Adapted from
(Sie et al. 2010) with
permission)
5  Rice Production in Africa 131

newly released varieties (AfricaRice 2011). To alleviate this problem, AfricaRice

developed the community-based seed systems (CBSS) in the late 1990s, where farm-
ers are trained in best practices for producing “seed of acceptable quality” on their
farms for themselves and their neighbors (Fig. 5.5) (Sie et al. 2010). CBSS shortens
the time required for seed of improved varieties to reach farmers (Bèye et al. 2013; Sie
et al. 2010). There are also regional initiatives, such as by the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural
Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) for making the seeds of improved
varieties available to farmers (Norman and Kebe 2006; Waithaka et al. 2012;
Kuhlmann 2015). A sustainable and efficient seed p­ roduction and delivery system in
Africa can be developed in partnership between the private and public sectors.
However, such strategic alliance can only prosper by the presence of dynamic national
policy for agriculture.
AfricaRice has assisted many countries to prepare their national rice development
strategies (NRDS) under the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) ini-
tiative (JICA 2009). There has been a gradual shift in policy in favor of developing
whole rice value chain. The “rice sector development hubs” is an innovative institu-
tional approach to the rice value chain mechanism. Rice hubs are geographical areas
where research products, services, and local innovations are integrated across the
rice value chain to achieve development outcomes and impact. Hubs are testing
grounds for new rice technologies and follow a “reverse-research approach”, i.e.,
starting from the market. In the hubs, research innovations, outputs, and products are
tested, adapted, and integrated into “baskets of good agricultural practices”. Hubs
are built around large groups of farmers and involve other value chain actors and
extension agencies that work together to evaluate technological and institutional
innovations, facilitate diffusion of knowledge and establish linkages along the rice
value chain.

5.6  Conclusions

Rice cultivation in Africa has a long history and has shaped the diet of millions of
people. In addition to being a staple food in many rice producing countries, it is also
a cash crop for nearly 70 % of the population that earns its income from agriculture.
Consequently, rice is considered as the “white gold” of Africa, which is expected to
contribute to poverty alleviation and food security on the continent. Based on the
positive political will and interventions that produced outstanding achievements
since the 2008 rice crisis, it will not be long before Africa produces enough rice to
meet its requirements and for export. However, to realize this potential and capital-
ize on the current demand-driven production momentum, there is a need to inject
adequate technological and financial investments into the rice sector. Such invest-
ment in innovation platforms would galvanize the whole value chain and the result-
ing scaling-out of relevant technologies would ensure sustainable rice production
(Tollens et al. 2013; Wopereis et al. 2013).
132 N. Zenna et al.

References

AfricaRice (2008) Africa Rice Trends 2007. Africa Rice Center (WARDA), Cotonou, p. 84
AfricaRice Center (2010) New Breeding Directions at AfricaRice: Beyond NERICA. Africa Rice
Center, Cotonou, p. 24
AfricaRice (2011) Boosting Africa’s Rice Sector: A research for development strategy 2011–2020.
AfricaRice Center, Cotonou, p. 14
AfricaRice (2012) Annual Report 2011: A new rice research for development strategy for Africa.
Africa Rice Center, Cotonou, p. 96
Agnoun Y, Samadori S, Biaou H, Sié M, Vodouhè RS, Ahanchédé A (2012) The African rice Oryza
glaberrima steud: knowledge distribution and prospects. Intl J Bio 4(3):158–180
Balasubramanian V, Sie M, Hijmans RJ, Otsuka K (2007) Increasing rice production in sub-­
Saharan Africa: challenges and opportunities. Adv Agron 94:55–133
Becker M, Johnson DE, Wopereis MCS, Sow A (2003) Rice yield gaps in irrigated systems along
an agro-ecological gradient in West Africa. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 166:61–67
Bèye AM, Remington T, Wopereis MCS, Diagne A (2013) Development of an integrated rice seed
sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: meeting the needs of farmers. In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE,
Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A (eds) Realizing Africa’s rice promise. CABI, Boston,
pp. 179–187
Carney JA (2001) Black rice: the African origins of rice cultivation in the Americas. Harvard
University Press, Cambridge, MA
Catling D (1992) Rice in deep water. International Rice Research Institute, Manila
CGIAR.org (2013) Postharvest-loss-reduction-a-significant-focus. [Cited 2015 Nov 15] available
from. http://www.cgiar.org/consortium-news/postharvest-loss-reduction-a-significant-focus-
of-cgiar-research/
Defoer, T, Wopereis MCS, Idinoba PA, Kadisha TKL, Diack S, Gaye M (2007) Curriculum for
Participatory Learning and Action Research (PLAR) for Integrated Rice Management (IRM) in
Inland Valleys of Sub-Saharan Africa: Facilitators’ manual. Africa Rice Center (WARDA)/
IFDC/ Muscle shoals, Cotonou/Alabama
Diagne A, Amovin-Assagba E, Koichi F, Wopereis MCS (2013) Estimation of cultivated area,
number of farming households and yield for major rice-growing environments in Africa. In:
Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A (eds) Realizing Africa’s rice
promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 35–45
Dingkuhn M, Johnson DE, Sow A, Audebert AY (1999) Relationship between upland rice canopy
characteristics and weed competitiveness. Field Crops Res 61:79–95
Dramé NK, Manneh B (2013) Rice Genetic Improvement for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Africa.
In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A (eds) Realizing Africa’s rice
promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 144–160
El Namaky R, Demont M (2013) Hybrid rice in Africa:challenges and prospects. In realizing
Africa’s rice promise. In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A (eds)
Realizing Africa’s rice promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 173–178
Futakuchi K, Sié M, Saito K (2012) Yield potential and physiological and morphological charac-
teristics related to yield performance in Oryza glaberrima steud. Plant Prod Sci
15(3):151–163
Futakuchi K, Manful J, S. T (2013) Improving grain quality of locally produced rice in Africa. In:
Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A (eds) Realizing Africa’s rice
promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 312–322
GRiSP Rice almanac, 4thth edition. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños. 2013.
GRiSP (2015 ) Ricepedia. [cited 2015 Dec 20]. Available from: http://ricepedia.org/culture/
history-of-rice-cultivation.
Haefele SM, Wopereis MCS (2004) Combining field and simulation studies to improve fertilizer
recommendations for irrigated rice in the Senegal River valley. In: Doberman A, Witt C, Dawe
D (eds) Increasing productivity of intensive rice systems through site-specific nutrient manage-
5  Rice Production in Africa 133

ment. Science Publishers/New Hampshire and International Rice Research Institute, Enfield/
Los Baños, p. 265–286.
Haefele SM, Johnson DE, Diallo S, Wopereis MCS, Janin I (2000) Improved soil fertility andweed
management is profitable for irrigated rice farmers in Sahelian West Africa. Field Crops Res
66:101–113
Haefele SM, Wopereis MCS, Donovan C, Maubuisson J (2001) Improving the productivity and
profitability of irrigated rice production in Mauritania. Eur J Agron 14:181–196
Harlan JR, Stemler A (1976) The races of sorghum in Africa. In: Harlan JR, De Wet JM, Stemler
AB (eds) Origin of African plant domestication. Mouton, The Hague
HarvestChoice (2014) “Atlas of African agriculture research & development”. International Food
Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC. and University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN. [cited
2015 Nov 14] Available from http://harvestchoice.org/node/9704
Hatibu N, Mahoo HF, Kajiru GJ (2000) The role of RWH in agriculture and natural resource man-
agement: from mitigating droughts to preventing floods. In: Hatibu N, Mahoo HF (eds)
Rainwater harvesting for natural resource management: a planning guide for Tanzania.
RELMA/Sida, ICRAF House, Nairobi, pp. 58–83
IRRI (2002) The rice plant and its ecology. In: Maclean JL, Dawe DC, Hardy B, and Hettel GP
(eds) Rice Almanac. International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos p. 253
JICA. 2009 [cited 2015 Sep 25] Available from: http://www.jica.go.jp/english/our_work/the-
matic_issues/agricultural/card.html
Jones MP, Dingkuhn M, Aluko GK, Semon M (1997) Interspecific Oryza sativa L.×O. glaberrima
Steud. progenies in upland rice improvement. Euphytica 92:237–246
Kanfany G, El-Namaky R, Kabirou N, Traore K, Ortiz R (2014) Assessment of rice inbred lines
and hybrids under low fertilizer levels in Senegal. Sustainability 6:1153–1162
Kuhlmann KA (2015) Harmonizing Regional Seed Regulations in Sub-Saharan Africa: A
Comparative Assessment. Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture. Switzerland, pp. 62
Kumashiro T. (2016) Status of rice breeding at AfricaRice. Presentation at annual Africa-wide
breeding task force meeting 25–26 February
Kumashiro T, Futakuchi K, Sie M, Ndjiondjop MN, MCS W (2013) A Continent-wide, product-­
oriented approach to rice breeding in Africa. In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N,
Tollens E, Jalloh A (eds) Realizing Africa’s rice promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 69–78
Lançon F, Erenstein O (2002) Potential and prospects for rice production in West Africa. Sub-­
Regional Workshop on Harmonization of Policies and Co-ordination of Programmes on Rice
in the ECOWAS Sub-Region, Accra
Linares FO (2002) African rice (Oryza glaberrima): history and future potential. PNAS
99(25):16360–16365
Manful J. (2012) Developing rice varieties with high grain quality in Africa: challenges and pros-
pects. Innovation and partnerships to realize Africa’s rice potential. In: Proceedings of the
Second Africa Rice Congress; 2010 Mar 22–26; Bamako, Mali. p. 127–129
McCouch S, Wing RA, Semon M, Ramaiah V, Atlin G, ME S, Jannink JL (2013) Making rice
genomics work for Africa. In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A
(eds) Realizing Africa’s rice promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 108–128
Mghase J, Senthilkumar K, Rodenburg J, Tesha BJ, Kiepe P, et al. (2013) Boosting rice yields by
introducing good agricultural practices: Lessons learnt from Kilombero, Tanzania. 3rd Africa
Rice Congress, 21–24 October, 2013, Yaoundé
Mohapatra S (2011) Unleashing the force. RiceToday, International Rice Research Institute. Los
Banos, 10(4):20–21
Ndjiondjop MN, Albar L, Sow M, Yao N, Djedatin G, Thiemélé D, Ghesquière A (2013) Integration
of molecular markers in rice improvement: a case study on resistance to rice yellow mottle
virus. In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A (eds) Realizing Africa’s
rice promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 161–172
Ng, NQ, Chang TT, Vaughan DA, Zunbo-Alto VC (1991) African rice diversity: conservation and
prospects for crop improvement. In: Ng NQ, Perrino P, Attere F, Zedan H (eds) Crop Genetic
Resources of Africa. Proceedings
134 N. Zenna et al.

Nhamo N, Rodenburg J, Zenna N, Godswill M, Luzi-Kihupi A (2014) Narrowing the rice yield gap
in East and Southern Africa: Using and adapting existing technologies. Agr Syst 131:45–55
Norman JC, Kebe B(2006) African smallholder farmers: rice production and sustainable liveli-
hoods. International Rice Commission Newsletter (FAO)
Oguntade A, Eyitayo DT, Sabine D (2014) Options for reducing food losses and their environmen-
tal footprint. In: Sigrid G, Tanja P, Lena M, (eds) Post-Harvest Losses of Rice in Nigeria and
their Ecological Footprint. GIZ. Berlin, p. 50
Portères R (1962) Berceaux agricoles primaires sur le continent africain. J Afr Hist 3(2):195–210
French
Portères R (1976) African cereals: eleusine, fonio, black fonio, teff, Brachiaria, Paspalum,
Pennisetum, and African rice. In: Harlan JR, de Wet JMJ, Stemler ABL (eds) The origin of
African plant domestication. Mouton, The Hague
Rickman J, Morera J, Gummert M, Wopereis MCS (2013) Mechanizing Africa’s rice sector. In:
Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A (eds) Realizing Africa’s rice
promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 332–342
Rodenburg J, Johnson DE (2009) Weed management in rice-based cropping systems in Africa.
Adv Agron 103:149–218
Saito K, Nelson A, Zwart S, Niang A, Sow A, Yoshida H, Wopereis MCS. Towards a better under-
standing of biophysical determinants of yield gaps and the potential for expansion of the rice
area in Africa In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A, editors.
Realizing Africa’s rice promise. Boston CABI; 2013. p. 187-202.
Sanni AK, Tia DD, Ojo DK, Ogunbayo SA, Sikirou M, Hamilton NRS (2013) Diversity of rice and
related wild species in Africa. In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A
(eds) Realizing Africa’s rice promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 87–94
Seck PA, Diagne A, Mohanty S, Wopereis MCS (2012) Crops that feed the world: Rice. Food Sec
4:7–24
Seck PA, Touré AA, Coulibaly JY, Diagne A, Wopereis MCS (2013) Africa’s rice economy before
and after the 2008 rice crisis. In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A
(eds) Realizing Africa’s rice promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 24–34
Second G (1982) Origin of the genic diversity of cultivated rice (Oryza spp.): study of the poly-
morphism scored at 40 isozyme loci. Jpn J Genet 57:25–57
Segda Z, Haefele SM, Wopereis MCS, Sedogo MP, Guinko S (2004) Agro-economic characteriza-
tion of rice production in a typical irrigation scheme in Burkina Faso. Agrono
J 96:1314–1322
Segda Z, Haefele SM, Wopereis MCS, Sedogo MP, Guinko S (2005) Combining field and simula-
tion studies to improve fertilizer recommendations for irrigated rice in Burkina Faso. Agron
J 97:1429–1437
Semon M, Nielsen R, Jones M, McCouch SR (2005) The population structure of African cultivated
rice Oryza glaberrima (Steud.): evidence for elevated levels of LD caused by admixture with
O. sativa and ecological adaptation. Genetics 169:1639–1647
Senthilkumar K, Saito K, Rodenburg J, N’diaye MK, Dieng I, Tanaka A, et al. (2014) Reducing
rice yield gaps in Eastern and Southern Africa. 4th International Rice Congress, 27th Oct – 1st
Nov 2014, Bangkok. Abstract.
Sie M, Dogbé S, Diatta M (2010) Participatory varietal selection of rice – the technician’s manual.
Africa Rice Center, Cotonou
Sie M, Sanni K, Futakuchi K, Manneh B, Mande S, Vodouhe R, Dogbe S, Drame K, Ogunbayo A,
Ndjiondjop M, Traore K (2012) Towards a rational use of African rice (Oryza glaberrima
Steud.) for breeding in Sub-Saharan Africa. Genes Genomes Genomics 6(1):1–7
Tollens E, Demont M, Sié M, Diagne A, Saito K, Wopereis MCS (2013) From WARDA to
AfricaRice: an overview of rice research for development activities conducted in partnership in
Africa. In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A (eds) Realizing Africa’s
rice promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 1–23
Waithaka M, Nzuma J, Kyotalimye M, Nyachae O (2012) Impacts of an improved seed policy
environment in Eastern and Central Africa. ASARECA, Kampala, pp. 57
5  Rice Production in Africa 135

Wang M, Yeisoo Y, Georg H, Pradeep RM, Chuanzhu F, Jose Luis G, et al. (2014) The genome
sequence of African rice (Oryza glaberrima) and evidence for independent domestication. Nat
Genet 46(9): 982–988; Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2011) Boosting Africa’s Rice Sector:
A research for development strategy 2011–2020. AfricaRice Center, Cotonou p 14
Wopereis MCS, Defoer T (2007) Moving methodologies to enhance agricultural productivity of
ricebased lowland systems in sub-Saharan Africa. In: Bationo A, Waswa B, Kihari J, Kimetu
J (eds) Advances in integrated soil fertility management in sub-Saharan Africa: challenges and
opportunities. Springer, Netherlands., pp. 1077–1091
Wopereis MCS, Diagne A, Johnson DE, Seck PA (2013) Realizing Africa’s rice promise: priorities
for action. In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh A (eds) Realizing
Africa’s rice promise. CABI, Boston, pp. 424–436
Zenna N. (2015) Two new cold-tolerant rice varieties expand options for Madagascar farmers.
STRASA News Letter
Zenna N, Luzi-Kihupi A, Manneh B, Raymond R, Gasore ER, Traore K (2010) Weathering the
cold. Rice Today 9(1):26–27
Chapter 6
Rice Production in the Americas

Vijay Singh, Shane Zhou, Zahoor Ganie, Bernal Valverde, Luis Avila,

Enio Marchesan, Aldo Merotto, Gonzalo Zorrilla, Nilda Burgos,
Jason Norsworthy, and Muthu Bagavathiannan

6.1  History

Cultivated rice (Oryza spp.) is thought to have been brought to the USA from Africa
in 1600 AD (Carney 2001; Dugan 2015). By 1650 AD, commercial rice cultivation
started in South Carolina and Georgia and then expanded to South America after
introduction by Portuguese colonists in the eighteenth century. The growth of the
slave population in South Carolina after the mid-eighteenth century also promoted
rice production in the region due partly to intergenerational transfer of rice-growing
skills. Within 20 years of its introduction in the Americas, rice was cultivated for

M. Bagavathiannan (*) • V. Singh

Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University,
College Station, TX 77843, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
S. Zhou
Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center, Beaumont, TX 77713, USA
Z. Ganie
Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
Lincoln, NE 68583, USA
B. Valverde
Investigación y Desarrollo en Agricultura Tropical, Alajuela, Costa Rica
L. Avila
Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, RS, Brazil
E. Marchesan
Department of Crop Sciences, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil
A. Merotto
Departament of Crop Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
G. Zorrilla
National Institute for Agricultural Research – INIA, Treinta y Tres 33000, Uruguay
N. Burgos • J. Norsworthy
Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences, University of Arkansas,
Fayetteville, AR 72704, USA
© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 137
B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_6
138 V. Singh et al.

export (Eltis et al. 2007). Currently, US rice is produced predominantly in the South
Central region (Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Louisiana, Texas) and the
Sacramento Valley of California (Childs and Livezey 2016). The majority of rice
produced in the South Central USA is long-grain with minimal medium-grain rice,
whereas short- and medium-grain rice are predominantly produced in California
(Setia et al. 1994). About half of the US grown rice is exported, mostly to Mexico,
Central America, Northeast Asia, and the Middle East (Childs and Livezey 2016;
USDA-ERS 2015). Mexico has several rice production niches scattered around its
geography and produced close to a million tons of paddy rice a year, prior to the free
trade treaty with the USA and Canada. Today, 80 % of its consumption comes from
the USA and only 20 % remains locally produced.
In South America, northwest Brazil became a significant center of rice produc-
tion by the late eighteenth century, while most other South American countries
started rice cultivation more recently in the nineteenth or twentieth century. Apart
from Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Guyana, and Paraguay
are notable rice producers in South America. Outside Asia, Brazil is the largest rice-­
producing country (Schwanck et al. 2015) with important rice-producing regions
including Maranhão in the northeast, Mato Grosso in the west, Minas Gerais in the
east, and Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina in the south (Eltis et  al. 2007;
Sharma 2010).
Central American countries are believed to have started rice culture independent
of North America in the 1700s (Eltis et al. 2007) due to direct movement of skilled
labor from West African regions to the Caribbean islands. However, rice was pri-
marily grown for subsistence in Central America. Currently, Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama are notable rice producers in Central
America, although the total area under rice production in this region is meager com-
pared to South and North America. Nicaragua, Panama, and Costa Rica are the three
major rice-producing countries in Central America. Most countries in the Caribbean
islands grow rice, Cuba and Dominican Republic being the most important ones.
The first rice grown in the Americas belonged to Oryza glaberrima Steud. spp.,
which was indigenous to West Africa (Bell 2010; Porteres 1955), whereas Oryza
sativa spp. (indica and japonica subspecies) were believed to have been brought
from Asia (Eltis et al. 2007; Heyward 1993). Both indica and japonica types are
cultivated in Brazil (Goulart et al. 2014) and elsewhere in South America. In the
USA, however, most commercial varieties belong to tropical japonica, while indica
germplasm has been utilized for breeding purposes only and has never been used
directly in commercial production (Moldenhauer et al. 2004; Sudianto et al. 2013).

6.2  Area

Rice is cultivated on about 7.2 million ha throughout the Americas across diverse
soil and environmental conditions (Haefele et al. 2014). Brazil and the USA com-
prise more than 60 % of the total rice production in the Americas (Table 6.1). US
6  Rice Production in the Americas 139

Table 6.1  Rice statistics of North, Central, and South America in 2014
Areaa Productionb Yield Import Export
Country (′000 ha) (′000 t) (t/ha) (′000 t) (′000 t)
North America
USA 1187 10,079 8.49 765 3500
Mexico 44 261 5.93 700 2
Canada _ _ _ 350 _
Central America
Costa Rica 65 223 3.43 120 _
El Salvador 6 31 5.17 80 10
Guatemala 10 33 3.30 70 _
Honduras 24 110 4.25 165 _
Nicaragua 102 430 4.22 70 5
Panama 88 255 2.90 85 _
South America
Argentina 231 1560 6.75 7 325
Bolivia 160 355 2.22 60 _
Brazil 2295 12,449 5.42 350 850
Chile 24 164 6.83 140 _
Colombia 445 2047 4.6 350 _
Ecuador 345 1159 3.36 1 _
Guyana 185 977 5.28 _ 536
Paraguay 120 781 6.51 2 407
Peru 375 2899 7.73 250 20
Suriname 65 251 3.86 _ 35
Uruguay 161 1396 8.67 _ 718
Venezuela 140 531 3.79 500 180
Source: IRRI (2016); USDA FAS 2016
a
Area harvested
b
Production of paddy rice

rice area increased rapidly since 1995 primarily due to its higher economic returns
compared to other crops. In the last 15 years, the highest US rice area of 1.47 mil-
lion ha was attained in 2010 (IRRI 2016; USDA NASS 2016). The historical trend
in US rice area over the past 30 years is provided in Fig. 6.1. US rice is grown in
four major regions: Arkansas Non-Delta, Mississippi River Delta, Gulf Coast, and
Sacramento Valley of California (Livezey and Foreman 2004). The Arkansas Non-­
Delta, the largest of the four regions, consists of rice farming in northeastern
Arkansas and the Grand Prairie in South Central Arkansas. The Mississippi Delta
region is made up of areas in southeastern Arkansas, Mississippi, and northeastern
Louisiana lying adjacent to the Mississippi River. The Gulf Coast region includes
areas of southwest Louisiana and the upper and lower Gulf Coasts of Texas. The
rice area in the Sacramento Valley of California is closer to the west coast.
In 2014, out of the total US rice area (approx. 1 million ha), the South Central
USA accounted for about 83 %, with the remaining from California (USDA NASS
140 V. Singh et al.

1600

Area planted (000' ha)

1400
1200
1000
800
600
85

19 7
89
91
93
95
97
99
01
03
05
07
09

20 1
13
15
8

1
19
19

19
19
19
19
19
20
20
20
20
20
20

20
Fig. 6.1  Trends in rice area over the past 30 years in the USA (Source: USDA-ERS 2016)

2016). The total US rice production was at 8.5 million metric tons in 2014. Rice
production in the USA remained fairly consistent over the past 10 years with an
annual variation of <15 %. Arkansas is the top US rice producer (51 % of total rice
area), followed by Louisiana (15 %), Mississippi (6 %), Missouri (7 %), and Texas
(5 %) (USDA NASS 2016). Rice productivity in the USA has increased from 7.04
metric tons per ha in 2010 to 8.48 metric tons in 2014.
Brazil produces 2.3 million hectares of the total 5.2 million hectares of rice pro-
duced in the entire South America (Zorrilla et  al. 2013; CONAB.  Companhia
Nacional de Abastecimento 2015), accounting for 52 % of all irrigated and 38 % of
rainfed rice in the continent (Ricepedia – Latin, American, and the Caribbean 2015).
The area under rice in Brazil, however, has declined by 27 % between 2000 (3.1
million ha) and 2014 (2.3 million ha) (IRRI 2016; USDA FAS 2016). This decline
has been concentrated on rainfed rice in the central and northern parts of the coun-
try, whereas irrigated rice area in the southern states has increased slightly. In 2014,
Brazil produced 12 million metric tons of rice. About two-thirds of Brazil’s total
rice production comes from Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina region, all under
irrigated conditions, achieving the highest yields in the country. The average rice
productivity in Brazil is 5.4 t ha−1 (IRRI 2016; USDA FAS 2016), whereas average
rice productivity in the Rio Grande do Sul region is at 7.5 t ha−1 (CONAB. Companhia
Nacional de Abastecimento 2015). Rice area and production in other major South
American rice producers (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Guyana,
and Paraguay) are comparatively less (Table 6.1).
The contribution of Central America to world rice production is limited. In 2014,
this region produced 1.1 million metric tons of rice on 295, 000 ha (IRRI 2016; USDA
FAS 2016). The major rice producers Nicaragua, Panama, and Costa Rica cultivate rice
on approximately 102,000, 88,000, and 65,000 ha, respectively (Table 6.1).

6.3  Economics

The majority of rice produced in the USA is exported, whereas it remains an ­important
crop for domestic consumption in many Central and South American countries, particu-
larly in Costa Rica, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, Peru, Suriname, and Cayenne (Eltis
6  Rice Production in the Americas 141

et al. 2007; Sharma 2010). Notable rice exporters in South America include Uruguay
(with 95 % exported), Argentina, Paraguay, and Guyana. The rice economics of USA
and Brazil, the two major rice-producing countries of the Americas, is discussed here.
US rice imports have increased significantly over the past decade by 54 % from
480,000 metric tons in 2003–2004 to 740,000 metric tons in 2013–2014 (August to
July market year) (USDA NASS 2016), with most of the imports coming from
Thailand (430,000 metric tons). For the same period, the USA exported 3.4 million
metric tons of rice, which was nearly fivefold of its imports. Rice exports by the
USA accounted for US$2.1 billion in 2015 with a slight decrease from 2011 levels.
The export and import supplies are highly variable based on the US commodity
stocks and the price difference between US rice and major Asian competitors.
Rice farming is one of the most capital-intensive operations in the USA with the
highest national average land rental values among all major crops (Baldwin et al.
2011). Economic returns are highly variable due to fluctuating input costs and vola-
tility in commodity and farm prices. The average farm price per metric ton of rough
rice in the USA was $310 in 2014 (Table 6.2), which has gradually increased over
the past decade (USDA-ERS 2015). The average cost of producing one metric ton
of rice is approx. $148 after deducting operating costs (Table 6.2). Irrigation costs
also add up to total costs, especially in California where irrigation water is
expensive.
Brazil, like the USA, is both an exporter and an importer of rice. In 2014, it
exported 850,000 tons and imported 350,000 tons of milled rice (Table 6.1). Rice
exports from Brazil was the highest in 2010 (1.3 million tons), which declined by
34 % in 2014 (IRRI 2016) owing to a reduction in area under rice cultivation and
cheaper grain prices in neighboring countries. Rice production costs in Brazil (US
$2172/ha) are the highest among many neighboring countries in Latin America
(South and Central America) (Ricepedia – Brazil 2015). Nevertheless, rice produc-
tion is viable particularly in the southern region comprising Rio Grande do Sul and
Santa Catarina, due to advanced mechanization and irrigated rice production.
Conversely, the northeast and other regions of Brazil mainly produce rainfed rice
and are less mechanized (Ricepedia – Brazil 2015).

6.4  Rice-Based Cropping Systems

In Arkansas, rice is most commonly grown in rotation with soybean, with 72 % of
the 2014 rice area falling under this rotation (Hardke 2015). Based on a 2011 survey
of rice crop consultants, 69 % of the scouted rice area in Arkansas and Mississippi
was rotated from rice to another crop, mostly soybean (Riar et al. 2013a). The rota-
tion of rice with other crops is viewed by many growers and crop consultants as a
critical component in implementing the best management practices for mitigating
herbicide-resistant weeds in rice (Riar et al. 2013a). However, rice followed by rice
is not uncommon; about 22 % of the 2014 Arkansas rice area was grown following
rice the previous year (Hardke 2015). The increase in zero-grade (no slope) rice
production in the Mississippi Delta region has favored continuous rice cultivation
142 V. Singh et al.

Table 6.2  Rice production Brazil USA

costs and returns per hectare Item $ (US)/ha
in Brazil and the USA,
excluding government Gross value of production
payments (2013–14)a Rice 2078.66 2845.69
Operating costs
Seed 78.54 244.31
Fertilizers 235.25 334.44
Chemicals 165.65 247.89
Custom operations 190.29 149.90
Fuel, lube, and electricity 230.02 270.66
Repairs 187.55 117.77
Purchased irrigation water _ 29.10
Commercial drying 133.80 90.70
Interest on operating capital 54.19 0.44
Total operating costs 1275.29 1485.21
Allocated overhead
Hired labor 20.78 66.22
Opportunity cost of unpaid labor – 163.54
Salaries 145.92 –
Capital recovery of machinery and 419.27 315.15
equipment
Opportunity cost of land (rental 169.51 370.87
rate)
Taxes and insurance 79.26 40.63
General farm overhead 62.23 61.97
Total allocated overhead 896.97 1018.38
Total costs listed 2172.25 2503.59
Value of production less total costs –93.59 342.10
listed
Value of production less operating 803.37 1360.48
costs
Supporting information
 Yield (metric tons/ha) 7.39 9.20
 Price ($US/metric ton) 281.00 309.70
Enterprise size (planted hectares)a – 230.00a
Source: Production costs are obtained from USDA-ERS
(2015) (USA) and IRGA (2015) (Brazil)
a
Developed from survey base year 2013

due to the inability of soybean to withstand prolonged periods of saturated soil con-
ditions following intense rainfall events in the zero-grade fields. In Texas, rice-­
fallow-­rice or rice-fallow-fallow-rice is the most predominant system (69  % of
area), followed by rice-soybean-rice (14  %) and rice-rice-rice (9  %) (Liu et  al.
2016). In California, about 68 % of the rice area is in continuous rice culture due to
a lack of viable rotation options in the poorly drained soils.
6  Rice Production in the Americas 143

In the major Central American rice-producing countries (Nicaragua, Panama,

and Costa Rica), rice is grown under both irrigated (<40 % of the area) and rainfed
systems, with limited rotation in both cases. In irrigated land, 2 to 2.5 harvests are
typically expected per year, whereas rainfed rice is usually grown only once in a
year, with an occasional second crop in favored areas. A great proportion of rice in
Costa Rica and Panama are grown on rental land.
In Brazil, rainfed rice in the north is typically produced in rotation with soybean.
In the southern irrigated rice region, most of the rice area remains in fallow during
winter, with cattle grazing as the main practice after rice harvest. The integration of
rice/cattle intensifies the use of the land and other resources. Recently, area under
soybean grown in rotation with rice has been increasing, especially in Rio Grande
do Sul, which includes approx. 25 % of the rice area (IRGA 2015). In other regions,
however, producers face difficulties in adapting rice-soybean rotation, due to irregu-
lar water supply.

6.5  Production Methods

Rice production practices vary across the Americas. The diverse conditions lead to
variation in the adoption and utilization of different crop management practices.
However, these practices are dynamic and continue to evolve in response to chang-
ing political, environmental, and economic conditions.

6.5.1  North America

More than half of the rice in the USA is planted using conventional tillage methods.
This usually involves fall tillage when the weather is appropriate, followed by a
spring tillage to prepare the seedbed. Rice production methods in the South Central
USA are fairly similar. The majority of rice grown in this region is in dry-seeded,
delayed-flooded system (flooding at the 5- to 6-leaf stage of rice), with only about
3 % of rice produced under water-seeded system (Hardke 2015). Puddling is a rare
practice. Stale seedbed technique is generally utilized as a weed control strategy to
terminate already emerged weeds prior to rice planting using tillage or nonselective
herbicides. True no-till rice production is not common. California’s rice production
is vastly different from that of the southern USA; mechanization is more advanced,
involving seeding by aircraft as well as precision fertilizer and pesticide applica-
tions. Organic rice production is practiced on about 5 % of the area (McKenzie et al.
2015). In the Sacramento Valley, zero-grade water-seeded system is the most popu-
lar rice system (Hill et al. 2006) which relies on permanent earthen levees. No-till
rice systems are not successful in California as harvest equipment leaves deep tracks
in the heavy black soils, resulting in poor rice establishment and high weed infesta-
tions. Fall tillage is necessary to level the field and incorporate rice straw.
144 V. Singh et al.

6.5.2  Central America

Most of the rice in Central America is grown as a rainfed crop with little transplant-
ing, with the exception of Nicaragua where irrigated rice is more prominent.
Mechanized planting and harvesting require renting machinery (about 82 % of the
area in Costa Rica). Rainfed rice, which is very common in Costa Rica and Panama,
represents >60 % of the total rice area in these countries (Pulver et al. 2012). Almost
100 % of the rice in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador is produced as a rainfed
crop. Rainfed rice production represents high-risk agriculture due to unpredictable
rainfall and other resource limitations. Rice is usually grown in monoculture in the
rainfed cropping systems.

6.5.3  The Caribbean

Dominican Republic is the main rice producer in the Caribbean islands, where most
rice production is irrigated and technologically advanced. Rice is usually trans-
planted, and after main harvest, most farmers go for a ratoon crop (“soca” in
Spanish). The other big rice producer is Cuba with excellent conditions for good
rice production, but it depends heavily on imports due to internal problems with
agricultural development. Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Puerto Rico are
minor rice producers in the Caribbean region.

6.5.4  South America

In South America, rice is predominantly cultivated in direct-seeded system (as in

the USA) due to high labor costs. This system is practiced in several agroecosys-
tems from the rainfed to the irrigated areas (Maclean et al. 2002). Nevertheless,
transplanting is practiced extensively in Peru and coastal Ecuador, whereas
water-seeded (pre-germinated) rice system is dominant in Venezuela, Guyana,
and Chile. Large farmers use intensive systems, with more mechanization, pes-
ticides, and fertilizers, having a competitive advantage compared to small farm-
ers. The minimum-till cropping system is predominantly used for rice production
in lowland areas, because it allows for land preparation throughout the year,
reduces production costs, and increases yields by allowing timely seeding. In
Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil, for example, 74 % of the rice is planted under
minimum-till system (IRGA 2015). In Santa Catarina, all area under rice is
water-seeded, where rice is pre-germinated and then broadcasted in waterlogged
fields, whereas in Rio Grande do Sul state, about 93  % of rice is dry-seeded
(Raimondi et al. 2014).
6  Rice Production in the Americas 145

6.6  Varieties and Genetic Improvement

6.6.1  North America

During the past 20  years, average rice yields in the USA have increased several
folds due to the development and adoption of more productive cultivars along with
improved management practices. In Arkansas alone, rice productivity increased by
2.6 t ha−1 over the past 20 years (Hardke 2015), and similar increases have been
observed in other states as well (Geisseler and Horwath 2016). Rice breeding pro-
grams in the USA are not only focused on yield enhancement but also on develop-
ing cultivars with disease resistance, drought tolerance, and early maturity
particularly for water deficit rice-growing regions of California.
The development of hybrid rice cultivars has greatly contributed to yield
enhancement over the years. Currently, almost half of the rice area in the USA is
planted with hybrid rice. The introduction of Clearfield™ rice hybrids (non-
transgenic, genetically modified rice resistant to imidazolinone herbicides that
inhibit the acetolactate synthase “ALS” enzyme) not only improved weed man-
agement in rice but also had higher yield potential compared with previous con-
ventional rice cultivars. In 2004, the Clearfield™ rice cultivars accounted for
5–16 % of the total rice acreage in South Central USA, which increased about
400 % by 2014 with the ­introduction of improved and high-yielding Clearfield™
rice inbred (e.g., CL261) and hybrid (e.g., CLXL729, CLXL745) cultivars
(Hardke 2015; Salasi and Deliberto 2010). However, the area under Clearfield™
rice has started to decline due to increasing ALS inhibitor-resistant weeds in this
system (Hardke 2015).
California is presently the most productive rice-growing region in the world with
an average yield of 9.5  t  ha−1 (2014) (USDA NASS 2016). Rice producers in
California particularly prefer short- to medium-duration cultivars. Calrose cultivars
are popular in California since their release in 1948 (Johnston 1958), and now prog-
enies of improved Calrose cultivars occupy nearly 80 % of the current rice area.
Apart from these, small area of specialty varieties is also planted, such as sweet rice
(also called mochi, glutinous, or waxy), arborio types (Italian short-grain rice with
high amylopectin starch content), and aromatic long grains including conventional
and a basmati type.
Some of the other notable breeding and varietal development efforts in the USA
include the introduction of “Sierra” – an aromatic long-grain rice for southern USA
to compete with basmati rice, which is typically imported from India and Pakistan.
Sierra is currently being grown under both conventional and organic management
systems. “Neches” is the first waxy variety developed for southern USA, providing
a market opportunity that has been traditionally filled by imports from Thailand
(USDA-ARS 2016).
The Clearfield™ rice cultivars have been widely cultivated throughout the
mid-­southern USA. However, evolution of ALS inhibitor resistance in prominent
146 V. Singh et al.

rice weeds such as Echinochloa spp. (Riar et  al. 2012; Osuna et  al. 2002)
(E. crus-galli, E. colona, and others) and sedges (Cyperus esculentus, C. iria,
C. difformis, and Schoenoplectus mucronatus) and pollen-mediated transfer of
herbicide resistance from Clearfield™ rice to weedy O. sativa (Burgos et al. 2014;
Shivrain et al. 2007; Gealy et al. 2003) have led to the loss of this technology in
recent years. There is a need for alternative herbicide-resistant rice technologies
for effectively managing ALS inhibitor-resistant weeds. In this direction, BASF
Corporation is in the process of commercializing Provisia™ rice (Webster et al.
2015) which is also a non-­transgenic, herbicide-resistant rice technology that
endows resistance to the ACCase group herbicide quizalofop. The Provisia™
technology will facilitate the effective control of ALS inhibitor-resistant weedy
O. sativa and other weeds. Provisia™ rice is expected to be adopted in rotation
with Clearfield™ rice, which will control ACCase inhibitor-resistant weeds.
However, due to cases of multiple resistance to ALS and ACCase inhibitor-resis-
tant herbicides (Heap 2016; Fischer et al. 2000), sole reliance on these two her-
bicide-resistant technologies would not be sustainable. It is important to note
that several Echinochloa populations in the Mississippi River Delta have evolved
resistance to ACCase inhibitor herbicides (Norsworthy et  al. 2013; Ruiz-
Santaella et al. 2006; Tehranchian et al. 2016). Given this, the longevity of the
Provisia™ rice technology is dependent on the adoption of diversified weed
management practices.

6.6.2  Central America

Availability of improved varieties increased in recent years in Central America

through a regional cooperative program lead by FLAR (Latin American Fund for
Irrigated Rice), allowing the release of a number of high-yielding varieties.
Almost no hybrid rice is planted in the region. In most Central American ­countries,
few varieties capture most of the planted area, regardless of the cropping system
practiced. In Panama, for instance, two varieties derived from FLAR program
(IDIAP 145-05 and IDIAP 152-05) released in 2005 (Camargo 2006) occupy
about 50 % of the total rice area. Likewise in Costa Rica, the variety “Palmar 18”
is also from FLAR, which was released in 2006, and is planted in about 45 % of
the rice area (CONARROZ 2016). Clearfield™ rice was introduced in Costa Rica
in 2004 and later in Nicaragua and Panama. Readily adopted by farmers initially,
Clearfield™ rice provided a valuable tool to selectively control weedy O. sativa
in cultivated rice. Unfortunately, poor management and noncompliance of the
stewardship guidelines and other agronomic factors resulted in the rapid spread
and prevalence of imidazolinone-resistant weedy O. sativa and the failure of the
technology in several areas across the three major Central American rice produc-
ers (Valverde 2013).
6  Rice Production in the Americas 147

6.6.3  South America

Rice varieties adapted to different environmental conditions and fulfilling the

­market needs are the goals of rice breeding programs in South America. Due to the
differences in climate and soils among the rice production regions, the largest rice
producers have their own breeding programs, allowing for the breeding of varieties
adapted to local conditions and market niches. Alternatively, institutions work
cooperatively to create varieties and test their adaptation in different countries.
Grain yields have drastically increased in the region with the introduction of semi-
dwarf cultivars brought from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI),
beginning with the introduction of the variety IR8 (Zorrilla et  al. 2013). These
­semidwarf varieties have enhanced food security and reduced rice grain costs
(Maclean et al. 2002).
Working collaboratively with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture
(CIAT), FLAR assisted the development of rice cultivars to partner countries in the
region. The rice breeding program established from the partnership of FLAR and
CIAT and other public/private entities aims to address the needs of the tropical and
subtropical regions, with the goals of developing rice with high yield potential,
resistance to blast and other pathogens, lodging resistance, tolerance to harvest
delays, and high cooking quality (Zorrilla et al. 2013) In particular, resistance to rice
“hoja blanca” virus (RHBV) in the tropics and cold tolerance in the temperate
regions are of importance for genetic improvement. Cold tolerance is a valuable
trait particularly in Southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina where low tempera-
tures often occur during the planting window.

6.7  Major Production Constraints

6.7.1  Water

Irrigation water limitations are a growing challenge to rice production in several

areas. Estimates indicate that about 1600 liters of water is required to produce 1 kg
of rice (Pimentel et al. 2004). According to Tran (Tran 1997), about 55 % of the
world’s rice area is irrigated, with a water use efficiency of 50–80 %. Irrigation costs
are typically high in rice production given the high amounts of water use and ele-
vated costs associated with pumping. Irrigation by intermittent flooding can enhance
water use efficiency in rice (de Avila 2014). Other irrigation water conservation
practices are discussed under the section on crop management. A major problem
related to irrigated rice is the dwindling water supply. In the USA, rice is irrigated
principally from groundwater resources, and in many areas, groundwater is depleted
faster than it could be recharged (Konikow 2011). The rate of groundwater
148 V. Singh et al.

depletion reached 8  km3  yr.−1 during 2000–2008  in the “US Gulf Coastal Plain”
(Konikow 2013). Groundwater depletion adversely impacts the long-term sustain-
ability of water supplies to help meet the crop’s water needs. It is estimated that
within a decade, some aquifers will no longer be available. Efficient water saving
systems, improved cultivars, and crop management tactics are needed to be devel-
oped to enhance water use efficiency in rice. Availability of quality irrigation water
is another constraint because water salinity is a problem in all continents (Rengasamy
2006). Salinity issues are usually caused by seawater intrusion, oscillation of soil
water table, and irrigation water with high amount of salts. As salinity conditions
can severely impact plant stand and yield, adequate soil drainage and water quality
monitoring are best practices to mitigate this problem. The development of salt-­
tolerant cultivars is a great contribution from rice breeding efforts. Research in this
area needs to be continued.

6.7.2  Soil

Soil nutrient deficiency or toxicity can be a problem in rice production. Flooding

alters various biological and chemical processes in the rice root zone, influencing
the availability of various mineral nutrients. The impact of flooding on nutrient
availability is likely to be enhanced under low hydraulic conductivity and the pres-
ence of a hard pan. Iron toxicity is a common physiological disorder occurring in
flooded soils. The stress caused by high concentrations of iron in the soil solution
can cause 12–100 % yield loss (Sahrawat 2010). Developing cultivars tolerant to
iron toxicity and improved fertilizer management are efficient techniques to mini-
mize this problem. In addition to reduced nutrient availability/nutrient toxicity, cer-
tain organic acids are also formed under flooded conditions that can affect rice
growth and development. Furthermore, rice paddy is one of the most important
anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases such as methane (CH4) and nitrous
oxide (N2O). Rice water management and improved cropping systems are important
tools to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from rice paddy.

6.7.3  Pests

Weeds, diseases, and insects are some of the major constraints to rice production
in the Americas (see Sect. 8.3). Among the diverse group of weeds infesting rice
fields, Echinochloa spp., weedy O. sativa, and Cyperus spp. have been problematic
for decades. A very important emerging issue is the rapid evolution and spread of
herbicide-­resistant weeds in the rice system. Plant diseases and insects, in general,
are more of a concern in tropical climates as there are fewer insect and disease prob-
lems in temperate regions than in the tropics. Pest occurrence and pressure in rice
are affected by climate, crop rotation, and production practices. The most important
6  Rice Production in the Americas 149

rice diseases in the Americas include Magnaporthe spp., Sclerotium spp., R. solani,
and R. oryzae. The most important insects infesting rice fields are Oryzophagus spp.,
Oebalus spp., and Tibraca limbativentris. The extent of damage caused by diseases
and insects is highly variable, depending on rice management and climate. Rice
breeding with tolerance to major insect pests and diseases will help address this
issue, along with the development and implementation of integrated management
practices.

6.7.4  Climate

IRRI recognizes that the global environmental change (GEC) will have a negative
impact on rice production worldwide (IRRI 2015). Air temperature is expected to
increase due to GEC, and heat stress will be a serious concern particularly in tropi-
cal areas. It is estimated that an increase in air temperature by 1 °C can cause 10 %
reduction in rice grain yield (Peng et al. 2004). Further, GEC is expected to raise
seawater levels (NRC (National Research Council) 2011). Salinity-related prob-
lems are expected to increase in rice production areas along coastal regions.
While high temperatures can be a problem for rice production in tropical areas,
low temperatures will be a concern in temperate regions. Low temperatures, when
occurring during sensitive periods such as seed germination or reproductive stages,
can severely affect rice yield. Further, solar radiation is an important climatic
­variable that will directly influence rice yield potential. The GEC is expected to
reduce the quantity and quality of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and
thereby yield potential.
Another important climatic constraint in the Americas is the rainfall variability
caused by “Southern Oscillation” that promotes the “El Niño” and “La Niña” phe-
nomena. In El Niño years, the weather is usually dry in North America and Northern
South America (Northern Brazil), whereas in the southern parts of South America
(Southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina), rainfall frequency and intensity are
greater than the normal. Conversely, in La Niña years, a reversal in weather pattern
is expected. High rainfall events can have a severe impact on rice yield, due to the
direct effect of flooding during crop establishment or harvest, reduction in solar
radiation, and increase in pest pressure. Sparse rainfall and dry conditions can
severely impact rice yields due to inadequate supply of irrigation water.

6.7.5  Extension

Lack of adequate extension infrastructure and fragmented program implementation

are important constraints to achieve increased rice yields, especially in the Central
and South American countries. In the USA, Extension Service is well established,
linking producers’ needs with research conducted at the universities. In Central and
150 V. Singh et al.

South America, extension activities are carried out predominantly by private com-
panies that reach mainly large farms or by the sale force of agrochemical compa-
nies. There is a lack of intensive extension to small- and medium-size rice growers.
This is a major hurdle in achieving coordinated adoption of best management prac-
tices and stewardship of technologies on a regional or national scale. Private-public
partnerships among research institutes, millers, and farmers have been successful in
the southern zone (Argentina, Southern Brazil, and Uruguay) for an effective tech-
nology assessment and adoption system, allowing for high yields and efficient
farming.

6.8  Crop Management

6.8.1  Fertilizer Management

The nutrient pool in rice production fields is highly dynamic due to prolonged flood-
ing and its influence on the activity of soil microbial populations responsible for
nutrient transformation. Among the essential nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorous,
potassium, sulfur, iron, and zinc are generally limiting or unavailable for uptake in
rice soils (Synder and Slaton 2001). However, nutrient deficiencies and fertilizer
requirements are field-specific and vary considerably across the region. Nitrogen is
the most limiting nutrient in rice cultivation because of high crop demand, coupled
with high losses from the soil via ammonia (NH3) volatilization, nitrification-­
denitrification processes, and nitrate leaching (Buresh et  al. 2008). For judicious
and profitable nitrogen management in rice, it is important to select a suitable nitro-
gen fertilizer and formulation and apply the precise amount at the right time with
appropriate placement in soil (Norman et al. 2013).
Ammonium or ammonium-releasing fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate and
urea are typically the best sources of nitrogen for flooded rice crop (Norman et al.
2009). Most rice varieties in the Americas require 130–200 kg N ha−1 to produce
satisfactory yields with good milling quality (Synder and Slaton 2001). However,
the response to fertilizer application depends on soil type, variety, growth stage at
application, cropping system, and straw management (Synder and Slaton 2001).
Soil testing is the best way to determine the amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed
to fill the gap between crop demand and soil supply (Norman et  al. 2013).
Nitrogen should be applied early in the season and incorporated into the soil to
reduce volatilization losses. In drill-seeded rice, nitrogen applications are recom-
mended 2–3  days prior to flooding to minimize losses from the soil. Alternate
flooding and draining influence the nitrification-denitrification process and
increase nitrogen losses from the soil. The N losses from applied urea were esti-
mated up to 60 % in tropical soil (Ghosh and Bhat 1998; De Datta 1995). Tropical
conditions in Latin American countries lead to high nitrogen losses due to high
temperatures and rainfall. The urea fertilizer coated with sulfur, urease inhibitors,
6  Rice Production in the Americas 151

and other biodegradable materials can reduce up to 50 % of the ammonia volatil-
ization losses depending on soil type (Junejo et  al. 2009). Split application of
coated urea improves crop quality and soil fertility compared to single or preplant
application. Splitting of nitrogen doses across critical growth stages helps in
achieving higher crop yields. For instance, Espinosa (Espinosa 2002) has found
that application of nitrogen in three splits consisting of 20  % at planting time,
20  % at tillering, and 60  % at flower initiation provided the best rice yields.
However, the standard split method assumes that all soils of a given textural class
(i.e., clay or silt loam) require the same N rate, but such an approach may some-
times result in under- or overfertilization with N (Norman et al. 2013). To improve
N fertilizer rate recommendations for rice producers, the N-STaR (the Nitrogen
Soil Test for Rice) procedure was developed and recommended in North American
rice-growing regions. This test can measure the soil’s ability to supply N, and the
N compounds quantified using N-STaR (amino sugar-N, amino acid-N, and NH4-
N) are not prone to loss due to leaching or denitrification. Thus, the N-STaR
method enables N fertilizer prescription on an individual field basis for different
rice cultivars (Norman et al. 2013; Roberts et al. 2012).
Phosphorous requirement of rice is less and deficiencies are less common. As
phosphorous availability improves with flooding, deficiencies can be observed with
alternate wetting and drying, due primarily to temporary fixation of phosphorous in
soil (Hardke 2013). Preplant broadcast- or band-applied phosphorous remains avail-
able throughout the season. However, adequate phosphorous must be supplied prior
to the tillering stage because any deficiency after this period may result in yield loss
(Norman et  al. 2013). Phosphorous application rates usually vary from 30 to
65 kg ha−1, and the best approach is to make applications on the basis of soil test
results (Synder and Slaton 2001).
Potassium is required in substantial quantities to maintain the nutrient balance in
soil-plant system. Evidence suggests that potassium plays a critical role in abiotic
and biotic stress tolerance (Amtmann et al. 2008; Cakmak 2005; Kant and Kafkafi
2002). Potassium deficiency could trigger susceptibility to diseases or infestation of
certain insect pests (Wang et al. 2013). Most of the potassium is accumulated in rice
straw; therefore, removal of rice residue from the field warrants application of 60 to
120 kg K2O ha−1 (Williams and Smith 2001). Zinc deficiencies are frequent in rice-­
growing areas in the Americas, particularly in high pH soils. Adequate drainage is
recommended to alleviate zinc deficiency, and, in severe cases, foliar application of
zinc fertilizer may be required (Espinosa 2002).

6.8.2  Irrigation Management

Most of the area under rice cultivation in North America is irrigated in contrast to
Central and South America, wherein only about one-fourth of the total rice area is
under irrigation (Zorrilla et  al. 2013). Rice is generally cultivated under flooded
152 V. Singh et al.

conditions to meet high water demands of the rice crop and achieve weed suppres-
sion with standing water. In drill-seeded rice, the general practice is to establish a
permanent flood (5–10 cm depth) from 30 to 45 days after planting until 2 weeks
prior to harvest. In wet-seeded rice, the water level is initially kept low to allow for
seedling emergence and root establishment. The fields are typically drained when
varieties show problems of straight head (a severe Zn deficiency symptom), prior to
application of certain herbicides and/or when rice water weevil infestations are
substantial.
The increasing concerns about water scarcity has fueled interest in alternative
irrigation management strategies in rice, including dry direct seeding, intermittent
wetting and drying, and sprinkler irrigation (Crusciol et al. 2013; Nalley et al. 2015;
Tracy et al. 2015). These approaches offer benefits such as water and labor savings
and reduced costs of cultivation. For example, Nalley et  al. (Nalley et  al. 2015)
reported 21–56 % increase in water use efficiency with alternate wetting and drying.
Likewise, Westcott and Vines (Westcott and Vines 1986) and McCauley (McCauley
1990) reported 20–50 % reduction in water use in surface-irrigated rice, compared
to flooded rice. A major consideration when using these alternative irrigation sys-
tems is proper monitoring and adjustment of weed management practices
(Bagavathiannan et al. 2011). Moving away from permanent flooding increases the
window for weed emergence. A grower needs to have a season-long weed manage-
ment plan in place with the adoption of non-flooded systems.

6.8.3  Pest Management

Weeds, diseases, and insects pose a major threat to rice production throughout the
Americas, causing significant yield and quality losses annually. Weeds such as
Echinochloa spp. and weedy O. sativa, diseases such as M. oryzae and R. solani,
and insects such as Oryzophagus spp. and O. pugnax are among the most economi-
cally important pests infesting rice fields in the Americas. Effective pest manage-
ment is critical to securing the productivity and sustainability of rice in the Americas.

6.8.3.1  Weed Management

Weeds are the most widespread and most costly-to-manage pests in rice production.
The annual loss estimation in US rice due to mismanagement of weeds is approxi-
mately $45 million (Gealy and Moldenhauer 2005). In Brazil the losses are esti-
mated to be about US $200 million annually (Oerke 2006; Florez et al. 1999; Andres
et al. 2016).
The spectrum of weeds and dominant weed problems vary greatly with location
and rice production systems. In the US rice production, Echinochloa spp., weedy
O. sativa, Urochloa platyphylla, Sesbania herbacea, and Cyperus spp. are among
6  Rice Production in the Americas 153

the most important weed species (Norsworthy et al. 2007; Smith 1989; Webster and
Levy 2009). Among these, Echinochloa spp. and weedy O. sativa are the most
­predominant and troublesome weeds in rice culture in the Americas. Depending
upon the cultivar used, weedy O. sativa and Echinochloa spp. can reduce rice yields
by 82 % and 70 %, respectively (Smith 1988). Echinochloa spp. with resistance to
propanil, quinclorac, clomazone, ALS inhibitor herbicides, and ACCase inhibitor
herbicides have been documented in US rice (Heap 2016). Weedy O. sativa infesta-
tion is also prevalent in rice production in the Americas. In 2006, 60 % of the major
rice-growing areas in the USA had weedy O. sativa infestation (Burgos et al. 2008),
which declined to 25–30 % by the end of the decade due to the widespread adoption
of Clearfield™ rice technology. However, this trend has reversed lately due to the
development of ALS inhibitor resistance in weedy O. sativa in fields where the
stewardship programs were not strictly followed. In Brazil, approximately 95 % of
the irrigated rice fields are infested with weedy O. sativa (Gianessi 2014).
Clearfield™ rice technology is the only tool available currently to manage weedy
O. sativa within rice production fields.
Rice production systems in the USA employ a combination of cultural, mechani-
cal, and chemical control options. Reliance on a single control method does not
provide sustainable weed control; thus, integration of diverse weed management
tools is utilized. The use of certified seed for planting is recommended to prevent the
introduction of weedy O. sativa and other troublesome weeds. Planting certified
seed is followed by rice growers in North America; there is zero to no tolerance to
noxious weed seeds in certified rice seed. Seed certification laws and farmers’ use
of certified seed may be more lax in other regions of the Americas. A variety of
cultural practices employed to manage weeds in rice production include, but are not
limited to, crop rotation, preplant tillage, stale seedbed, high seeding rates, and
proper water management to suppress weeds.
Herbicides remain an essential component of integrated weed management pro-
grams in different rice production systems. Proper selection of herbicides and time
of application (weed growth stage) is key to achieving adequate weed control. In US
rice production, application timings include burn-down prior to planting and/or pre-
plant applications, preemergence (PRE) applications immediately after planting,
delayed preemergence (drill-seeded only) applications at spiking, early-­
postemergence applications, mid-postemergence applications, preflood applica-
tions, and postflood applications. Among the various herbicide options, glyphosate
and saflufenacil alone or in tank mix with other PRE herbicides are generally used
for burn-down preplant applications. Clomazone, quinclorac, pendimethalin, and
thiobencarb are important PRE/delayed PRE herbicides, whereas propanil,
cyhalofop-­butyl, fenoxaprop-p-ethyl, halosulfuron, bispyribac-sodium, quinclorac,
saflufenacil, and carfentrazone are popular postemergence (POST) herbicides (Scott
et al. 2013; CPRW (California Rice Production Workshop) 2016).
PRE application of clomazone is widely used in major rice-growing regions of
the USA as it provides excellent control of Echinochloa spp., Leptochloa spp., and
Urochloa platyphylla. Propanil has long been a popular POST herbicide and is still
154 V. Singh et al.

useful in fields where weed resistance to this herbicide has not yet evolved. Propanil
provides excellent control of >50 weed species with proper selectivity at a mini-
mum cost. Additionally, it is compatible with a great number of herbicides with
other mode of actions. Quinclorac, pendimethalin, thiobencarb, fenoxaprop-p-ethyl,
cyhalofop-butyl, and combinations of these are commonly used for grass control.
For broadleaf weeds (including Amaranthus spp. and Commelina spp.), POST
application of saflufenacil and bentazon are most commonly used. For aquatic
weeds such as Heteranthera limosa, H. reniformis, Ammannia robusta, and
Sagittaria montevidensis, chemical control includes application of thiobencarb pre-
flood, bensulfuron-methyl early postflood, and 2,4-D from panicle initiation to
panicle differentiation.
In Brazil, a recent shift in rice production from conventional to reduced- and no-­
till systems along with water-seeded systems have brought many changes to man-
agement practices (Andres et al. 2016). In lowlands of Southern Brazil, rice fields
are generally left fallowed for one season for cattle grazing. In winter, cattle grazes
on cold-adapted grasses and broadleaves (e.g., Lolium spp., Trifolium spp., and
Vicia sativa), and in summer, they feed on grasses such as weedy O. sativa,
Echinochloa spp., and some perennial grasses. Integration of crop-livestock in low-
land rice fields is an important aspect of weed management in South and Central
America (Marchezan et al. 2003). However, in irrigated and well-drained rice fields,
rotation with glyphosate-resistant soybean is most common, which offers an effec-
tive option for controlling annual grasses such as weedy O. sativa and Echinochloa
spp. Despite the increasing popularity of Clearfield™ rice technology in drained
lowlands, the use of conventional rice herbicides is still common in South and
Central American countries.
In Brazil, weed control begins with the use of residual herbicides in mixture with
glyphosate as preplant application, especially in areas under reduced- or no-till sys-
tems with delayed flooding. Clomazone is the most commonly used herbicide for
residual control of several grasses including Echinochloa spp. (Chaves and Garcia
2005). This PRE herbicide effectively suppresses propanil-resistant E. colona and
is also used widely in Central America for this purpose (Riches et al. 1997; Valverde
et al. 2000). As an early-POST application, propanil mixed with clomazone or pen-
dimethalin is generally utilized to improve weed control (Andres and Machado
2004). In fields infested with Echinochloa spp. resistant to auxin-mimic herbicides,
alternative products including pendimethalin, thiobencarb, and/or clomazone (PRE)
provide adequate control. To manage ALS-resistant grass species, these herbicides
are followed by POST applications of quinclorac or propanil. In Latin American
countries such as Colombia and Costa Rica, ACCase inhibitor resistance has
become an increasing issue. ACCase inhibitor-resistant Echinochloa spp. has not
yet been reported in Brazil (Andres et al. 2016; Matzenbacher et al. 2014), although
there is anecdotal information on its occurrence recently. Thus far, ACCase inhibi-
tor herbicides (fenoxaprop-p-ethyl, cyhalofop-butyl, etc.) are potential alternatives
for POST control of Echinochloa spp. resistant to ALS inhibitors or auxin-mimic
6  Rice Production in the Americas 155

herbicides (Matzenbacher et al. 2015a). These herbicide options allow farmers to

adopt 3-year rotation of herbicides, which is helpful in managing resistant weeds
(Andres et al. 2016).

6.8.3.2  Disease Management

Numerous fungal, bacterial, viral, and nematode diseases occur in all rice-growing
regions, but only some of them significantly damage rice production (Groth and Lee
2002). In the US rice, M. oryzae and R. solani are the most economically important
rice diseases. Cercospora janseana can cause yield and quality losses, especially at
late plantings and in the ratoon (second) crop (Zhou and YK 2014). Burkholderia
glumae and Tilletia barclayana can also cause severe damage to rice in epidemic
years. The USA does not have any of the devastating viral and nematode diseases
that occur in other rice production areas of the world. In the Central and South
Americas, M. oryzae and “hoja blanca” virus are among the most important dis-
eases limiting rice production (Pulver 2002). Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae and
C. oryzae also occur in these regions and can cause economic damages in epidemic
years.
There are several options available for managing rice diseases, but employing a
single disease management tactic is rarely very effective. Rice producers must man-
age diseases through an integrated use of sanitation and quarantine, cultivar resis-
tance, chemical control, biological control, and sound cultural practices to maximize
efficacy. Effective disease management starts with the use of pathogen-free planting
seed. Exclusion of a pathogen from a certain geographic area or from the rice host
is the most effective method to prevent various diseases of rice. Plant quarantine and
use of certified seed are two effective measures to achieve these goals. Cultivar
resistance is an effective means to manage rice diseases. Although no cultivars
highly resistant to multiple or all diseases are available, farmers should plant a resis-
tant or partially resistant cultivar as often as possible. Cultivars with high levels of
resistance to M. oryzae and C. oryzae are available, but not to R. solani or X. oryzae.
Fungicides are available for seed and foliar treatments, but farmers often depend on
foliar applications to manage diseases.
Proper timing of fungicide applications is key to effective disease control; rou-
tine field scouting for diseases especially from panicle differentiation stage is criti-
cal to identify suitable application timings. Although biocontrol options are
promising, commercial applications are limited. Proper cultural practices can sub-
stantially reduce damage caused by diseases. Crop rotation reduces primary inocu-
lum and, thus, the severity of diseases. Farmers should use recommended rates of
seed and N fertilizer since excessive N and dense stands tend to increase the severity
of many diseases. Planting early can avoid late-season disease pressure and thus
reduce rice blast and other diseases. Establishing and maintaining a continuous
flood are crucial for rice blast control.
156 V. Singh et al.

6.8.3.3  Insect Management

Insect pests cause severe damage to rice from planting to harvest. The rice yield
losses caused by insect pests in the USA and Brazil are 5 % and 10 %, respectively
(Fritz et al. 2013). Each of the rice production areas has its unique complex of insect
pests associated with its production ecosystems. Thirteen species are considered as
major rice insect pests in the Americas (Pulver 2002). In the USA, Oryzophagus
spp. and O. pugnax are the major invertebrate pests of rice. Other common insect
pests that can cause significant damage in certain years and locations include
Diatraea saccharalis, Chillo plejedellus, Ostrinia nubilalis, Eoreuma loftini,
Pseudaletia unipuncta, Spodoptera frugiperda, Chironomus spp., Hydrellia grise-
ola, and H. wirthi (Hummel et  al. 2009; Way 2002; Way and Bowling 1991). In
Latin America, especially in Brazil, the Brazilian rice water weevil (O. oryzae),
which is not the same rice water weevil species found in the USA, is the most
important insect pest in rice production (Gianessi 2014). Tagosodes oryzicolus is
also an important pest of rice in Latin America, and it serves as a vector for “hoja
blanca” virus, spreading this disease in most of the rice-growing areas of Central
and South America.
The best approach to manage insect pests of rice is to use an integrated pest
management (IPM) program consisting of tolerant cultivars, cultural practices,
chemical control, and biological control. Field scouting for insect population is
key to successful insect pest management. Cultivar selection is important since
some cultivars are more tolerant than others to feeding by rice water weevils, rice
stinkbugs, and stem borers. A variety of cultural practices can be used for insect
pest control in rice. Early planting, draining the field to the point of cracking, and
delaying the application of permanent flood are the three primary cultural control
strategies for the management of rice water weevil. Early plantings can also
reduce attacks by adult rice stinkbugs, armyworms, and stalk borers. Best produc-
tion practices such as good seedbed preparation, proper seeding rate, and good
water management can ensure strong, uniform rice stands and reduce damage
caused by insect pests. Weak and thin stands are often susceptible to damage by
these pests.
Insecticides are a vital component of the current IPM programs for most rice
pests. Applications of insecticides with varying mechanisms of action remain
the major method used to control insect pests of rice throughout the Americas.
Rice pests can be controlled through seed and/or foliar insecticide treatments at
proper timing. However, insecticides should be applied only when a pest popula-
tion reaches or exceeds the economic threshold for treatment. Biological control
has not been widely used for management of rice insect pests, but some natu-
rally occurring parasites such as the wasps can play an important role in main-
taining the populations of stem borers and other insect pests below damaging
levels. Thus, conscious choice of insecticides that are safe to natural enemies
should be promoted.
6  Rice Production in the Americas 157

6.9  Emerging Issues

6.9.1  Herbicide Resistance

Herbicide resistance is an emerging issue in almost all of the rice-growing areas in

the Americas. Despite large variability of environment, rice establishment system,
crop management, and herbicides used, herbicide-resistant weeds have been occur-
ring in several weed species. Herbicide resistance in the Echinochloa complex is the
biggest problem throughout the Americas. A diversity of resistance mechanisms,
including target-site mutations and enhanced metabolic detoxifications, have been
documented in various Echinochloa populations across the Americas, sometimes
with more than one mechanism within the same resistant population (Riar et  al.
2013b; Matzenbacher et  al. 2015b). The diversity of resistance mechanisms and
occurrence of multiple resistance makes Echinochloa complex a serious issue, com-
parable with Amaranthus, Conyza, Lolium, and Alopecurus found in other produc-
tion systems.
Herbicide resistance in Echinochloa spp. occurs to propanil, quinclorac, ALS,
ACCase, very-long-chain fatty acid (VLCFA), and 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-­phosphate
(DXP) inhibitors. Crop rotation has not been sufficient to prevent the evolution of
herbicide-resistant populations. Multiple resistance is particularly an emerging
threat. The replacement of one herbicide with another, used continuously without
management diversity, has resulted in the evolution of multiple herbicide resistance.
In California rice, E. phyllopogon is the most dominant Echinochloa species. The
herbicide resistance problem in E. phyllopogon surfaced with widespread resistance
to the ALS inhibitor bensulfuron-methyl and was rapidly succeeded by resistance to
ACCase, DXP, and VLCFA inhibitor herbicides (Yasuor et al. 2008) including mul-
tiple resistance in some populations. Multiple resistance in some of the Californian
E. phyllopogon populations was endowed by enhanced metabolic degradation of the
herbicides (Yasuor et al. 2008).
In Central America and northwestern parts of South America, herbicide-resistant
E. colona is frequently found. E. colona resistance to propanil was first identified in
Costa Rica (Fischer et al. 1993; Valverde et al. 2000) but is broadly distributed now-
adays. In Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, and Guyana, rice is cultivated twice a year,
mainly using pre-­germinated systems (Carmona 2013). The double-crop and wet
establishment systems used in these areas are a high-risk combination for the occur-
rence of herbicide resistance due to limited herbicide rotation, short window of
herbicide application, and ideal conditions for rapid weed seed multiplication and
dispersion. In most of these areas, quinclorac, ACCase, and ALS inhibitors have
been widely used, and weed resistance to these compounds is common.
In Central America, propanil-resistant E. colona became noticeable after 20 or
more years of its use, especially in areas of continuous rice production subjected to
multiple (usually two or even three) propanil applications per rice cycle, either
158 V. Singh et al.

alone or in mixture with herbicides not active on E. colona (Valverde 2007). Propanil
resistance in E. colona is endowed by the rapid metabolism (hydrolysis) of the her-
bicide to 3,4-dichloroaniline by an increased arylacyl amidase activity and its rapid
conjugation to nontoxic forms (Leah et al. 1994; Leah et al. 1995). Based on this
resistance mechanism, the rice-selective organophosphate herbicides, piperophos
and anilofos, were developed as propanil synergists to control propanil-resistant
E. colona (Valverde 2007; Caseley et al. 1996). This is the only case worldwide thus
far by which a weed with nontarget site resistance to a herbicide has been commer-
cially controlled using synergists. The introduction of ACCase inhibitor herbicides
provided an alternative mechanism of action to combat propanil-resistant weeds.
However, overreliance on the ACCase herbicides such as fenoxaprop and sethoxydim
has resulted in E. colona populations evolving resistance to these herbicides, in
Costa Rica and Nicaragua, respectively (Caseley et al. 1997; Riches et al. 1999).
The introduction of bispyribac-sodium (ALS inhibitor) facilitated the control of
multiple (propanil and ACCase inhibitors)-resistant E. colona, but resistance to
bispyribac-sodium also evolved and was further aggravated by the use of imidazo-
linones in Clearfield™ rice (Valverde 2007).
Clearfield™ rice was introduced initially in Costa Rica in 2004 and later in
Nicaragua and Panama. Poor management and compliance to the stewardship pro-
grams and other agronomic factors (Valverde 2013) resulted in the prevalence of
imidazolinone-resistant E. colona and the failure of the technology in several areas
across the three major Central American rice producers. Escapes of E. colona popu-
lations already resistant to bispyribac and cross resistant to imidazolinones were
persistently treated with mixtures of quinclorac and propanil at advanced growth
stages, thus selecting for low resistance levels to quinclorac (Valverde unpublished
findings). E. colona has been successfully managed prior to planting using a stale
seedbed approach (Valverde and Itoh 2001). For this purpose, glyphosate has been
the herbicide of choice (Valverde et al. 2001). Unfortunately, glyphosate-resistant
E. colona populations are now emerging in Costa Rica (Valverde, unpublished find-
ings). Therefore, multiple-resistant E. colona populations that withstand herbicides
belonging to five different mechanisms of action (the PS II inhibitor propanil,
ACCase inhibitors, ALS inhibitors, auxinic herbicides, and EPSPS inhibitor glypho-
sate) are now a major threat to rice production in Costa Rica as well as in Panama
and Colombia.
In Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, E. crus-galli is the most frequently found spe-
cies of the Echinochloa complex. In Brazil, despite the intensive use of propanil
since the 1980s, resistance to this compound has not occurred, perhaps due to the 2
or 3 years of fallow practiced to reduce weedy O. sativa infestations. However, an
intensive use of quinclorac and ALS inhibitors has resulted in resistance to these
herbicides (Schaedler et al. 2008). Herbicide-resistant weeds are less of a problem
in Uruguay compared to other South American countries due to rotation with
pastures.
Imidazolinone-resistant weedy O. sativa is another important issue in rice culti-
vation. The development of rice cultivars resistant to imidazolinone herbicides
(Croughan 1998) provided an unprecedented tool for weedy O. sativa control within
6  Rice Production in the Americas 159

rice production fields. Improved weedy O. sativa control associated with this tech-
nology has substantially increased rice grain yields (approx. 2500 kg ha−1), resulting
in benefits at farm and regional levels comparable to that of the dwarf rice varieties
introduced in the 1970s (Merotto et al. 2016). This technology has been widely used
in the South Central USA and Southern Brazil, and its utilization is increasing in
other rice-growing countries in the Americas (Carmona 2013). Gene flow from rice
cultivars to weedy O. sativa has resulted in the prevalence of imidazolinone-­resistant
weedy O. sativa, challenging the longevity of the technology (Goulart et al. 2014;
Sudianto et al. 2013; Valverde et al. 2013). In areas where the Clearfield™ rice tech-
nology is still effective, it is important to emphasize the value of adopting steward-
ship recommendations, which include diversified tactics and crop rotation in
reducing the risk of resistance and improving the longevity of the technology.
Resistance in sedges is an emerging issue particularly in Arkansas and other
parts of the South Central USA. Some of the important herbicide-resistant sedge
species include C. difformis (propanil, ALS inhibitors), C. esculentus (ALS), C. iria
(ALS), and C. odoratus (ALS). Other notable resistant weeds present at local scales
include Alisma plantago-aquatica (ALS), Ammannia auriculata (ALS), A. coc-
cinea (ALS), Eleusine indica (ACCase), Fimbristylis miliacea (ALS), Ischaemum
rugosum (ALS), L. panicoides (ACCase), L. scabra (propanil), S. montevidensis
(ALS, bentazon), and Schoenoplectus mucronatus (ALS, propanil) (Heap 2016).
The widespread occurrence of herbicide resistance in rice weeds warrants the
adoption of integrated weed management (IWM) practices. Some of the important
IWM measures include, but not limited to, the use of certified planting seeds, crop
rotation, stale seedbed, routine field scouting, diverse herbicide mixtures/rotations
applied at appropriate timings, and cleaning of farm machinery. The imidazolinone-­
resistant rice cultivars were considered by many farmers as a silver bullet strategy,
but a failure to adopt sound stewardship practices has resulted in the loss of the
technology in several areas. This precedence should be considered regarding the
utilization of the new ACCase-resistant rice cultivars, which currently are in the
process of commercialization (Harden et al. 2014).

6.9.2  Off-Target Movement of Pesticides

Off-target movement of pesticides from rice fields is a growing concern (Marchesan

et al. 2007; Resgalla et al. 2007; Silva et al. 2009). Off-target pesticide movement
affects nontarget organisms (Silva et al. 2009) and groundwater as well as surface
water quality (Silva et  al. 2011). After application, only a portion of the applied
pesticide reaches the target (Gavrilescu 2005), whereas the rest is present in the
broader environment, subject to various fates. Pesticides typically undergo degrada-
tion processes (biodegradation, chemical degradation, and photolysis), transport
processes (drift, volatility, leaching, and runoff), and retention processes (absorp-
tion, adsorption, and desorption). The intensity of each process will determine the
persistence, efficacy, off-target movement, and carryover potential of applied
160 V. Singh et al.

pesticides. The amount of pesticide lingering in the environment will depend on the
physiochemical characteristics of the pesticide (Martini et  al. 2012), the amount
applied, and crop production practices (Martini et  al. 2013). Contamination of
drinking water supplies with pesticides applied to rice fields is of particular concern.
Marchesan (Marchesan et al. 2007) and Resgalla (Resgalla et al. 2007) found rice
pesticides in rivers in Southern Brazil. To reduce off-target movement of pesticides,
it has been recommended in Southern Brazil that rice paddy should not be drained
for at least 30 days after application of pesticides. Intermittent flooding and drying
can be a tool to reduce pesticide transport to the off-target environment (Martini
et al. 2013).
Herbicide injury to rice due to off-target movement (drift and carryover) is
another emerging concern in several areas. Herbicide injuries and yield penalties are
magnified when they are combined with low temperature stress (Martini et  al.
2014), which is common in early-seeded rice in parts of South Central USA and
Southern Brazil. Depending on the crop rotation practiced and the burn-down
herbicide(s) applied, drift/carryover issues can be variable. Glyphosate drift is often
common because of its widespread use in the Americas. In countries such as the
USA and Brazil, glyphosate-resistant crops are grown nearby rice fields, and herbi-
cides are often applied using airplanes, leading to high drift potential. Spray drift is
the major reason behind the ban of some important rice herbicides in California.
Herbicide carryover is an important constraint to rice production in Brazil. In par-
ticular, the imidazolinone herbicides used in the Clearfield™ rice system have long
half-life in paddy fields and can damage non-tolerant crops grown in rotation
(Marchesan et al. 2010; Pinto et al. 2009).

6.10  Harvesting and Postharvest Handling

Rice harvesting and postharvest handling is important to maintain the quality

and quantity of the yield and to reduce postharvest losses. Rice harvest window
is highly variable across different locations, but proper selection of harvesting
date is crucial (Siebenmorgen et al. 2013). High head rice yields are achieved
when harvesting occurs at about 28–32  days after heading, when 80  % of the
grains have changed color, or when harvesting at 19–21 % seed moisture content
for long-grain cultivars and 21–24 % for medium-grain cultivars (Siebenmorgen
and Hardke 2013). Combine harvesters are commonly used for harvesting in the
USA, Brazil, and Uruguay (Mejía 2002). While postharvest losses are reduced
through mechanical handling, cost of mechanical harvesting is a limitation for
small producers especially in the developing countries (Lantin 1997). For proper
storage and better milling characteristics, paddy is cleaned free of foreign matter
and dried to 12–15  % seed moisture content (Gardisser and Saichuk 2014).
On-farm drying is not recommended if the moisture content is >20 % because
6  Rice Production in the Americas 161

the grain quality deteriorates due to inefficient drying. A temperature of 40–43 °C

is suggested for drying rice seeds, and this can be achieved with shade drying.
Higher temperatures can lead to physicochemical disorders in the grain (Zheng
and Lan 2007). The choice of a drier system normally depends on several fac-
tors, including drying capacity needed, simplicity of installation and operation,
portability, heat source, and the initial cost of purchase. A diverse range of dry-
ing equipment and methods are available for rough rice, and advanced computer-
based models have been developed to assist agricultural research workers or
farmers in their selection of dryers for a given crop and situation (Dissanayake
1991).
The rice milling operation involves removal of the husk (dehusking) and the
bran (polishing) to prepare the edible portion (endosperm) for consumption. On
average the hull constitutes 20 % and the bran is 10 % of the original rough rice
weight (Siebenmorgen et  al. 2016). The milled rice yield (MRY) indicates the
mass of the milled rice expressed as the percentage of the original dried rough rice
mass, which typically ranges from 68 to 72 % (Siebenmorgen et al. 2016). Head
rice yield refers to the yield of kernels retaining three-fourth or more of the origi-
nal length (after removing broken rice). Head rice yield is also expressed as per-
cent of the original dried rough rice mass and can vary from 0 (all kernels are
broken) to 70 % (no kernels are broken). The milling quality is often expressed as
the ratio of the head rice to milled rice yield (Siebenmorgen et al. 2016). However,
the extent of loss during the milling operation may vary depending on a variety of
factors, including variety of paddy, condition of paddy during milling, degree of
milling required, type of rice mill used, operator’s skills, and level of insect pest
infestations (Mejía 2002).

6.11  Summary

Rice will remain an important crop in the Americas due to its vital role in food secu-
rity and rural economic prosperity. Irrigation water shortage is a growing limitation
to rice production in many areas, but development of suitable alternative production
methods will be important. Continued technological advancements will facilitate
increased resource use efficiency and improved rice yields. Breeding for improved
varieties will be critical to address production challenges caused by changing cli-
matic conditions. Pesticide resistance, particularly weed resistance to herbicides,
and off-target movement of pesticides need immediate attention for research and
development. A strict compliance of stewardship protocols and implementing best
management practices are critical to preserve the sustainability of new technologies
in rice production and reduce their negative impacts on the broader environment.
More investments in research and extension are vital to secure sustainable rice pro-
duction in the Americas.
162 V. Singh et al.

References

Amtmann A, Troufflard S, Armengaud P (2008) The effect of potassium nutrition on pest and
disease resistance in plants. Physiol Plant 133:682–691
Andres A, Machado SLO (2004) Plantas daninhas em arroz irrigado. In: Gomes AS, Magal- hães
Jr AM (eds) Arroz irrigado no sul do Brasil. Embrapa, Brasília, pp. 611–726
André Andres, Theisen G, Concenço G, Galon L (2016) Weed resistance to herbicides in rice fields in
Southern Brazil, herbicides-current research and case studies in use, Price A, editor. [cited 2016 May
18] doi: 10.5772/55947. Available from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/herbicides-­current-
research-and-case-studies-in-use/weed-resistance-to-herbicides-in-rice-fields-in-southern-brazil
Bagavathiannan MV, Norsworthy JK, Scott RC (2011) Comparison of weed management pro-
grams for furrow-irrigated and flooded hybrid rice production in Arkansas. Weed Technol
25:556–562
Baldwin K, Dohlman E, Childs N, Foreman L (2011) Consolidation and structural change in the
US rice sector. US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service
Bell KB (2010) Rice, resistance, and forced transatlantic communities: (RE) envisioning the
African diaspora in low country Georgia, 1750–1800. J Afr Am Hist 95:157–182
Buresh RJ, Reddy KR, van Kessel C (2008) Nitrogen transformations in submerged soils. In:
Schepers JS, Raun WR (eds) Nitrogen in agricultural systems. Agronomy monograph 49.
American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp. 401–436
Burgos NR, Norsworthy JK, Scott RC, Smith KL (2008) Weedy red rice (Oryza sativa) status after
5 years of imidazolinone-resistant rice technology in Arkansas. Weed Technol 22:200–208
Burgos NR, Singh V, Tseng TM, Black H, Young ND, Huang Z, Hyma KE, Gealy DR, Caicedo AL
(2014) The impact of herbicide-resistant rice technology on phenotypic diversity and popula-
tion structure of United States weedy rice. Plant Physiol 166:1208–1220
Cakmak I (2005) The role of potassium in alleviating detrimental effects of abiotic stresses in
plants. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 168:521–530
Camargo I (2006) Panamá libera las variedades IDIAP 54-05 IDIAP 145-05. RevistaForoArrocero
Latino Am 13:22–24
Carmona L. (2013) Conjuntura e diagnóstico dos problemas do arroz vermelho na América Latina
e Caribe. In: II Latin American Symposium of Red Rice. IRGA: UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS; 2,
2013. p. 85.
Carney JA (2001) Black rice: the African origins of rice cultivation in the Americas. Harvard
University Press, London, England, Cambridge
Caseley JC, Leah JM, Riches CR, Valverde BE. (1996) Combating propanil resistance in
Echinochloa colona with synergists that inhibit acylamidase and oxygenases. Proceedings of
Second International Weed Control Congress, 1. pp. 455–460.
Caseley JC, Palgrave C, Haas E, Riches CR, Valverde B (1997) Herbicides with alternative modes
of action for the control of propanil-and fenoxaprop-p-resistant Echinochloa colona.
Proceedings of Brighton crop protection conference: weeds; 17–20 Nov 1997; Brighton.
pp. 215–220.
Chaves ICPV, Garcia L (2005) Avaliação da combinação de Aurora 400 CE + Gamit 500 CE,
aplicada em mistura com glifosato, na dessecação de erva-de-bicho (Polygonum persicaria)
e seu efeito residual no controle de capim-arroz (Echinochloa sp.). In: Sosbai, (ed)
Proceedings of the IV Congresso Brasileiro de Arroz Irrigado and XXVI Re- união da
Cultura do Arroz Irrigado, 9–12 Aug 2005; Santa Maria, Brazil. Orium/SOSBAI, Santa
Maria. [CD-ROM]
Childs N, Livezey J (2016) [Internet]. Rice backgrounder (USDA RCS-2006-01). [cited 2016 Jan
15]. Available from: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/rcs-rice-outlook/rcs-200601.aspx
CONAB.  Compahia Nacional de Abastecimento (2015) [cited 2015 Mar 23]. Available from:
http://www.conab.gov.br/conteudos.php?a=1252&
6  Rice Production in the Americas 163

CONARROZ (2016) [Internet]. Informe estadístico período 2014/2015. Corporación Arrocera

Nacional – Costa Rica, p. 55. [cited 2016] Available from: http://www.conarroz.com/UserFiles/
File/INFORME_ANUAL_ESTADISTICO_2014-2015.pdf
CPRW (California Rice Production Workshop) (2016) Weed control programs. Agronomy
Research and Information center. University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources.
2016. [Online]. [cited 2016 June 26th]. Available from: http://rice.ucanr.edu/Reports-­
Publications/Rice_Production_Workshop_Manual/
Croughan TP (1998) Herbicide resistant rice: United States patent US 5:773,704.
Crusciol CAC, Soratto RP, Nascente AS, Arf O (2013) Root distribution, nutrient uptake, and yield
of two upland rice cultivars under two water regimes. Agron J 5:237–247
de Avila LA, Martini LFD, Mezzomo RF, Refatti JP, Campos RC, Cezimbra DM et al (2014) Rice
water use efficiency and yield under continuous and intermittent irrigation. Agron
J 107:442–448
De Datta SK (1995) Nitrogen transformations in wetland rice ecosystems. Fert Res 42:193–203
Dissanayake AK (1991) Computer model for selecting rough rice drying systems. Asian Institute
of Technology, Bangkok. [cited 2016 May 5th]. Available from: http://agris.fao.org/aos/
records/TH1998001281
Dugan M (2015) Commodity of the quarter – rice. J Agr Food Inform 16:3–10
Eltis D, Morgan P, Richardson D (2007) Agency and diaspora in Atlantic history: reassessing the
African contribution to rice cultivation in the Americas. Am His Rev 112:1329–1358
Espinosa J (2002) Rice nutrition management in Latin America. Better Crops Int 16:36–39
Fischer AJ, Granados E, Trujillo D (1993) Propanil resistance in populations of junglerice
(Echinochloa colona) in Colombia rice fields. Weed Sci. 41:201–206
Fischer AJ, Ateh CM, Bayer DE, Hill JE (2000) Herbicide-resistant Echinochloa oryzoides and E.
phyllopogon in California Oryza sativa fields. Weed Sci. 48:225–230
Florez JA, Fisher AJ, Ramirez H, Duque MC (1999) Predicting rice yield loss caused by multispe-
cies weed competition. Agron J 91:87–92
Fritz LL, Heinrichs EA, Machado V, Andreis TF, Pandolfo M, de Salles SM et al (2013) Impact of
lambdacyhalothrin on arthropod natural enemy populations in irrigated rice fields in southern
Brazil. Intern J Trop Insect Sci 33:178–187
Gardisser D, Saichuk J (2014) Rice drying on the farm. In: Saichuck J (ed) Louisiana rice produc-
tion handbook. Louisiana State University AgCenter, Baton Rouge, pp. 126–130
Gavrilescu M (2005) Fate of pesticides in the environment and its bioremediation. Eng Life Sci
5:497–526
Gealy DR, Moldenhauer KA (2005) Progress in developing weed suppressive rice cultivars for the
southern U.S. In: Singh H, Batish D, Kohli R (eds) Handbook of sustainable weed manage-
ment. Haworth Press, Binghamton, pp. 257–296
Gealy DR, Mitten DH, Rutger JN (2003) Gene flow between weedy red rice (Oryza sativa) and
herbicide-resistant rice (O. sativa): Implications for weed management. Weed Technol
17:627–645
Geisseler D, Horwath WR (2016) Rice production in California. [cited 2016 Jan 10]. Available
from: http://apps.cdfa.ca.gov/frep/docs/Rice_Production_CA.pdf
Ghosh BC, Bhat R (1998) Environmental hazards of nitrogen loading in wetland rice fields.
Environ Pollut 102:123–126
Gianessi L (2014) Importance of pesticides for growing rice in Latin America. In: International
pesticide benefits case study no. 112. Available from: https://croplife.org/case-study/
importance-of-pesticides-for-growing-rice-in-latin-america/
Goulart ICGR, Borba TCO, Menezes VG, Merotto A (2014) Distribution of weedy red rice (Oryza
sativa) resistant to imidazolinone herbicides and its relationship to rice cultivars and wild
Oryza species. Weed Sci 62:280–293
Groth D, Lee F (2002) Rice diseases. In: Smith CW, Dilday RH, editors. Rice: origin, history,
technology, and production. Wiley. Hoboken. p. 413- 436.
164 V. Singh et al.

Haefele SM, Nelson A, Hijmans RJ (2014) Soil quality and constraints in global rice production.
Geoderma 235:250–259
Harden J, Carlson D, Mankin L, Luzzi B, Stevenson-Paulik J, Guice JB, et al. (2014) Provisia™:
a new vision in red rice control. Proceedings of the 54th annual meeting of the Weed Science
Society of America/ 67th annual meeting of the Canadian Weed Science Society; 3–6 Feb
2014. WSSA/CWSS, Vancouver
Hardke JT (2013) Rice production handbook. University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service MP 192, Fayetteville
Hardke JT (2015) Trends in Arkansas rice production. In: Norman RJ, Moldenhaur KAK (eds)
B.R. Wells rice research studies 2014. University of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
Research Series, Fayetteville, pp. 11–22
Heap I (2016) The International survey of herbicide resistant weeds. [Online]. [cited 2016 July 4]
Available from: www.weedscience.org
Heyward DC (1993) Seed from Madagascar. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia
Hill JE, Williams JF, Mutters RG, Greer CA (2006) The California rice cropping system: agro-
nomic and natural resource issues for long-term sustainability. Paddy Water Environ 4:13–19
Hummel N, Castro B, Reagan TE, Stout M (2009) Invertebrate pest management. In: Saichuk J,
editor. Louisiana rice production handbook. Louisiana State University Agricultural Center,
Baton Rouge, Publication 2321. p. 93–111
IRGA (2015) [cited 2015 Dec 24]. Sistemas de cultivo. Available at: http://www.irga.rs.gov.br/
upload/20150806112855soja_em_rotacao_com_arroz.pdf
IRRI (2015) [cited 2015 Dec 15]. Rice and climate change. Available from: http://irri.org/news/
hot-topics/rice-and-climate-change
IRRI. [cited 2016 Mar 10] World Rice Statistics. Available from: http://ricestat.irri.org:8080/
wrsv3/entrypoint.htm
Johnston TH (1958) Registration of rice varieties. Agron J 50:694–700
Junejo N, Hanafi MM, Khanif YM, Yunus WM (2009) Effect of Cu and palm stearin coatings on
the thermal behavior and ammonia volatilization loss of urea. Res J Agric Biol Sci 5:608–612
Kant S, Kafkafi U (2002) Potassium and abiotic stresses in plants. In: Pasricha NS, Bansal SK
(eds) Potassium for sustainable crop production. Potash Institute of India, Gurgaon,
pp. 233–251
Konikow LF (2011) Contribution of global groundwater depletion since 1900 to sea-level rise.
Geophys Res Lett 38:L17401 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL048604
Konikow LF (2013) Groundwater depletion in the United States (1900–2008). US Department of
the Interior, US Geological Survey; 2013–5079, 63 p. Available from: http://pubs.usgs.gov/
sir/2013/5079
Lantin R (1997) Rice post-harvest operation. A chapter for the post-harvest compendium within
Information Network on Post-harvest operations (INPhO). [cited 2016 May 5th]. Available
from: www.fao.org/inpho/index-e.htm
Leah JM, Caseley JC, Riches CR, Valverde B (1994) Association between elevated activity of aryl
acylamidase and propanil resistance in jungle-rice, Echinochloa colona. Pesticide Sci.
42:281–289
Leah JM, Caseley JC, Riches CR, Valverde B (1995) Age-related mechanisms of propanil toler-
ance in jungle-rice, Echinochloa colona. Pesticide Sci 43:347–354
Liu R, Samford J, Singh V, Zhou X, Bagavathiannan MV (2016) Stakeholder perspective on weed
management issues in Texas rice. Proc Weed Sci Soc Am 56:83
Livezey J, Foreman L (2004) Characteristics and production costs of U.S. rice farms. Stat Bull.
USDA Economic Research Service, Washington, DC. pp. 974–977
Maclean JL, Dawe DC, Hardly B, Hettel GP (eds) (2002) Rice Almanac: source book for the most
important economic activity on earth, 3rd edn. CABI Publishing, Walligford
Marchesan E, Zanella R, De Avila L, Camargo ER, Machado DE, Macedo VR (2007) Rice herbi-
cide monitoring in two Brazilian rivers during the rice growing season. Sci Agr 64:131–137
6  Rice Production in the Americas 165

Marchesan E, Santos FM, Grohs M, Avila LA, Machado SLO, Senseman SA et al (2010) Carryover
of imazethapyr and imazapic to nontolerant rice. Weed Technol 24:6–10
Marchezan E, Oliveira APBB, Avila LA, Bundt ALP (2003) Red rice seed bank dynamics affected
by cattle trampling and fallow duration. Planta Daninha 21:55–62
Martini LFD, Caldas SS, Balzan CM, Bundt AD, Primel AG, Avila LA (2012) Risk assessment of
surface and groundwater contamination by rice pesticides. Ciência Rural 42:1715–1721
Martini LFD, Mezzomo RF, de Avila LA, Massey JH, Marchesan E, Zanella R et  al (2013)
Imazethapyr and imazapic runoff under continuous and intermittent irrigation of paddy rice.
Agric Water Manag 125:26–34
Martini LFD, Burgos NR, Noldin JA, Avila LA, Salas RA (2014) Absorption, translocation and
metabolism of bispyribac-sodium on rice seedlings under cold stress. Pest Manag Sci
71:1021–1029
Matzenbacher FO, Bortoly ED, Kalsing A, Merotto A (2014) Distribution and analysis of the
mechanisms of resistance of barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) to imidazolinone and
quinclorac herbicides. J Agric Sci 153:1044–1058
Matzenbacher FO, Kalsing A, Dalazen G, Markus C, Merotto A Jr (2015a) Antagonism is the
predominant effect of herbicide mixtures used for imidazolinone-resistant barnyardgrass
(Echinochloa crus-galli) control. Planta Daninha 33:587–597
Matzenbacher FO, Bortoly ED, Kalsing A, Merotto A Jr (2015b) Distribution and analysis of the
mechanisms of resistance of barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) to imidazolinone and
quinclorac herbicides. J Agr Sci 153:1044–1058
McCauley GN (1990) Sprinkler vs. flooded irrigation in traditional rice production regions of
southeast Texas. Agron J 82:677–683
McKenzie KS, Andaya VC, Jodari F, Samonte PB, Oster JJ, Andaya CB (2015) Rice breeding at
the California rice experiment station. SABRAO J Breed Genet 47:1–13
Mejía DJ (2002) An overview of rice post-harvest technology: use of small metallic silos for mini-
mizing losses. Proceeding of the 20th Session of the International Rice Commission; 23–26
July 2002; Bangkok. [cited 2016 May 5th] Available from: http://www.fao.org/documents/
card/en/c/702ceb2b-0aaf-5233-a6b6-43ddef0712b3/
Merotto A, Goulart IC, Nunes AL, Kalsing A, Markus C, Menezes VG, Wander AE (2016)
Evolutionary and social consequences of introgression of non-transgenic herbicide resistance
from rice to weedy rice in Brazil. Evol App 9(7):837–846
Moldenhauer K, Gibbons J, McKenzie K. (2004) Rice varieties. In: Champagn ET (ed) Rice:
chemistry and technology, 3rd edn. The American Association of Cereal Chemists, St. Paul,
pp. 49–75
Nalley L, Linquist B, Kovacs K, Anders M (2015) The economic viability of alternative wetting
and drying irrigation in Arkansas rice production. Agron J 7:579–587
Norman RJ, Wilson CE Jr, Slaton NA, Griggs BR, Bushong JT, Gbur EE (2009) Nitrogen fertilizer
sources and timing before flooding dry-seeded, delayed-flood rice. Soil Sci Soc Am
J 73:2184–2190
Norman RJ, Slaton NA, Roberts TL (2013) Soil fertility. In: Hardke JT (ed) Rice production hand-
book. University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service MP 192,
Fayetteville, pp. 69–102
Norsworthy JK, Burgos NR, Scott RC, Smith KL (2007) Consultant perspectives on weed man-
agement needs in Arkansas rice. Weed Technol 21:832–839
Norsworthy JK, Bond J, Scott RC (2013) Weed management practices and needs in Arkansas and
Mississippi rice. Weed Technol 27:623–630
NRC (National Research Council) (2011) Climate stabilization targets: Emissions, concentrations,
and impacts over decades to millennia. The National Academies Press, Washington
Oerke EC (2006) Crop losses to pests. J Agric Sci 144:31–43
Osuna MD, Vidotto F, Fischer AJ, Bayer DE, De Prado R, Ferrero A (2002) Cross-resistance to
bispyribac-sodium and bensulfuron-methyl in Echinochloa phyllopogon and Cyperus diffor-
mis. Pest Biochem Physiol 73:9–17
166 V. Singh et al.

Peng S, Huang J, Sheehy JE, Laza RC, Visperas RM, Zhong X, Centeno GS, Khush GS, Cassman
KG (2004) Rice yields decline with higher night temperature from global warming. Proc Natl
Acad Sci U S A 101:9971–9975
Pimentel D, Berger B, Filiberto D, Newton M, Wolfe B, Karabinakis E et al (2004) Report 04–1.
Water resources, agriculture, and the environment. New York State College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca
Pinto JJO, Noldin JA, Pinho CF, Rossi F, Galon L, Almeida GF (2009) Field persistence of
(Imazethapyr+Imazapic) to grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) planted in rotation after irrigated
rice. Planta Daninha 27:1015–1024
Porteres R (1955) History of the first samples of Oryza glaberrima collected from Africa. J Trop
Agric Appl Bot 2:535–537
Pulver EL (2002) Strategy for sustainable rice production in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Proceedings of the 20th Session of the International Rice Commission; 2002; Bangkok,
Thailand. FAO, Rome
Pulver E, Jaramillo S, Moreira S, Zorrilla G (2012) Transformation of upland to irrigated agricul-
ture through the use of water harvesting in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. A cooperative
project report. Cali, Colombia Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice, Common Fund for
Commodities, International Center for Tropical Agriculture
Raimondi JV, Marschalek R, Nodari RO (2014) Genetic base of paddy rice cultivars of Southern
Brazil. Crop Breed Appl Biotechnol 14:194–199
Rengasamy P (2006) World salinization with emphasis on Australia. J Exp Bot 57:1017–1023
Resgalla C Jr, Noldin JA, Tamanaha S, Deschamps FS, Eberhardt DS, Rorig LR (2007) Risk analy-
sis of herbicide quinclorac residues in irrigated rice areas, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Ecotoxicology
16:565–571
Riar DS, Norsworthy JK, Bond JA, Bararpour MT, Wilson MJ, Scott RC (2012) Resistance of
Echinochloa crus-galli populations to acetolactate synthase-inhibiting herbicides. Int J  of
Agron. [Internet]. 2012. Referenced in doi: 10.1155/2012/893953
Riar DS, Norsworthy JK, Steckel LR, Stephenson DO IV, Eubank TW, Bond J  et  al (2013a)
Adoption of best management practices for herbicide-resistant weeds in midsouthern United
States cotton, rice, and soybean. Weed Technol 27:788–797
Riar DS, Norsworthy JK, Srivastava V, Nandula V, Bond JA, Scott RC (2013b) Physiological and
molecular basis of acetolactate synthase-inhibiting herbicide resistance in barnyardgrass
(Echinochloa crus-galli). J Agric Food Chem 61:278–289
Ricepedia – Brazil (2015) [cited 2015 Dec 27]. Available from: http://ricepedia.org/brazil
Ricepedia – Latin, American and the Caribbean (2015) [cited 2015 Dec 27]. Available from: http://
ricepedia.org/rice-around-the-world/latin-america-and-the-caribbean
Riches CR, Knights JS, Chaves L, Caseley JC, Valverde BE (1997) The role of pendimethalin in
the integrated management of propanil-resistant Echinochloa colona in Central America.
Pestic Sci 51:341–346
Riches CR, Caseley JC, Valverde BE, Down VM (1999) Resistance of Echinochloa colona to
ACCase inhibiting herbicides. In: De Prado R, Jorrin J, Garcia-Torres L, Marshall G, editors.
Proceedings of International Symposium on weed and crop resistance to herbicides; 3–6 Apr
1995; University of Cordoba, Spain. pp. 14–16
Roberts TL, Fulford AM, Norman RJ, Slaton NA, Walker TW, Wilson CE Jr, Harrell DL, McCauley
GN (2012) Development and implementation of N-STaR: the nitrogen-soil test for rice. Better
Crops with Plant Food 96:14–16
Ruiz-Santaella JP, De Prado R, Wagner J, Fischer A, Gerhards R (2006) Resistance mechanisms to
cyhalofop-butyl in a biotype of Echinochloa phyllopogon (Stapf) Koss. from California. J Plant
Dis Prot 20:95
Sahrawat KL (2010) Reducing iron toxicity in lowland rice with tolerant genotypes and plant
nutrition. Plant Stress 4:70–75
Salasi M, Deliberto M (2010) Clearfield vs hybrid vs conventional rice varieties: costs and returns.
Proceedings of Agriculture Technology Conference, Alexandria, pp. 10–12
6  Rice Production in the Americas 167

Schaedler CE, de Moraes PVD, Noldin JA et al (2008) Barnyardgrass resistance to quinclorac in
paddy rice in Santa Catarina State. Agropecuaria Catarinense 2:68–73
Schwanck AA, Meneses PR, Farias CRJ, Funck GRD, Maia AHN, Del Ponte EM (2015) Bipolaris
oryzae seed borne inoculum and brown spot epidemics in the subtropical lowland rice-growing
region of Brazil. Eur J Plant Pathol 142:875–885
Scott RC, Norsworthy J, Barber T, Hardke J (2013) Rice weed control. In: Hardke JT (ed) Rice
production handbook. University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension
Service MP 192, Fayetteville, pp. 53–62
Setia P, Childs N, Wailes E, Livezey J (1994) The U.S. rice industry. AER-700, USDA, Economic
Research Service.
Sharma SD, (ed) (2010) Rice: origin, antiquity and history. CRCPress, Boca Raton.
Shivrain VK, Burgos NR, Anders MM, Rajguru SN, Moore JW, Sales MA (2007) Gene flow
between Clearfield™ rice and weedy red rice. Crop Prot 26:349–356
Siebenmorgen T, Hardke JT (2013) Rice grades. In: Hardke JT (ed) Rice production handbook.
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service MP 192,
Fayetteville, pp. 163–165
Siebenmorgen T, Brandon G, Paul C, Hardke J (2013) Production factors impacting rice milling
yield. In: Hardke JT (ed) Rice production handbook. University of Arkansas Division of
Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service MP 192, Fayetteville, pp. 177–183
Siebenmorgen TJ, Counce PA, Wilson CE (2016) [Internet]. Factors affecting rice milling quality.
2016. [cited 2016 May 5th]. Available from: http://www.uaex.edu/publications/pdf/FSA-2164.pdf
Silva DRO, Avila LA, Agostinetto D, Dal Magro T, Oliveira E, Zanella R, Noldin JA (2009)
Pesticides monitoring in surface water of rice production areas in Southern Brazil. Ciência
Rural 39:2383–2389
Silva DRO, LA DA, Agostinetto D, Bundt ADC (2011) Pesticide occurrence in groundwater near
irrigated rice fields. Quím Nova 34:748–752
Smith RJ Jr (1988) Weed thresholds in southern U.  S. rice, Oryza sativa. Weed Technol
2:232–241
Smith RJ Jr (1989) Economics of weed control in U.S. rice. In: Guh JO, Pyon JY, Kim SC, Chung
GC, Kwon SL, Kim JC (eds) Weed problems and their economic management. Proceedings of
Twelfth Conference of the Asian Pacific Weed Science Society. Asia-Pacific Weed Science
Society and the Korean Society of Weed Science, Seoul, pp. 39–51
Sudianto E, Beng-Kah S, Ting-Xiang N, Saldain NE, Scott RC, Burgos NR (2013) Clearfield rice:
its development, success, and key challenges on a global perspective. Crop Prot 49:40–51
Synder CS, Slaton NA (2001) Rice production in the United States-an overview. Better Crops Int.
85:1–7
Tehranchian P, Norsworthy JK, Korres NE, McElroy S, Chen S, Scott RC (2016) Resistance to
aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides in Amazon sprangletop: Confirmation, control, and
molecular basis of resistance. Pest Biochem and Physiol. [Internet]. 2016 Mar 2. Referenced in
doi: doi:10.1016/j.pestbp.2016.02.010
Tracy P, Sims BD, Hefner SG, Cairns JP (2015) Guidelines for producing rice using furrow irriga-
tion. University of Missouri Extension, Columbia
Tran DV (1997) World rice production: main issues and technical possibilities. In: Chataigner
J  (ed) Activités de recherche sur le riz en climat méditerranéen. CIHEAM, Montpellier,
pp. 57–69
USDA FAS. [cited 2016 Mar 10]. Foreign agricultural Service. Available from: http://apps.fas.
usda.gov/psdonline/psdQuery.aspx
USDA NASS (2016) [cited 2016 Mar 10]. Available from: https://www.nass.usda.gov/
Statistics_by_Subject/?sector=CROPS
USDA-ARS (2016) News rice varieties. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural
Research service [cited 2016 June 26th]. Available from: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/rice/
USDA-ERS (2015) Rice yearbook-2015, USDA, Economic Research Service. [cited 2016 Jan 16].
Available from: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rice-yearbook-2015.aspx
168 V. Singh et al.

Valverde BE (2007) Status and management of grass-weed herbicide resistance in Latin America.
Weed Technol 21:310–323
Valverde BE (2013) Is herbicide resistant rice the ultimate solution for controlling weedy rice?
Experiences from the Americas. Korean J Weed Sci 33:11–23
Valverde BE, Itoh K (2001) Herbicide resistance and its management in world rice ecosystems. In:
Powles SB, Shaner DL (eds) Herbicide resistance and world grains. CRC Press, Boca Raton,
pp. 195–249
Valverde BE, Riches CR, Caseley JC (2000) Prevention and management of herbicide-resistant
weeds in rice: experiences from Central America with Echinochloa colona. Cámara de Insumos
Agropecuarios, Costa Rica
Valverde BE, Chaves L, Garita I, Ramirez F, Vargas E, Carmiol J, Riches CR, Caseley JC (2001)
Modified herbicide regimes for propanil-resistant junglerice control in rain-fed rice. Weed Sci
49:395–405
Wang M, Zheng Q, Shen Q, Guo S (2013) The critical role of potassium in plant stress response.
Int J Mol Sci 14:7370–7390
Way MO (2002) Rice arthropod pests and their management in the United States. In: Smith CW,
Dilday RH (eds) Rice: origin, history, technology, and production. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,
Hoboken, pp. 437–456
Way MO, Bowling CC (1991) Insect pests of rice. In: Luh BS (ed) Rice production. AVI Publishing
Company, Inc., Westport, pp. 237–268
Webster EP, Levy R (2009) Weed Management. In: Saichuk J (ed) Louisiana rice production hand-
book. Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge Publication 2321, pp. 46–71
Webster EP, Linscombe SD, Bergeron EA, McKnight BM, Fish JC (2015) Provisia rice: a future
option in rice. Proc South Weed Sci Soc 68:271
Westcott MP, Vines KW (1986) A comparison of sprinkler and flooded irrigation for rice. Agron
J 78:637–640
Williams J, Smith SG (2001) Correcting potassium deficiency can reduce rice stem diseases.
Better Crops 85:7–9
Yasuor H, TenBrook PL, Tjeerdema RS, Fischer AJ (2008) Responses to clomazone and
5-­ketoclomazone by Echinochloa phyllopogon resistant to multiple herbicides in Californian
rice fields. Pest Manag Sci 64:1031–1039
Zheng X, Lan Y (2007) Effects of drying temperature and moisture content on rice taste quality.
Agric Engg Inter: the CIGR. 1 Nov 2007; e9. FP07 023
Zhou XG, Jo YK (2014) Disease management. In: Way MO, McCauley GM, Zhou XG, Wilson LT,
(ed) Texas rice production guidelines. Texas A&M Agrilife Research. pp. 44–57
Zorrilla G, Martínez C, Berrío L, Corredor E, Carmona L, Pulver E (2013) Improving rice produc-
tion systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. In: Hershey CH (ed) Eco-efficiency: from
vision to reality. Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali
Chapter 7
Rice Production in Australia

Ali Ahsan Bajwa and Bhagirath Singh Chauhan

7.1  Summary

The rice production is a profitable agro-based industry in Australia. Although the

area under rice cultivation and total production in Australia is very little in proportion
to global rice production, its unique agronomy and crop management are notable.
Since the inception of rice cultivation in irrigated areas of New South Wales (NSW)
and Victoria states of Australia in the early twentieth century, this industry has pro-
gressed by leaps and bounds. Rice sowing methods in Australia include wet seeding
in cultivated water bays, direct dry seeding in previous crop stubbles, and direct
seeding on permanent raised beds. The medium-grain temperate varieties perform
best under Australian conditions, and many of these have been developed locally
through breeding, keeping in view the local climatic and edaphic conditions.
Australian farmers produce the most water-efficient rice in the world. The escape
from major pests and diseases and good management practices allow them to obtain
the highest yield per hectare as compared to all other rice-producing countries.
Several weeds infest rice fields in Australia, but effective management through her-
bicides is in practice. The overall crop husbandry is well mechanized right from
sowing to harvest. An integrated system connects farmers, industry, and the govern-
ment stakeholders which ensures the excellent crop production followed by excellent

A.A. Bajwa (*)

School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland,
Gatton, QLD 4343, Australia
The Centre for Plant Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
(QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Gatton/Toowoomba, QLD 4343/4350, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]
B.S. Chauhan
The Centre for Plant Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
(QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Gatton/Toowoomba, QLD 4343/4350, Australia

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 169

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_7
170 A.A. Bajwa and B.S. Chauhan

processing and marketing within and out of the country. The declining water
resources, the terminal cold stress during the reproductive stage of rice crop, and the
environmental concerns are major constraints to the Australian rice industry.
However, the highest water-use efficiency, rapid adoption of innovative conservation
technologies, development of new cultivars suitable for the changing climate, and
integrated research with holistic approach are strong features of this enterprise.

7.2  Introduction

The rice production in Australia is quite different from the rest of the world in the
perspective of production, processing, and marketing. The rice is produced only in
a few regions of the country due to strict regulations about water and land use for
rice production. The Riverina region of NSW (latitude 33–36°S) is the main hub of
rice production in Australia (Thompson 2002). Almost all the rice is grown in this
valley with exception of a small acreage in Queensland and Western Australia.
However, the cultivated area and production from those sites are negligible. The
Riverina Valley is irrigated by two major rivers, Murrumbidgee and Murray, and the
rice crop uses up to 70 % of the available irrigation water. The overall share of rice
production from Australia to global production might be only 1 %, but the sustain-
able production under harsh climates is a success in its own way (Humphreys et al.
2006). With the highest yields per unit area and water-use efficiency, Australian rice
has proved its worth internationally (Khan et al. 2010; RGA 2015). The adoptions
of technology, immense coordination between growers, policy makers, and market-
ing authorities, and good management practices have made Australian rice a suc-
cess. The rice production system in Australia has gone through a series of
transformations, and many agricultural scientists quote the Australian rice industry
as a fine example of agricultural innovations and technology adoption. One of the
leading agricultural development departments in Australia, the Rural Industries
Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), ranked Australian rice industry
as the world leader in agricultural innovation, resource conservation, sustainable
production, and environmental safety on the eve of launching Rice 2012–2017
Research and Development (R&D) Plan (RIRDC 2015).
The dry climate and shrinking water resources are the main limiting factors to the
growth of Australian rice industry (Lewin and Heenan 1985; Humphreys et  al.
2006). The rice growers have managed to sustain rice production in spite of immense
pressure from the government and community (Lewis 2012). It has emerged as a
great enterprise being run by the farmers and government jointly without any added
subsidies. Australian rice has not only gained popularity due to high yields and
water-use efficiency but is also well known for its high quality (SunRice 2015).
Semidwarf temperate varieties developed by Australian scientists have performed
very well under local conditions. The rice growers pay special attention to water
use, land use, and environmental protection by adopting various efficient production
7  Rice Production in Australia 171

systems suitable under different cropping rotations (McDonald 1994; Thompson

2002; Humphreys et al. 2006). The lower incidence of natural pests and diseases
under Australian conditions is an added benefit (Stevens et al. 2006). The future of
rice production in Australia is bright, keeping in view the pace of ongoing research
and development.
This chapter focuses on the crop husbandry, management practices, and use of
innovative technologies for rice production in Australia. The basic principles and
practices of rice production in Australia have been discussed. The developments
over time and future endeavors have also been highlighted along with the elabora-
tion of constraints and opportunities.

7.3  History

Rice was one of the earliest crops introduced in Australia after British settlement in
the continent. Having vast experience of growing rice in America and India, English
people also tried rice farming in different regions of Australia. However, due to the
climatic differences, varying soil fertility, and other management constraints, it was
mostly unsuccessful. Although northern regions of Australia have plenty of water,
rice production was never successful there mainly due to iron and manganese toxic-
ity in the soil and pest problems (RGA 2015). Some sources indicate the entry of
rice seeds to Australia back in the 1850s when Chinese people came here as a part
of famous “Gold rush.” Rice was cultivated first time in 1906 in Murray River basin
near Swan Hill by a former Japanese parliamentarian, Isaburo Takasuka, who was
given 80  ha for this purpose by the state government of Victoria (RGA 2015).
Although it was an unsuccessful experience due to droughts and floods, he contin-
ued the effort, and the crop was grown and produced on a commercial scale in 1914.
In the 1920s, the opportunity of growing rice as irrigated crop in Murray-Darling
basin was availed, and since then, it has become the core area of rice production in
Australia (RGA 2015). Almost all the Australian rice production comes from this
area. The first commercial rice crop was produced in 1924 by a group of eight farm-
ers in Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) (around Leeton and Griffith). The seed
was imported from California by the NSW government. In 1928, the NSW govern-
ment established the Rice Marketing Board to regulate the marketing and export of
Australian rice. A company, Ricegrowers Limited (SunRice), was registered to buy
and export Australian rice, and it is the sole authorized buyer of rice produced in
NSW for domestic and international outlets since then.
During the World War II, rice was declared as an essential and precious food
commodity, and the Commonwealth pushed the NSW government to reach the
target of 100,000 tons during that period (SunRice 2015). The task was nearly
impossible due to shortage of water in the Burrinjuck dam; however, keeping in
regard the crucial, the NSW government decided to improve cooperation with
farmers and to expand the area under rice cultivation (RGA 2015). In cooperation
with the Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia (RGA), the NSW government
172 A.A. Bajwa and B.S. Chauhan

formed the Rice Production Committee (RPC), and rice cultivation was started in
Murray Valley in addition to MIA. After the establishment of RGA, the rice pro-
duction in Australia flourished a lot. A royal commission not only investigated the
causes of rice failure in MIA but also focused on the cooperation and marketing.
The “SunRice” worked efficiently on storage, milling, processing, packaging,
sale, and export of Australian rice. The first rice mill was opened in 1951  in
Leeton. Temperate rice varieties from California performed well in Riverina. In
the 1950s, the rice production recovered a boost in Australia. The number of rice
farmers in MIA increased from 368 in 1950 to 591 in 1955. In addition, 310 grow-
ers also started rice cultivation in Murray Valley by 1955. Such a substantial
increment improved the economy of that area, and rice production became a prof-
itable industry (SunRice 2015). Nowadays, over 1500 farm businesses are linked
with rice production in MIA of NSW and Murray Valley of NSW and Victoria
(RGA 2015).

7.4  Area and Production

Rice in Australia has an area of 52,000 ha, a production of 819,000 tons, and an

average yield of >10 t ha−1. More than 85 % of Australian rice is exported to over 70
countries across the globe (RGA 2015). During the last decade, Australia has
increased rice yield per hectare by 30 % while reducing the water consumption by
60 %, which is a remarkable achievement by any means in modern-day agriculture.
Rice production shares 11 % of the total irrigation water available for agriculture.
Some of the key facts about Australian rice are given in Table 7.1. In the recent
years, the production has decreased due to drought. The highest yield per unit area,
excellent quality, 50 % less usage of water for every kilogram of rice produced as
compared to the rest of the world, and environmental friendly cultural practices
make Australian rice superior and unique.

Table 7.1  Latest facts and figures about rice in Australia (2013–2014)
Cultivated area 52,000 ha
Annual production 819, 000 tons
Per capita consumption 10 kg per annum
Domestic use 15 % of total production
Export 85 % of total production
Average national yield 10.7 t ha−1
Farm gate value of industry A$ 350 million
Total value including exports A$ 800 million
Rank in Australian exported grains Third
Rank in Australian exported agricultural Ninth
commodities
Sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2015), National Farmers’ Federation (2015), SunRice (2015)
7  Rice Production in Australia 173

7.5  Production Methods and Cropping Systems

All the rice sown in Australia is irrigated, mostly through river water or sometimes
groundwater. The rice is grown in summer season in Riverina, and sowing starts in
the month of October. The rice seeds are either dispersed aerially in flooded fields
(wet-seeded) or directly drilled in dry soil (dry-seeded) followed by irrigation
(Thompson 2002). Pre-germinated seeds and dry seeds are sown for wet seeding
and dry seeding, respectively. For dry seeding, 120 kg seed ha−1 is drilled in 15 cm
apart rows at the depth of 1–3 cm. First irrigation is applied immediately after seed-
ing, but water is drained out after 24 h (Lewin and Heenan 1985). Rice fields are
kept flooded for most part of the growing season. A water depth of 15–25 cm is
maintained depending upon the crop growth stage. A layer of water protects rice
plants from high day temperatures during early growth stages and also provides
insulation against very low night temperatures after the month of January. Under
certain instances, flooding is started after the three-leaf stage, but this prolongs the
crop (Thompson 2002). The soil type for rice production is very important and
given special attention in Australia. The heavy soils with high water holding capac-
ity are usually preferred. Moreover, the whole area allocated to one farmer for rice
production cannot be cultivated in one season. In this regard, farmers have to get
approval from respective irrigation corporation (the Murrumbidgee Irrigation
Limited, Murray Irrigation Limited, or Coleambally Irrigation Cooperative Limited)
before having a license from the state government (Thompson 2002; RGA 2015).
The land suitability is determined before the approval to grow rice mainly on the
basis of soil water holding capacity, infiltration rate, and runoff. No farmer can grow
rice beyond a set limit on his farm. The subsoil water percolation should also be less
than 200 mm (Beecher et al. 2000; Thompson 2002). Sowing is mostly done on a
flat surface, but the raised bed system has also gained popularity due to high water-­
use efficiency and yield improvement. The land is prepared using laser land levelers,
and usually the whole farm layout is designed in such a way that large bays are
formed with strong soil embankments (bunds) to hold water (RGA 2015).
In Australia, the rice crop is usually followed by a fallow season of up to 6
months as the intensive cropping systems are not common. Hence, rice is grown as
sole crop in most of the rice farming areas (Humphreys et al. 2006). However, some
farmers also include winter crops like wheat, barley, and some legumes. As most of
the rice fields are kept ponded for most part of the growing season, soil moisture
levels are very high for the succeeding crops (Humphreys et al. 2006). The produc-
tivity of winter crops grown on rice-based permanent beds was increased by 26 %
(Thompson and North 1994). The major benefits in this system were sufficient soil
moisture, easy drainage, facilitated interculture and farm operations, and less losses
during harvesting (Tisdall and Hodgson 1990; Beecher et al. 2003). Earlier, a single
rice crop in 5 years in rotation with legume-based pastures was also common. Still
many farmers practice such rotations because they cannot grow rice on more than a
specified area (McDonald 1979). The direct drilling of rice in pasture sward is use-
ful to reduce the cost of production (Lewin and Heenan 1985). The seed is drilled at
174 A.A. Bajwa and B.S. Chauhan

the rate of 140 kg ha−1 with a triple disk seeder in a well-grazed dry pasture at 15 cm
row-row distance. A knockdown herbicide is applied prior to seeding to avoid pas-
ture regrowth. The permanent water stand is established after three-leaf stage
(Lewin and Heenan 1985). This rotation significantly improves rice yield because of
improved soil fertility, suppression of diseases and pests, and weed control due to
well-established preceding pasture crop (Lewin 1979).

7.6  Varieties

Temperate rice varieties are grown in Australia. More than 80 % of Australian rice
is raised from semidwarf medium-grain japonica varieties (Thompson 2002).
Similar varieties performed well in the Mediterranean regions and California due to
a similar kind of climate (Thompson 2002). Eleven varieties are being successfully
grown in Australia. These have high water-use efficiency and yield potential.
Australian scientists have developed most of these varieties through breeding by
using germplasm from California and other temperate rice-growing regions (RGA
2015). The first semidwarf medium-grain variety, M7, was introduced in 1983 in
Australia and proved successful (Humphreys et al. 2006). Several semidwarf variet-
ies were developed and released for commercial use in the following years. Those
varieties had multiple quality traits, but major focus was given to the water-use
efficiency. Since 2001, almost 97 % rice cultivation in Australia was based on such
semidwarf medium-grain varieties (Humphreys et al. 2006). During 4 years field
trails in the eastern Murray Valley, the semidwarf medium-grain cultivars, Illabong
and Amaroo, produced 9.3 and 10.1 t ha−1 rice grains, while a tall variety, Calrose,
produced 7.9 t ha−1 (Humphreys et al. 2006).
Several semidwarf varieties, including Amaroo, Doongara, Illabong, Jarrah,
Kyeema, Langi, Millin, and Opus, were locally developed and released for Australian
rice growers during 1987 to 1999. Those varieties covered a large area due to the
added benefits of efficient water use and higher yield (Humphreys et al. 2006). The
rice industry of NSW not only regulates the development and dissemination of new
varieties but also ensures the pure seed availability to all the registered growers.
However, growth period reduction to improve the water-use efficiency also caused
yield reduction (Reinke et al. 1994; Williams et al. 1999). Developing cold-tolerant
(during reproductive stage) varieties in addition to high yield and water-use effi-
ciency is another major task of breeding program (Farrell et al. 2000).

7.7  Irrigation Management

Water shortage is a major concern in Australian rice production. Australia is the dri-
est continent of the planet, and, thus, the freshwater is considered a precious resource
(RGA 2015). The rice-producing area of Australia is mainly irrigated by the Murray
7  Rice Production in Australia 175

and Murrumbidgee rivers. The average evapotranspiration during the whole grow-
ing season is 1200 mm. Soils having root zone drainage of more than 200 mm ha−1
are restricted for rice production (Thompson 2002). Water use for rice production in
Australia is almost 50 % less than that for the rest of the world (RGA 2015). Rice
growers have improvised the irrigation management in a number of ways to improve
the water-use efficiency. The alternate flooding and drying system (intermittent irri-
gation) is one such conservation method in which water is applied to saturate the
root zone every week, but fields are not kept flooded continuously until panicle
initiation starts. Rice reproduction being a highly sensitive water limitation, fields
are kept flooded onward from panicle initiation (Thompson 2002). In this way,
23–26 % water saving is achieved in comparison with permanent flooding after the
three-leaf stage. Heenan and Thompson (1984) concluded that the intermittent irri-
gation system was water saving, without reducing the yield and quality of rice at
Yanco, MIA.  The localized irrigation for the rice crop grown on raised beds is
another way to enhance irrigation efficiency. Borrell et  al. (1997) reported up to
32 % water saving in this system in Queensland. Australian rice water productivity
has significantly improved over the years mainly due to higher yields and reduction
in water use (Humphreys and Robinson 2002). The improved water-use efficiency
of Australian rice is mainly attributed to yield improvement through an innovative
approach, rapid technology adoption, varietal improvement, excellent regulations
like the Ricecheck approach by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI),
improved nitrogen management, and judicious irrigation scheduling (Russell and
Dunn 2001; Macadam et al. 2002; Ciavarella et al. 2003; Humphreys et al. 2006).
On the other hand, the substantial cuts in water use through setting up a water-use
limit, reduction in deep percolation, intermittent irrigation approach, raised bed
technique, and good crop husbandry practices have also improved the overall water-­
use efficiency in rice (Muirhead et al. 1989; Bouman and Tuong 2001; Humphreys
et  al. 2001, 2003; Beecher et  al. 2002; Thompson et  al. 2003; Khan et  al. 2004;
Humphreys et al. 2006).

7.8  Nutrient Management

Nitrogen (N) is the only mineral nutrient applied in the form of fertilizer to rice crop
in Australia. A rare use of other macro- or micronutrient-based fertilizers also exists.
N is mostly applied in the form of urea as a basal dose, but the amount of fertilizer
depends on the rotation being followed (Lewin and Heenan 1985). The use of anhy-
drous ammonia and ammonium sulfate as N fertilizer has also been reported
(McDonald 1979). On the lands where rice is grown in a rotation with legume pas-
tures, usually no N fertilizer is applied. N fixed biologically through legume pas-
tures is sufficient for the rice crop in the following season. Chapman and Myers
(1987) found that rice grown in rotation with soybean and sesbania crops had no N
fertilizer requirements and the yield was also significantly higher as compared with
the rice grown in rotation with fallow fields. Up to 260 kg N ha−1 was added by these
176 A.A. Bajwa and B.S. Chauhan

legumes, which was available for the rice crop. However, the soils having low fertil-
ity status needed around 200  kg  N  ha−1 for semidwarf short-grain rice varieties
(Lewin and Heenan 1985).
In case of wet-seeded aerially sown rice, the whole N fertilizer is mixed in the soil
before flooding, whereas the N is applied at the three-leaf stage in dry-seeded rice when
farmers start holding water in those fields (Boerema 1970). There might be N top dress-
ing in some cases depending on rice variety, crop rotation, and total N requirement
(Heenan and Lewin 1982; Bacon and Heenan 1997). In a broader view, the average N
application rate was reported to be 120 kg ha−1 (Batten et al. 2001). The decision about
the right dose and timing of N application is very important (Humphreys et al. 2006).
The overdose at an earlier vegetative stage may lead to lodging and sterility particularly
under cooler conditions during the reproductive phase (Williams and Angus 1994). In
some soils, the N supply to plant roots may be hindered due to high ambient tempera-
tures, which is another key factor to determine the adequacy of N fertilizer (Angus et al.
1994). Humphreys et al. (2006) suggested that increasing the N-use efficiency will also
improve the water-use efficiency and may help to further enhance the productivity of
Australian rice. Farmers still do not have reliable standard protocols to measure the
actual N requirements for rice in a particular kind of soil. Research in this area may
further boost the vertically oriented Australian rice industry.

7.9  Weed Management

Weeds are a major problem in rice fields, depending upon the sowing method and
crop rotation (Lewin and Heenan 1985). A variety of weeds infest rice fields in
Australia (Table 7.2). Usually the weed diversity and weed density in wet-seeded
rice is much lower than dry-seeded rice. The most problematic weed species in
Australian rice are Echinochloa spp. Earlier, the postemergence herbicides, thio-
bencarb, molinate, and propanil, were commonly used to control Echinochloa spp.
with varying degrees of efficacy (Fisher et al. 1966; Penman and Jones 1984). Some
farmers also used to apply postemergence herbicides in water during flooding
(Fisher et al. 1966). In such a case, the efficacy was improved, but consideration of
water depth and herbicide dose remained critical (Lewin and Heenan 1985). Aerial
sowing of rice in flooded bays had problems of Cyperus difformis L. which was
controlled through application of MCPA (Nott et al. 1974). However, the applica-
tion of MCPA had a negative effect on rice growth, especially when applied before
tillering. The application after tillering was ineffective because weed had already
caused substantial losses to crop growth due to resource competition (Cox 1980).
The use of thiobencarb to control C. difformis has also been reported but a risk of
damage to small rice seedlings was associated with it (Lewin and Heenan 1985).
The existence of Typha spp., especially in a rice crop grown in shorter rotations, was
also reported (Lewin, 1979). The best management strategy for Typha spp. was
found to be the manual eradication and herbicide (MCPA) application during the
fallow period (Lewin and Heenan 1985).
7  Rice Production in Australia 177

Table 7.2  Weed flora of Australian rice

Weed species Family Reference
Alisma lanceolatum With. Alismataceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985)
Ammannia spp. Lythraceae Hill et al. (1990)
Azolla filiculoides Lam. Azollaceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985)
Cyperus difformis L. Cyperaceae Nott et al. (1974), Cox (1980), McIntyre and
Barrett (1985), Lewin and Heenan (1985)
Cyperus eragrostis Lam. Cyperaceae McIntyre et al. (1991)
Damasonium minus (R. Br.) Alismataceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985), Lewin
Buchenau and Heenan (1985)
Diplachne fusca (L.) P. Beauv. Poaceae McIntyre et al. (1991), Lewin and Heenan
ex Roem. & Schult. (1985)
Echinochloa colona (L.) Link Poaceae Penman and Jones (1984), McIntyre and
Barrett (1985), Lewin and Heenan (1985)
Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Poaceae Fisher et al. (1966), McIntyre and Barrett
P. Beauv (1985), Lewin and Heenan (1985)
Echinochloa microstachya Poaceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985)
(Wiegand) Rydb.
Echinochloa oryzoides (Ard.) Poaceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985)
Fritsch
Elatine gratioloides A. Cunn. Elatinaceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985)
Eragrostis parviflora (R. Br.) Poaceae McIntyre et al. (1991)
Trin.
Ludwigia peploides (Kunth) Onagraceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985)
P.H. Raven
Lythrum hyssopifolia L. Lythraceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985)
Marsilea drummondii A. Braun Marsileaceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985)
Paspalum paspaloides (Michx.) Poaceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985), Lewin
Lams. Scribn. and Heenan (1985)
Rumex crispus L. Polygonaceae McIntyre et al. (1991)
Rumex dentatus L. Polygonaceae Lewin and Heenan (1985)
Rumex tenax Rech. f. Polygonaceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985)
Sagittaria montevidensis Cham. Alismataceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985)
& Schltdl.
Scirpus spp. Cyperaceae Hill et al. (1990)
Typha domingensis Pers. Typhaceae McIntyre and Barrett (1985)
Typha orientalis C. Presl Typhaceae McIntyre et al. (1991)

In a classic study, McIntyre and Barrett (1985) compared the weed flora of
flooded rice in NSW and California in order to understand the species composition
and diversity under similar cultural and management practices. In NSW, 55 weed
species existed, while 60 were present in California. Only 13 species were found to
be common at both sites, most of these were well-recognized rice weed species
globally. However, large proportions (73 %) of weed species were native in NSW
and shifted from aquatic habitats to wetland rice (McIntyre and Barrett 1985). Due
to this reason, many native weed species were well adapted to flooded rice and were
178 A.A. Bajwa and B.S. Chauhan

hard to manage. The effective weed control through herbicides has benefited the
rice production in Australia for decades. However, the consistent use of herbicides
has caused the evolution of herbicide resistance. The resistance against many com-
monly used herbicides was reported two decades ago (Hill et al. 1994; McDonald
1994). Taylor (2010) compared the efficacy of four herbicides against weeds in
direct-seeded rice in Cobram, Victoria, in order to find a suitable alternative for
benzofenap and molinate. Pentoxazone failed to control all the weeds and also had
a toxic effect on rice crop when applied at the rate of 100–400 g a.i. ha−1; however,
etobenzanid (750  g a.i. ha−1) provided effective control for most of the weeds,
including E. crus-galli (Taylor 2010). The injury to rice crop was substantial when
the rate of etobenzanid was increased to 1000 g a.i. ha−1. Another herbicide, safluf-
enacil (200–300  g a.i. ha−1), provided complete control of all major weeds with
adequate crop tolerance (Taylor 2010). Hence, etobenzanid and saflufenacil might
be the alternate herbicides with different modes of action from that of molinate and
benzofenap and, thus, could offer a good strategy against herbicide-resistant weeds.
Further research is needed in this area with emphasis on integrated weed manage-
ment options.

7.10  Insect Pests and Diseases

There are only a few insect pests and diseases associated with rice crop in Australia;
however, substantial yield losses are caused by them (Lewin and Heenan 1985). The
bloodworm (Chironomus tepperi) is one of the most important rice insects, as it
chews the root tips of rice and also shoots sometimes. To avoid the losses, different
chemical insecticides are used, especially in aerially sown rice crop (Jones 1968).
Incidence of armyworm (Pseudaletia convecta) and leaf miner (Hydrellia spp.) as
insect pests on Australian rice has also been reported (Lewin and Heenan 1985).
However, they can also be effectively controlled through several chemical insecti-
cides. In addition to insects, snails are important pests in rice grown in rotations
with winter cereals (Lewin and Heenan 1985). The snails may damage the young
rice seedlings and, thus, have the ability to affect the crop stand at early growth
stages. Similarly, algal growth in direct-drilled and aerially sown rice also causes a
reduction in plant growth (Lewin and Heenan 1985). The use of copper sulfate was
found to be effective against both snails and algae (Lewin and Heenan 1985). The
nematode, Paralongidorus australis, infestation in root zone of rice in Queensland
resulted in poor crop growth and yield due to root syndrome (Stirling and McCulloch
1984). Ducks are important bird pests of aerially sown rice and can be controlled
through shooting, scare guns, and colored lights (Lewin and Heenan 1985).
Australia is relatively safe from major rice diseases occurring in other rice-­
growing regions of the world (Cother and Lanoiselet 2003). Only a few diseases
have been reported to cause substantial yield losses. The bacterial leaf blight was
one of the first reported diseases in Australian rice. The bacteria Xanthomonas ory-
zae was the causal agent of leaf blight and caused severe damage to rice crop in the
7  Rice Production in Australia 179

northern territory (Aldrick et  al. 1973). Aggregate sheath blight and sheath spot
caused by Rhizoctonia oryzae-sativae and Waitea circinata, respectively, have also
been reported in Australian rice (Lanoiselet et  al. 2001, 2002a). According to
Lanoiselet et al. (2005), Rhizoctonia spp. surviving in the rice fields can cause the
disease in the following season. Although rice blast caused by Magnaporthe grisea
has not been reported in Australia, predictive modeling (CLIMEX and DYMEX)
has indicated that many sites in NSW have suitability for a potential outbreak of this
devastating disease (Lanoiselet et  al. 2002b). Glume blotch and stem necrosis
caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. Syringae and Pantoea ananas, respectively,
are also important diseases of rice in Australia (Cother 1974; Cother et al. 2004).
Stevens et  al. (2006) reported the larvae of chironomid communities (Diptera:
Chironomidae) to be causing substantial yield losses in rice crop in NSW. Preventive
measures and chemical control have been found to be effective against these
pathogens.

7.11  Harvesting, Postharvest Management, and Marketing

Rice fields are drained out after the crop has attained a certain degree of maturity.
The timing of draining rice fields in Australia is critical because early drainage can
cause lodging and reduction in grain weight (Lewin and Heenan 1985). On the other
hand, if drainage of fields is delayed, the crop remains wet at harvest and the grain
quality is deteriorated (Lewin and Heenan 1985). Usually, the physical observation
serves as a tool for the determination of the right time for drainage (Boerema and
McDonald 1965). The late dough stage for lower grains in a panicle is recognized
as an ideal stage for field drainage (Hartley et al. 1977). However, in the case of
heavy soils, it can be done when lower grains are still in the milky stage. In Australia,
the rice crop is harvested at 22 % grain moisture. It improves the grain quality and
reduces losses during milling (RGA 2015). Harvesting starts in March and contin-
ues up to May, depending upon the crop rotation. All the harvesting is done mechan-
ically through large grain combine harvesters (RGA 2015). These harvesters remove
straw and collect paddy (non-milled rice) in large collecting bins from where it is
further transferred to containers attached to the operating tractors. In this way, the
whole process of harvesting is completed in a single operation.
Paddy after harvesting is transferred to storage facilities through trucks. In the
storage facilities, rice is sorted according to varieties and then kept in large bins
where moisture contents, humidity, and temperature are regulated through computer-­
based sensors (RGA 2015). Hot conditions during storage facilitate the drying pro-
cess. However, further processing is done in milling units. The rice is transported
from storage facilities to mills. In mills, the dehusking (removal of husk from
paddy) is done to obtain brown rice. Very few people prefer to consume brown rice.
Hence, large portion of brown rice is further milled to remove bran, and white rice
is obtained after polishing. White rice is further graded and packaged before mar-
keting (RGA 2015). Almost all the rice produced in Australia is sold to Ricegrowers
180 A.A. Bajwa and B.S. Chauhan

Limited, which markets it by the brand name of SunRice. SunRice is one of the
world biggest rice food companies which markets a large number of rice products
across Australia and many other parts of world. A huge proportion of Australian rice
(85 %) is exported to over 60 countries in Asia, North America, and the Middle East.
Australian rice industry operates without any subsidies in contrast to rice industries
of many other countries (RGA 2015). It competes with rice products from many
countries in international markets. Every year, rice exports contribute significantly
to Australian economy.

7.12  Challenges and Opportunities

Rice production in Australia is on a very limited scale. There are several constraints
due to which the area under rice cultivation is limited. The major factor hampering
the rice production is limited availability of irrigation water (Lewin and Heenan
1985; Thompson 2002; Humphreys et  al. 2006). The climate is mostly arid and
water flow in the rivers is less. The rice crop requires a large amount of water and
consumes the lion’s share out of available water resources. Although the govern-
ment has imposed many different restrictions to limit the rice-growing area, the
changing climate and ever-depleting water resources demand further reductions in
rice cultivation (Lewis 2012). In NSW, the rice crop uses the highest amount of
irrigation water, and many environmentalists are concerned about the decreased
water flow in rivers (Thompson 2002). Not only the limited water availability but
certain environmental factors also caused uneven water distribution. According to
some ecologists, the reduced water flow in rivers is dangerous for aquatic life and
biodiversity sustained through it. However, the Ricegrowers’ Association of
Australia claims that Australian rice production is purely based on resource conser-
vation especially water saving, and keeping in view the stats, that claim is also
realistic (RGA 2015). As climatic conditions are not favorable throughout Australia,
a limited area in NSW and Victoria is capable of growing rice (RGA 2015). The
major limiting factor is temperature during the growing season (Humphreys et al.
2006). As temperate varieties of rice are successful in Australia, the low tempera-
tures toward their maturity cause substantial yield reductions (Horie et al. 1997).
The terminal low temperatures affect the process of grain filling and spike sterility.
In contrast to other rice-growing regions, the high temperatures during anthesis are
not much harmful (Matsui et al. 2007). The poor stand establishment in dry-seeded
rice is another emerging problem. Weed flora has also changed due to changing
production systems. For instance, weed infestations have increased in intermittent-­
irrigated rice systems (Hill et al. 1990). These challenges have posed difficulties to
sustainable rice production in Australia.
High-yielding and stress-tolerant varieties, the adoption of short-term rotations,
water-saving sowing methods, and irrigation scheduling provide the basis for sus-
tainable rice production in Australia under limited natural resources (Humphreys
et al. 2006; Khan et al. 2010; Lewis 2012). Fortunately, very few of the harmful rice
7  Rice Production in Australia 181

insect pests and diseases do exist in Australia, which is really helpful to obtain supe-
rior quality production (Thompson 2002). The integrated production regime is
another feature of the Australian rice industry which allows sustainable production
without subsidies (Lewin and Heenan 1985; Thompson 2002). It also enables the
farming community to easily market their product across the country and in the
international markets.

7.13  Conclusions and Future Directions

Rice production in Australia may be regarded as a success story in terms of remark-

able yield achievement, water and energy savings, innovative adoption of technolo-
gies, excellent marketing and export system, and economic benefits. The integrated
crop management and optimized postharvest processing enable Australian growers
to obtain high-quality produce on a sustainable basis. Although the shrinking water
resources and changing climate are haunting Australian rice production which is
already restricted to a small area and under observation all the time, the conserva-
tion management practices adopted by farmers may help to sustain this
production.

References

Aldrick S, Buddenhagen IW, Reddy APK (1973) The occurrence of bacterial leaf blight in wild
and cultivated rice in Northern Australia. Crop Past Sci 24(2):219–227
Angus JF, Ohnishi M, Horie T, Williams RL (1994) A preliminary study to predict net nitrogen
mineralisation in a flooded rice soil using anaerobic incubation. Aust J  Exp Agric
34:995–999
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2015) http://www.abs.gov.au/. Accessed online: 26 Sep
2015
Bacon PE, Heenan DP (1997) Response of Inga rice to application of nitrogen fertilizer at varying
growth stages. Aust J Exp Agric Anim Husb 24:259–264
Batten GD, Reuter DJ, Unkovich M, Kirkby CA (2001) A nutrient audit for the Australian rice
industry. In: Nutrient balance in regional farming systems, soil nutrient, status, national land,
water resources audit, final report. Land and water Australia, Canberra. pp 85–87
Beecher HG, Beale P, Clampett WS (2000) Land for rice growing. In: Kealey LM, Clampett WS
(eds) Production of quality rice in south eastern Australia. Rural Industries Research &
Development Corporation, Canberra, pp. 43–65
Beecher HG, Hume IH, Dunn BW (2002) Improved method for assessing rice soil suitability to
restrict recharge. Aust J Exp Agric 42:297–307
Beecher HG, Thompson J, Dunn B, Humphreys E, Christen E, Timsina J, Smith D, Singh RI,
Mathews S (2003) Alternative irrigation methods for rice based cropping systems: permanent
beds and sub-surface drip. In: Proceedings of third international temperate rice conference,
10–13 March 2003. Punta del Este
Boerema EB, McDonald DJ (1965) Draining rice for a high moisture harvest. Agric Gaz
75:1031–1035
Boerema EB (1970) Nitrogen for rice in New South Wales. Agric Gaz 81:72–76
182 A.A. Bajwa and B.S. Chauhan

Borrell A, Garside A, Fukai S (1997) Improving efficiency of water use for irrigated rice in a semi-­
arid tropical environment. Field Crop Res 52:231–248
Bouman BAM, Tuong TP (2001) Field water management to save water and increase its productiv-
ity in irrigated lowland rice. Agric Water Manag 49:11–30
Chapman AL, Myers RJK (1987) Nitrogen contributed by grain legumes to rice grown in rotation
on the Cununurra soils of the Ord Irrigation Area, Western Australia. Anim Prod Sci
27(1):155–163
Ciavarella S, Batten G, Blakeney S, Oliver J, Williams R (2003) Reliable nitrogen recommenda-
tions depend on good sampling technique. Farm Newsl 162:36–37
Cother E, Lanoiselet L (2003) Maintaining disease-free crops. In: Production of quality rice in
South Eastern Australia. Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation, Canberra,
pp. 49–58
Cother EJ, Reinke R, McKenzie C, Lanoiselet VM, Noble DH (2004) An unusual stem necrosis of
rice caused by Pantoea ananas and the first record of this pathogen on rice in Australia. Aust
Plant Pathol 33(4):495–503
Cother EJ (1974) Bacterial glume blotch of rice. Plant Dis Rep 58:1126–1129
Cox WB (1980) MCPA dilemma: the effect of MCPA on secondary root development in rice. Farm
Newsl 115:18–19
Farrell TC, Fox KM, Williams RL, Fukai S, Reinke RF, Lewin LG (2000) Temperature constraints
to rice production Australia and Laos: a shared problem. In: Fukai S, Basnayake J  (eds)
Proceedings of international workshop on increased lowland rice production in the Mekong
Region, Vientiane, Laos, 30 Oct–02 Nov 2000, Canberra
Fisher BB, Swain DJ, Boerema EB (1966) Evaluation of three herbicides for the control of grasses
in rice. Aust J Exp Agric Anim Husb 6:219–223
Hartley RA, Lewin LG, Blakeney AB (1977) The rice pure seed scheme. Agric Gaz 88:42–43
Heenan DP, Lewin LG (1982) Response of Inga rice to nitrogen fertilizer rate and timing in New
South Wales. Aust J Exp Agric Anim Husb 22:62–66
Heenan DP, Thompson JA (1984) Growth, grain yield, and water use of rice grown under restricted
water supply in New South Wales. Aust J Exp Agric 24:104–109
Hill JE, Bayer DE, Bocchi S, Clampett WS (1990) Direct seeded rice in the temperate climates of
Australia, Italy, and the United States. In: International rice research conference on direct
seeded flooded rice in the tropics, Seoul, Korea, 27–31 Aug 1990. International Rice Research
Institute, Los Baños. pp 91–102
Hill JE, Smith RJ, Bayer DE (1994) Rice weed control: current technology and emerging issues in
temperate rice. Anim Prod Sci 34(7):1021–1029
Horie T, Ohnishi M, Angus JF, Lewin LG, Tsukaguchi T, Matano T (1997) Physiological characteris-
tics of high-yielding rice inferred from cross-location experiments. Field Crop Res 52(1):55–67
Humphreys E, Bhuiyan AM, Fattore A, Fawcett B, Smith D (2001) The benefits of winter crops
after rice harvest. Farm Newsl 157:36–42
Humphreys E, Edraki E, Bethune M (2003) Deep drainage and crop water use for irrigated annual
crops and pastures in Australia-a review of determinations in fields and lysimeters. CSIRO land
and water technical report. Report No. 14/03
Humphreys E, Lewin LG, Khan S, Beecher HG, Lacy JM, Thompson JA, Batten GD, Brown A,
Russell CA, Christen EW, Dunn BW (2006) Integration of approaches to increasing water use
efficiency in rice-based systems in southeast Australia. Field Crop Res 97(1):19–33
Humphreys E, Robinson D (2002) Improving water productivity in rice cropping systems in
Australia: institutions and policy. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Rice Congress.
Beijing, 16–20 Sep 2002. International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, pp 885–900
Jones EL (1968) Bloodworms, pests of rice. Agric Gaz 79:477–478
Khan S, Khan MA, Latif N (2010) Energy requirements and economic analysis of wheat, rice and
barley production in Australia. Soil Environ 29(1):61–68
Khan S, Rana T, Carroll J, Wang B, Best L (2004) Managing climate, irrigation and groundwater
interactions using a numerical model: a case study of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.
CSIRO land and water technical report. Report No 13/04
7  Rice Production in Australia 183

Lanoiselet VM, Ash GJ, Cother EJ, Priest MJ, Watson A (2001) First report of Waitea circinata
causing sheath spot and Rhizoctonia oryzae-sativae causing aggregate sheath spot on rice in
south-eastern Australia. Aust Plant Pathol 30:369–370
Lanoiselet VM, Cother EJ, Ash GJ, Harper JDI (2002a) First report of Sclerotium hydrophilum on
leaf sheath of rice (Oryza sativa) in south-eastern Australia. Plant Pathol 51(6):813–813
Lanoiselet VM, Cother EJ, Ash GJ (2002b) CLIMEX and DYMEX simulations of the potential
occurrence of rice blast disease in south-eastern Australia. AustPlant Pathol 31(1):1–7
Lanoiselet VM, Cottier EJ, Ash GJ, Hind-Lanoiselef TL, Murray GM, Harper JDI (2005)
Prevalence and survival, with emphasis on stubble burning, of Rhizoctonia spp., causal agents
of sheath diseases of rice in Australia. Aust Plant Pathol 34(2):135–142
Lewin LG, Heenan DP (1985) The agronomy of rice production in the Riverina Region of
Southeastern Australia. In: Proceedings of the meeting of the international network on soil
fertility and fertilizer evaluation for rice. Griffith, 10–16 Apr 1985. International Rice Research
Institute, Los Baños, pp 69–80
Lewin LG (1979) Agronomic aspects of continuous cultivation of rice. In: Proceedings Australian
rice workshop. Australian Agricultural Research Centre, Yanco, pp 22–23
Lewis G (2012) The growers’ paddy land, water and co-operation in the Australian rice industry to
the 1990s. University of Sydney Co-operatives Research Group, Sydney
Macadam R, Drinan J, Inall N (2002) Building capacity for change in the rice industry, Publication
no. 02/009. Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Canberra
Matsui T, Kobayasi K, Yoshimoto M, Hasegawa T (2007) Stability of rice pollination in the field
under hot and dry conditions in the Riverina region of New South Wales. Australia Plant Prod
Sci 10(1):57–63
McDonald DJ (1979) Rice. In: Lovett JV, Lazenby A (eds) Australian field crops, vol 2. Angus and
Robertson, Sydney, pp. 70–94
McDonald DJ (1994) Temperate rice technology for the 21st century: an Australian example. Anim
Prod Sci 34(7):877–888
McIntyre S, Barrett SCH (1985) A comparison of weed communities of rice in Australia and
California. In: Proceedings of the ecological society of Australia. Vol 14, pp 237–250
McIntyre S, Finlayson CM, Ladiges PY, Mitchell DS (1991) Weed community composition and
rice husbandry practices in New South Wales, Australia. Agric Ecosyst Environ 35(1):
27–45
National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) (2015) http://www.nff.org.au/commodities-rice.html.
Accessed online: 28 Sep 2015
Nott MJ, Trounce RB, Swain DJ (1974) Dirty dora plunders unsuspecting pockets. Ricemill News
No 5:10–55
Penman PF, Jones RE (1984) Farm budget handbook: irrigation cropping and livestock. Murrumbidgee
Valley. Department of Agriculture, NSW. Marketing and economics publication. p 70
Reinke RF, Lewin LG, Williams RL (1994) Effect of sowing time and nitrogen on rice cultivars of
differing growth duration in New South Wales. I. Yield and yield components. Aust J Exp Agric
34:933–938
Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia (RGA) (2015) http://www.rga.org.au/the-rice-industry.
aspx. Accessed online: 15 Sep 2015
Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) (2015) http://www.rirdc.gov.
au/research-programs/plant-industries/rice. Accessed online: 06 Oct 2015
Russell C, Dunn B (2001) The Rice CRC’s soil nitrogen test-an update and invitation to partici-
pate. Farm Newsl 158:4–5
Stevens MM, Helliwell S, Cranston PS (2006) Larval chironomid communities (Diptera:
Chironomidae) associated with establishing rice crops in southern New South Wales. Australia
Hydrobiologia 556(1):317–325
Stirling GR, McCulloch JS (1984) Paralongidor Ustralis N. Sp. (Nematoda: Longidoridae), caus-
ing poor growth of rice in Australia. Nematologica 30(4):387–394
SunRice (2015) Fact sheet history of Australian rice industry. https://www.sunrice.com.au/
media/6663/history_of_australian_rice.pdf. Accessed online: 26 Sep 2015
184 A.A. Bajwa and B.S. Chauhan

Taylor M (2010) Weed management in Australian rice production. Rural Industries Research and
Development Corporation (RIRDC). Publication no 10/017
Thompson JA, Griffin D, North S (2003) Improving the water use efficiency of rice, Final report
project 1204. Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Rice Production, Yanco
Thompson JA, North S (1994) Raised beds reduce wither waterlogging. Farm Newsl 143:38–38
Thompson JA (2002) Water management of rice in southern New South Wales, Australia. In:
Bouman BAM, Hengsdijk H, Hardy B, Bindraban PS, Tuong TP, Ladha JK (eds) Proceedings
of the international workshop on waterwise rice production, 8–11 Apr 2002. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 62–67
Tisdall JM, Hodgson AS (1990) Ridge tillage in Australia: a review. Soil Tillage Res 18:127–144
Williams RL, Angus JF (1994) Deep floodwater protects high nitrogen rice crops from low tem-
perature damage. Aust J Exp Agric 34:927–932
Williams RL, Farrell T, Hope MA, Reinke R, Snell P (1999) Short duration rice: implications for
water use efficiency in the New South Wales Rice Industry. In: Humphreys E (ed) Proceedings
of a workshop on rice water use efficiency, 12 Mar 1999. Cooperative Research Centre for
Sustainable Rice Production, Yanco, pp. 41–44
Chapter 8
Rice Production Systems

A.N. Rao, S.P. Wani, M.S. Ramesha, and J.K. Ladha

8.1  Introduction

Rice is one of the major staple cereals with more than 3.5 billion people depending
on rice for more than 20 % of their daily calorie intake (IRRI, Africa Rice and CIAT
2010). It is estimated that the rice production must increase by 114 million tons by
2035, but farmers must achieve it under significant threats from climate change
(Suzanne et al. 2012) coupled with decreasing amount of available agricultural land,
labor, and water for agriculture and increased costs of all inputs. Increasing global
food production with minimal adverse impact on resources and the environment is
the greatest challenge for food security (Ladha et  al. 2015). Hence, for ensuring
food and nutritional security of the rice-growing world, it is essential to make con-
sistent efforts to understand and develop innovative rice production systems that are
resource use efficient, higher net income generating, and environment friendly.
This chapter attempts to summarize the information on rice production systems,
resources used, crop productivity attained, the challenges encountered, and possible
research needs for improving productivity in rice production systems, to meet the
future food demands.

A.N. Rao (*)

ICRISAT Development Center (IDC) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI),
International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT),
Patancheru 502 324, India
e-mail: [email protected]
S.P. Wani
IDC and South Asia, ICRISAT, Patancheru 502 324, India
M.S. Ramesha
IRRI-South Asia Hub, ICRISAT, Patancheru 502 324, India
J.K. Ladha
IRRI, Manila, Philippines

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 185

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_8
186 A.N. Rao et al.

8.2  Rice Production Systems Classified

Rice is grown in more than 100 countries spread across six continents and in a wide
range of environments. Globally rice is grown on a total area of approximately 158
million ha, producing more than 700 million tons annually (470.6 million tons of
milled rice) in 2015 (USDA 2016). About 90 % (nearly 640 million tons) of the rice
in the world is grown in Asia (Fig. 8.1), with China and India as the lead producers.
Africa and Latin America produce about 25 million tons each. In Asia and sub-­
Saharan Africa, almost all rice is grown on small farms of 0.5–3 ha per household.
Rice is produced in many different environments and in many ways. The rice pro-
duction systems were classified by different scientists, in different countries, and in
different ways at different times, depending on the context. The environmental and
socioeconomic conditions of rice production vary greatly from country to country
as well as from location to location which affected the performance of rice produc-
tion in the past and influences the potential of improving future rice production.
Rice is cultivated under temperate, subtropical, and tropical climatic conditions
with the weather varying from arid and semiarid to subhumid and humid. Based on
soil water conditions, rice production ecosystems include irrigated lowland, irri-
gated upland, rainfed lowland, rainfed upland, and deep water/floating ecosystems
(Fig. 8.2). Socioeconomically, farm size cultivated by a household in South Asia,
Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Africa is generally small, which varies from less than
1 ha to few hectares. In the developed countries, the farm size is larger.

8.2.1  C
 lassification of Rice Production Systems Based
on the Environment Where the Rice Is Grown

The classifications of rice environments are based on altitude (upland, lowland,

deep water) and water source (irrigated or rainfed).

East Asia
33%
Other
2%

Africa
3% Southeast
Asia
27%
Latin
America
4%
Fig. 8.1  Percent of global
rice production by region. South Asia
2011 (www.irri.org) 31%
8  Rice Production Systems 187

1. Lowland rice production system – Continuously grown under flooding (paddy

rice). Lowlands are further categorized as:
(i) Irrigated lowland production system: Irrigated lowland rice system produces
75 % of the global rice production from about 93 million ha. Asia has around
56 % of the world’s all crops in total irrigated area, of which 40–46 % is of rice.
Rice occupies 64–83 %, 46–52 %, and 30–35 % of the irrigated area in Southeast
Asia, East Asia, and South Asia, respectively (GRiSP, 2013). The countries
with the largest areas of irrigated lowland rice are China (31  M  ha), India
(19 M ha), Indonesia (7 M ha), and Vietnam (3 M ha) (Dobermann and Fairhurst
2000). Irrigated lowland rice production system is the most important rice pro-
duction system for food security of Asian countries. The most common method
of establishment of this production system is transplanting. Rice is also estab-
lished by direct wet or water seeding in irrigated lowland production systems.
In transplanting method of rice establishment, rice seedlings are raised in a rice
seedling nursery for 20–40 days prior to their manual or mechanical transplant-
ing into the flooded field. Irrigated rice is grown in bunded fields or paddies,
which are surrounded by a small levee that keeps the water surrounded. The
farmers, who have small holding (0.5 to 2 acres) of land, normally maintain in
the field a water layer of 5–10 centimeters (cm) during the major period of the
cropping cycle (Bouman et al. 2006). One or more rice crops can be grown per
year as the water supply is assured. Rice–rice and rice-upland cropping systems
are followed. Irrigated rice receives about 40 % of the world’s irrigation water

Fig. 8.2  Major global rice-growing areas and ecosystems (GRiSP 2013)
188 A.N. Rao et al.

and 30 % of the world’s developed freshwater resources. The average produc-
tivity of irrigated lowland rice is higher (about 5.4 t/ha) (GRiSP 2013).
Rice is grown under irrigated systems in temperate climatic conditions of
Australia, Bhutan, Central Asia (Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan), Chile, China,
Japan, Korea, Nepal, Russia, Turkey, the USA, and Uruguay (Jena and Hardy
2012). In Bhutan, Nepal, and part of China, rice is established by transplant-
ing. In the irrigated lowlands of Korea, rice is mostly established by machine
transplanting method with hand transplanting practiced on only 1.2 % of mar-
ginal rice land. However, with decreased labor availability and rising labor
cost, farmers are motivated to shift from transplanting to direct seeding as is
practiced in other temperate rice-growing countries. In temperate climatic
regions where a single irrigated rice crop is grown per year, productivity of
8–10  t/ha or more is achieved (http://ricepedia.org/rice-as-a-crop/
where-is-rice-grown).
( ii) Rainfed lowland production system (including flood prone): Rainfed lowland
rice is grown in river deltas and coastal areas of South Asia, parts of Southeast
Asia, and essentially all of Africa, where the fields are bunded and flooded with
rainwater for at least a part of the cropping season. In this system, the major
method of rice establishment is transplanting, but direct wet or dry seeding is
also practiced. Globally, around 19 % of the world’s rice is produced from 52
million ha of rainfed lowlands (GRiSP 2013). Abiotic stresses, such as drought
(in around 27 million ha) and uncontrolled flooding ranging from short-­duration
flash floods to deep water submergence with 100 cm of water for a few months
(20 million ha), prevail due to highly uncertain rainfall and salinity (Dobermann
and Fairhurst 2000; Bouman et  al. 2005; Wassmann et  al. 2009; Clermont-­
Dauphin et al. 2010; Mackill et al. 2010). Water is 1 to 5 m deep and is supplied
by rivers, lakes, or tides in river mouth deltas. Water depth may exceed 5 m in
some parts of Bangladesh, as well as in the Mekong, Kariba Dam (Tongas), and
Niger deltas. Deep water or floating rice is established by broadcasting rice
seed in plowed fields and is normally grown unbunded, in regions where the
water level rises quickly after the beginning of the monsoon. Traditional long
tiller and few sprout varieties are cultivated. The rice plants elongate and float
as the floodwater advances; thus, it is named as “floating rice.” Due to the risk
involved in growing rice in these most difficult environments, farmers tend to
use fertilizers rarely and avoid using improved rice varieties. Thus the rice pro-
ductivity in rainfed lowland areas is very low (1–2.5  t/ha) (Dobermann and
Fairhurst 2000).
2. Rainfed upland rice production system – In this system the rice is grown under
high rainfall. Rainfed upland rice production system is often used by subsistence
farmers in Asia, Africa, and Central America. It can be found in environments
ranging from low-lying valley bottoms to steep sloping lands with high runoff.
The rice in this system is established by broadcasting or dibbling in dry soil prior
to the onset of monsoon or during the rainy season. The aerobic condition pre-
vails in the soil throughout the rice cropping season. Traditionally, one rice crop
8  Rice Production Systems 189

is grown annually with minimal input application. Of rice produced in around 15

million ha, rainfed uplands account for about 4 % of the global total rice produc-
tion (GRiSP 2013). Two-third of rainfed upland rice is in Asia (Bangladesh,
Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam). In the
rice belt of Africa, upland areas of central and western part represent about 40 %
of the African area under rice cultivation and employ about 70 % of the region’s
rice farmers (Bouman et al. 2007). The ecosystem is extremely diverse, includ-
ing fields that are level, gently rolling, or steep, at altitudes of up to 2000 m and
with rainfall ranging from 1000 to 4500 mm annually. Soils range from highly
fertile to highly weathered, infertile, and acidic, but only 15 % of total upland
rice grows where soils are fertile and the growing season is long. The productiv-
ity of upland rainfed rice is low (about 1 t/ha) because of many biotic, abiotic,
and social constraints and the use of the local varieties by farmers that fail to
respond to improved management practices. The major constraints of this sys-
tem are drought, problem soils, and pests (weeds, diseases, insects, nematodes)
(Bouman et al. 2007; GRiSP 2013).
3 . Irrigated upland or aerobic rice production system – In aerobic rice systems, the
rice plant is established by direct seeding in non-puddled, non-flooded fields and
managed intensively as an upland crop (Tuong and Bouman 2003). Aerobic rice
systems can reduce water requirements for rice production by over 44 % relative
to conventionally transplanted systems, by reducing percolation, seepage, and
evaporation losses, while maintaining yields at an acceptable level (Bouman
et al. 2005). There were efforts in the 1980s to develop and popularize the irri-
gated upland rice or aerobic rice production in Brazil using sprinkler irrigation
systems. In northern China, aerobic rice production is being practiced currently
at a limited scale in freely drained fields, as a response to water shortage. The
areas planted with aerobic rice varieties were estimated to be about 80,000 ha in
China and 250,000 ha in Brazil (http://www.fao.org/agriculture /crops /thematic-­
sitemap/ theme/spi/scpi-home/managing-ecosystems/sustainable-rice-systems/
rice-what/en/). In India, the aerobic rice system adoption has been initiated in
states like Karnataka (Rao et al. 2015).

8.2.2  C
 lassification of Rice Production Systems Based
on the Method of Rice Establishment

The major methods of rice establishment in the world are transplanting and direct
seeding. Thus, based on the method of rice establishment, the rice production sys-
tems may be categorized as (a) transplanted rice (TPR) production systems and (b)
direct-seeded rice production systems. Direct-seeded rice production systems may
be further categorized as (i) dry-seeded rice (dry-DSR) production system, (ii) wet-­
seeded rice (wet-DSR) production system, and (iii) water-seeded rice (water-DSR)
production system. These production systems are briefly described below.
190 A.N. Rao et al.

8.2.2.1  Transplanted Rice (TPR) Production System

Rice is commonly grown by transplanting seedlings into the puddled soil (wet till-
age) in lowlands of Asia (e.g., India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar) and Africa
(e.g., Madagascar, Mali). Transplanting of rice is done manually (Fig. 8.3) or by
machine (Fig. 8.4). The manual transplanting method involves growing of seedlings
in a nursery and replanting of 20–30-day-old rice seedlings to puddled soils. The rice
seedling nursery may be raised on wet bed or dry bed or dapog or mat or modified
mat methods depending on the locality, soil type, rice ecosystem, and the resource
availability (for details, refer to http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-­by-­step-
production/growth/planting). In several Asian countries, the labor-intensive trans-
planted rice production systems are being practiced until now, where even the labor
supply is abundant due to the population growth. For machine transplanting the rice
seedlings are grown in trays or in mat-type nursery in which a thin layer of sol mixed
with farm yard manure or compost is placed on a polythene sheet and rice seedlings
are raised. Mats of rice seedlings from the trays or mat-type nursery are used for
machine transplanting. In Asia, machine transplanters are now being used to estab-
lish rice crops in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. In India, farmers started using it
in states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The traditional TPR production system

Fig. 8.3  The manual transplanting method of rice establishment uses more labor, water, and
energy as it involves processes such as rice seedling nursery raising, seedling pulling, and trans-
planting in flooded soil conditions (Photos by A.N. Rao)
8  Rice Production Systems 191

has advantages such as adequate nutrient availability (e.g., phosphorus, zinc, iron)
due to creation of anaerobic conditions (Sanchez 1973), assured seedling establish-
ment, initial seedling vigor, and competitiveness against weeds (Rao et al. 2007).
However, higher quantities of water are consumed in TPR in order to accomplish the
processes such as puddling, surface evaporation, and percolation (Farooq et  al.
2011). This production system is labor, water, and energy intensive and is becoming
less profitable as these resources are becoming increasingly scarce. It also deterio-
rates the physical properties of soil, adversely affects the performance of succeeding
upland crops, and contributes to methane emissions. However, TPR continues to
dominate under certain environmental and socioeconomic conditions of the world.

8.2.2.2  Direct-Seeded Rice (DSR) Production System

Direct seeding of rice is done by (1) dry seeding (dry-DSR), (2) wet seeding (wet-­
DSR), and (3) water seeding (water-DSR) (Kumar and Ladha 2011). As the rice
seeds are sown directly, the dry- , wet- and water-DSR methods are often jointly
referred to as DSR. At present 23 % of rice area is direct-seeded globally (Rao et al.

Fig. 8.4  Rice establishment by using transplanting machine reduces the drudgery of women labor,
reduces the cost of cultivation, and ensures optimum rice plant population (Photos by A.N. Rao)
192 A.N. Rao et al.

2007; Kumar and Ladha 2011). Dry-DSR consists of sowing dry seeds on dry
(unsaturated) soils. Seeds can be broadcasted, drilled, or dibbled. Dry-DSR produc-
tion is practiced traditionally in most of the Asian countries in rainfed upland eco-
systems and is also used in irrigated areas with precise water control as aerobic rice.
In certain states of India, farmers are cultivating dry-DSR with the onset of mon-
soon and convert it to irrigated lowland rice after release of the assured canal water
in the system (Fig. 8.5) (Rao et al. 2015). Dry-DSR and TPR in the furrow-irrigated
raised-bed planting system were also tested (Singh et al. 2006, 2008) for attaining
optimal water productivity in the rice–wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of
South Asia. However, rice establishment on furrow-irrigated raised-beds is not cur-
rently popular among the rice farming community.
Wet-DSR involves sowing of pre-germinated rice seeds in wet (saturated) pud-
dled soils. Wet- DSR is done by broadcasting the seeds on puddled soil or by using
a drum seeder (Fig. 8.6). Wet-DSR is practiced in favorable rainfed lowlands and
irrigated area with good facility of drainage as in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the
Philippines, and Sri Lanka (Pandey and Velasco 2005; Weerakoon et al. 2011). DSR
is becoming an attractive alternative to TPR. Asian rice farmers are shifting to DSR
to reduce labor input, drudgery, and cultivation cost (Rao et al. 2007; Kumar and
Ladha, 2011).The increased availability of short-duration rice varieties and cost-­
efficient selective herbicides has encouraged farmers to try this method of establish-
ing rice (Balasubramanian and Hill 2002). It is quickly replacing traditional

Fig. 8.5  Dry-seeded irrigated rice sown by using seed cum fertilizer drill (Photos by A.N. Rao)
8  Rice Production Systems 193

Fig. 8.6 (a) The drum seeder and (b) the crop of wet-seeded rice (left) sown by using the drum
seeder (Photos by A.N. Rao)

transplanting in areas with good drainage and water control (Balasubramanian and
Hill 2002). Rice is mostly direct-seeded, with only 6 % area under transplanting, in
Latin America (GRiSP 2013). In the water-DSR, pre-germinated rice seeds (soaked
and incubated for 24 h each) are broadcast in standing water on puddled (wet-water-­
DSR) or unpuddled soil (dry-water-DSR). The relatively heavyweight rice seeds
sink in standing water, resulting in good anchorage. Water-DSR is used for rice
establishment in irrigated lowland areas with good land leveling as in California
(United States), Australia, and European countries specifically for managing prob-
lematic weeds such as weedy rice. In Asia, some countries like Malaysia are
­adopting it.
In this chapter, the method of rice establishment is considered as the major crite-
ria for classifying rice production systems. The information of these rice production
systems on the attained crop productivity, the resources used, and the challenges
encountered will be discussed while highlighting the possible research needs for
improving productivity in rice production systems to meet the future food demands.

8.3  Productivity of Different Rice Production Systems

Several studies have shown that productivity of TPR and DSR rice will be similar in
a given environment provided that they are cultivated using best management prac-
tices (Rickman et  al. 2001; Mitchell et  al. 2004; Kumar and Ladha 2011).
Traditionally under rainfed TPR areas, need of ponded water for customary practice
of puddling delays rice transplanting by 1–3 weeks (Ladha et al. 2009) resulting in
reduced yields. The puddled TPR production systems need a large quantity of water
and labor, which are becoming scarce and costly, in addition to the drudgery to
transplanting women and children. The profit margins were also reduced due to
increasing water and labor cost for TPR (Pandey and Velasco 1999). Hence, a major
shift from puddled TPR production system to DSR system is taking place in the
194 A.N. Rao et al.

irrigated areas of many developing countries in Asia (Pandey and Velasco 2005 ,
Rao et al. 2007). However, compared to TPR, lower yield was reported with wet-
and dry-DSR production systems due to uneven or poor crop establishment; inade-
quate weed control; higher spikelet sterility than in puddled transplanting; higher
crop lodging, especially in wet seeding and broadcasting; and micronutrient defi-
ciencies (Rickman et al. 2001; Rao et al. 2007; Choudhury et al. 2007; Singh et al.
2005). Higher rice productivity was reported when these constraints were alleviated
(Bhushan et al. 2007; Yoshinaga 2005).
The performance of different types of DSR production systems varied with
countries depending on the cultural practices used, the environment, and their inter-
action (Kumar and Ladha 2011). Among DSR production systems, line/drill seed-
ing (compared with broadcasting) and wet-DSR (compared with dry-DSR) were
reported to yield higher. However, dry-DSR was found to be more resistant to
drought with longer survival under drought period and may increase yield stability
of rainfed rice than the wet-DSR and transplanted rice systems (Boling et al. 1998).
The yield of dry-DSR and TPR systems were similar when irrigation was scheduled
daily or at 20 kPa (Yadav et al. 2011a). In China, a meta-analysis revealed that the
rice grain yield decreased in rice–rice cropping system and increased in rice-upland
cropping system due to the adoption of zero tillage (ZT) (Huang et al. 2015), when
compared to conventional tillage (CT). The responses of rice grain yield to ZT did
not differ with rice establishment method (TPR or DSR), rice cultivar type (hybrid
or inbred), ZT adoption duration (<3 years or 3–6 years or >6 years), and manage-
ment of crop residues (residues removed or retained) (Huang et al. 2015).
Based on the data of several studies they reviewed, Kumar and Ladha (2011)
reported that direct-seeded rice production systems had a lower cost of production
by US$ 22–80 ha−1 resulting in higher economic returns of US$30–50 ha−1compared
with conventional puddled TPR production system. They reported the savings in
production costs increased in the following order: ZT-dry-DSR > Bed-dry-DSR
>CT-dry-DSR > CT-wet-DSR > CT-TPR.

8.4  Resource Use of Different Rice Production Systems

High cost of production and diminishing resources have led to a greater focus on
improving the overall eco-efficiencies of agricultural systems (Keating et al. 2010)
for achieving optimal agricultural outputs using less land, water, nutrients, energy,
labor, and capital inputs in rice production systems.

8.4.1  Water

Irrigated lowland rice is typically grown under flooded conditions, and at the field
level, it utilizes up to two to three times more water than other major food crops, due
to the unproductive water flows, in the form of seepage and percolation to drains,
8  Rice Production Systems 195

creeks, or groundwater. This can amount to 60–80  % of all water inputs to rice
(Tabbal et al. 2002). The water input for a typical puddled TPR per season was esti-
mated to vary from 660 to 5280  mm depending on the growing season, climatic
conditions, soil type, and hydrological conditions, with 1000–2000 mm as a typical
value in most cases (Tuong and Bouman 2003). The overexploitation of groundwa-
ter to meet the high water requirement of TPR and water scarcity has become a
major threat to the sustainability of rice production (Rijsberman 2006). The per
capita availability of water is expected to decline by 15–54 % over the next 35 years
in several countries of Asia (Gleick 1993), and by 2025, 15–20 million ha of rice
lands will suffer some degree of water scarcity (GriSP 2013). Hence, increasing
water use efficiency in rice production systems is essential (Ladha et al. 2015). In
addition to the consumption of large amount of irrigation water and labor, the pro-
cess of puddling results in subsurface compaction (Kukal and Aggarwal 2003).
The increasing shortage of water resources has led to the development and adop-
tion of aerobic rice system, which saves water input and increases water productiv-
ity by reducing water use during land preparation and limiting seepage, percolation,
and evaporation (Nie et al. 2012). In an aerobic rice system, the crop can be dry
direct-seeded or transplanted and soils are kept aerobic through the major part of the
growing season. Supplemental irrigation is applied when needed. Aerobic rice cul-
tivars are adapted to aerobic soils and have higher yield potential than traditional
upland cultivars. Grain yields of 5–6 t ha-1 can be reached in aerobic rice system
(Nie et al. 2012).The micronutrient deficiencies such as Zn and Fe in aerobic rice
are of major concern (Gao et al. 2006). Aerobic rice could considerably improve
eco-efficiency in rice-based systems where water, labor, and energy are becoming
increasingly scarce, and hence it is gaining importance in South Asia as an alterna-
tive to the conventional transplanted flooded rice system (Mahajan et al. 2013).
Dry-DSR production system helps to save irrigation water, especially in fine-­
textured soils (Yadav et al. 2011a, b). Dry-DSR with intermittent irrigation offers
potential water savings at the field level due to reduced evaporation losses, intermit-
tent irrigation, and avoidance of puddling. In dry-DSR and TPR production sys-
tems, significant irrigation water input decline was recorded with irrigation at
20 kPa compared to daily irrigation (Yadav et al. 2011a). Novel irrigation water-­
saving technologies such as alternate wetting and drying (AWD) can also help many
rice farmers around the world to cope with water scarcity (Lampayan et al. 2015).
In AWD, irrigation is given at intervals of 6–8 days for heavy soils and 4–5 days for
lighter soils. Prior to next irrigation, the soil dries naturally after the water disap-
pearance from soil surface and the water quantity applied at each of the irrigation is
about 50–60 mm. Thus, the introduction of aerobic periods during the growing sea-
son and altering soil chemistry and flooding practices results in reduced water use
(Yao et al. 2012; Liu et al. 2013) and reduced global warming potential (GWP) of
greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes (Feng et al. 2013). A 10–77 % saving in water and
20–87  % increase in rice yield with the additional advantages of energy saving,
nutrient use efficiencies, and controlling vectors of malaria and Japanese encephali-
tis were reported with the use of AWD (Van der Hoek et al. 2001). The irrigation at
20 kPa lowered the irrigation water use of dry-DSR, with AWD, by 33–53 % as
compared to the respective transplanted rice system (Yadav et al., 2011a).
196 A.N. Rao et al.

8.4.2  Nutrients

Of all the nutrients, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P2O5), and potassium (K2O)
remain the major nutrients for increased and sustained rice productivity. The
fertilizer use trend in rice indicates the highest consumptions of N fertilizer fol-
lowed by P2O5 and K2O fertilizers with imbalanced fertilizer use (i.e., very high
use of N, less use of P2O5, and negligible use of K2O, S, and micronutrients),
increased soil nutrient mining, and decreased soil organic matter and soil fertility
(FAO 2006). Proper nutrient management should aim to supply fertilizers ade-
quate for the demand of the rice and applied in ways that minimize loss, maxi-
mize the efficiency of use, and improve the productivity and sustainability of rice
production systems, because of the high potential for loss and economic and
environmental consequences (Chien et al. 2009). The nutrient management strat-
egies for irrigated and rainfed lowland rice production systems vary (Dobermann
and White 1999).
Among macronutrients, N is a key nutrient for the optimal rice growth and devel-
opment to attain optimal rice yield. The rice crop and water management practices
for DSR differ considerably from those for TPR. The DSR may have higher nitro-
gen requirement due to the longer duration of DSR in fields than puddle trans-
planted rice (Kumar and Ladha 2011).The insufficient N uptake by the DSR crop
and resulting lower yield observed in DSR production systems (Kropff et al. 1994)
was reported to be due to relatively lower uptake of nitrogen by the shallower roots
of DSR (Zhang and Wang 2002) and higher leaching losses of applied nitrogen out
of root zone in DSR (Ponnamperuma 1972). Increasing nitrogen quantity in DSR in
larger number of splits with optimum irrigation may lead to higher rice yield due to
their effect on the nitrogen movement and availability to plants in soils especially in
coarse- and medium-textured soils (Shad and De Datta 1988).
N is applied in the larger quantities compared to all other nutrients as most soils
of rice production systems are nitrogen deficient. As per global estimates, the fer-
tilizer N recovery by the crop averages only 46  % in rice systems (Ladha et  al.
2005). To increase the N use efficiency of irrigated rice, site-specific N manage-
ment (SSNM) was developed (Dobermann et al. 2002), in which N application is
based on the demand of the crop for N as measured by the chlorophyll meter
(SPAD) or leaf color chart (Peng et al. 1996). The usefulness of leaf color chart for
dry-DSR rainfed lowland rice and wet-DSR was reported by Budhar and
Tamilselvan (2003) and Angadi et  al. (2002). SSNM was evaluated in farmers’
fields in eight major irrigated rice domains in Asia, and the average grain yield
increased by 11 % with an increase in average recovery efficiency from 31 % to
40  % and 20  % of all farmers achieving more than 50  % recovery efficiency
(Dobermann et al. 2002). Enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilizers have been devel-
oped to decrease N losses and improve N use efficiency in rice production systems
(Linquist et al. 2013).
On an average, around 18 kg ha−1 of K2O for the irrigated rice crop is needed
(Dobermann and Cassman 1997). K2O deficiency has become a constraint in soils
8  Rice Production Systems 197

that were previously not considered as K2O limiting. The occurrence of K2O defi-
ciency and response to applied K2O depend on the yield levels, K2O buffering
capacity of the soil, straw management, and net K2O inputs from sources other than
fertilizer (Dobermann et al. 1996). Clay mineralogy, texture, and K2O inputs from
irrigation or rainwater are needed to be considered along with K2O inputs from
other sources while formulating a rational K2O management strategy for the rice
production systems (Dobermann et al. 1998).
In the irrigated rice production systems, P2O5 solubilizes immediately after
flooding, leading to an increase in available P2O5 to rice (Kirk et  al. 1990).
However, soil drying reduces its availability to crop (Willet and Higgens 1978;
Sah et  al. 1989). Hence, phosphorus deficiency is important in drought-prone
environments because the mobility of P2O5 decreases sharply as soil dries. In sys-
tems of low P2O5 fertility, the repeated dry-wet transition increases P2O5 extrac-
tion, further lowering fertility. The upland rice dry-DSR is generally grown on
poorly fertile, strongly weathered soil, with high P2O5 fixation and severe soil
acidity. P2O5 deficiency is one of the key constraints of upland dry-DSR produc-
tion (Gupta and O’Toole 1986). Banding of P2O5 fertilizer beneath the dry-DSR
crop row is preferred.
The deficiency of secondary and micronutrients is often stimulated by the appli-
cation of large amounts of N, P2O5, and K2O for achieving higher rice yield targets
(Johnston et al. 2009). Iron (Fe) is only slightly soluble in the soil under aerobic
conditions, especially in alkaline calcareous soils (Marschner 1995). Fe deficiency
is a common nutritional problem in the production of aerobic rice. Current crop
management strategies addressing Fe deficiency include Fe foliar application, plant
breeding for enriched Fe rice varieties, and adoption of cropping systems (Zuo and
Zhang 2011). Across the globe, among micronutrients, zinc (Zn) deficiency is one
of the important abiotic factors limiting rice productivity in addition to being a
major nutritional disorder affecting human health (Alloway 2009). Zn deficiency is
wide spread in traditional lowland (Dobermann and Fairhurst 2000) due to high soil
pH and high carbonate content as well as low redox potential (Forno et al. 1975;
Alloway 2009). Shifting the method of establishment from TPR to DSR or aerobic
rice system and adoption of water-saving technologies like AWD may decrease Zn
availability (Gao et al. 2006). Soil or foliar Zn fertilizers application is used to man-
age Zn deficiency (Rengel et al. 1999) and to increase grain Zn concentration (Jiang
et al. 2008). It is essential to utilize breeding programs to increase Zn uptake and
utilization in rice production systems as a large genotypic variation (13.5–
58.4 mg kg–1) was recorded in Zn grain concentration with differential rice g­ enotypic
responses to Zn deficiency (Graham et al. 1999; Quijano-Guerta et al. 2002; Shi
et al. 2009; Gao et al. 2009).
It is essential to have a proper blend of organic and inorganic fertilizers for
increasing the productivity of rice production systems and for improving soil health.
Application of SSNM can help improve nutrient management in rice production
systems and attain improved yields and profitability as SSNM is based on scientific
principles for optimal site-specific and need-based supply of nutrients to rice in a
particular cropping season.
198 A.N. Rao et al.

8.5  P
 ests (Insects, Diseases, and Weeds) and Their
Management in Different Rice Production Systems

The estimated average potential yield loss in major crops globally is 18 %, 16 %,
and 34 % due to animal pests, (non-virus) pathogens, and weeds, respectively, in the
absence of any physical, biological, or chemical crop protection (Oerke 2006). The
potentially highest yield loss causing weeds are more problematic in the DSR pro-
duction system than in puddled TPR production system. The young emerging rice
seedlings of DSR do not possess a competitive advantage over weeds as do have the
transplanted 30-day-old seedlings in the TPR. Moreover, a layer of water suppresses
the initial flushes of weeds in TPR, and lack of flooding in DSR provides a competi-
tive advantage to weeds over rice seedlings in DSR (Rao et  al. 2007, Rao and
Nagamani 2007). In addition to currently problematic weeds such Echinochloa
spp., weedy rice is becoming a major threat to dry-DSR production systems which
replaced traditional transplanted rice production systems (Rao and Nagamani 2007).
Hence, integrated weed management strategies are to be developed for managing
the weedy-rice problem in dry-DSR production systems.
A study in tropical Asia covering a wide range of lowland rice-cultivating envi-
ronments revealed that the injury profiles were dominated by stem rot and sheath
blight; bacterial leaf blight, plant hoppers, and leaf folder; and sheath rot, brown
spot, leaf blast, and neck blast (Savary et al. 2000). Stem rot and sheath blight were
associated with high (mineral) fertilizer inputs, long fallow periods, low pesticide
use, and good water management in (mostly) transplanted rice crops of a rice–rice
rotation. Bacterial leaf blight, plant hoppers, and leaf folder were more prevalent in
direct-seeded rice–rice production system with poor water management and lower
fertilizer and pesticide input use or with adequate water management and higher
fertilizer and pesticide input usage. Sheath rot, brown spot, leaf blast, and neck blast
correspond to low-input, labor-intensive (hand weeding and transplanting) rice
crops in a diverse rotation system with uncertain water supply. Weed infestation is
an omnipresent constraint. The high weed pressure, severe iron deficiency, and
nematode infestation coupled with higher irrigation water inputs were reported to
be the reasons for getting rice yields lower than the transplanted rice by the adoption
of dry-seeded rice with most frequent irrigations on coarse- and medium-textured
soils (Singh et al. 2015).
The rice production systems were reported to differ in the incidence and losses
caused due to the pests. A Korean study revealed higher population densities of
green rice leafhopper (Nephotettix cincticeps) and leaf folders (Cnaphalocrocis
medinalis) in machine-transplanted than in direct-seeded rice, while abundance of
brown plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens) and small brown plant hopper (Laodelphax
striatellus) was more in dry-DSR (Lee and Ma 1997). However, incidence of the
Asiatic rice borer or striped rice stem borer (Chilo suppressalis), white-backed plant
hopper (WBPH) (Sogatella furcifera), and rice stem maggot (Chlorops oryzae) did
not differ among machine-transplanted and direct-seeded rice production systems
(Lee and Ma 1997). In Punjab (India), the leaf folder incidence was higher in the
8  Rice Production Systems 199

bed-transplanted (BT) (8.87 %) and wet-seeded rice (WSR) (10.62 %) than that in
rice grown using the other crop establishment methods (Sarao and Mahal 2013).
The incidence of stem borer causing dead heart damage was significantly higher in
the WSR system (5.85 %), while that of whitehead damage was higher in the BT
(5.89 %) and WSR (6.54 %) plots than in other rice production systems. In Korea,
sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani) incidence was not affected by different rice pro-
duction systems, while the incidence of rice blast (Magnaporthe grisea) was
affected and favored by unbalanced nutrient contents in the rice plants (especially
low SiO2 and high nitrogen) and high leaf area index (LAI) (Kim et al.1996).
Integrated weed management strategies are available for managing weeds of dif-
ferent rice production systems (Rao 2010; Rao and Ladha 2011, 2013; Rao and
Nagamani 2007, 2010; Rao et al. 2007, 2015). The management aspects of the dis-
eases and insect pests of rice are dealt with in other chapters of this book.

8.6  E
 nvironmental Footprint by Different Rice Production
Systems

Among different sectors that contribute to total greenhouse gas emissions of the
world, contribution of agriculture is around 9.3 %, including 1.5 % of rice. Emissions
of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from rice fields are common in South, East, and
Southeast Asia. Rice ecosystems emit both CH4 and N2O and have higher global
warming potential (GWP) of GHG emissions and have higher GWPY (GWP per
unit of yield) than other crops as rice is grown usually under flooded conditions in
irrigated ecosystems and uses more water (Linquist et al. 2012).
Due to individual or combined effects of various factors such as soil characteris-
tics, climatic conditions, and management such as soil pH, redox potential, soil
texture, soil salinity, temperature, rainfall, and water management, amount of CH4
emission varies between different rice production systems depending on the rice
establishment techniques (Harada et al. 2007; Ladha et al. 2015). The irrigated pud-
dled TPR is considered one of the major sources of methane (CH4) emissions and
accounts for 10–20  % (50–100 Tg year −1) of total global annual CH4 emissions
(Reiner and Aulakh 2000). Direct seeding has the potential to decrease CH4 emis-
sions (Wassmann et al. 2004). CH4 emissions were reported to be lower in DSR than
with conventional TPR (Gupta et  al. 2002; Tyagi et  al. 2010). In wet-DSR, the
reduction in CH4 emission increased from 16–22 % under continuous flooding to
82–92  % under mid-season drainage or intermittent irrigation as compared with
conventional TPR under continuous flooding (Corton et al. 2000). CH4 gas emission
and global warming potential were maximum under conventional TPR, and emis-
sion of N2O was maximum under DSR crop with conservation practice of brown
manuring as the addition of organic matter to soil increased the decomposition rate,
which resulted in higher emission of GHGs (Bhatia et al. 2011). One of the ways, to
minimize CH4 emissions while attaining equivalent or higher rice yield and lower
irrigation water use than those of farmer-managed puddled TPR, is adoption of dry-­
200 A.N. Rao et al.

DSR with best management practices and conservation agriculture (CA) that uses
ZT or minimum till while retaining rotational crop residues (Ladha et  al. 2015).
Izaurralde et al. (2004) opined that soils under ZT, depending on the management,
might also emit less nitrous oxide.

8.7  C
 hallenges and Future Research Needs of Different Rice
Production Systems

The challenges vary with the rice production systems. The main factors that limit
the yield in irrigated areas include poor management of inputs and resources;
losses from weeds, pests, and diseases; inadequate land and water scarcity; and
resulting salinity and alkalinity. In rainfed lowlands the challenges include adverse
climate, drought, submergence, poor soils, pests, weeds, and absence of appropri-
ate soil, water, crop management technologies, or strategies to suit the farmers’
needs and which economically increase rice productivity. In upland dry-DSR
environment, the major challenges are the biological constraints such as weeds,
nematodes, and diseases (e.g., blast), poor soil fertility, socioeconomic con-
straints, and lack of productive varieties to suit the microenvironment of uplands
and the drought. In TPR production systems, inappropriate management of prob-
lem soils, non-judicious use of fertilizers and water, and resulting pest prolifera-
tions and increasing cost of cultivation are major challenges. In aerobic rice
production systems, lack of fine-tuned need-based technologies suited to different
rice ecosystems across globe, non-­availability of suitable varieties, micronutrient
deficiencies, soil and water management optimization, adaptive weed menace,
and pest problems are major challenges.
The future research efforts on rice production systems should ultimately result in
(i) evolving practical integrated crop management strategies that improve rice pro-
ductivity and production efficiently, effectively, and economically in different rice
production systems across the globe and (ii) improving the food security and
­livelihood of the farmers and farming community of rice and rice-based cropping
systems globally.

Acknowledgments  Authors thank IRRI, whose figures are used. We also thank Government of
Karnataka (BhooSamrudhi) for financial assistance.

References

Alloway BJ (2009) Soils factors associated with zinc deficiency in crops and humans. Environ
Geochem Health 31:537–548
Angadi VV, Rajakumara S, Ganajaxi A, Hugar AY, Basavaraj B, Subbaiah SV, Balasubramanian
V (2002) Determining the leaf color chart threshold value for nitrogen management in rainfed
rice. Int Rice Res Notes 27:34–35
8  Rice Production Systems 201

Balasubramanian V, Hill JE (2002) Direct seeding of rice in Asia: Emerging issues and strategic
research needs for the 21st century. In: Pandey S, Mortimer M, Wade L, Tuong TP, Lopez
K, Hardy B (eds) Direct Seeding: Research Strategies and Opportunities. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Banõs, pp. 15–39
Bhatia A, Ghosh A, Kumar V, Tomer R, Singh SD, Pathak H (2011) Effect of elevated tropospheric
ozone on methane and nitrous oxide emission from rice soil in north India. Agric Ecosyst
Environ 144:21–28
Bhushan L, Ladha JK, Gupta RK, Singh S, Tirol-Padre A, Saharawat YS, Gathala M, Pathak H
(2007) Saving of water and labor in rice-wheat systems with no-tillage and direct seeding tech-
nologies. Agron J 99:1288–1296
Boling A, Tuong TP, Singh AK, Wopereis MCS (1998) Comparative root growth and soil water
extraction of dry-seeded, wet-seeded, and transplanted rice in a greenhouse experiment. Philipp
J Crop Sci 23:45–52
Bouman BAM, Peng S, Castaneda AR, Visperas RM (2005) Yield and water use of tropical aerobic
rice systems. Agric Water Manag 74:87–105
Bouman BAM, Humphreys E, Tuong TP, Barker R (2006) Rice and water. Adv Agron 92:187–237
Bouman B, Barker B, Humphreys E, Tuong TP (2007) Rice: feeding the billions. In: Comprehensive
assessment of water management in agriculture. Water for food, water for life: a comprehensive
assessment of water management in agriculture. Earthscan, London and International Water
Management Institute, Colombo, pp 515–549
Budhar MN, Tamilselvan N (2003) Leaf colour chart-based N management in wet-seeded rice. Int
Rice Res Notes 28:63–64
Chien SH, Prochnow LI, Cantarella H (2009) Recent developments of fertilizer production and use
to improve nutrient efficiency and minimize environmental impacts. Adv Agron 102:267–322
Choudhury BU, Bouman BAM, Singh AK (2007) Yield and water productivity of rice-wheat on
raised beds at New Delhi. India Field Crop Res 100:229–239
Clermont-Dauphin C, Suwannang N, Grüberger O, Hammecher C, Maeght JL (2010) Yield of
rice under water and soil salinity risks in farmers’ fields in northeast Thailand. Field Crop Res
118(3):289–296
Corton TM, Bajita JB, Grospe FS, Pamplona RR, Assis CA, Wassmann R, Lantin RS, Buendia LV
(2000) Methane emission from irrigated and intensively managed rice fields in Central Luzon
(Philippines). Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 58:37–53
Dobermann A, Cassman KG (1997) Nutrient efficiency in irrigated rice cultivation. In: Plant
Nutrition in 2000. IFA Agro-Economics Committee Conference, IFA, Tours, France, Paris,
23–25 June 1997
Dobermann A, Fairhurst TH (2000) Nutrient disorders and nutrient management. Potash and
Phosphate Institute/PPI of Canada and International Rice Research Institute, Singapore, p. 192
Dobermann A, White PF (1999) Strategies for nutrient management in irrigated and rainfed low-
land rice Systems. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 53:1–18
Dobermann A, Cruz PCS, Cassman KG (1996) Fertilizer inputs, nutrient balance, and soil nutrient-­
supplying power in intensive, irrigated rice systems. I. Potassium uptake and K balance. Nutr
Cycl Agroecosyst 46:1–10
Dobermann A, Cassman KG, Mamaril CP, Sheehy JE (1998) Management of phosphorus, potas-
sium, and sulfur in intensive, irrigated lowland rice. Field Crop Res 56:113–138
Dobermann A, Witt C, Dawe D, Gines HC, Nagarajan R, Satawathananont S, Son TT, Tan PS,
Wang GH, Chien NV, Thoa VTK, Phung CV, Stalin P, Muthukrishnan P, Ravi V, Babu M,
Chatuporn S, Kongchum M, Sun Q, Fu R, Simbahan GC, Adviento MAA (2002) Site-specific
nutrient management for intensive rice cropping systems in Asia. Field Crop Res 74:37–66
FAO (2006) Improving plant nutrient management for better farmer livelihoods, food security,
environmental sustainability. Proceedings of a Regional Workshop, Beijing, China, 12–16
December 2005. RAPA Publication 2006/27, FAO, Bangkok
Farooq M, Siddique KHM, Rehman H, Aziz T, Lee DJ, Wahid A (2011) Rice direct seeding:
Experiences, challenges and opportunities. Soil Tillage Res 111:87–98
202 A.N. Rao et al.

Feng J, Chen CQ, Zhang Y, Song Z, Deng A, Zheng C, Zhang W (2013) Impacts of cropping prac-
tices on yield-scaled greenhouse gas emissions from rice fields in China: a meta-analysis. Agr
Ecosyst Enviro 164:220–228
Forno DA, Yoshida S, Asher CJ (1975) Zinc deficiency in rice I. Soil factors associated with the
deficiency. Plant Soil 42:537–550
Gao XP, Zou CQ, Fan XY, Zhang FS, Hoffland E (2006) From flooded to aerobic conditions in rice
cultivation: consequences for zinc uptake. Plant Soil 280:41–47
Gao XP, Zhang F, Hoffland E (2009) Malate exudation by six aerobic rice genotypes varying in
zinc uptake efficiency. J Environ Qual 38:1–7
Gleick PH (ed) (1993) Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security.
Stockholm Environment Institute. Oxford University Press, NewYork, p 473
Graham RD, Senadhira D, Beebe SE, Iglesias C, Oritz-Monasterio I (1999) Breeding for micro-
nutrient density in edible portions of staple food crops: conventional approaches. Field Crop
Res 60:57–80
GRiSP (Global Rice Science Partnership) (2013) Rice almanac, 4th edn. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Baños, p. 283
Gupta PC, O’Toole JC (1986) Upland rice: a global perspective. International Rice Research
Institute, Los Baños/Laguna
Gupta RK, Naresh RK, Hobbs PR, Ladha JK (2002) Adopting conservation agriculture in rice–
wheat systems of the Indo-Gangetic plains—new opportunities for saving on water. In:
Bouman BAM, Hengsdijk H, Hardy B, Bindraban B, Toung TP, Ladha JK (eds) Proceedings
of the International Workshop on Water-Wise Rice Production. International Rice Research
Institute, Los Baños, pp 207–222
Harada H, Hitomi K, Hayato S (2007) Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by no-tilling rice
cultivation in Hachirogata polder, northern Japan: Life-cycle inventory analysis. Soil Sci Plant
Nutr 53:668–677
Huang M, Zhou X, Cao F, Xia B, Zou Y (2015) No-tillage effect on rice yield in China: a meta-­
analysis. Field Crop Res 183:126–137
IRRI, Africa Rice and CIAT (2010) Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP). CGIAR Thematic
Area 3: sustainable crop productivity increase for global food security. A CGIAR Research
Program on Rice-Based Production Systems. November 2010. IRRI, Philippines, Africa Rice,
Benin and CIAT, Colombia
Izaurralde RC, Lemke RL, Goddard TW, McConkey B, Zhang Z (2004) Nitrous oxide emissions
from agricultural toposequences in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:1285–1294
Jena KK, Hardy B (eds) (2012) Advances in temperate rice research. International Rice Research
Institute, Los Baños, p. 105
Jiang W, Struik PC, van Keulen H, Zhao M, Jin LN, Stomph TJ (2008) Does increased zinc uptake
enhance grain zinc mass concentration in rice? Ann Appl Biol 153:135–147
Johnston AM, Khurana HS, Majumdar K, Satyanarayana T (2009) Site-specific nutrient manage-
ment – Concept, current research and future challenges in Indian agriculture. J Indian Soc Soil
Sci 57:1–10
Keating BA, Carberry PS, Bindraban PS, Asseng S, Meinke H, Dixon J (2010) Eco-efficient agri-
culture: concepts, challenges, and opportunities. Crop Sci 50:109–119
Kim CK, Min HS, Ra DS, Lee KS (1996) Incidence of major rice diseases under direct seeded
cultivation. RDA J Agr Sci Crop Protection 38:353–358
Kirk GJD, Yu TR, Choudhury FA (1990) Phosphorus chemistry in relation to water regime. In:
Phosphorus requirements for sustainable agriculture in Asia and Oceania. IRRI, Los Banos,
pp. 211–223
Kropff MJ, Cassman KG, Peng S, Matthews RB, Setter TL (1994) Quantitative understanding of
yield potential. In: Cassman KG (ed) Breaking the yield barrier. International Rice Research
Institute, Los Baños, pp. 57–60
Kukal SS, Aggarwal GC (2003) Puddling depth and intensity effects in rice-wheat system on a
sandy loam soil (I). Development of subsurface compaction. Soil Till Res 72:1–8
8  Rice Production Systems 203

Kumar V, Ladha JK (2011) Direct seeding of rice: recent developments and future research needs.
Adv Agron 111:297–413
Ladha JK, Pathak H, Krupnik TJ, Six J, van Kessel C (2005) Efficiency of fertilizer nitrogen in
cereal production: retrospects and prospects. Adv Agron 87:85–156
Ladha JK, Kumar V, Alam MM, Sharma S, Gathala M, Chandna P, Saharawat YS, Balasubramanian
V (2009) Integrating crop and resource management technologies for enhanced productivity,
profitability, and sustainability of the rice-wheat system in South Asia. In: Ladha JK, Singh Y,
Erenstein O, Hardy B (eds) Integrated crop and resource management in the rice–wheat system
of South Asia. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 69–108
Ladha JK, Rao AN, Raman AK, Padre AT, Dobermann A, Gathala M, Kumar V, Saharawat Y,
Sharma S, Piepho HP, Alam MM, Liak R, Rajendran R, Reddy CK, Parsad R, Sharma PC,
Singh SS, Saha A, Noor S (2015) Agronomic improvements can make future cereal systems
in South Asia far more productive and result in a lower environmental footprint. Glob Chang
Biol 22:1054–1074
Lampayan RM, Rejesus RM, Singleton GR, Bouman BAM (2015) Adoption and economics of
alternate wetting and drying water management for irrigated lowland rice. Field Crop Res
170:95–108
Lee SC, Ma KC (1997) Occurrence of major insect pests in machine transplanted and direct seeded
rice paddy field. Korean J Appl Entomol 36:141–144
Linquist B, van Groenigen KJ, Adviento-Borbe MA, Pittelkow C, van Kessel C (2012) An agro-
nomic assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from major cereal crops. Glob Chang Biol
18:194–209
Linquist BA, Liu L, van Kessel C, van Groenigen KJ (2013) Enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertil-
izers for rice systems: meta-analysis of yield and nitrogen uptake. Field Crop Res 154:246–254
Liu L, Chen T, Wang Z, Zhang H, Yang J, Zhang B (2013) Combination of site-specific nitrogen
management and alternate wetting and drying irrigation increases grain yield and nitrogen and
water use efficiency in super rice. Field Crop Res 154:226–235
Mackill DJ, Ismail AM, Kumar A, Gregorio GB (2010) The role of stress-tolerant varieties for
adapting to climate change. Based on a paper from the CURE Workshop on Climate Change,
Siem Reap, Cambodia, 4 May 2010
Mahajan G, Chauhan BS, Gill MS (2013) Dry-seeded rice culture in Punjab State of India: Lessons
learned from farmers. Field Crop Res 144:89–99
Marschner H (1995) Mineral nutrition of higher plants, 2nd edn. Academic press, London
Mitchell, J., Fukai, S. and Basnayake, J (2004) Grain yield of direct seeded and transplanted rice
in rainfed lowlands of South East Asia. In: Proceedings of 4th International Crop Science
Congress, 26 September–October 2004, Brisbane, (on CD)
Nie LX, Peng SB, Chen MX, Shah FR, Huang JL, Cui KH, Xiang J (2012) Aerobic rice for water-­
saving agriculture. A review. Agron Sustain Dev 32:411–418
Oerke EC (2006) Crop losses to pests. J Agric Sci 144:31–43
Pandey S,Velasco LE (1999) Economics of alternative rice establishment methods in Asia: a stra-
tegic analysis. In: Social Sciences Division Discussion Paper, International Rice Research
Institute, Los Baños
Pandey S, Velasco L (2005) Trends in crop establishment methods in Asia and research issues. In:
Toriyama K, Heong KL, Hardy B (eds) Rice is life: scientific perspectives for the 21st century.
International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines and Japan International Research
Center for Agricultural Sciences, Tsukuba, pp 178–181
Peng S, Garcia FV, Laza RC, Sanico AL, Visperas RM, Cassman KG (1996) Increased N-use effi-
ciency using a chlorophyll meter on high-yielding irrigated rice. Field Crop Res. 47:243–252
Ponnamperuma FN (1972) The chemistry of submerged soils. AdvAgron 24:29–96
Quijano-Guerta C, Kirk GJD, Portugal AM, Bartolome VI, McLaren GC (2002) Tolerance of rice
germplasm to zinc deficiency. Field Crop Res 76:123–130
Rao AN (2010) Integrated Weed Management in Rice in India.Rice Knowledge Management
Portal (RKMP). Directorate of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500030, India.
204 A.N. Rao et al.

http://www.rkmp.co.in/sites/default/files/ris/research-themes/Integrated%20weed%20man-
agement%20in%20rice%20in%20India.pdf. Accessed 14 Jan 2014
Rao AN, Ladha JK (2011) Possible approaches for ecological weed management indirect-seeded
rice in a changing world. In: Proc. 23rd Asian Pacific Weed Science Society Conference. Sebel,
Cairns, Australia, pp 444–453
Rao AN, Ladha JK (2013) Economic weed management approaches for rice in Asia. In: Bakar BH,
Kurniadie D, Tjitrosoedirdjo S (eds) Proceedings of 24th Asian Pacific Weed Science Society
Conference. Asian Pacific Weed Science Society, Bandung, pp 500–509
Rao AN, Nagamani A (2007) Available technologies and future research challenges for managing
weeds in dry-seeded rice in India. In: Proceedings of 21st Asian Pacific Weed Science Society
Conference from 2 to 6 October 2007, Colombo, pp 391–491
Rao AN, Nagamani A (2010) Integrated weed management in India–revisited. Indian J Weed Sci
42:123–135
Rao AN, Johnson DE, Sivaprasad B, Ladha JK, Mortimer AM (2007) Weed management in direct-­
seeded rice. Adv Agron 93:153–255
Rao AN, Wani SP, Ramesha M, Ladha JK (2015) Weeds and Weed Management of Rice in
Karnataka State, India. Weed Technol 29:1–17
Reiner W, Aulakh MS (2000) The role of rice plants in regulating mechanisms of methane emis-
sions. Biol Fert Soils 31:20–29
Rengel Z, Batten G, Crowley D (1999) Agronomic approaches for improving the micronutrient
density in edible portions of field crops. Field Crop Res 60:28–40
Rickman JF, Pyseth M, Bunna S, Sinath P (2001) Direct seeding of rice in Cambodia. In
“Proceedings of an International Workshop”, 30 October–2 November. ACIAR Proceedings
No. 101, Vientiane, Laos
Rijsberman FR (2006) Water scarcity: fact or fiction? Agric Water Manag 80:5–22
Sah RN, Mikkelsen DS, Hafez AA (1989) Phosphorus behaviour in flooded-drained soils.
III. Phosphorus desorption and availability. Soil SciSoc Am J 53:1729–1732
Sanchez PA (1973) Puddling tropical soils. 2. Effects on water losses. Soil Sci 115:303–308
Sarao PS, Mahal MS (2013) Influence of crop establishment methods on the incidence of major
rice insect pests. Int J Trop Insect Sci 33:247–255
Savary S, Willocquet L, Elazegui FA, Teng PS, Pham Van D, Zhu DF, QiYi T, ShiWen H, Lin XQ,
Singh HM, Srivastava RK (2000) Rice pest constraints in tropical Asia: characterization of
injury profiles in relation to production situations. Plant Dis 84:341–337
Shad RA, De Datta SK (1988) Fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency in direct seeded wetland rice under
different water management systems. Pak J Agric Res 9:440–447
Shi J, Li L, Pan G (2009) Variation of grain Cd and Zn concentrations of 110 hybrid rice cultivars
grown in a low Cd paddy soil. J Environ Sci 21:168–172
Singh Y, Singh G, Johnson D, Mortimer M (2005) Changing from transplanted rice to direct seed-
ing in the rice-wheat cropping system in India. In: Toriyama K, Heong KL, Hardy B (eds)
Rice is life: scientific perspectives for the 21st century. International Rice Research Institute,
Los Baños, Philippines and Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences,
Tsukuba, pp 198–201
Singh S, Lav B, Ladha JK, Gupta RK, Rao AN, Sivaprasad B (2006) Weed management in dry-­
seeded rice (Oryza sativa) cultivated in the furrow-irrigated raised-bed planting system. Crop
Prot 25:487–495
Singh S, Ladha JK, Gupta RK, Lav B, Rao AN (2008) Weed management in aerobic rice systems
under varying establishment methods. Crop Prot 27:660–671
Singh MC, Gupta N, Kukal SS (2015) Performance of dry seeded rice in relation to nitrogen appli-
cation under different irrigation scenarios. Environ Ecol 33:1996–2000
Suzanne KR, Nadine A, Binamira JS 2012. Rice in Southeast Asia: facing risks and vulnerabilities
to respond to climate change. In: Meybeck, A., Lankoski, J., Redfern, S., Azzu, N. and Gitz, V.
(eds) Building resilience for adaptation to climate change in the agriculture sector. Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development, Rome, 295-314
8  Rice Production Systems 205

Tabbal DF, Bouman BAM, Bhuiyan SI, Sibayan EB, Sattar MA (2002) On-farm strategies for
reducing water input in irrigated rice: case studies in the Philippines. Agric Water Manag
56:93–112
Tuong TP, Bouman BAM (2003) Rice production in water–scarce environments. In: Kijne JW,
Barker R, Molden D (eds) Water productivity in agriculture: limits and opportunities for
improvement. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, UK. pp 53–67
Tyagi L, Kumari B, Singh SN (2010) Water management – A tool for methane mitigation from
irrigated paddy fields. Sci Total Environ 408:1085–1090
USDA (2016) Rice Outlook/RCS-16D/April 14, 2016. Economic Research Service, USDA,
United States Department of Agriculture, U.S.A
Van der Hoek W, Sakthivadivel R, Renshaw M, Silver JB, Birley MH, Konradsen F (2001) Alternate
wet/dry irrigation in rice cultivation: a practical way to save water and control malaria and
Japanese encephalitis? IWMI research report no. 47. Colombo
Wassmann R, Neue HU, Ladha JK, Aulakh MS (2004) Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from
rice–wheat cropping systems in Asia. Environ Sustain Dev 6:65–90
Wassmann R, Jagadish SVK, Peng SB, Sumfleth K, Hosen Y, Sander BO (2009) Rice production
and global climate change: scope for adaptation and mitigation activities. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Baños
Weerakoon WMW, Mutunayake MMP, Bandara C, Rao AN, Bhandari DC, Ladha JK (2011)
Direct-seeded rice culture in Sri Lanka. Field Crop Res 121:53–63
Willet IR, Higgins ML (1978) Phosphate sorption by reduced and reoxidized rice soils. Aust J Soil
Res 16:319–326
Yadav S, Gill G, Humphreys E, Kukal SS, Walia US (2011a) Effect of water management on dry
seeded and puddled transplanted rice. Part 1: crop performance. Field Crop Res 120:112–122
Yadav S, Humphreys E, Kukal SS, Gill G, Rangarajan R (2011b) Effect of water management on
dry seeded and puddled transplanted rice. Part 2: water balance and water productivity. Field
Crop Res 120:123–132
Yao F, Huang J, Cui K, Nie L, Xiang J, Liu X, Wu W, Chen M, Peng S (2012) Agronomic perfor-
mance of high-yielding rice variety grown under alternate wetting and drying irrigation. Field
Crop Res 126:16–22
Yoshinaga S (2005) Direct-seeding cultivation of rice in Japan: Stabilization of seedling establish-
ment and improvement of lodging resistance. In: Toriyama K, Heong K L, Hardy B, (eds) Rice
is life: scientific perspectives for the 21st century, 4–7 Nov 2004. Proceedings of the World
Rice Research Conference. Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences/
Japan and International Rice Research Institute, Tsukuba/Los Banõs, pp 184–186
Zhang QC, Wang GH (2002) Optimal nitrogen application for direct seeding early rice. Chin
J Rice Sci 16:346–350
Zuo YM, Zhang FS (2011) Soil and crop management strategies to prevent iron deficiency in
crops. Plant Soil 339:83–95
Chapter 9
Domestication and Development
of Rice Cultivars

Tahir Hussain Awan, Mostafa Ahmadizadeh, Khawar Jabran, Saima Hashim,

and Bhagirath Singh Chauhan

9.1  Introduction

Rice can be cultivated under a wide range of climatic conditions including those of
plains near to sea levels as well as the Himalayas region which is 2700 m above the
sea level (Fuller et al. 2010). The natural progenitors of crop species provide informa-
tion regarding the evolution of relevant species and are a source of genetic variation
(Kovach et al. 2007). Evidences of rice domestication have been collected from the
regions between the lower and middle Yangtze River in south of China (Doebley et al.
2006). Recently, Civáň et al. (2015) concluded that there were three different indepen-
dent centers of rice domestications in different regions of Asia. Wild and domesticated
rice types differ for several of the traits such as shattering behavior, pericarp color,

T.H. Awan (*)

Weed Science, Department of Agronomy, Rice Research Institute, Kala Shah Kaku,
Punjab, Pakistan
e-mail: [email protected]
M. Ahmadizadeh
Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural
Resources University, Sari, Iran
Plant Breeding Division, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Philippines
K. Jabran
Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Department of Plant Protection, Duzce
University, Duzce, Turkey
S. Hashim
Department of Weed Science, University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan
B.S. Chauhan
The Centre for Plant Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
(QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Gatton/Toowoomba, QLD 4343/4350, Australia

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 207

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_9
208 T.H. Awan et al.

tiller number, size of seeds, mating type, dormancy, panicle ­architecture, and number
of seeds (Sweeney and McCouch 2007; Vaughan et al. 2008).
All across the world, the cultivated rice includes two species which are African
rice (Oryza glaberrima) and Asian rice (Oryza sativa). African rice is grown mainly
in African countries, while Asian rice is generally grown to the rest of the world
including some parts of Africa. The two Oryza species have been grown for centu-
ries which helped in improving their traits for achieving a better growth and yield.
Based on study of 3000 accession, O. sativa categories into four main classes:
Indica, Japonica, Aus, and Aromatic types. In this chapter, we have discussed the
history of rice domestication, the domestication traits, rice types, and rice cultivars
in the world.

9.2  History of Rice Domestication from Its Wild Ancestor

Wild rice was probably found throughout the eastern China and Yangtze basin up to
the north such as Shandong. Besides, silicon microfossils and phytoliths of structures
of rice cell that dated to 11,000–12,000 BC have been discovered at Diotonghuan and
Xianrendong sites. During 3000–2000 BC, rice was moved to the Yellow River basin
which is located in central China. For the same period (2500–2000  BC), the rice
remains were found in Vietnam and Taiwan. In India, archeological work indicated
that rice consumption existed in Neolithic site Lahuradewa in the Ganges Valley (i.e.,
dating to 7000–5000 BC) (Fuller et al. 2010; Itzstein-Davey et al. 2007; Sweeney and
McCouch 2007; Wei et al. 2012). Archeological data and molecular clock estimation
indicate that the domestication of rice was started ∼8200–13,500 years ago, and rice
was first cultivated in the Yangtze Valley of China (Molina et al. 2011).

9.2.1  History and Domestication of Asian and African Rice

Cultivated crop species derived from their wild ancestors not only provide valuable
sources for genetic diversity for crop improvement but also provide a valuable infor-
mation to get a glance at the evolutionary history of our domesticated crop species
(Kovach et al. 2007). Domesticated rices have 21 wild relatives of the genus Oryza.
The genus Oryza is divided into four species complexes: O. sativa, O. ridleyi, O.
granulata, and O. officinalis species (Vaughan et  al. 2003). Six wild species are
included in O. sativa complex, i.e., O. rufipogon, O. barthii, O. glumaepatula, O.
nivara (considered to be an ecotype of O. rufipogon), O. meridionalis, and O. lon-
gistaminata, and two domesticated species in the complex are O. glaberrima and O.
sativa. All these species are diploids. O. longistaminata and O. barthii are African
species; O. barthii is widespread in West Africa, and O. longistaminata is found
throughout Africa. O. meridionalis is inhabitant to Australia, and O. glumaepatula
is widespread in Central and South America. O. rufipogon established throughout
Oceania and Asia. These distributions are helpful to trace the inherited pools of rice
varieties (Vaughan et al. 2003; Sweeney and McCouch 2007).
9  Domestication and Development of Rice Cultivars 209

There are two divergent types of domesticated rice, Asian rice (Oryza sativa) and
African rice (Oryza glaberrima), which have distinctive domestication histories. A
hypothesis indicated that O. sativa was probably domesticated from O. rufipogon
approximately 10,000 years ago by East Asian people (Wei et al. 2012). O. sativa is
subdivided into indica and japonica, two main subspecies (Fuller et al. 2010). It had
been suggested by several researchers that the indica group was domesticated origi-
nally from O. rufipogon, and, afterward, the japonica was obtained from indica
(Chang 1976; Lu et al. 2002). Compared to japonica, greater genetic diversity has
been seen in indica group (Garris et al. 2005). The close genetic association between
existing populations of both annual and perennial forms of O. rufipogon and indica
supports this hypothesis. The second hypothesis indicated that the japonica and
indica separation took place as a result of adaptation to various geographical and
ecological environments conformity of a single domestication from O. rufipogon. A
third hypothesis, first proposed by Chou (1948), indicated that there was at least
twice independent rice domestication from a pre-distinction ancestor of O. rufipogon
gene pool (Kovach et al. 2007). Molecular dating of divergence time demonstrated
that the genomes of japonica and indica had separated 0.2–0.4 million years ago,
which showed that this divergence time was substantially before the rice domestica-
tion time. The results of some studies indicate that Himalaya (India, Myanmar, and
Thailand) is the place of domestication for indica group and southern China is the
place of domestication for japonica rice (Doebley et al. 2006; Londo et al. 2006;
Sang and Ge 2007). In addition, Molina et al. (2011) pointed out from a single origin
and several independent domestication models that japonica and indica were directly
domesticated from O. rufipogon (wild rice) and separately from a diverse species
range of wild rice. Also, Wei et al. (2012) indicated that japonica and indica were
domesticated from distinct populations of O. rufipogon. Recently, Civáň et al. (2015)
used the footprints of cultivated rice types (genomes) to demonstrate that there were
three different independent domestications in various parts of Asia. They identified
wild populations which constitute the japonica gene pool source in southern Yangtze
Valley of China, and populations in the Brahmaputra Valley and Indo-China which
constitute the indica gene pool source. They revealed a hitherto unrecognised origin
for the aus variety in central India or Bangladesh. They concluded that the result of
the hybridization between aus and japonica was aromatic rice and that the temperate
and tropical japonica versions were afterwards adaptations of one crop.
Previous studies have recognized that O. glaberrima was domesticated from O.
barthii in West Africa near the Niger River nearly 3500 years ago (Callaway 2014;
Wei et al. 2012). O. glaberrima has unique characteristics, such as its strictly annual
habit, short rounded ligule, few secondary panicle branches, and red pericarp color,
which differentiate it from Asian rice (Vaughan et al. 2008).

9.2.2  Domestication Traits

Because of the considerable variation and introgression by wild rice, some charac-
ters are consistently distinct among domesticated and wild rices. These include
changes in size of seeds, shattering, mating type, panicle architecture, pericarp
210 T.H. Awan et al.

color, tiller number, number of seeds, and dormancy (Sweeney and McCouch 2007;
Vaughan et al. 2008).
Many phenotypic distinctions are manifested among wild relatives of O. sativa
(Li et al. 2006; Sweeney and McCouch 2007; Thomson et al. 2003; Uga et al. 2003).
Typically, wild rices exhibit long awns, to guarantee the propagation, display, and
seed dispersal by intense shattering, while short awns and decreased shattering for
harvesting the maximum number of seeds is observed in domesticated types (Ji
et al. 2006; Kovach et al. 2007; Lin et al. 2007; Vaughan et al. 2008; Yao et al. 2015).
In addition, Yao et al. (2015), while studying the shattering of seeds in weedy rice,
detected three quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and demonstrated that the identified
QTLs (wd-qsh5, wd-qsh3, and wd-qsh1) had no overlaps by main shattering loci
(e.g., qSH1, SHAT1, SH4, and sh-h). Considering these results, it was suggested
that genomic studies of domestication traits could be helpful to produce weedy rice
without the contention of wild type of rice at the agroecosystems.
Pericarp of grains from wild rice has a red color because of the pigment in the
seed coat. Nevertheless, almost all modern rice varieties appear white or beige in the
absence of red pigmentation. Rc is the only locus that has been indicated to affect
an alteration of pericarp from red to white. Opposite to its progenitors, the panicle
shape of rice has altered from an open panicle along scant secondary branches with
few grains, to an aggregated packed panicle, which can contain more numbers of
seeds. Therefore, results of domestication studies such as the genes associated and
the geographic and distribution of alleles will be useful for breeders to better com-
prehend ancestors and breed rice for future (Kovach et  al. 2007; Sweeney and
McCouch 2007).

9.3  Rice Types and Cultivars in the World

Rice is included in the family Poaceae and genus Oryza. The plants of this species
may be annual or perennial and attain a height of 100–200 cm (http://ricepedia.org/
rice-as-a-plant).

9.3.1  Cultivated Rice Species

9.3.1.1  Oryza sativa

Important subspecies in Oryza sativa are (1) japonica (short grained and sticky), (2)
indica (long grained, the nonsticky rice), and (3) javanica. Japonica varieties are
usually cultivated at high elevations (South Asia), in dry fields (temperate East
Asia), and in upland areas (Southeast Asia). Tropical Asia contains the indica vari-
eties as most grown rice species. These are mostly sown in submerged and lowland
conditions. Most probably japonica and indica were the result of a single domesti-
cation occurred in China nearly 8000–13,000 years ago.
9  Domestication and Development of Rice Cultivars 211

Japonica

Japonica rice was originated from China and is grown in Japan. It is usually culti-
vated in temperate and cooler zones of the subtropics. The plants have a lower
height than other types of rice, while its leaves have a dark green color. Low shat-
tering, hard, short, and rounded grains are some of the characters of japonica rice.
Grains are sticky after cooking.

Javanica or Tropical Japonica

Javanica or tropical japonica is another subspecies with an intermediate amylose

content and stickiness. “Unoy” and “Tinawon” varieties are the examples for this
rice which are grown in an area in the Philippines. Javanica plants are tall and have
light green, broad leaves and thick and long grains, which do not shatter easily. Its
grains are sticky because of the low amylose content.

Indica

This is a major type of rice grown in subtropics and tropics of the world. The leaves
of indica rice are light green in color, and its plants are long in height. Indica and
japonica types of rice have glutinous or non-glutinous grains.
Glutinous rice: Desserts and snacks are made from this rice. Mostly grown in
Southeast Asia; this rice is sticky, white, and opaque after cooking.
Non-glutinous: Non-glutinous rice has lower stickiness than glutinous rice.
Aromatic rice, including basmati from Pakistan and India and jasmine from
Thailand: It has 12–13 % share in global trade and earns a premium price in the
world markets.

9.3.1.2  Oryza glaberrima

The location of domestication for Oryza glaberrima (African rice) is upper Niger
River. Its domestication dates back to almost 2000–3000 years, while its wild ances-
tor (Oryza barthii) can be found in some parts of Africa even nowadays. Grain qual-
ity and yield of this rice is generally poorer than O. sativa, while it possesses a better
resistance/tolerance against stresses than O. sativa.

9.3.2  Grain Characteristics of Cultivated Rice Species

Cultivated rice species have been classified into following major groups based on
their grain characteristics.
212 T.H. Awan et al.

9.3.2.1  Aromatic Rice Types

Aromatic rice have medium to long grains. Recent research established that a­ romatic
rices have aroma because of the natural chemicals that give them a distinctive fragrance
or aroma. In addition to this, they have very low levels of arsenic relative to the nonaro-
matic rice varieties. Aromatic rices provide fragrance as do the popcorn or roasted nuts.
Basmati and jasmine are respectively the most important aromatic rices in the world.
Aroma is an important trait associated with high-quality grains such as those of
basmati and jasmine rice. Most of aromatic rice varieties share the same aroma gene,
badh2. Farmers have rice containing this gene since thousands of years. However,
what makes rice grains aromatic remains a scientific mystery today. Although 2-ace-
tyl-1-pyrroline (2AP), the main aromatic compound responsible for the fragrance of
jasmine and basmati rice varieties, has been identified long ago, more than 150 dif-
ferent unknown aromatic compounds are now known to exist. Researchers have not
yet fully understand the contribution of these compounds to aroma.

Features of Different Types of Aromatic Rice

Aromatic rice includes basmati, texmati, jasmine, wild pecan rice, and wehani.
Grains are light in texture and fluffy after cooking.
Basmati rice  Basmati is a customar name for certain rice varieties that are exclu-
sively grown in specific area of Indo gagnetic plains. Basmati is slender, sword
shaped, long/extra long, and fluffy with high-volume expansion which almost gets
double on cooking and having typical basmati aroma. Basmati rice is photoperiod
and thermo sensitive and possesses the following characteristics:

Minimum elongation ratio on cooking 1.7 mm

Minimum average pre-cooked grain length 6.5 mm
Amylose content Intermediate (19–26%)
Length/breadth ratio More than 3.5
Gel consistency Soft
Gelatinization temperature Intermediate (69–74 %)
Typical basmati aroma Present
Grain shape Slender (sword)
Appearance Translucent

Basmati is historically cultivated since centuries in Indian and Pakistani Punjab

provinces and at the foot of the Himalayan mountain ranges. Both Pakistan and
India have evolved many basmati rice varieties. Grains of basmati rice are aromatic
and long, and basmati means “queen of scents” or “pearl of scents.” The word
basmati is derived from the Sanskrit word vas, meaning “aroma,” and mayup,
meaning “ingrained” or “present from the begining (Singh et al. 2000). Basmati is
a rice that exudes a sweet, delightful smell when cooked. Basmati rice is a part of
food culture in many of the European, Arab, and American countries.
9  Domestication and Development of Rice Cultivars 213

Texmati  This is an aromatic rice produced in America. This was developed after a
cross of basmati rice and long grain (American) rice.
Wehani rice  This rice type was developed in the USA from basmati, possesses
long grains and an aroma.
US black japonica  This rice has a black bran and aroma.
US Della, Delrose, and Delmont  This rice possesses the characters of both the
basmati rice and long grain rice and, thus, expresses aroma after it is cooked.
Red rice  This rice is grown in Bhutan and France (as well as some other parts of
the world). The grains are reddish brown and possess an aroma.
Arborio rice  This is a short grain Italian rice and possesses a high starch content.
This is grown in some states of the USA as well.
Carnaroli rice  This is arborio rice with larger grains and grown in some regions
of Italy.
Jasmine rice  This type of rice is present in China and Thailand, possesses long
grains, and has fragrance (similar to jasmine). This rice has a good cooking quality
which resembles to basmati rice; however, jasmine rice is sticky.
Kalijira rice or Kalo nunia  This rice is grown in Bangladesh and has small non-
sticky fragrant grains and cooks quickly with a good texture and taste.

9.3.2.2  Nonaromatic and Non-glutinous Rice

Glutinous or nonaromatic rice types are usually neutral in flavor and are short
grained. Some rice types have their value because of their color. This color is usu-
ally determined by levels of pigment anthocyanin in different layers of the seed
coat, pericarp, and outer grain layer.
Black Rice
This rice is considered to have a high nutritious value being rich in vitamin B and
containing many other trace elements such as calcium and manganese. Another
important characteristic of this type is that it can be stored under refrigeration for
using within 3 months, without spoilage. There are several things which distinguish
this rice from other rice cultivars, e.g., it is less sticky. It has a sweet flavor, high
content of iron, minerals, fiber, and vitamins.

9.3.2.3  Glutinous, Sticky Rice, or Mochi Rice

Glutinous means sticky, this type of rice has short grains and is glue-like after it is
cooked. The other names are sweet, botan, waxy, and pearl rice. Glutinous (sticky)
rice is consumed mainly in dry areas of northern Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. It
214 T.H. Awan et al.

is frequently used for brewing beer and as an important ingredient in snacks and in
sweet dishes. Laos with 85 % production is the largest producer and consumer of
glutinous rice. This rice has no dietary gluten but has a high amylopectin and a very
low amylose.

9.3.3  Rice Varieties in the World

The number of rice cultivars being grown in the world exceeds 40,000. International
Rice Gene Bank in the Philippines keeps the germplasm for nearly 127,000 rice
cultivars and their wild relatives. This resource is useful for researchers from all rice
growing regions in the world.
Based on grain size and average grain length (AGL), the rice grain may be grouped
as extra long (>7.5 mm), long (6.6–7.5 mm), medium (5.5–6.6 mm), and short grain
rice (<5.5 mm). Based on shape {length (L) to width (W) ratio}, rice grain may be
selender (L-W ratio >3), medium (L-W ratio = 2.1–3), Bold (L-W ratio = 1.1–2), and
round shape (L-W ratio <1.1). Chalkiness of endosperm, none (0 %), small (<10%),
medium (11–20 %), and large (>20 %) (Singh et al. 2000).
Different types of rice varieties have been developed and named in the following
countries/regions of the world:

No. Types of varieties No. Types of varieties

1. Chinese varieties 12. Laos/Thai varieties
2. Indian varieties 13. Cambodian varieties
3. Bangladeshi varieties 14. Canadian varieties
4. Indonesian varieties 15. United States varieties
5. Iranian varieties 16. Spanish varieties
6. Japanese varieties 17. Italian varieties
7. Philippine varieties 18. French varieties
8. Sri Lankan varieties 19. Portuguese varieties
9. Vietnamese varieties 20. Australian varieties
10. African varieties 21. Dominican varieties
11. Pakistani varieties 22. Thai varieties

9.4  Conclusions

Understanding how and when humans domesticated crops from wild progenitors
might supply more than a retrospective. Learning the dynamics of domestication
of a crop can provide important lessons for the future. Currently, several QTLs
detected in rice are being investigated for fine mapping or high-­resolution mapping
studies for genetic dissection. Ultimately, this knowledge will be useful in breeding
programs as well as improving our knowledge about types of rice cultivated in the
world with their unique and specific characteristics.
9  Domestication and Development of Rice Cultivars 215

References

Callaway E (2014) The birth of rice. Nature 514(7524):S58–S59. http://doi.org/10.1038/514S49a

Chang T.-T (1976) The origin, evolution, cultivation, dissemination, and diversification of Asian
and African rices. Euphytica 25(1):425–441. http://doi.org/10.1007/BF00041576
Chou S (1948) China is the place of origin of rice. J  Rice Soc China 7:53–54. Retrieved from
https://scholar.google.com.ph/scholar?hl=en&q=China+is+the+place+of+origin+of+rice&btn
G=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=#1
Civáň P, Craig H, Cox CJ, Brown T A (2015) Three geographically separate domestications of
Asian rice. Nature Plants 1(11):15164. http://doi.org/10.1038/nplants.2015.164
Doebley JF, Gaut BS, Smith BD (2006) The molecular genetics of crop domestication. Cell
127:1309–1321. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2006.12.006
Fuller DQ, Sato Y, Castillo C, Qin L, Weisskopf AR, Kingwell-banham EJ, Jixiang, Song,
Sung-Mo, Ahn Etten, J. Van (2010) Consilience of genetics and archaeobotany in the entangled
history of rice. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2:115–131. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-010-0035-y
Garris AJ, Tai TH, Coburn J, Kresovich S, McCouch S (2005) Genetic structure and diversity in
Oryza sativa L. Genetics 169(3):1631–8. http://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.104.035642
Itzstein-Davey F, Taylor D, Dodson J, Atahan P, Zheng H (2007) Wild and domesticated forms of
rice (Oryza sp.) in early agriculture at Qingpu, lower Yangtze, China: evidence from phytoliths.
J Archaeol Sci 34(12):2101–2108. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2007.02.018
Ji HS, Chu SH, Jiang W, Cho YI, Hahn JH, Eun MY, Susan R.  McCouch, Koh HJ (2006)
Characterization and mapping of a shattering mutant in rice that corresponds to a block of
domestication genes. Genetics 173(2):995–1005. http://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.105.054031
Kovach MJ, Sweeney MT, Mccouch SR (2007) New insights into the history of rice domestication.
Trends Genet 23(11):578–587. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2007.08.012
Li C, Zhou A, Sang T (2006) Genetic analysis of rice domestication syndrome with the wild annual
species, Oryza nivara. New Phytol 170(1):185–194. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2005.01647.x
Lin Z, Griffith ME, Li X, Zhu Z, Tan L, Fu Y, Wang X, Xie D, Sun C, Sun C (2007) Origin
of seed shattering in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Planta 226(1):11–20. http://doi.org/10.1007/
s00425-006-0460-4
Londo JP, Chiang Y-C, Hung K, Chiang T, Schaal BA (2006) Phylogeography of Asian wild rice,
Oryza rufipogon, reveals multiple independent domestications of cultivated rice, Oryza sativa.
Proc Natl Acad Sci 103(25): 9578–9583. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0603152103
Lu B-R, Zheng KL, Qian HR, Zhuang JY (2002) Genetic differentiation of wild relatives of rice
as assessed by RFLP analysis. TAG Theor Appl Genet 106(1): 101–6. http://doi.org/10.1007/
s00122-002-1013-2
Molina J, Sikora M, Garud N, Flowers JM, Rubinstein S, Reynolds A, Huang P, Jackson S, Schaal
BA, Bustamante CD, Boyko AR Purugganan MD (2011) Molecular evidence for a single
evolutionary origin of domesticated rice. Proc Natl Acad Sci 108(20):8351–8356. http://doi.
org/10.1073/pnas.1104686108
No Title. Retrieved from http://ricepedia.org/rice-as-a-plant
Sang T, Ge S (2007) Genetics and phylogenetics of rice domestication. Curr Opin Genet Dev
17:533–538. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.gde.2007.09.005
Singh RK, Singh US, Khush GS (2000) Aromatic Rices, Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd.
New Delhi, India
Sweeney M, McCouch S (2007) The complex history of the domestication of rice. Ann Bot
100(5):951–7. http://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcm128
Thomson MJ, Tai TH, McClung AM, Lai X-H, Hinga ME, Lobos KB, Xu Y, Martinez CP, McCouch
SR (2003) Mapping quantitative trait loci for yield, yield components and morphological traits
in an advanced backcross population between Oryza rufipogon and the Oryza sativa culti-
var Jefferson. TAG Theor Appl Genet Theoretische Und Angewandte Genetik 107(3):479–93.
http://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-003-1270-8
Uga Y, Fukuta Y, Cai HW, Iwata H, Ohsawa R, Morishima H, Fujimura T (2003) Mapping QTLs
influencing rice floral morphology using recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between
216 T.H. Awan et al.

Oryza sativa L. and Oryza rufipogon Griff. TAG Theor Appl Genet 107(2): 218–26. http://doi.
org/10.1007/s00122-003-1227-y
Vaughan DA, Lu BR, Tomooka N (2008) The evolving story of rice evolution. Plant Sci
174(4):394–408. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2008.01.016
Vaughan DA, Morishima H, Kadowaki K (2003) Diversity in the Oryza genus. Curr Opin Plant
Biol 6(2):139–146. http://doi.org/10.1016/S1369-5266(03)00009-8
Wei X, Qiao WH, Chen YT, Wang RS, Cao LR, Zhang WX, Yuan NN, Li ZC, Zeng HL Yang QW
(2012) Domestication and geographic origin of Oryza sativa in China: insights from multilocus
analysis of nucleotide variation of O. sativa and O. rufipogon. Mol Ecol 21(20):5073–5087.
http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05748.x
Yao N, Wang L, Yan H, Liu Y, Lu B (2015) Mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) determining seed-
shattering in weedy rice: evolution of seed shattering in weedy rice through de-­domestication.
Euphytica 513–522. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-014-1331-x
Chapter 10
Fertilizer Management in Rice

Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

10.1  Introduction

Rice (Oryza sativa L.), with global production of more than 740  M  t in 2014
(FAOSTAT 2016), is the staple food for nearly half the world population. Rice can
be grown both in dry and wet conditions over a wide range of latitudes and across a
wide range of soil, climatic, and hydrological conditions; primarily, it is grown in
the humid and subhumid tropics and subtropics. Global average yield of irrigated
rice is 5 t ha−1, but national, regional, and seasonal yield averages vary widely. In the
tropics, skilled rice farmers achieve rice yields of 7–8 t ha−1 in the dry season, and
5–6 t ha−1 in the wet season when cloud cover reduces the amount of solar radiation
and hence the yield. The productivity of rainfed upland and flood prone deep water
rice, however, continues to be low and is static around 1.0 t ha−1 (Dobermann and
Fairhurst 2000). To produce high grain yield levels, modern rice cultivars require
adequate amount of essential nutrients. Of the total 172.2 Mt fertilizer (N+P2O5+K2O)
consumed globally during 2010–2011, 14.3  % (24.7 Mt) was used in rice.
Percentages for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) were 15.4, 12.8,
and 12.6, respectively (Heffer 2013). Intensive rice production and future rice
demands will require knowledge-intensive strategies for the efficient use of all
inputs, including fertilizer nutrients. As irrigated and rainfed lowland rice systems
account for about 80 % of the worldwide harvested rice area and 92 % of total rice
production (Dobermann and Fairhurst 2000), the discussions in this chapter will be
focused more toward these production systems.

Bijay-Singh (*)
Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141 002, Punjab, India
e-mail: [email protected]
V.K. Singh
Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 217

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_10
218 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

In lowland rice ecosystems, the crop is flooded for all or part of the growing sea-
son. Rice is unique among cereal crops because its root system is adapted to largely
anaerobic soil conditions. The aquatic environment also alters the availability of sev-
eral essential nutrients, affects nutrient uptake and use efficiency and fertilization
practices. Although some issues still require more research, knowledge of nutrient
management under flooded soil conditions to produce lowland rice has progressed
rapidly over the past several decades. Average recovery efficiencies of N, P, and K
from mineral fertilizers in field trials with rice at 179 farmers’ fields (n = 314) in five
countries (China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines) were 33, 24, and
38  %, respectively (Witt and Dobermann 2004). However, data compiled from
research trials from all over the globe revealed that average recovery efficiency for N
was calculated as 46 % (Ladha et al. 2005). Better nutrient management practices at
research stations compared to those followed by farmers was the reason. Similarly,
optimization of factors that cause low P- and K-use efficiency in rice is important. In
a long-term experiment with rice in China (Zhang et al. 2006), with no P application
(NK treatment), rice had a high internal P efficiency of 590 kg grain kg−1, indicating
P deficiency. Adding P but skipping K (NP treatment) alleviated the P deficiency, but
because the system was K-deficient, this resulted in suboptimal yield increase and an
uneconomical soil P accumulation. With balanced fertilization (NPK), yield was
increased primarily due to an increase in recovery and agronomic efficiency.
Imbalanced use of fertilizers not only aggravates the deficiency of K as well as micro-
nutrients in the soils (Ladha et al. 2003), but also proves to be uneconomic and envi-
ronmentally unsafe. In about 50 M ha of rice land in Asia, deficiency of phosphorus
(P), zinc (Zn), or iron (Fe) or excess of salts like iron or aluminum limits rice yields.
A large potential exists for increasing rice yield but inefficient nutrient use is one of
the most limiting factors. To ensure higher rice productivity, appropriate nutrient man-
agement practices have become an essential component of the modern rice production
technology. Nutrient use efficiency in rice can be improved by using proper inorganic
and organic nutrient sources, need-based rate of fertilizer application, appropriate meth-
ods, and application timing of fertilizers, water management, soil pH management, and
the use of high yielding cultivars adapted to a given environment. Efficient nutrient
management in rice has paramount significance for improving yield and profitability in
short term and better ecological management services in the long-term perspective.

10.2  Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a constituent of amino acids, proteins (enzymes), nucleic acids, and

chlorophyll in plants and is usually the most yield limiting nutrient in rice produc-
tion except in soils containing high organic matter content, which can supply enough
N during the crop season. It is a mobile element inside the plant so that its deficiency
symptoms appear first on the older leaves. Lower leaves of N deficient rice plant
turn yellow later but if the deficiency is not corrected, whole plant may become
chlorotic. Deficiency of N in rice leads to reduced plant height, tillering, leaf area
index, and crop photosynthetic rate.
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 219

Irrigated lowland rice is one of the most inefficient crops with respect to fertilizer
N-use efficiency. Different management options can be followed to supply adequate
amount of N to rice crop for optimum production and minimal losses into the envi-
ronment. However, successful adoption of a set of practices for lowland rice requires
an understanding of the relationships among rice growth and development, the bio-
logical and chemical transformations of fertilizer and native soil N, soil chemical
and physical properties, and management of irrigation water.

10.2.1  Nitrogen Transformations in Flooded Rice Soils

Rice is grown in variable, complex, and dynamic soil moisture regimes during a
crop season. The soil is generally flooded either immediately before rice is seeded
(as in direct water-seeded culture) or transplanted. In case seedlings are established
by direct dry-seeded methods as in broadcast or drill-seeded rice, soil is flooded
when the crop reaches the five-leaf stage and begins to tiller. In typical rice soils
(heavy textured with low permeability), the flood water is generally maintained
until physiological maturity. In permeable light textured soils, fields are flooded
every 1 or 2 days after the flood water is drained. In some instances, the flood water
is intentionally drained to allow the soil to completely dry for specific management
reasons or it is lost due to lack of short-term water availability. Most of the irrigated
rice production systems are subjected to alternate wetting and drying (aerobic and
anaerobic cycles) within the crop season or between the crop seasons.
Flooding an oxidized soil affects utilization of both the soil N and the fertilizer N
by rice. Under aerobic conditions, NH4+ is very rapidly oxidized to NO3−. Flooding
of the soil accentuates the loss of almost all NO2− and NO3− present in the soil through
denitrification and leaching (Buresh et al. 2008). Thus, most of N mineralized under
aerobic soil conditions is lost before its uptake by the rice crop. On the other hand,
under flooded conditions, organic N continues to be mineralized and remains avail-
able as NH4+ for plant use rather than being nitrified and lost via denitrification (Fig.
10.1). To produce optimum rice yields, amount and time of application of fertilizer N
should be governed by the amount and pattern of organic N mineralized after flood-
ing. The rice production systems that lack controlled water management and undergo
several alternate aerobic and anaerobic shifts during a crop season show inefficient N
use because substantial amounts of applied as well as native soil N are preferentially
lost via denitrification. The most fundamental N recommendation for lowland rice is
to use ammonical or NH4+ forming fertilizers such as urea. Ammonium N may be
lost through volatilization, fixed by clay minerals, or immobilized by soil organic
matter (Fig. 10.1). The NO3− containing fertilizer sources should not be applied prior
to soil submergence as NO3−-N may get denitrified or lost via leaching, particularly
on permeable sandy soils or may possibly be transported in the general direction of
water movement across a field (Buresh et al. 2008). As NH4+, a cation, attaches to the
soils cation exchange complex and is held by the soil very close to its point of place-
ment, NH4+ fixation capacity of a soil should be taken into account when strategies
for N fertilization are developed to maximize N-use efficiency.
220 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

Fig. 10.1  Nitrogen transformations in a submerged soil under lowland rice

10.2.2  Critical Levels and Uptake of Nitrogen by Rice

Nitrogen is a highly mobile element inside the plant and when N is deficient in plant
body it is readily translocated from stems and older leaves to the younger leaves or
developing panicles at the heading stage. Critical N concentration in the rice plant
generally increases quadratically with increasing N application rate and decreases
with an increase in plant age due to the dilution effect (Fageria and Baligar 2001).
Yoshida (1981) found that tiller development was stopped when leaf blade N concen-
tration was <20 g N kg−1 of plant dry matter; tillering rate was increased linearly as
leaf blade N concentration increased up to 50 g N kg−1 of plant dry matter. De Datta
(1981) concluded that 25 g N kg−1 in the leaf blade of rice plants at the active tillering
stage was the critical value. Because a concentration gradient can be observed among
the leaf positions from top to bottom, the youngest leaves have a higher N concentra-
tion than older leaves (Westfall et al. 1973). The N status of the first fully opened leaf
from the top of rice plants at any given time has been found to be a reliable indicator
of the N availability in the soil. Technological developments during last decades have
made it possible to quickly and nondestructively quantify chlorophyll content related
spectral characteristics of leaves. It can be used to diagnose plant N deficiency and
efficiently manage fertilizer N in rice (Bijay-­Singh 2014).
Like most other plants, rice can absorb N from the soil solution both as NO3− and
NH4+, and the preferential form of N uptake is mainly determined by its abundance
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 221

and accessibility. A large body of published literature, in general, suggests that rice
prefers NH4+ compared to NO3−; however, Takenaga (1995) observed that rice
absorbed NH4+-N more effectively during vegetative stage and NO3−-N during repro-
ductive stage. Rice does not absorb large amounts of NO3− because generally NH4+
containing fertilizers are applied and management practices largely prevent nitrifica-
tion (Buresh et al. 2008). Urea undergoes hydrolysis after it is added to soil, and forms
NH4+, hence, both ammonium sulfate [(NH4)2SO4] and urea are equally effective N
sources for rice. Ammonium sulfate is a better source of N than urea on alkaline soils
or when it is not possible to incorporate fertilizer immediately by flooding. Ammonia
volatilization, i.e., the loss of N as NH3 gas, may be a pathway of significant impor-
tance when urea is applied to rice in alkaline soils. According to De Datta (1981), N
should be applied as NH4+ at the planting of rice. Once rice crop reaches the panicle
initiation stage, it rapidly takes up the NO3− form of N. The NH4+ and NO3− forms are
equally effective when N is used as topdressing to rice (Wilson et al. 1994).
Total N uptake and dry matter accumulation of rice with age follow similar
trends. Adequate N availability during the beginning of rapid growth (tillering)
plays an important role for optimum growth and yield. With an increase of dry mat-
ter of rice crop, plant tissue N content decreases due to dilution effect, whereas total
N uptake increases with increased dry matter. Almost half of the total dry matter is
produced by the start of panicle initiation/booting stage and accordingly half of the
total N uptake occurs by this stage. When the supply of fertilizer N to rice is
­optimum, 50 % of the total N is absorbed before half of the total dry matter is pro-
duced. Remaining 30–50 % of the total N uptake occurs after the start of panicle
initiation. About 60–70 % of the above-ground N is located in rice panicle at matu-
rity. Most of the N in rice grain at harvest is absorbed between rice panicle emer-
gence and heading. It is initially stored in plant tissue and eventually translocated to
the panicle. Modern high yielding varieties producing around 5 t ha−1 of grain, in
general, can remove about 110 kg N from the soil. Uptake of native soil N plays a
crucial role in the N nutrition of rice crop. The total N content of rice straw and grain
at maturity usually contains 20–40 % more N than that supplied by fertilizer and
this extra (other than fertilizer) N is supplied by native soil N (Moore et al. 1981).

10.2.3  N
 itrogen Use Efficiency and Fertilizer N Management
in Rice

Fertilizer N is used efficiently when a large proportion of the applied fertilizer is

taken up by the crop (termed recovery efficiency), and there is a reasonable
increase in yield for each kilogram of fertilizer N applied (termed agronomic
efficiency). In the case of rice, N fertilizer use efficiency varies widely depending
upon the fertilizer source, the N application time, or both. The recovery effi-
ciency of N fertilizer by rice generally ranges from 20 to 80 % (Fageria et al.
2003) with an average of about 30–40 % (Cassman et al. 1993). However, the
amount of N not accounted for N recovery efficiency should not be interpreted as
N that is lost without utilization from the soil–plant system. A portion of the
222 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

unaccounted N may certainly be lost by denitrification, leaching, and ammonia

volatilization, but a significant portion of this N may be incorporated into the
microbial biomass or reside in the rice root system and become a part of the soil
organic matter. Between 16 and 25 % of the total applied N fertilizer has been
recovered in the soil organic fraction between panicle differentiation and matu-
rity of rice (Bollich et al. 1994).
The rate, source, time of application, and method or placement of N fertilizer
determine N recovery efficiency in the above-ground biomass of lowland rice. Many
of the principles that govern N-use efficiency are the same for transplanted, dry direct
seeded, or direct-water-seeded rice cultures (Fageria et al. 2003). The time of appli-
cation of split doses of fertilizer N varies because critical growth stages of rice under
different systems occur at different times. Nitrogen fertilizer is typically applied in at
least two or more split doses in most of the rice production systems. The first applica-
tion is often termed as basal dose. Sometimes the basal application represents the
largest portion (50–75 % of the total N requirement) of N fertilizer applied in any
single application during the growing season. In transplanted rice systems, N fertil-
izer is applied to the soil surface and mechanically incorporated before the field is
flooded, applied to the soil surface and incorporated by the flood water, or injected
into the soil. In the dry seeded, delayed flood system, the basal dose of N is applied
during early vegetative growth and followed by a­ pplication of irrigation. Regardless
of the cultural system, the most fundamental components of basal N management are
the use of an ammonium-forming N fertilizer source, the N fertilizer application on
a dry soil surface, and the immediate flooding of the soil (Kamprath and Watson
1980). Split doses of fertilizer N applied as top dressings after the basal dose are
utilized more efficiently than basal application (Westcott et al. 1986). Recovery effi-
ciency of top dressed N doses is, however, determined by rice growth stage and time
of application. Due to low rates of fertilizer N (around one-third of the total fertilizer
N), a highly developed rice root system, and the high plant N requirement around
panicle initiation stage, recovery efficiency of top dressed N dose is very high and
may range between 45 (Westcott et al. 1986) and 82 % (Wilson et al. 1994).
Proper management of the floodwater is critical for efficient utilization of N fer-
tilizer applied to rice. If flood water is drained before uptake of N by rice, nitrifica-
tion of NH4+-N may lead to production of NO3−-N, which may get leached or
denitrified in case soil is reflooded. The recovery efficiency of the basal application
of urea-N in the dry-seeded, delayed flood system may approach to 70  % under
optimum conditions (Wilson et al. 1994). When basal N is applied to a wet soil or
the flood water is mismanaged, the recovery efficiency declines. In several regions
in the Indo-Gangetic plains in South Asia, generally continuous flooding of rice
cannot be maintained either due to shortage of water or due to high water percola-
tion rates in the soil and it leads to alternating flooded (reduced or anaerobic) and
drained (oxidized or aerobic) conditions. Therefore, nitrification occurs during “dry
spells” and nitrates thus produced are subsequently reduced to N2 and N2O through
denitrification when soils are reflooded. Although there is much variation in the data
on nitrification rates estimated at different locations in the Indo-Gangetic plain, a
trend with respect to soil temperature and pH is easily discernible (Aulakh and
Bijay-Singh 1997).
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 223

A lot of research on N fertilization of rice in different regions has focused on

developing management practices for the production of high yields while minimiz-
ing N losses and costs associated with N fertilization. Optimum fertilizer N rates,
improved methods, and timings of application and placement, use of specially for-
mulated forms of fertilizer including those with urease and nitrification inhibitors,
integrated use of fertilizer, manures, and/or crop residues have been standardized
to achieve better synchronization between the supply and requirement of N by rice.
Nevertheless, best management practices for fertilizer N in rice do not simply con-
sist of a universal set of recommendations. These are designed to achieve the four
main objectives of cropping systems management: productivity, profitability, sus-
tainability, and environmental health. The phrase “right source at the right rate,
right time, and right place” implies that each fertilizer N management practice is
right in terms of the goals of sustainable production. A balance among the four
“rights” is essential as it helps to avoid too much emphasis on one at the expense
of overlooking the others. Fertilizer N rate may sometimes be overemphasized,
owing to its direct relation to cost. Source, time, and method of placement are
sometimes overlooked. For example, urea super granules (1  g size granules of
urea) were developed for easy application of urea in the reduced zone of puddled
rice soils and for minimizing N loss through NH3 volatilization (Savant et al. 1982).
This combination of source modification and method of placement is very success-
ful and becoming popular with farmers, particularly in Bangladesh (Bowen et al.
2005). However, Bijay-Singh and Katyal (1987) revealed that urea super granules
applied in the reduced zone of coarse textured soils prove to be very inefficient
source of N for rice. In highly permeable soils, N applied as urea super granules
was readily leached as urea beyond root zone of rice (Katyal et al. 1985). The four
aspects of fertilizer N management, i.e., source, rate, time, and place are com-
pletely interconnected and are also linked to the full set of management practices
for the cropping system. None of the four can be right when any one of them is
wrong. For a given situation, there can be more than one right combination of
source, rate, timing, or placement, but when one of the four changes, the others
may also change. Some general guidelines for efficient N management in rice are
listed in Table 10.1.
In a majority of the rice-growing regions in Asia and in the developing countries,
blanket recommendations for N management are practiced. These consist of fixed
rates and timing for large tracts having similar climate and land forms, and cannot
help to increase N-use efficiency beyond a limit. Due to large field-to-field variabil-
ity of soil N supply, efficient use of N fertilizer is not possible when broad-based
blanket recommendations for N fertilizer are used (Adhikari et al. 1999). Optimum
crop yields can be obtained with the fixed-rate method provided the nutrient
­application level is high enough to compensate for a possible low supply of the
nutrient from the soil in any field in the region. Obviously, a wide range in blanket
recommendations for N fertilizer application rates is expected for different c­ ountries
(Table 10.2) and within each country. Advantages of the fixed nutrient rate method
are its simplicity and no costs involved for soil analysis. The uniform adoption of
blanket recommendations does not ensure economy and efficiency of N fertilizer
use since the variation in soil fertility is not taken into account, and there will be
224 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

Table 10.1  Some general guidelines for efficient nitrogen management in rice
Situation Strategy
Upland (dryland) Broadcast and mix basal dressing in top 5 cm of surface soil.
Incorporate top-dressed fertilizer by hoeing-in between plant rows
and then apply light irrigation, if available.
Rainfed deep water Apply full amount as basal dressing.
Lowland (submerged) Use nonnitrate sources for basal and topdressing.
Soil is very poor in N Give relatively more N at planting.
Assured water supply N can be top-dressed every 3 weeks up to panicle initiation. Drain
field before topdressing and reflood 2 days later.
Permeable soils Increase the number of split applications.
Do not apply N fertilizer in the flood water.
Short duration varieties More basal N and early topdressing should be preferred.
Long duration varieties Increased number of topdressings.
Colder growing season Less basal N and more as topdressing should be given.
Over aged seedlings More N at planting be applied.
used
Alkali soils Apply more (about 25 %) N than in a normal soil.
Adapted from Pillai (1992)

Table 10.2  Recommended/optimum levels of NPK for lowland rice in some countries
Recommended fertilizer level (kg ha−1)
Country Region/Season N P K
Bangladesh Hathazari 80 12.2 14.1
Bhutan Wangdipho-drang 75 21.8 0.0
Egypt – 100 16.2 0.0
India Haryana 125 11.4 41.5
Pattambi, Kerala 90 19.6 37.3
Indonesia Dry season 140 15.3 24.9
Wet season 80 7.9 24.9
West Java 115 10.9 33.2
Japan Hyogo Prefecture 170 53.3 141.1
Malaysia MUDA 80 13.1 24.9
Pakistan Muridke 120 11.4 0.0
Dera Ismail Khan 135 17.5 30.7
Philippines Nueva Ecija 90 12.2 23.2
Guadalupe, Laguna 100 13.1 0.0
Tarlac 80 21.8 24.9
Sri Lanka – 73 25.3 48.1
Adapted from Pillai (1992)

wastage of fertilizers in some fields. As efficient N use is central to eco-efficiency in

agriculture, it is important to work out N fertilizer doses that will produce not only
high yields of rice per unit area and remain economically attractive to farmers but
also result in minimal environmental impacts.
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 225

Farmers in many developing countries in Asia have developed a tendency to

rely primarily on N fertilizers to maximize rice yields. High levels of N fertilizer
without appropriate balance with P and K result in negative effects on rice yields,
the soil, and the environment in addition to increased incidence of crop lodging,
weed competition, and pest attacks. As intensive cereal systems remove large
quantities of N, P, and K, an imbalanced application of nutrients leads to mining
from the soil for the nutrients that are not supplied in adequate amounts, or yield
levels are determined by the amount of nutrient supplied in the least amount. In a
long-term experiment on rice–wheat cropping system in India, Kumar and Yadav
(2001) found that 20 years after continuously applying different combinations of
N, P, and K rates to both the crops, the highest rate of yield decline in rice and
wheat was found when 120 kg ha−1 N was applied with no P and K. The lowest
rate of decline was observed when N, P, and K were applied at 40, 35, and
33 kg ha−1, respectively.

10.2.3.1  Controlled-N Release Fertilizers

Many times low N-use efficiency in rice is observed due to lack of synchronization
between crop demand and release of N from water-soluble sources like urea.
Application of soluble N fertilizers to rice in split doses is an attempt to increase the
degree of synchronization between supply and demand of N, but there is a limit to
achieve it. In recent decades, controlled-release N fertilizers have been developed
that consist of highly soluble urea prills or granules coated with water-­insoluble
materials like sulfur or polyolefin that control the rate, pattern, and duration of N
release (Shaviv 2001). Besides the advantages of controlled-released fertilizers in
reducing N losses to the environment and increasing fertilizer N-use efficiency in
rice (Chalk et al. 2015; Pandey and Singh 1987; Patil et al. 2010; Wang et al. 2015;
Yan et al. 2008; Ye et al. 2013), the rate of N application and the number of applica-
tions during the growing season can often be reduced, which has the added advan-
tage of saving labor costs. In recent years, different variants of polymer-­coated
controlled-release urea have been designed to synchronize N release and crop N
uptake with minimal leakage of N to the environment. These have already been
tested for obtaining high yields of rice along with high N-use efficiency (Kondo
et al. 2005; Patil et al. 2010; Singh et al. 2007; Wang et al. 2015; Yan et al. 2008; Ye
et al. 2013; Zhang et al. 2012).

10.2.3.2  Urease and Nitrification Inhibitors

In flooded rice systems, NH4+-N originating from hydrolyzed urea accumulates in

floodwater and is prone to NH3 volatilization due to elevated pH of flood water during
daylight hours and increased temperatures. Even when urea is applied during non-
flooded periods, applied N can be lost via NH3 volatilization in substantial amounts. In
flooded rice systems, N losses via NH3 volatilization have been recorded in the range
226 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

of 20–56 % of applied N (De Datta et al. 1989; Fillery and De Datta 1986). The use of
urease inhibitors to reduce NH3 volatilization from urea hydrolysis has emerged as an
effective strategy to increase N-use efficiency of urea-based N products in rice. Urease
inhibitor NBPT [N-(n-butyl) thiophosphorictriamide] has been reported to signifi-
cantly reduce NH3 volatilization losses due to urea application to rice (Buresh et al.
1988; Norman et al. 2009). Besides use of hydroquinone in China, NBPT is the only
urease inhibitor of commercial and practical importance in agriculture (Trenkel 2010).
Several researchers have recorded significant increase in grain yield of rice due to com-
bined application of NBPT + urea over application of urea alone (Dillon et al. 2012;
Liu et al. 2014; Norman et al. 2009; Pang and Peng 2010; Rogers et al. 2015). In China,
hydroquinone is being extensively used as a urease inhibitor in rice because of its lower
price (Yeomans and Bremner 1986). Malla et al. (2005) and Xu et al. (2005) observed
that urea amended with hydroquinone can improve crop growth of rice.
Losses via nitrification–denitrification in rice soils can be substantial when an
aerobic period is followed by an anaerobic period. Such conditions in rice systems
are encountered in a drying and wetting cycle as in permeable soils or in intermittent
wet and dry rice systems (Belder et  al. 2004). In flooded rice fields, there exist
adjoining aerobic zones where nitrification can occur and anaerobic zones where
denitrification occurs (Fig. 10.1). The transport of NO3− between aerobic and anaer-
obic zones couples nitrification with denitrification (Buresh et al. 2008). Losses via
denitrification have been recorded in the range of 12–33  % (Aulakh et  al. 2001;
Buresh et al. 1993). Nitrification inhibitors are chemicals that when added to N fer-
tilizers and applied to soil, delay the transformation of NH4+ to NO2− by inhibiting
or at least by slowing the action of Nitrosomonas spp. bacteria. Many compounds
that can inhibit nitrification have been identified (Trenkel 2010), but three products
are available on commercial scale. These are: (i) 2-chloro-6-(trichloromethyl) pyri-
dine (Nitrapyrin) with the trade name “N Serve”, (ii) dicyandiamide (DCD, H4C2N4),
and (iii) 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP). In a meta-analysis based on 10
studies in which urea was the N source, Linquist et al. (2013) observed that applica-
tion of DCD resulted in 16.5 % overall increase in yield of rice. Norman et al. (1989)
and Wilson et  al. (1990) used 15N-labeled fertilizers and observed N uptake effi-
ciency in rice by applying DCD along with urea. It has been observed that DCD in
combination with hydroquinone could substantially reduce N2O emissions during
rice growth season (Xu et al. 2000, 2002). Li et al. (2009) found that application of
DMPP nitrification inhibitor with urea increased the rice grain yield by 6–18 %. In
India, oil extracted from the seeds of neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) is used as
nitrification inhibitor; all urea sold in the country is now treated with neem oil.

10.2.4  Site-Specific Nitrogen Management in Rice

Among many factors that influence N-use efficiency, one potentially important fac-
tor is the uncertainty faced by farmers in deciding the amount of N fertilizer to be
applied (Lobell 2007). This uncertainty can be reduced by knowing the N supplying
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 227

capacity of the soil. Applying quantity of fertilizer N calculated by considering soil

N supply rather than following traditional farming practices resulted in an increase
in N-use efficiency by 30–40 % and grain yield by 7 % in 179 irrigated rice fields in
Asia (Dobermann et al. 2002). Another reason for low N-use efficiency is the inef-
ficient splitting of N applications and use of excess N than the required. In addition
to field-to-field variability, the strategies for N fertilizer management must be
responsive to temporal variations in crop N demand to achieve supply–demand syn-
chrony and minimize N losses. Cassman et  al. (2002) found that N recovery by
irrigated rice at on-farm locations in Asia averaged 31 % compared to 40 % for rice
grown under field-specific management. Peng and Cassman (1998) demonstrated
that recovery efficiency of top-dressed urea during panicle initiation stage could be
as high as 78 %. Thus, improvement in the synchrony between crop-N demand and
N supply from soil and/or the applied N fertilizer is likely to be the most promising
strategy to increase N-use efficiency in rice.
Number of split doses, the amount of N applied per split, and the time of applica-
tion vary considerably even within small recommendation domains. However, on the
positive side, flexibility of the farmers in adjusting the timing and amount of fertilizer
N applied offers great potential to synchronize the site-specific N application with
the demand of the rice in real time. It was in mid-1980s and 1990s that the emphasis
was shifted from reducing N losses to feeding needs of rice crop for increasing N-use
efficiency (Buresh 2007). The research was oriented toward finding means and ways
to apply N in real-time using crop and site-specific needs. Methods based on soil
tests and analysis of tissue samples did not work because these were time consuming,
cumbersome, and expensive. Also, N prescriptions based on soil tests done before
planting of rice cannot account for variations in the weather during the rice season.
Because rice farmers often use leaf color as a visual and subjective indicator of the
need for N fertilizer in rice, the breakthrough in the diagnostic tools that can assess
N need of crop plants in real time came from spectral characteristics of rice leaves.
Chlorophyll content and/or biomass of rice leaves can be estimated through the
development of some noninvasive optical methods based on leaf greenness, absor-
bance, and/or reflectance of light by the intact leaf. These include chlorophyll meters,
leaf color charts (LCC), optical sensors, ground-based remote sensors, and digital,
aerial, and satellite imageries. Over more than a decade, chlorophyll meter, LCC, and
Green Seeker optical sensor have been extensively tried to improve N-use efficiency
in rice grown in different agroecosystems and regions.
Hand-held chlorophyll meters provide a fast, easy, on-site, precise, and scientific
way to appraise the N needs of rice. The chlorophyll meter quantifies green color of
the leaf by measuring the relative quantity of chlorophyll. Most of the research directly
evaluating the effectiveness of chlorophyll meters in improving N-use efficiency has
been conducted with the rice crop across different regions in Asia. In the majority of
the transplanted or direct-seeded rice farms across Vietnam (Son et al. 2004), China
(Wang et al. 2001), Indonesia (Abdulrachman et al. 2004), Philippines (Gines et al.
2004), Thailand (Satawathananont et al. 2004), and India (Bijay-Singh et al. 2002;
Khurana 2005; Maiti et al. 2004), chlorophyll meter-based N management led to sig-
nificant increases in N-use efficiency when compared with the farmers’ fertilizer
228 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

practices. At some places, increase in N-use efficiency was moderate thereby suggest-
ing the need to integrate chlorophyll meter with other site-specific factors to make it
a more effective in N management tool. To use chlorophyll meter, there is a need to
determine a critical value that is unique to an environment and below which N-use
efficiency and/or crop yields are likely to be adversely affected. Critical chlorophyll
meter values can be fixed for different regions or varietal groups or these can be
dynamic. The dynamic threshold chlorophyll value or sufficiency index approach
ensures maintaining intensity of the color of leaves at 90 % or more of the intensity in
the overfertilized reference plot (Bijay-Singh et al. 2006; Hussain et al. 2000). It has
the advantage of being self-calibrating for different soils, seasons, and cultivars. In
different regions across the Asia, critical chlorophyll meter values for rice ranged
between 32 and 37.5. A difference of even 2 units in these critical values can decrease
N-use efficiency and/or reduce yields as evidenced in some of these studies. In Texas,
Turner and Jund (1994) reported the need for N in rice when chlorophyll meter values
of the most recently matured leaves are less than the critical value of 40.
Leaf color chart consists of a panel of green plastic chips ranging with colors
based on the wavelength characteristics of leaves and ranging from yellowish green
to dark green that, respectively, cover a continuum from leaf N deficiency to exces-
sive leaf N content (Pasuquin et al. 2004). Thus, unlike chlorophyll meter that mea-
sures light absorption, LCCs measure leaf greenness and the associated leaf N by
visually comparing light reflection from the surface of leaves and the LCC (Yang
et al. 2003). These are simple, easy-to-use, and inexpensive alternatives to chloro-
phyll meters and are particularly beneficial for individual income-poor farmers in
Asian countries (Bijay-Singh et al. 2002). There are two major approaches in the
use of the LCC (Fairhurst et al. 2007; Witt et al. 2005). In the real-time approach, a
prescribed amount of fertilizer N is applied whenever the color of rice leaves falls
below a critical LCC value. The fixed splitting pattern approach provides a recom-
mendation for the total N fertilizer requirement (kg ha−1) and a plan for splitting and
timing of applications in accordance with crop growth stage, cropping season, vari-
ety used, and crop establishment method. The LCC is used at critical growth stages
to decide whether the recommended standard N rate will be needed to adjust up or
down based on leaf color (Bijay-Singh et al. 2012; Fairhurst et al. 2007). Leaf color
chart-based N management has been evaluated mostly following the “real-time”
approach rather than “fixed time adjustable dose” method. We have listed (Table
10.3) two categories of comparisons between LCC method and farmers’ fertilizer
practice (FFP) for managing fertilizer N in rice in Asia. In the first category, the
most commonly observed effect of following LCC-based N management is the pro-
duction of rice yield similar to that with FFP but with less N fertilizer application. It
suggests that farmer’s N management practice is inadequate. In another scenario, an
increase in grain yield with a reduction in N fertilizer use was observed by follow-
ing LCC method (Table 10.3). Increase in partial factor productivity (PFP) in all the
comparisons listed in Table 10.3 may also occur due to retention of increasing pro-
portion of N inputs in soil organic and inorganic N pools. Adoption of LCC method
for managing N by farmers is likely to be driven by economic returns. With small-­
Table 10.3  Comparison of leaf color chart (LCC) method with farmers fertilizer practice (FFP) for nitrogen management in rice in Asia
Country, region, year, N used, kg N ha−1 Grain yield, t ha−1 AENa PFPNa
critical LCC value, type
of rice, number of
farms FFPb LCC FFP LCC FFP LCC FFP LCC References
Same grain yield with reduced N fertilizer application following LCC
Philippines, Maligaya, 78 33 3.97a 3.87a 9b 20a 51 117 Balasubramanian et al. (2003)
1998, LCC-4, TPR, 11
Philippines, Maligaya, 74 46 4.49a 4.68a 12b 19a 91 102
1999, LCC-4, TPR, 11
Vietnam, Cai Lay 120 82 5.24a 5.26a – – 44 64
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice

District, 1998, LCC-3,

B-WSR, 28
Vietnam, Cai Lay 99 70 6.34a 6.31a – – 64 90
District, 1999, LCC-3,
B-WSR, 7
India, Haryana, 2001, 149 124 6.36a 6.37a – – 43 51
LCC-4, TPR, 165
Bangladesh, Gazipur, 72 46 4.46a 4.56a – – 62 102 Haque et al. (2003)
2002, LCC-4, TPR, 9
India, Punjab, 2003, 115 91 6.5a 6.5a – – 57 71 Varinderpal-Singh et al. (2007)
LCC-4, TPR, 48
India, Punjab, 2004, 134 100 8.1a 8.2a – – 61 82
LCC-4, TPR, 53
India, Punjab, 2000, 120 91 6.53a 6.61a 20.8 27.8 57 85 Yadvinder-Singh et al. (2007)
LCC-4, TPR, 8
India, Punjab, 2002, 126 78 6.93a 7.12a 11.3 17.8 52 83
LCC-4, TPR, 11
(continued)
229
Table 10.3 (continued)
230

Country, region, year, N used, kg N ha−1 Grain yield, t ha−1 AENa PFPNa
critical LCC value, type
of rice, number of
farms FFPb LCC FFP LCC FFP LCC FFP LCC References
Increase in grain yield with reduced N fertilizer application following LCC
Philippines, Maligaya, 151 125 4.53b 5.15a 6b 14a 30 41 Balasubramanian et al. (2003)
1998, LCC-3, B-WSR, 6
Vietnam, Huyen 98 80 4.63b 4.92a – – 47 62
District, 1999, LCC-3,
B-WSR, 18
India, Uttar Pradesh, 150 135 6.9b 7.6a 20.7b 28.1a 46 56 Shukla et al. (2004)
2002, LCC-4, TPR, 1
Bangladesh, LCC-4, 149 100 3.8b 4.1a 10b 16a 25 41 Alam et al. (2006)
TPR, 33
a
AEN, agronomic efficiency of applied N; REN, apparent recovery efficiency of applied N; PFPN, partial factor productivity of applied N
b
FFP, farmers’ fertilizer practice in which all nutrient management was done by the farmer without any interference by the researcher. However, in some stud-
ies conducted only on research farms and not in actual farmers’ fields, FFP denotes fixed-schedule N application
c
For grain yield and NUE indices of AEN, and PFPN at different sites, values with different letters are significantly different at the 0.05 probability level
Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 231

to-­medium farm size in developing countries, the use of a simple and inexpensive
leaf color chart is assisting farmers in applying N when the plant needs it.
Several researchers have used mid-season spectral reflectance measurements
with optical/crop canopy sensors to estimate rice growth and N status (Ali et  al.
2014; Bajwa et al. 2010; Nguyen et al. 2006; Xue et al. 2004). Based on target yield
approach and split fertilization approach, Xue et al. (2014) used Green Seeker opti-
cal sensor for top-dressing N at panicle initiation stage of rice. Tubaña et al. (2011)
also used canopy reflectance to top-dress N fertilizer at panicle initiation stage of
rice. Recently, Bijay-Singh et al. (2015) found that high N-use efficiency and opti-
mum yield of transplanted rice can be achieved by applying a moderate amount of
N fertilizer at transplanting, enough N fertilizer at active tillering, and an optical
sensor-guided N fertilizer dose at panicle initiation stage of rice.
Site-specific nitrogen management for rice as developed in Asia by International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and described by Witt et al. (2007) advocates estima-
tion of N fertilizer requirement of rice from the difference between a yield target
and the yield without N fertilizer. The N-limited yield can be determined with the
nutrient omission plot technique (IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) 2007)
as the grain yield of a crop not fertilized with N but supplied with enough quantity
of other nutrients. As only a fraction of the N fertilizer applied to rice is taken up by
the crop, total amount of N fertilizer required for each ton of increase in grain yield
is estimated by using agronomic efficiency factor; an efficiency of N use of 18–20
should be achievable by good crop management in tropical Asia. To ensure that sup-
ply of N matches the crop need at critical growth stages, the estimated total fertilizer
N requirement by rice crop is then apportioned among multiple times of application
during the growing season. The site-specific nitrogen management approach as
developed by IRRI advocates the use of LCC for monitoring the relative greenness
of a rice leaf as an indicator of the leaf N status (Witt et al. 2005) and guide the
application of N fertilizer doses to rice at appropriate stages.

10.2.5  Nitrogen Management for Rice Hybrids

An ideal rice genotype is able to absorb a relatively large quantity of N from soil and
is capable of producing a high grain yield per unit of absorbed N besides storing
relatively a small amount of N in straw. Different lowland rice genotypes vary sig-
nificantly with respect to N-use efficiency and the differences may be related to
many physiological processes such as absorption, nitrate reduction efficiency, N
remobilization, translocation, assimilation, and storage (Isfan 1993). Nitrogen har-
vest index is a measure of N portioning in rice among genotypes; high N harvest
index is associated with efficient utilization of N (Rattunde and Frey 1986). Rice
hybrids have 10–15 % yield advantage over conventional rice cultivars (Yang and
Sun 1988) and it is presumably related to a greater total N uptake and internal N-use
efficiency. Yang (1987) reported that total N uptake by hybrid rice was greater than
that of conventional rice cultivars, especially from transplanting to tillering and
232 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

from panicle emergence to grain filling stages. Hybrid rice takes about 15–20 % of
its total N uptake after heading and provide consistently higher response to N fertil-
izer application at flowering compared to only 6–7 % for the conventional cultivars.
Therefore, hybrid rice has greater agronomic efficiency compared to conventional
rice (Lin and Yuan 1980). The primary factors contributing to the high N-use effi-
ciency in hybrid rice are high N recovery efficiency, more root N absorption poten-
tial, high shoot N-use capacity, and high N remobilization efficiency.

10.3  Phosphorus

Phosphorus is one of the major essential nutrients for plants. It is a component of

high energy compounds like adenosine triphosphate and genetic materials required
for seed production. It is also involved in the synthesis of compounds like phospho-
lipids, nucleotides, glycophosphates and its deficiency can dramatically reduce
growth and yield of plants. In rice, deficiency of P appears when tillering starts and
plant begins to accumulate dry matter. Symptoms include severe stunting and erect
leaves with dark green color. Deficiency of P retards cell elongation and leaf expan-
sion (Marschner 1995). Fageria (1980) observed a delay by as much as 10–12 days
in rice maturity due to P deficiency. Application of P to rice on P-deficient soils
increased rice root growth, number of panicles and grain weight of rice (Fageria and
Gheyi 1999). Under P deficient conditions, rice does not respond to application of
N, K, and other nutrients.
Phosphorus nutrition of rice crop depends upon the ability of a soil to supply P
to plant roots and desorption characteristics of the soil (Roy and De Datta 1985).
Concentration of inorganic P in the soil solution and the capacity of the soil to main-
tain this concentration determine the supply of P to rice roots. Plants rarely absorb
more than 20 % of the total fertilizer P applied (Friesen et al. 1997). Reduced soil
conditions under lowland rice normally increase the P availability to rice, and in
many soils, P availability is not a yield-limiting factor for rice. However, on the
same soil, upland crops like wheat and maize might show dramatic responses to P
fertilization. Both P sorption capacity of the soil and bonding energy of P increase
under alternate anaerobic–aerobic conditions (Sanyal and De Datta 1991). On the
other hand, flooding decreases the crystallinity of ferrous hydroxides, which
increases their sorption capacity, increases the insoluble Fe–P fraction, and reduces
P desorption.

10.3.1  Critical P Level in Plant and Uptake of P by Rice

Phosphorus is a mobile element inside the plant. Therefore, P concentration of indi-

vidual leaf decreases with advancement of leaf age. Top leaves have the highest P
concentration and the bottom leaves have the lowest P concentration, especially
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 233

when available P in the soil is limited. During early vegetative growth, P concentra-
tion in rice tissue increases with increasing P rates. Tissue P concentration remains
nearly constant from panicle initiation until flowering. After flowering, the filling of
rice grain starts and becomes a strong sink for P and straw P concentration declines.
Critical tissue P concentrations for rice during vegetative growth range from 1.0
to 2.0 g P kg−1. According to Yoshida (1981), 2.0 g P kg−1 in the first fully opened
leaf from the top was needed to realize the maximum tillering rate. De Datta (1981)
suggested that 1.0 g P kg−1 in the rice leaf blades at active tillering was the critical
concentration. In general, whole plant P concentrations during vegetative growth at
>2.0 g P kg−1 are sufficient for optimum rice growth and yield production.
The above-ground P uptake by high-yielding rice varieties may approach 60 kg
P ha−1, but more commonly it ranges from 25 to 50 kg P ha−1 with 60–75 % of the
total plant P contained in the panicles at maturity (Fageria et al. 2003). Seasonal P
uptake and dry matter accumulation tend to follow similar patterns and accumula-
tion of P is closely related to plant age. The average P harvest index [Grain P/(Grain
P + Straw P)] generally ranges from 0.60 to 0.75. The rice grains remove a signifi-
cantly large proportion of total P uptake during the crop growth period. Therefore,
recycling of rice straw to the field cannot contribute much P for succeeding crop in
the rotation.

10.3.2  Phosphorus Management Strategies in Rice

Phosphorus management in rice aims at preventing P deficiency rather than treat-

ing P-deficiency symptoms. Significant response of modern rice varieties to P fer-
tilizer may be observed after several years of intensive cropping, particularly when
both N and K were applied or when the P-supplying capacity of the soil is low
(De Datta et al. 1988). Therefore, P management must focus on the buildup and
maintenance of adequate available P levels in the soil to ensure that P supply does
not limit crop growth and N-use efficiency (Fairhurst et al. 2007). Inputs of P from
sources such as irrigation water and straw are small but P is not easily lost from the
system. As P fertilizer applications exhibit residual effects that can last several
years maintenance of soil P supply requires long-term strategies tailored to site-
specific conditions that consider P inputs from all sources (Fairhurst et al. 2007).
Unbalanced P input/output can lead to either depletion or excessive enrichment of
soil P in intensive irrigated rice systems. For example, in a survey of farmers’
fields carried out by Oberthuer et al. (1995), 64 % of a 20,000-ha area of irrigated
rice in Central Luzon, Philippines, was classified as low in available soil P reserves.
In contrast, 85 % of the total lowland rice area in Java, Indonesia, was found to be
having high soil P status and rice yields no longer responded to applied P
(Sri Adiningsih et al. 1991).
Use of calibrated soil test values is still the best criteria for making P fertilizer
recommendations for rice, although routine soil test methods may not provide a reli-
able estimate of the P available to lowland rice. For example, soils used for growing
234 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

lowland rice commonly have low soil test P values but may or may not respond to P
fertilization (Shahandeh et al. 1994; Wilson et al. 1999). Different extractants tend
to under- or overestimate P availability even to upland crops (Kamprath and Watson
1980). Their ability to accurately predict the P fertilizer requirement of flood-­
irrigated rice is further compromised by the anaerobic soil conditions used for pro-
duction of rice. Although no single extractant has shown a significant advantage for
making P recommendations on lowland rice, Sanyal and De Datta (1991) suggested
that Olsen P is perhaps the best routine method for predicting rice response to P as
it is better correlated with the extraction of Fe–P.
Classical empirical approach for making P recommendations based on critical
soil test levels and P fertilizer response curves requires a large number of site-­
specific field calibration studies. It does not take into account crop P requirements
based on a target yield and interactions with other nutrients. Another approach to
work out P recommendations for rice is based on estimates of the potential soil P
supply and crop P uptake (Fageria and Gheyi 1999). Potential P supply can be esti-
mated as P uptake by a rice crop from indigenous soil resources measured under
field conditions, when all other nutrients are amply supplied (Janssen et al. 1990).
Fairhurst et al. (2007) have described a practical version of using this strategy for
calculating P rates for lowland rice. Blanket recommendations for large regions
(Table 10.2) are still widely used for applying P to rice in many developing coun-
tries in Asia because currently available soil P maps do not provide a satisfactory
basis for specifying soil type-specific fertilizer recommendations. In fact,
management-­induced variation between farmers is much larger than differences
among soil types.
Sustainable P management requires the replenishment of soil P reserves, espe-
cially at high yield levels in double and triple rice-cropping systems, even if a direct
yield response to P application is not expected. According to Fairhurst et al. (2007),
the rule of thumb is: where the soil P supply is small, apply 8.7 kg P ha−1 for each
tonne of target grain yield increase (difference between yield target and yield in
no-P plot). According to Dobermann et al. (2000), 26 kg P ha−1 is normally applied
to obtain maximum yield of flooded rice in Asia. To produce maximum rice yields,
recommendation for P fertilizer in the United States ranges between 10 and 40 kg P
ha−1 (Norman et al. 2003). Soils with high P fixing capacities may require as high as
97–175  kg P ha−1 (Chen 1997) to produce optimum yields. Using appropriate
method of P application is critical to reduce the P input and increase P fertilizer use
efficiency. For example, high P rates cited by Fageria (1980) for high P fixing in
Brazilian acidic lowland soils were reduced from 97–175 to 22–44 kg P ha−1 if the
fertilizer was banded rather than broadcast. Phosphorus fertilizer is generally
applied to rice at planting, but late application can be made provided it is not later
than the time of active tillering (De Datta 1981). Early application of P is essential
for root elongation. According to Patrick et al. (1974), broadcast preplant incorpo-
rated P application is equally effective as P drilled with the seed. However, due to
rapid fixation of P in alkaline soils, McGee et al. (2002) observed that broadcast
application of P at the five-leaf stage increased tissue P concentration, P uptake, and
grain yield more than P broadcast applied to the soil surface at seeding. When P is
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 235

Table 10.4  Effect of P application on crop yields (t ha−1) in rice–wheat system in northwestern
India
Rate of P (kg ha−1) Punjaba (7 years average) Haryanab (4 years average)
Rice Wheat Rice Wheat Rice Wheat
Yields (t ha−1)
0 0 4.0 2.3 5.0 3.0
0 26 6.6 4.1 5.9 4.3
26 0 6.5 2.4 5.8 3.8
13 26 6.6 4.2 6.2 4.4
26 26 6.6 4.2 6.3 4.6
Yadvinder-Singh et al. (2000)
a

Faroda (1992)
b

deficient, rice yield response to P fertilizer declines as the time of P fertilization is

delayed (Patrick et al. 1974; Slaton et al. 1998). Patrick et al. (1974) showed that P
placed with the rice seed during drilling was superior to broadcast application
2 weeks after seeding. Dipping rice seedlings into P slurry before transplanting has
also been reported to be useful (De Datta 1981). Most commonly used fertilizers to
supply P to rice are the highly water-soluble single and triple-super phosphates,
diammonium phosphate, and sometimes monoammonium phosphate. There is no
evidence of differences in rice responses to different sources of water-soluble P.
When lowland rice is grown in rotation with an upland crop like wheat (as in the
vast Indo-Gangetic plains in South Asia), P is managed in cropping system rather
than in individual crops. General recommendation is that P should be applied to
wheat and rice can use the residual P from the soil (Meelu et al. 1982; Palmer et al.
1990; Run-Kun et  al. 1982). The availability of soil P and residual fertilizer P
increases under submergence and high temperatures prevailing during rice growth.
Also, rice has a greater ability to utilize the residual P from Fe–P and Al–P fractions
than wheat (Gill and Meelu 1983). For the rice–wheat system, when 26 kg P ha−1
was applied to wheat, rice did not respond to P (Table 10.4). However, from a 7-year
study, Yadvinder-Singh et al. (2000) suggested that P should also be applied to rice
at rates of >15 kg P ha−1 if rice yields greater than 6 t ha−1 are targeted. Similar
conclusions could be drawn from a 4-year study on a clay loam soil (Faroda 1992)
(Table 10.4).

10.4  Potassium

Potassium is a major plant nutrient that improves root growth and plant vigor, helps
prevent lodging, and enhances crop resistance to pests and diseases. It is often the
most limiting nutrient after N in high yielding rice systems. It plays an important
role in lignification of vascular bundles, a factor that contributes to susceptibility to
lodging and diseases in K-deficient plants. The deficient symptoms of K in rice can
236 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

be easily confused with that of N because onset of K deficiency is visible as a color

change of lower leaves. Typical symptoms of K deficiency in rice include stunted
plants with little or no reduction in tillering, droopy and dark green upper leaves,
and chlorosis of the interveinal areas and margins of the lower leaves starting at the
leaf tip (Fageria et al. 2003). Leaf symptoms of K deficiency can be confused with
that of tungro disease, but tungro occurs in patches in a field and usually has more
pronounced yellow and orange leaves and plant stunting. Potassium deficiency
leads to direct yield loss due to reduced size and weight of rice grains.
Potassium increases the number of spikelets per panicle, percentage of filled
grains, and 1000-grain weight but does not have a pronounced effect on tillering of
rice. Incidence of diseases such as brown leaf spot, cercospora leafspot, bacterial
leaf blight, sheath blight, sheath rot, stem rot, and blast is greater where excessive N
fertilizer and insufficient K fertilizer have been applied. Deficiency of K in rice
occurs due to excessive use of N or N + P fertilizers with insufficient K application
in direct-sown rice during early growth stages when the plant population is large
and root system is shallow, and in hybrid rice because of greater demand for K
(Fairhurst et al. 2007). The extent of rice response to K application is less than that
observed for N and P, although above-ground K content of rice is equal to or greater
than the plant N content and greater than all other essential nutrients. As rice,
because of its fibrous root system, is highly efficient in scavenging plant available
soil K, many soils can support the production of continuous rice or rice–wheat rota-
tions for extended periods without a need to apply K to maintain high yield levels
(Dobermann et al. 1996b). However, in some soils, regular applications of K fertil-
izer to rice are needed to avoid K deficiency. Yield responses of 0–10 % to direct K
fertilization of rice are normally observed (Dobermann et al. 1996b). Prior to 1990s,
K was rarely applied to rice in United States and South Asia. But due to production
of high yields of rice and other crops for many years in these regions, soils have
been mined of K so that regular applications of K fertilizer have become necessity
to produce optimum yields of rice (Bijay-Singh et  al. 2004; Slaton et  al. 1995;
Williams and Smith 2001).
Weathering of soil minerals—primary alumino silicates that include K feldspars
and micas and secondary alumino silicates like illite—releases K in the soil.
Potassium exists in four distinct pools in the soil—soil solution K (0.1–0.2  %),
exchangeable K (1–2 %), nonexchangeable K (1–10 %), and mineral K (90–98 %).
K ions move from one pool to another whenever the removal or addition of K dis-
turbs the equilibrium between these pools (Barber 1995). Equilibration between
the soil solution and exchangeable K pools is rapid and is usually completed within
hours. Although considered immobile, a significant amount of K can be lost via
leaching on some soils following displacement from the exchange complex after
flooding. Leaching is a significant problem in soils with low cation exchange
capacities (Bijay-Singh et  al. 2004; Fageria et  al. 1990). Yadvinder-Singh et  al.
(2005) found that leaching losses of K were 22 and 16 % of the applied K, respec-
tively, in sandy loam and loamy soils maintained at submerged moisture regimes.
Increased amount of K in the soil solution is absorbed by rice plants or leached to
depths below the rice root system in permeable soils (Wells et al. 1993). If adequate
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 237

amount of K is not absorbed by rice during vegetative stage and significant amount
of soil K gets lost via leaching, K deficiency may occur later in the growing season
unless K is not supplemented shortly before the onset of reproductive growth.

10.4.1  Critical Levels of K in Rice and Uptake of K

According to Yoshida (1981), during the vegetative growth phase of rice, tillering
stops when the K concentration in the leaf blade is <5.0 g kg−1 of leaf dry weight.
For maximum number of grains per panicle and reduced spikelet sterility, mature
leaves should contain more than 20 g K kg−1 at booting stage of rice (Kiuchi and
Ishizaka 1961). According to De Datta (1981), straw K concentration <10 g K kg−1
at maturity certainly indicated K deficiency.
Luxury consumption of K by rice may occur but the K concentration of rice seed
remains relatively constant between 2.5 and 3.0 kg K kg−1 regardless of K fertiliza-
tion (Dobermann et al. 1998). Rice absorbs most of its K during the vegetative and
early reproductive growth stages and a major portion of the K absorbed before
anthesis remains in the stems and leaves (Hirata 1995). Around 80–90  % of the
above-ground K content of rice remains in leaves and stems at maturity (Dobermann
et al. 1996a). Thus, if the rice straw is not physically removed from the field, the
majority of K is recycled back into the soil. Otherwise K fertilization practices must
be modified to prevent depletion of soil K.

10.4.2  Potassium Management Strategies in Rice

Where soil K supply is small, the general strategy for K management for rice is to
apply 25 kg K ha−1 for each tonne of target grain yield increase over the yield of rice
in the plots receiving no fertilizer K (Fairhurst et al. 2007). According to Dobermann
et al. (2000), 50 kg K ha−1 should normally be applied to obtain maximum yields of
flooded rice and this rate is representative of K fertilizer rates used to fertilize rice
in other parts of the world. Since more than 80 % of K taken up by rice remains in
the straw after harvest, straw should be considered as an important input source
when calculating K requirements. Many times significant responses of rice to K
application are not observed because of high seasonal K inputs (7–60 kg K ha−1 year−1)
via irrigation water and release of nonexchangeable K (Forno et al. 1975). The stan-
dard approach for the identification of K-deficient soils or plant K deficiency
revolves around rapid chemical tests with empirical critical threshold ranges. This
approach requires conducting large number of field experiments to establish cali-
brations between a given soil K test value and the probability of a response to
applied K (McLean and Watson 1985; Sekhon 1995). Most of these calibrations
provide reliable measures of the soil K-supplying power only for specific soil types
such as those with relatively high native fertility and little K fixation character, and
238 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

provide reasonable recommendations for fertilizer K application to rice. However,

this approach is inadequate for intensive irrigated rice systems in the tropics and
subtropics, which are extremely K demanding with two and sometimes three rice
crops each year grown in submerged soil with soil drying in fallow periods or when
rice is grown in rotation with an upland crop like wheat. Extractable soil K levels
can fluctuate enormously under alternating aerobic–anaerobic soil conditions or
when soils have strong K-fixation properties. Extractable soil K+ is still considered
as the most important indicator of available K in rice soils, but its suitability as a
measure of plant available K remains controversial, especially when soils with dif-
ferent textures and clay mineralogy are considered (Kemmler 1980; Sekhon 1995).
Generally accepted critical level of 1  N ammonium acetate extractable K in rice
soils is 0.17–0.21 cmol K kg−1. In the United States, K fertilizer is usually recom-
mended for rice when exchangeable soil K is <60 mg K kg−1, regardless of the soil
texture or the extractant (Williams and Smith 2001). Fageria (1999) observed that
rice did not respond to K fertilization when soil test concentrations were
>50  mg  K  dm−3 (Mehlich 1 or 0.05  N HCl + 0.025  N H2SO4 extractable K).
Dobermann et  al. (1996b) found that mixed-bed exchange resins incubated for
2 weeks under flooded soil conditions were superior to K extracted by 1 N ammo-
nium acetate for prediction of K uptake by rice.
In more than 25 M ha area in China and Indo-Gangetic plains in South Asia, rice
is grown in an annual rotation with wheat. In a number of long-term experiments on
rice–wheat systems located all over the Indo-Gangetic plain, average grain yield
response to application of 33 kg K ha−1 to rice ranged from 0 to 0.5 t ha−1; the low
response to fertilizer K in these alluvial soils suggests that release of K from illitic
minerals could meet the K needs of these crops (Bijay-Singh et  al. 2004). In a
­long-­term experiment in Hubei province in China, Chen (1997) observed that the
direct response of wheat to K application was larger than that of rice, while the
residual response of rice was larger than that of wheat. In a large number of bal-
anced fertilization demonstration trials carried out during more than a decade in
southern China, application of 48–75  kg  K  ha−1 to rice resulted in grain yield
response of 7.9–61.3  % (Scientific Technology Department of Ministry of
Agriculture 1991). In general, K application showed larger yield responses on wheat
than on rice. Thus, when fertilizer K is not available in sufficient quantity, it should
be preferably applied to wheat rather than rice.
Fertilizer K is applied to rice by broadcast method immediately before or after
seeding/transplanting, or split into multiple applications. In general, a major por-
tion, and sometimes all, of the K fertilizer should be applied at or near the time of
seeding/transplanting of rice (Bijay-Singh et al. 2004; Fageria et al. 2003). A smaller
portion of the total K fertilizer requirement should be top-dressed on soils where
leaching losses of K are of concern. In the humid tropical soils with low cation
exchange capacity and clay content, fertilizer K is commonly broadcast applied as
a top-dressing along with N. Fageria (1991) reported that lowland rice yields were
higher when the total K fertilizer requirement was applied in split top-dressed appli-
cations. In a silt loam, a single application of K fertilizer applied at five-leaf stage,
or at the panicle initiation stage was sufficient to maximize grain yield of rice;
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 239

K fertilizer applied during the boot stage did not increase yields above the untreated
control (Slaton et  al. 2001). Foliar sprays may also be considered as beneficial
methods of K application (Bijay-Singh et al. 2004). Due to low cost and high K
analysis, KCl is the most common source of K. However, its use in salt-affected
areas is discouraged. Potassium sulfate can supply both K and S, but it is more
expensive than KCl. In South Asia, 99 % of the total fertilizer K applied is KCl and
no significant difference in rice response has been observed between KCl and potas-
sium sulfate (Tandon and Sekhon 1988).

10.5  Zinc

Zinc (Zn) deficiency in rice occurs after transplanting and is a widespread phenom-
enon limiting productivity under lowland conditions (Quijano-Guerta et al. 2002).
Zinc is a cofactor for enzymes such as glutamate dehydrogenase and alcohol dehy-
drogenase that are involved in N metabolism. Deficiency of Zn depresses the activ-
ity of alcohol dehydrogenase, decreases anaerobic root metabolism, and reduces the
ability of rice seedlings to withstand anaerobic soil conditions (Moore and Patrick
1988). Rice plants in early growth stages are more susceptible to Zn deficiency. If
the deficiency is not corrected, it can also affect plants in the reproductive growth
phase. As Zn is not very mobile within the plant, its deficiency symptoms are first
observed in the youngest leaves, which usually become chlorotic at the leaf base
during early stages of Zn deficiency. The midribs and base of older leaves may also
turn yellow or pale green with brown blotches and streaks when Zn deficiency pro-
gresses (Yoshida 1981). According to Mueller (1974), Zn deficiency tends to be
more severe when high rates of N and P are applied. Application of high rates of P
fertilizers may aggravate Zn deficiency due to formation of Zn phosphate in soil
solution and/or inhibitory effect of excessive P on the metabolic functions of Zn
within the plant (Shimada 1995). Rice is considered susceptible to Zn deficiency
because inadequate Zn levels in the soil limit tillering and, consequently, the num-
ber of panicles per unit area (Fageria 2001). Zinc deficiency is becoming one of the
major public health problems in many countries, especially where people rely on
cereal-based food (Cakmak 2008).
Rice yield losses due to Zn deficiency range from 10 to 60 % (Slaton et al. 2002).
Nevertheless, yield losses are small if Zn deficiency is recognized quickly and the
appropriate corrective actions are taken. Data generated in different parts of the
world support that seedling Zn concentrations <15–20 mg Zn kg−1 are low or defi-
cient and require Zn fertilization for optimum rice growth (Fageria et  al. 2003).
According to Adriano (1986), Zn deficiency of rice seedlings is likely when leaf or
whole plant concentrations are <15 mg Zn kg−1. Concentrations of Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg,
and Mn tend to be higher in Zn-deficient rice. However, tissue concentrations of N
and K are reduced indicating inhibition in their uptake (Moore and Patrick 1988).
Zinc concentration in the soil solution decreases after flooding, though it
may temporarily increase immediately, but equilibrates around 0.3–0.5  μM
240 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

(Forno et al. 1975). Zinc uptake by rice depends not only on the concentration
of Zn in the soil solution, but also on the concentrations of Fe2+ and Mn2+ in the
soil solution that increases with flooding of the soil. A decrease in available Zn
concentration in the soil is also associated with high P availability, precipitation
of Zn(OH)2 with an increase in pH, formation of insoluble franklinite (ZnFe2O4)
and ZnS in acidic soils and ZnCO3 in calcareous soils. Leached, old acid-sul-
fate, sodic, saline-neutral, calcareous, peat, sandy, highly weathered, acid, and
coarse-textured soils and those with high available P and Si status are particu-
larly prone to Zn deficiency. In alkaline soils and those rich in organic matter,
Zn and P availability may be decreased by adsorption to amorphous Fe hydrox-
ides and carbonates, particularly under fluctuating water regimes (Kirk and
Bajita 1995).
Application of suitable Zn fertilizers at the proper rates based on soil testing
and at appropriate crop growth stages is the best method to ensure that Zn nutri-
tion is not a yield-limiting factor for rice production. Some critical soil levels for
occurrence of Zn deficiency are (i) 0.6  mg Zn kg−1extractable with 1  N NH4-
acetate, pH 4.8, (ii) 1.0 mg Zn kg−1 extractable with 0.05 N HCl, and (iii) 2.0 mg
Zn kg−1 extractable with 0.1 N HCl (Fairhurst et al. 2007). Critical DTPA extract-
able soil Zn concentration of 0.8 mg Zn kg−1 has been reported for Indian soils for
lowland rice (Tiwari and Dwivedi 1994). According to Sims and Johnson (1991),
critical soil Zn concentration range for most crops is between 0.5 and 2.0 mg Zn
kg−1 for DTPA and 0.5–3.0  mg Zn kg−1 for Mehlich 1 (0.05  N HCl + 0.025  N
H2SO4 extractable). As reviewed by Fageria et al. (2003), this range is true for rice
as well. When soil test for available Zn is not available but Zn deficiency symp-
toms are observed in the field, broadcasting 10–25 kg ZnSO4·H2O or 20–40 kg
ZnSO4·7H2O per ha over the soil surface is recommended. Apply 0.5–1.5 kg Zn
ha−1 as a foliar spray (a 0.5 % ZnSO4 solution at about 200 L water per ha) for
emergency treatment of Zn deficiency in growing plants (Fairhurst et al. 2007).
Fertilizer Zn should be applied immediately at the onset of symptoms. The com-
mercially manufactured granular Zn fertilizers are Zn sulfates, oxides, oxysul-
fates, lignosulfonates, and a number of organic chelated materials like ZnEDTA
and ZnHEDTA, but highly water-soluble ZnSO4 is the most commonly used Zn
fertilizer. Liscano et al. (2001) suggested that 40–50 % Zn in the fertilizer should
be water soluble to optimize Zn uptake by rice seedlings. The recommended rates
of soil applied Zn are about 20 times higher than the total crop uptake of Zn. Thus,
a single Zn fertilizer application should provide adequate Zn for several years
before additional Zn fertilizer is needed. Relatively high rates of Zn fertilizers are
applied to the soil before seeding. On high pH soils, surface application of Zn
fertilizers has been more effective than soil incorporation. Yoshida (1981)
observed that dipping rice seedling roots in a 1 % ZnO suspension before trans-
planting could prevent Zn deficiency. Fairhurst et al. (2007) recommended dip-
ping of rice seedlings or presoak seeds in a 2–4 % ZnO suspension. Lowering the
pH of alkaline or calcareous soils by application of acid forming fertilizers and
amendments like elemental S has shown improvement in Zn availability and
uptake by rice (Slaton 1998).
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 241

10.6  Sulfur

Sulfur (S) as an essential plant nutrient is a constituent of amino acids like cysteine
and methionine, several coenzymes like biotin, and lipoic acid, thioredoxins, and
sulfolipids (Zhao et al. 1997). Deficiency symptoms of S are similar to those for N
but due to limited mobility of S in the plant, chlorosis of the plant is rather uniform.
Sulfur deficiency is initially expressed as chlorosis of the younger leaves while N
deficiency results in chlorosis of older leaves. Reduction in the dry weight of leaf
blades is larger than in stems and roots when there is S deficiency. In rice, number of
panicles and panicle length may be adversely affected by S deficiency (Fageria et al.
2003). Critical concentration of S in rice varies from 2.5 g S kg−1 at tillering stage to
1.0 g S kg−1 at heading (Wells et al. 1993). According to Wang (1976), critical con-
centration of S in straw should be 0.5 g S kg−1 for optimum grain yield. De Datta
(1981) reported that S concentration in rice grain varies between 0.34 g S kg−1 for
S-deficient plants and 1.6 g S kg−1 in plants that show no response to S application.
Deficiency of S has been reported from nearly all rice-producing regions of the Asia
(Khurana et al. 2008). Low S content of most tropical soils, use of S-free fertilizers (urea
substituted for (NH4)2SO4, triple superphosphate substituted for single superphosphate,
and KCl substituted for K2SO4), depletion of soil S due to intensive cropping, and low
inputs of atmospheric S due to reduced industrial emissions are the possible reasons.
Plant available S decreases rapidly when soil reduction proceeds under lowland rice.
Besides uptake of S by plants, SO42− may get leached and reduced to S2−, which can be
toxic to plants and may also be lost from the soil as H2S gas. According to Ponnamperuma
(1972), S concentrations as high as 15,000 mg SO42− kg−1 may be reduced to zero within
6 weeks of submergence of neutral and alkaline soils.
According to Fairhurst et al. (2007), soil tests for S are not reliable unless these
include inorganic S as well as some of the mineralizable organic S fraction (ester
sulfates). The critical levels for S deficiency in soils are: <5 mg S kg−1 extractable
with 0.05 M HCl, or <6 mg S kg−1 extractable with 0.25 M KCl heated at 40 °C for
3 hours, or <9 mg S kg−1: 0.01 M extractable with 0.04 M Ca(H2PO4)2. The critical
S concentration in rice tissue varies from 2.5 g S kg−1 at tillering to 1.0 g S kg−1 at
heading (Wells et al. 1993). Pillai and Singh (1975) reported 0.16 % S as the critical
concentration at tillering stage of rice grown in calcareous soils. Yoshida (1981)
observed that the critical S concentrations in straw needed for maximum dry weight
production varied from 1.6 g S kg−1 at tillering to 0.7 g S kg−1 at maturity. Wang
(1976) reported a critical concentration of S in rice straw as 0.5 g S kg−1. For low-
land rice grain yields of 5–7 t ha−1, S uptake was between 5 and 9 kg S ha−1.
Soils particularly prone to S deficiency are (i) those containing allophane
(Andisols), (ii) those with low organic matter status, (iii) highly weathered and con-
taining large amounts of Fe oxides, (iv) light textured, which are easily leached, and
(v) highly reduced clay soils that are continuously cropped with rice. Hoque and
Hobbs (1980) reported that in Bangladesh, an average application of 34 kg S ha−1 as
(NH4)2SO4 increased the yield of rice by 100 to 1300 kg ha−1 and on farmers’ fields
by 300 to 2200  kg  ha−1 over and above the yield obtained due to application of
242 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

60  kg  N  ha−1. Irrigation water frequently contains adequate amounts of SO42− to
supply seasonal crop requirements. If S deficiency is identified during early growth,
the response to S fertilizer is rapid and recovery from S deficiency symptoms can
occur within 5  days of S fertilizer application. Where moderate S deficiency is
observed, 10  kg  S  ha−1 may be applied. On soils with severe S deficiency,
20–40 kg S ha−1 may be applied (Fairhurst et al. 2007). According to Wang (1976),
at least 10 kg S ha−1 is required from fertilizer for rice production and (NH4)2SO4 or
single superphosphate are good sources of S. Also, 27 kg S ha−1 applied once sup-
ported two crops of rice. Yamaguchi (1997) reported that a mixture of (NH4)2SO4
and urea increased rice dry matter production when the proportion of (NH4)2SO4
supplied more than 25 % of the total N application. Elemental S can also be used as
a source of S provided an adequate time interval is allowed for the oxidation of S
into a plant available form. When the availability of S is initially low, SO42− contain-
ing fertilizers should be applied at seeding or by the five-leaf stage when rapid plant
growth and tillering begin. The application of S containing fertilizers may also be
necessary during the reproductive growth phase to prevent late-season S deficiency
on highly permeable or reduced soils. Some preventive strategies for S management
in rice could be (i) application of S to the rice nursery, (ii) incorporation of rice
straw instead of removing or burning it because 40–60 % of the S contained in straw
is lost due to straw burning, (iii) maintaining sufficient percolation (about
5 mm day−1) to avoid excessive soil reduction, and (iv) carrying out dry tillage after
harvesting to increase the rate of sulfide oxidation during the fallow period.

10.7  Iron

Iron (Fe) is required for photosynthesis. Its deficiency may inhibit K absorption. Iron
is not highly mobile within the plant and the youngest leaves are the first to show its
deficiency symptoms. Interveinal yellowing and chlorosis of emerging leaves are
observed at the onset of Fe deficiency. Further progression of Fe deficiency results in
uniform pale yellow to bleached appearance (Snyder and Jones 1988).
Iron deficiency occurs commonly in rainfed upland rice, rainfed dry nurseries, or
when rice is grown under upland conditions. Rice seedlings before flooding are the
most susceptible to Fe deficiency (Yoshida 1981) because rice roots produce com-
paratively low amounts of iron-chelating phytosiderophores compared to other grass
species (Mori et al. 1991). Deficiency of Fe most often occurs when rice is grown on
neutral, calcareous, and alkaline upland soils, alkaline and calcareous lowland soils
with low organic matter content, lowland soils irrigated with alkaline irrigation
water, and coarse-textured soils derived from granite. Major causes of Fe deficiency
in rice are low concentration of soluble Fe2+ in upland soils, insufficient soil reduc-
tion under submerged conditions (low organic matter status of soils), high pH of
alkaline or calcareous soils following submergence (decreased solubility and uptake
of Fe because of large bicarbonate concentrations), and wide P:Fe ratio in the soil (Fe
bound in Fe phosphates, possibly because of the excessive application of P) (Fairhurst
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 243

et al. 2007). Thus, Fe deficiency does not commonly occur in flooded rice due to the
increase in Fe availability associated with the anaerobic soil conditions. As solubility
of Fe increases during organic matter decomposition in flooded soils, Fe deficiency
may occur when organic matter decomposition is insufficient.
Iron has a relatively wide sufficiency concentration range in plants. Sufficient
Fe concentration range in the youngest mature leaf blade during vegetative
growth has been reported to be 75–150 mg Fe kg−1 (Dobermann and Fairhurst
2000). The sufficient Fe concentration of the whole shoots was somewhat lower
at 60–100 mg Fe kg−1. As for other nonmobile elements, Fe concentration in rice
leaves increases with age. Soil analysis is not an effective means of identifying
Fe-deficient soils.
Applications of inorganic Fe sources such as FeSO4 to soil are often ineffective
in controlling Fe deficiency unless large amounts are applied. According to Fairhurst
et al. (2007), Fe deficiency can best be treated by applying solid FeSO4 (about 30 kg
Fe ha−1) next to rice rows, or broadcast (larger application rate required) along with
organic matter through crop residues, green manures, or animal manures. Foliar
applications of FeSO4 (2–3 % solution) or Fe chelates can also be used to cure Fe
deficiency. Due to low Fe mobility in the plant, two to three applications at 2-week
intervals (starting at tillering) are necessary to support new plant growth. Use of
acidifying fertilizers such as (NH4)2SO4 instead of urea on high-pH soils can also be
helpful. In coarse textured soils, incorporation of 10 t ha−1 of a green manure plus
submergence for 10 days followed by raising upland rice nursery checked Fe chlo-
rosis (Sharma and Katyal 1982).

10.8  Manganese

Manganese (Mn) is found in chloroplast and along with Fe and Cu performs vital
role in the electron transport system (Obata 1995). It is involved in photosynthetic
oxygen evolution and functions as a co-factor to activate enzymes such as dehydro-
genases. The protease enzyme contained in rice seeds is also activated by Mn.
Manganese is immobile in plants so that its deficiency symptoms appear initially in
the younger leaves. Chlorosis and development of an irregular yellow mottling
between the leaf veins are the typical symptoms of Mn deficiency in rice.
The role of Mn is closely associated with that of Fe as it supports the movement
of Fe in the plant. Manganese is also required for photosynthesis. Manganese defi-
ciency is more often observed in upland rice, alkaline and calcareous soils with low
organic matter status and small amounts of reducible Mn, degraded paddy soils high
in Fe content, acid upland (Oxisols, Ultisols), leached old acid sulfate soils with low
base content, leached sandy soils containing small amounts of Mn, or in excessively
limed acid soils. Uptake of Mn is also reduced because of hydrogen sulfide accumu-
lation or large concentrations of Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+, or NH4+ in the soil solution. The
adequate Mn concentration for rice growth in water culture experiments has been
reported as 0.1–0.5 mg L−1 (Shimada 1995).
244 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

Critical soil levels for occurrence of Mn deficiency in the soil are 1.0 mg Mn kg−1
extractable with terephthalic acid + CaCl2, pH 7.3 or 2.0 mg Mn kg−1, extractable
with 1 N NH4-acetate + 0.2 % hydroquinone, pH 7 (Fairhurst et al. 2007). Manganese
deficiency in rice occurs when the Mn concentration in the plant tissue is less than
20  mg Mn kg−1 (Wells et  al. 1993). Deficiency of Mn can be corrected by foliar
application of Mn or by banding Mn with an acidifying starter fertilizer. Manganese
sulfate or finely ground MnO (5–20 kg Mn ha−1) can be applied in bands along rice
rows. For rapid treatment of Mn deficiency, foliar spray with MnSO4 solution (1–5 kg
Mn ha−1 in 200 L water ha−1) can be effectively adopted. Chelates are less effective
because Fe and Cu displace Mn. Application of farmyard manure and acid forming
fertilizer such as (NH4)2SO4 can prevent Mn deficiency in rice (Fairhurst et al. 2007).

10.9  Boron

Boron (B) is an important constituent of cell walls and its deficiency results in
reduced pollen viability. As B is not retranslocated to new growth, deficiency symp-
toms usually appear as white, rolled leaf tips of young leaves. Boron deficiency in
rice may be expressed solely in the form of reduced grain yield from floret sterility.
Okuda et al. (1961) observed that panicles of B-deficient rice plants failed to come
out from the boot. The critical soil level for occurrence of B deficiency is 0.5 mg
B kg−1 hot water extraction (Fairhurst et al. 2007). While Fageria et al. (1997) sug-
gested a critical concentration of 8 mg B kg−1 in rice leaves at maturity, Yu and Bell
(1998) reported that 18.5 mg B kg−1 in rice leaves and 8.9 mg B kg−1 in rice stems
were associated with optimum rice yields. Boron deficiency in rice may be cor-
rected by applying B in soluble forms as borax (0.5–3 kg B ha−1) (Fairhurst et al.
2007). Borax should be broadcast and incorporated before planting, top-dressed, or
as foliar spray during vegetative rice growth.

10.10  Integrated Plant Nutrient Management in Rice

The integrated plant nutrient management (IPNM) aims to judiciously manipulate

the nutrient stocks and flows to maintain and improve fertility and health of the soil
for sustained crop productivity on long-term basis and use fertilizer nutrients as
supplement to nutrients supplied by different organic sources available at the farm.
The IPNM in rice has great impact in terms of maintaining health of soils that are
low in organic matter content as are commonly found in South Asia (Katyal et al.
2001). In recent years, a large number of long-term experiments on rice-based crop-
ping systems in South Asia have shown that integrated management of different
organic materials and mineral fertilizers resulted in positive impact on the yield of
rice along with build-up of soil organic matter. Ladha et  al. (2003) analyzed 12
rice–wheat long-term experiments and concluded that annual rate of yield change in
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 245

rice was significantly higher with integrated management of organic manures and
fertilizers as compared with the NPK treatment.

10.11  Conclusions

Fertilizers account for 20–25 % of total production costs in lowland rice systems.
Therefore, increasing the yield of rice per unit area through the use of appropriate
nutrient management practices has become an essential component of modern rice
production technology. It has been endeavored to manage nutrients in the form of
recommendations consisting of optimum fertilizer N rates, improved methods and
timings of application and placement and new forms of fertilizers. Development of
efficient practices for managing different nutrients in rice has been possible by inte-
grating basic knowledge of soil properties, nutrient cycles, chemical and biochemi-
cal transformation processes, and rice growth and nutrient uptake under flooded soil
conditions. These agronomically and environmentally efficient nutrient manage-
ment strategies are already recommended in many rice-producing regions.
To achieve high recovery efficiency of nutrient applied as fertilizers, agronomic effi-
ciency and rice yield levels through better synchronization between the supply and the
uptake of nutrients by the crop, a shift from blanket fertilizer recommendations to site-
specific need-based fertilizer management scenarios is being made. New innovations in
the management of N, P, K, and micronutrients in rice are evolving as our understanding
increases about the fate of these elements under the emerging soil–water–crop scenarios
based on salt- and drought-tolerant rice cultivars or new plant types for irrigated rice
ecosystems, enhanced nutritional quality of rice grain through breeding, biotechnologi-
cal approaches, integrated rice crop management with fine tuning of production tech-
nologies to reduce the cost of production and enhance productivity, production of rice
under climate change adaptive technologies, mechanization of rice farming to sustain
rice productivity, and conservation of natural resources like land, water, and labor. The
challenge ahead is to continue incorporating new and emerging technologies into practi-
cal management recommendations so that all rice farmers, even those with limited
resources, can adopt the efficient nutrient management practices to produce enough rice
for everyone and with minimal damage to the environment.

References

Abdulrachman S, Susant Z, Pahim, Djatiharti A, Dobermann A, Witt C (2004) Site-specific nutri-

ent management in intensive irrigated rice systems of West Java, Indonesia. In: Dobermann A,
Witt C, Dawe D (eds) Increasing productivity of intensive rice systems through site-specific
nutrient management. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 171–191
Adhikari C, Bronson KF, Panaullah GM, Regmi AP, Saha PK, Dobermann A et al (1999) On-farm
N supply and N nutrition in the rice–wheat system of Nepal and Bangladesh. Field Crop Res
64:273–286
246 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

Adriano DC (1986) Trace elements in the terrestrial environment. Springer, New York

Alam MM, Ladha JK, Foyjunnessa, Rahman Z, Khan SR, Rashid HU et al (2006) Nutrient man-
agement for increased productivity of rice-wheat cropping system in Bangladesh. Field Crop
Res 96:374–386
Ali AM, Thind HS, Sharma S, Varinderpal-Singh (2014) Prediction of dry direct-seeded rice yields
using chlorophyll meter, leaf color chart and GreenSeeker optical sensor in northwestern India.
Field Crop Res 161:11–15
Aulakh MS, Bijay-Singh (1997) Nitrogen losses and N-use efficiency in porous soils. Nutr Cycl
Agroecosyst 47:197–212
Aulakh MS, Khera TS, Doran JW, Bronson KF (2001) Denitrification, N2O and CO2 fluxes in rice-­
wheat cropping system as affected by crop residues, fertilizer N and legume green manure. Biol
Fertil Soils 34:375–389
Bajwa S, Mishra AR, Norman RJ (2010) Canopy reflectance response to plant nitrogen accumula-
tion in rice. Precis Agric 11:488–506
Balasubramanian V, Ladha JK, Gupta RK, Naresh RK, Mehla RS, Bijay-Singh et  al (2003)
Technology options for rice in the rice-wheat system in South Asia. In: Ladha JK, Hill JE,
Duxbury JM, Gupta RK, Buresh RJ (eds) Improving the productivity and sustainability of
rice-­wheat systems: issues and impacts. ASA special publication 65. American Society of
Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, Madison,
pp. 115–147
Barber SA (1995) Soil nutrient bioavailability: a mechanical approach, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York
Belder P, Bouman BAM, Cabangon R, Guoan L, Quilang EJP, Yuanhua L et al (2004) Effect of
water-saving irrigation on rice yield and water use in typical lowland conditions in Asia. Agric
Water Manag 65:193–210
Bijay-Singh (2014) Site specific and need based management of nitrogen fertilizers in cereals in
India. In: Sinha S, Pant KK, Bajpai S (eds) Advances in fertilizer technology: biofertilizers, vol
2. Studium Press LLC, New Delhi, pp. 576–605
Bijay-Singh, Gupta RK, Yadvinder-Singh, Gupta SK, Singh J, Bains JS et al (2006) Need-based
nitrogen management using leaf color chart in wet direct-seeded rice in northwestern India.
J New Seeds 8:35–47
Bijay-Singh, Katyal JC (1987) Relative efficacy of some new urea-based nitrogen fertilizers for
growing wetland rice on a permeable alluvial soil. J Agric Sci Camb 109:27–31
Bijay-Singh, Varinderpal-Singh, Purba J, Sharma RK, Jat ML, Yadvinder-Singh et al (2015) Site-­
specific nitrogen management in irrigated transplanted rice (Oryza sativa) using an optical
sensor. Precis Agric 16:455–475
Bijay-Singh, Varinderpal-Singh, Yadvinder-Singh, Thind HS, Ajay-Kumar, Gupta RK et al (2012)
Fixed-time adjustable dose site-specific fertilizer nitrogen management in transplanted irri-
gated rice (Oryza sativa L.) in South Asia. Field Crop Res 126:63–69
Bijay-Singh, Yadvinder-Singh, Imas P, Xie J (2004) Potassium nutrition of the rice-wheat cropping
system. Adv Agron 81:203–259
Bijay-Singh, Yadvinder-Singh, Ladha JK, Bronson KF, Balasubramanian V, Singh J et al (2002)
Chlorophyll meter- and leaf color chart-based nitrogen management for rice and wheat in
northwestern India. Agron J 94:821–829
Bollich PK, Lindau CW, Norman RJ (1994) Management of fertilizer nitrogen in dry-seeded,
delayed-flood rice. Aust J Exp Agric 34:1007–1012
Bowen WT, Diamond RB, Singh U, Thompson TP (2005) Urea deep placement increases yield and
saves nitrogen fertilizer in farmers’ fields in Bangladesh. In: Toriyama K, Heong KL, Hardy
B (eds) Rice is life: scientific perspectives for the 21st century. Proceedings of the World Rice
Research Conference held in Tokyo and Tsukuba, 4–7 Nov 2004. International Rice Research
Institute, Los Baños; Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, Tsukuba.
CD-ROM, 590 p
Buresh RJ (2007) Fertile progress. Rice Today 6:32–33
Buresh RJ, Castillo EG, De Datta SK (1993) Nitrogen losses in puddled soilsas affected by timing
of water deficit and nitrogen fertilization. Plant Soil 157:197–206
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 247

Buresh RJ, De Datta SK, Padilla JL, Samson MI (1988) Field evaluation of two urease inhibitors
with transplanted low-land rice. Agron J 80:763–768
Buresh RJ, Reddy KR, van Kessel C (2008) Nitrogen transformations in submerged soils. In:
Schepers JS, Raun WR (eds) Nitrogen in agricultural systems, Agronomy monograph 49.
American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp. 401–436
Cakmak I (2008) Enrichment of cereal grains with zinc: agronomic or genetic biofortification.
Plant Soil 302:1–17
Cassman KG, Dobermann A, Walters DT (2002) Agroecosystems, nitrogen-use efficiency, and
nitrogen management. Ambio 31:132–140
Cassman KG, Kropff MJ, Gaunt J, Peng S (1993) Nitrogen use efficiency of rice reconsidered:
what are the key constraints? Plant Soil 155/156:359–362
Chalk PM, Craswell ET, Polidoro JC, Chen D (2015) Fate and efficiency of 15N-labelled slow- and
controlled-release fertilizers. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 102:167–178
Chen F (1997) The effect of long-term K application on the characteristics of fixation and release
of soil K [dissertation]. Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan
De Datta SK (1981) Principles and practices of rice production. Wiley, New York
De Datta SK, Gomez KA, Descalsota JP (1988) Changes in yield response to major nutrients and
in soil fertility under intensive rice cropping. Soil Sci 146:350–358
De Datta SK, Trevitt ACF, Freney JR, Obcemea WN, Real JG, Simpson JR (1989) Measuring
nitrogen losses from lowland rice using bulk aerodynamic and nitogen-15 balance methods.
Soil Sci Soc Am J 53:1275–1281
Dillon KA, Walker TW, Harrell DL, Krutz LJ, Varco JJ, Koger CH et al (2012) Nitrogen sources
and timing effects on nitrogen loss and uptake in delayed flood rice. Agron J 104:466–472
Dobermann A, Cassman KG, Mamaril CP, Sheehy JE (1998) Management of phosphorus, potas-
sium, and sulfur in intensive, irrigated lowland rice. Field Crop Res 56:113–138
Dobermann A, Cassman KG, Sta Cruz PC, Adviento MAA, Pampolino MF (1996a) Fertilizer
inputs, nutrient balance, and soil nutrient-supplying power in intensive, irrigated rice systems.
II. Effective soil K-supplying capacity. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 46:11–21
Dobermann A, Dawe D, Roetter RP, Cassman KG (2000) Reversal of rice yield decline in a long-­
term continuous cropping experiment. Agron J 92:633–643
Dobermann A, Fairhurst T (2000) Rice: nutritional disorders and nutrient management. Singapore:
Potash and Phosphate Institute of Canada. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños
Dobermann A, StaCruz PC, Cassman KG (1996b) Fertilizer inputs, nutrient balance, and soil
nutrient-supplying power in intensive, irrigated rice systems. I. Potassium uptake and K bal-
ance. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 46:l–10
Dobermann A, Witt C, Dawe D, Gines HC, Nagarajan R, Satawathananont S et al (2002) Site-­
specific nutrient management for intensive rice cropping systems in Asia. Field Crop Res
74:37–66
Fageria NK (1980) Influence of phosphorus application on growth, yield and nutrient uptake by
irrigated rice. R Bras Ci Solo 4:26–31
Fageria NK (1991) Response of rice to fractional applied potassium in Brazil. Better Crops Int
7:19
Fageria NK (1999) Liming and fertilization. In: Vieira NRA, Santos AB, Santana EP (eds) Rice
crop in Brazil. EmbrapaArroz e Feijlo, Santo Antonio de Goias, pp. 329–353
Fageria NK (2001) Screening method of lowland rice genotypes for zinc uptake efficiency. Sci
Agric 58:623–626
Fageria NK, Baligar VC (2001) Lowland rice response to nitrogen fertilization. Commun Soil Sci
Plant Anal 32:1405–1429
Fageria NK, Baligar VC, Jones CA (1997) Growth and mineral nutrition of field crops, 2nd edn.
Marcel Dekker, New York
Fageria NK, Baligar VC, Wright RJ, Carvalho JRP (1990) Lowland rice response to potassium
fertilization and its effect on N and P uptake. Fert Res 21:157–162
Fageria NK, Gheyi HR (1999) Efficient crop production. Federal University of Paraiba, Campina
Grande
248 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

Fageria NK, Slaton NA, Baligar VC (2003) Nutrient management for improving lowland rice
productivity and sustainability. Adv Agron 80:63–152
Fairhurst TH, Dobermann A, Quijano-Guerta C, Balasubramanian V (2007) Mineral deficien-
cies and toxicities. In: Fairhurst TH, Witt C, Buresh RJ, Dobermann A, editors. Rice: a
practical guide to nutrient management, 2nd ed. International Rice Research Institute, Los
Baños; International Plant Nutrition Institute, Norcross; International Potash Institute, Berne,
pp. 46–86
FAOSTAT (2016) http://faostat3.fao.org/download/Q/QC/E. Accessed 13 Feb 2016
Faroda AS (1992) A decade of agronomic research in rice-wheat system in Haryana. In: Pandey
RK, Dwivedi BS, Sharma AK (eds) Rice-wheat cropping system. Project Directorate for
Cropping Systems Research, Modipuram, pp. 233–238
Fillery IRP, De Datta SK (1986) Ammonia volatilization from nitrogen sources applied to rice
fields: I. Methodology, ammonia fluxes, and nitrogen-15 loss. Soil Sci Soc Am J 50:80–86
Forno DA, Yoshida S, Asher CJ (1975) Zinc deficiency in rice. I. Soil factors associated with the
deficiency. Plant Soil 42:537–550
Friesen DK, Rao IM, Thomas RJ, Oberson A, Sanz JI (1997) Phosphorus acquisition and cycling in
crop and pasture systems in low fertility tropical soils. In: Ando T, Fujita K, Mae T, Matsumoto
H, Mori S, Sekiya J  (eds) Plant nutrition for sustainable food production and environment.
Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp. 493–498
Gill HS, Meelu OP (1983) Studies on the utilization of P and causes for its differential response to
rice-wheat rotation. Plant Soil 74:211–222
Gines HC, Redondo GO, Estigoy AP, Dobermann A (2004) Site-specific nutrient management in
irrigated rice systems of Central Luzon, Philippines. In: Dobermann A, Witt C, Dawe D (eds)
Increasing productivity of intensive rice systems through site-specific nutrient management.
International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 145–169
Haque MA, Husain MM, Jharna DE, Uddin MN, Hussain ASMI (2003) A comparative study of
leaf color chart based and farmer’s practice of nitrogen fertilizer application on rice under on-­
farm conditions of Bangladesh. Pak J Biol Sci 6:1685–1688
Heffer P (2013) Assessment of fertilizer use by crop at the global level, 2010–2010/11. International
Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA), Paris
Hirata H (1995) Science of rice plant: Physiology. In: Matsuo T, Kumazawa K, Ishii R, Ishihara K,
Hirata H (eds) Absorption and metabolism of potassium, vol 2. Food and Agricultural Policy
Research Center, Tokyo, pp. 383–390
Hoque MZ, Hobbs PR (1980) Response of rice crop to added sulphur at BRRI station and nearby
project area. In: Proceedings of the workshop on sulphur nutrition in rice. Publication no. 41.
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Dhaka, pp 15–19
Hussain F, Bronson KF, Yadvinder-Singh, Bijay-Singh, Peng S (2000) Use of chlorophyll
meter sufficiency indices for nitrogen management of irrigated rice in Asia. Agron
J 92:875–879
IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) (2007) Nutrients for irrigated rice: SSNM. http://
www.knowledgebank.irri.org/ericeproduction/IV.4_SSNM.htm. Accessed 2 Feb 2016
Isfan D (1993) Genotypic variability for physiological efficiency index of nitrogen in oats. Plant
Soil 154:53–59
Janssen BH, Guiking FCT, van der Eijk D, Smaling EMA, Wolf J, Van Reuler H (1990) A
system for quantitative evaluation of the fertility of tropical soils (QUEFTS). Geoderma
46:299–318
Kamprath EJ, Watson ME (1980) Conventional soil and tissue tests for assessing the phosphorus
status of soils. In: Khasawneh FE, Sample EC, Kamprath EJ (eds) The role of phosphorus in
agriculture. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science
Society of America, Madison, pp 433–469
Katyal JC, Bijay-Singh, Vlek PLG, Craswell ET (1985) Fate and efficiency of nitrogen fertilizers
applied to wetland rice II. Punjab, India. Fert Res 6:279–290
Katyal JC, Rao NH, Reddy MN (2001) Critical aspects of organic matter management in the trop-
ics: the example of India. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 61:77–88
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 249

Kemmler G (1980) Potassium deficiency in soils of the tropics as a constraint to food produc-
tion. In: Priorities for alleviating soil-related constraints to food production in the tropics.
International Rice Research Institute, Manila, pp. 253–275
Khurana HS (2005) Site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) for improving productivity of rice-
wheat cropping system in Punjab [dissertation]. Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Khurana MPS, Sadana US, Bijay-Singh (2008) Sulfur nutrition of crops in the Indo-Gangetic of
South Asia. In: Jez J (ed) Sulfur: a missing link between soils, crops, and nutrition, Agronomy
monograph number 50. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America,
Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp. 11–24
Kirk GJD, Bajita JB (1995) Root-induced iron oxidation, pH changes and zinc solubilisation in the
rhizosphere of lowland rice. New Phytol 131:129–137
Kiuchi T, Ishizaka H (1961) Effects of nutrients on the yield constituting factors of rice. J Soil Sci
Manures Jpn 32:198–202
Kondo M, Singh CV, Agbisit R, Murty MVR (2005) Yield response to urea and controlled-release
urea as affected by water supply in tropical upland rice. J Plant Nutr 28:201–219
Kumar A, Yadav DS (2001) Long-term effects of fertilizers on the soil fertility and productivity of
a rice-wheat system. J Agron Crop Sci 186:47–54
Ladha JK, Pathak H, Krupnik TJ, Six J, van Kessel C (2005) Efficiency of fertilizer nitrogen in
cereal production: Retrospects and prospects. Adv Agron 87:85–156
Ladha JK, Pathak H, Tirol-Padre A, Dawe D, Gupta RK (2003) Productivity trends in intensive
rice-wheat cropping systems in Asia. In: Ladha JK, Hill JE, Duxbury JM, Gupta RK, Buresh
RJ (eds) Improving the productivity and sustainability of rice-wheat systems: issues and
impacts, ASA special publication 65. American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of
America, Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp. 45–76
Li H, Chen YX, Liang XQ, Lian YF, Li WH (2009) Mineral-nitrogen leaching and ammonia
volatilization from a rice-rapeseed system as affected by 3,4-dimethyipyrazole phosphate.
J Environ Qual 38:2131–2137
Lin SC, Yuan LP (1980) Hybrid rice breeding in China. In: Innovative approaches to rice breeding.
International Rice Research Institute, Manila, pp. 35–37
Linquist BA, Liu L, van Kessel C, van Groenigen KJ (2013) Enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertil-
izers for rice systems: meta-analysis of yield and nitrogen uptake. Field Crop Res 154:246–254
Liscano JF, Wilson CE Jr, Norman RJ, Slaton NA (2001) Zinc availability to rice from seven gran-
ular fertilizers, Arkansas agricultural experiment station research bulletin no 963. Arkansas
Agricultural Research Station, Fayetteville
Liu K, Li Y, Hu H (2014) Estimating the effect of urease inhibitor on rice yield based on NDVI at
key growth stages. Front Agric Sci Eng 1:150–157
Lobell DB (2007) The cost of uncertainty for nitrogen fertilizer management: a sensitivity analy-
sis. Field Crop Res 100:210–217
Maiti D, Das DK, Karak T, Banerjee M (2004) Management of nitrogen through the use of leaf
color chart (LCC) and soil plant analysis development (SPAD) or chlorophyll meter in rice
under irrigated ecosystem. The Sci World J 4:838–846
Malla G, Bhatia A, Pathak H, Prasad S, Jain N, Singh J (2005) Mitigating nitrous oxide and meth-
ane emissions from soil in rice-wheat system of the Indo-Gangetic plain with nitrification and
urease inhibitors. Chemosphere 58:141–147
Marschner H (1995) Mineral nutrition of higher plants, 2nd edn. Academic Press, New York
McGee JB, Slaton NA, DeLong RE, Wilson CE Jr, Norman RJ (2002) Rate and time of phospho-
rus fertilization on efficiency of phosphorus uptake by rice. In: 29th Proceedings of the Rice
Technical Working Group, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, 24–27 Feb, 2002. Agricultural
Center, Louisiana State University, Crowley
McLean EO, Watson ME (1985) Soil measurements of plant-available potassium. In: Munson RD
(ed) Potassium inagriculture. American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America
Crop Science Society of America, Madison, pp. 277–308
Meelu OP, Kulkarni KR, Bhandari AL (1982) Crop response to nutrients under irrigated conditions.
In: Review of soil research in India. Indian Society of Soil Science, New Delhi, pp. 424–441
250 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

Moore PA Jr, Gilmour JT, Wells RR (1981) Seasonal patterns of growth and soil nitrogen uptake
by rice. Soil Sci Soc Am J 45:875–879
Moore PA Jr, Patrick WH Jr (1988) Effect of zinc deficiency on alcohol dehydrogenase activity and
nutrient uptake in rice. Agron J 80:882–885
Mori S, Nishazawa N, Hayashi H, Chino M, Yoshimura E (1991) Ishihara J Why areyoungrice
plants highly susceptible to iron deficiency? Plant Soil 130:143–156
Mueller KE (1974) Field problems of tropical rice. International Rice Research Institute, Los
Baños
Nguyen HT, Kim JH, Nguyen AT, Nguyen LT, Shin JC, Lee BW (2006) Using canopy reflectance
and partial least squares regression to calculate within-field statistical variation in crop growth
and nitrogen status of rice. Precis Agric 7:249–264
Norman RJ, Wells BR, Moldenhauer KAK (1989) Effect of application method and dicyandiamide
on urea-nitrogen-15 recovery in rice. Soil Sci Soc Am J 53:1269–1274
Norman RJ, Wilson CE Jr, Slaton NA (2003) Soil fertilization and mineral nutrition in
USmechanized rice culture. In: Smith CW (ed) Rice: origin, history, production, and technol-
ogy. Wiley, New York, pp. 331–341
Norman RJ, Wilson CE Jr, Slaton NA, Griggs BR, Bushong JT, Gbur EE (2009) Nitrogen fertilizer
sources and timing before flooding dry-seeded, delayed-flood rice. Soil Sci Soc Am J 73:2184–2190
Obata H (1995) Physiological functions of micro essential elements. In: Matsuo T, Kumazawa
K, Ishii R, Ishihara K, Hirata H (eds) Science of rice plant: physiology, 2nd edn. Food and
Agricultural Policy Research Center, Tokyo, pp. 402–419
Oberthuer T, Dobermann A, Neue HU (1995) Spatial modelling of soil fertility – a case study in
Nueva Ecija, Philippines. In: Fragile lives in fragile ecosystems. International Rice Research
Institute, Manila, pp. 689–705
Okuda A, Hori S, Ida S (1961) Boron nutrition in higher plants. I. A method of growing boron
deficient plants. J Sci Soil Manure Jpn 32:153–157
Palmer B, Ismunadji M, Xuan VT (1990) Phosphorus management in lowland rice-based crop-
ping system. In: Phosphorus requirements for sustainable agriculture in Asia and Oceania.
International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 325–331
Pandey J, Singh RP (1987) Effect of urea, slow release fertilizers, and nitrification inhibitors on the
yield of rainfed low land rice. Indian J Agron 32:303–305
Pang GB, Peng SZ (2010) Research advances of nitrogen fertilizer application technologies in
Chinese rice field. Soil 42:329–335 (in Chinese)
Pasuquin JMCA, Witt C, Mutters R (2004) A new, standardized leaf color chart for efficient N
management in irrigated rice. Philipp J Crop Sci 29:46
Patil MD, Das BS, Barak E, Bhadoria PBS, Polak A (2010) Performance of polymer-coated urea
in transplanted rice: effect of mixing ratio and water input on nitrogen use efficiency. Paddy
Water 8:189–198
Patrick WH Jr, Peterson FJ, Wilson FE (1974) Response of lowland rice to time and method of
application of phosphate. Agron J 66:459–460
Peng S, Cassman KG (1998) Upper thresholds of nitrogen uptake rates and associated N fertilizer
efficiencies in irrigated rice. Agron J 90:178–185
Pillai KG (1992) Rice (Oryza sativa L.). In: World fertilizer use manual. International Fertilizer
Industry Association, Paris, pp. 37–54
Pillai PB, Singh HG (1975) Effect of different sources of sulphur and Fe on flag leaf composition
and grain yield of rice on calcareous soils. Indian J Agric Sci 45:340–343
Ponnamperuma FN (1972) The chemistry of submerged soils. Adv Agron 24:29–96
Quijano-Guerta C, Kirk GJD, Portugal AM, Bartolome VI, McLaren GC (2002) Tolerance of rice
germplasm to zinc deficiency. Field Crop Res 76:123–130
Rattunde HF, Frey KJ (1986) Nitrogen harvest index in oats: its repeatability and association with
adaptation. Crop Sci 26:606–610
Rogers CW, Norman RC, Brye KR, Slaton NA, Smartt AD (2015) Comparison of urease inhibitors
for use in rice production on a silt-loam soil. Crop Forage Turfgrass Manage 1(1):1–6
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 251

Roy AC, De Datta SK (1985) Phosphate sorption isotherms for evaluating phosphorus requirement
of wetland rice soils. Plant Soil 86:185–196
Run-Kun L, Bai Fan J, Cheng Kwei L (1982) P management for submerged soils. In: Proceedings
of the 12th international congress of soil science. Indian Society of Soil Science, New Delhi,
pp. 182–191
Sanyal SK, De Datta SK (1991) Chemistry of phosphorus transformations in soil. Adv Soil Sci
16:1–120
Satawathananont S, Chatuporn S, Niyomvit L, Kongchum M, Sookthongsa J, Dobermann A (2004)
Site-specific nutrient management in irrigated rice systems of Central Thailand. In: Dobermann
A, Witt C, Dawe D (eds) Increasing productivity of intensive rice systems through site-specific
nutrient management. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 125–143
Savant NK, De Datta SK, Craswell ET (1982) Distribution patterns of ammonium nitrogen and
15
N uptake by rice after deep placement of urea super granules in wetland soil. Soil Sci Soc
Am J 46:567–573
Scientific Technology Department of Ministry of Agriculture (1991) Potassium in agriculture of
Southern China. Agriculture Press, Beijing, pp. 140–257
Sekhon GS (1995) Characterization of K availability in paddy soils-present status and futurere-
quirements. In: Potassium in Asia-Balanced fertilization to increase and sustain agricultural-
production. International Potash Institute, Basel, pp. 115–133
Shahandeh H, Hossner LR, Turner FT (1994) Phosphorus relationships in flooded rice soils with
low extractable phosphorus. Soil Sci Soc Am J 58:1184–1189
Sharma BD, Katyal JC (1982) Changes in DTPA-iron and management of iron chlorosis in rice
nurseries. Plant Soil 69:123–126
Shaviv A (2001) Advances in controlled-release fertilizers. Adv Agron 71:1–49
Singh Y, Gupta RK, Singh B, Gupta S (2007) Efficient management of fertilizer nitrogen in wet
direct-seeded rice (Oryzasativa) in northwest India. Indian J Agric Sci 77:561–564
Shimada N (1995) Science of rice plant: Physiology. In: Matsuo T, Kumazawa K, Ishii R, Ishihara
K, Hirata H (eds) Deficiency and excess of micronutrient elements. Food and Agricultural
Policy Research Center, Tokyo, pp. 412–419
Shukla AK, Ladha JK, Singh VK, Dwivedi BS, Balasubramanian V, Gupta RK et  al (2004)
Calibrating the leaf color chart for nitrogen management in different genotypes of rice and
wheat in a systems perspective. Agron J 96:1606–1621
Sims JT, Johnson GV (1991) Micronutrient soil tests. In: Mortvedt JJ, Cox FR, Shuman LM,
Welch RM (eds) Micronutrients in agriculture, 2nd edn. Soil Science Society of America,
Madison (WI), pp. 427–476
Slaton NA (1998) The influence of elemental sulfur amendments on soil chemical properties and
rice growth [dissertation]. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Slaton NA, Cartwright CD, Wilson CE Jr (1995) Potassium deficiency and plant diseases observed
in rice fields. Better Crops 79(4):12–14
Slaton NA, Norman RJ, Boothe DL, Ntamatungiro S, Clark SD, Wilson CE Jr, DeLong RE (2001)
Potassium nutrition of rice: summary of 2000 research studies. In: Norman RJ, Meullenet F
(eds) B.R. Wells rice research studies 2000, Arkansas agricultural experiment station research
series 485. Arkansas Agricultural Research Station, Fayetteville, pp. 395–404
Slaton NA, Wilson CE Jr, Norman RJ, Gbur EE Jr (2002) Development of a critical Mehlich 3 soil
test zinc concentration for rice in Arkansas. Commun Soil Sci Anal 33:2759–2770
Slaton NA, Wilson CE Jr, Ntamatungiro S, Norman RJ (1998) Rice response to phosphorus appli-
cation timing. Better Crops 82(2):10–12
Snyder GH, Jones DB (1988) Prediction of iron-related rice seedling chlorosis on everglades
Histosols. Soil Sci Soc Am J 52:1043–1046
Son TT, Chien NV, Thoa VTK, Dobermann A, Witt C (2004) Site-specific nutrient management in
irrigated rice systems of the Red River Delta of Vietnam. In: Dobermann A, Witt C, Dawe D
(eds) Increasing productivity of intensive rice systems through site-specific nutrient manage-
ment. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 217–242
252 Bijay-Singh and V.K. Singh

Sri Adiningsih J, Santoso D, Sudjadi M (1991) The status of N, P, K and S of lowland rice soils
in Java. In: Blair G (ed) Sulfur fertilizer policy for lowland and upland rice cropping systems
in Indonesia. Australia Centre for International Agricultural Research, Melbourne, pp. 68–76
Takenaga H (1995) Science of rice plant: Physiology. In: Matsuo T, Kumazawa K, Ishii R, Ishihara
K, Hirata H (eds) Internal factors in relation to nutrient absorption, vol 2. Food and Agricultural
Policy Research Center, Tokyo, pp. 294–309
Tandon HLS, Sekhon GS (1988) Potassium research and agricultural production in India. Fertiliser
Development and Consultation Organisation, New Delhi, p. 144
Tiwari KN, Dwivedi BS (1994) Fertilizer Zn needs of rice (Oryza satival.) as influenced bynative
soil Zn in Udic Ustochrepts of the Indo-Gangetic plains. Trop Agric (Trinidad) 71:17–21
Trenkel ME (2010) Improving fertilizer use efficiency – controlled-release and stabilized fertil-
izers in agriculture. International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA), Paris, p. 151
Tubaña BS, Harrell D, Walker T, Phillips S (2011) Midseason nitrogen fertilization rate decision
tool for rice using remote sensing technology. Better Crops 95(1):22–24
Turner FT, Jund MF (1994) Assessing the nitrogen requirements of rice crops with a chlorophyll
meter. Aust J Expt Agric 34:1001–1005
Varinderpal-Singh, Yadvinder-Singh, Bijay-Singh, Baldev-Singh, Gupta RK, Jagmohan-Singh
et al (2007) Performance of site specific nitrogen management for irrigated transplanted rice in
northwestern India. Arch Agron Soil 53:567–579
Wang CH (1976) Sulphur fertilization of rice. In: The fertility of paddy soils and fertilizer applica-
tion for rice. Food and Fertilizer Technology Center, Taipei
Wang S, Zhao X, Xing G, Yang Y, Zhang M, Chen H (2015) Improving grain yield and reducing N
loss using polymer-coated urea in southeast China. Agron Sustain Dev 35:1103–1115
Wang G, Dobermann A, Witt C, Sun Q, Fu R (2001) Performance of site-specific nutrient manage-
ment for irrigated rice in Southeast China. Agron J 93:869–878
Wells BR, Huey BA, Norman RJ, Helms RS (1993) Rice. In: Bennett WF (ed) Nutrient deficien-
cies and toxicities in crop plants. The American Phytopathological Society, St Paul, pp. 15–19
Westcott MP, Brandon DM, Lindau CW, Patrick WH Jr (1986) Effects of seedingmethod and time
of fertilization on urea-nitrogen-15 recovery in rice. Agron J 78:474–478
Westfall DG, Flinchum WT, Stansel JW (1973) Distribution of nutrients in the rice plantand effect
of two nitrogen levels. Agron J 65:236–238
Williams J, Smith SG (2001) Correcting potassium deficiency can reduce rice stem diseases.
Better Crops 85(1):7–9
Wilson CE Jr, Norman RJ, Wells BR (1990) Dicyandiamide influence on uptake of preplant-­
applied fertilizer nitrogen by rice. Soil Sci Soc Am J 54:1157–1161
Wilson CE Jr, Slaton NA, Ntamatungiro S, Norman RJ (1999) Phosphorusfertilizer management
for rice produced on alkaline soils. Arkansas agricultural experiment station research series
468. Arkansas Agricultural Research Station, Fayetteville
Wilson CE Jr, Wells BR, Norman RJ (1994) Fertilizer nitrogen uptake by rice from urea-­ammonium
nitrate solution vs. granular urea. Soil Sci Soc Am J 58:1825–1828
Witt C, Buresh RJ, Peng S, Balasubramanian V, Dobermann A (2007) Nutrient management.
In: Fairhurst TH, Witt C, Buresh RJ, Dobermann A (eds) Rice: a practical guide to nutrient
­management, 2nd ed. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños; International Plant
Nutrition Institute, Norcross; International Potash Institute, Berne, pp 1–45
Witt C, Dobermann A (2004) Towards a decision support system for site-specific nutrient manage-
ment. In: Dobermann A, Witt C, Dawe D (eds) Increasing productivity of intensive rice systems
through site-specific nutrient management. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños,
pp. 359–395
Witt C, Pasuquin JMCA, Mutters R, Buresh RJ (2005) New leaf color chart for effective nitrogen
management in rice. Better Crops 89(1):36–39
10  Fertilizer Management in Rice 253

Xu X, Boeckx P, van Cleemput O, Kazuyuki I (2005) Mineral nitrogen in a rhizosphere soil and in
standing water during rice (Oryzasativa L.) growth: effect of hydroquinone and dicyandiamide.
Agric Ecosyst Environ 109:107–117
Xu XK, Boeckx P, van Cleemput O, Zhou LK (2002) Urease and nitrification inhibitors to reduce
emissions of CH4 and N2O in rice production. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 64:203–211
Xu XK, Wang YS, Zheng XH, Wang MX, Wang Z, Zhou LK et al (2000) Methane emission from
a simulated rice field ecosystem as influenced by hydroquinone and dicyandiamide. Sci Total
Environ 263:243–253
Xue L, Li G, Qin X, Yang L, Zhang H (2014) Topdressing nitrogen recommendation for early rice
with an active sensor in South China. Precis Agric 15:95–110
Xue LH, Cao WX, Luo WH, Dai TB (2004) Monitoring leaf nitrogen status in rice with canopy
spectral reflectance. Agron J 96:135–142
Yadvinder-Singh, Bijay-Singh, Ladha JK, Bains JS, Gupta RK, Jagmohan-Singh et  al (2007)
On-farm evaluation of leaf color chart for need-based nitrogen management in irrigated trans-
planted rice in northwestern India. Nutr Cyc Agroecosyst 78:167–176
Yadvinder-Singh, Dobermann A, Bijay-Singh, Bronson KF, Khind CS (2000) Optimal phos-
phorus management strategies for wheat-rice cropping on a loamy sand. Soil Sci Soc Am
J 64:1413–1422
Yadvinder-Singh, Pannu RPS, Bijay-Singh (2005) Leaching of K from organic manures, crop resi-
dues and inorganic fertilizer in two soils under flooded and upland moisture regimes. J Indian
Soc Soil Sci 53:207–213
Yamaguchi J (1997) Sulfur status of rice and lowland soils in West Africa. In: Ando T, Fujita K,
Mae T, Matsumoto H, Mori S, Sekiya J (eds) Plant nutrition for sustainable food production
and environment. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp. 813–814
Yan X, Jin J, He P, Liang M (2008) Recent advances on the technologies to increase fertilizer use
efficiency. Agric Sci China 7:469–479
Yang WH, Peng S, Huang J, Sanico AL, Buresh RJ, Witt C (2003) Using leaf color charts to esti-
mate leaf nitrogen status of rice. Agron J 95:212–217
Yang X (1987) Physiological mechanisms of nitrogen efficiency in hybrid rice [dissertation].
Zhejiang Agricultural University, Hangzhou
Yang X, Sun X (1988) Physiological characteristics of F1 hybrid rice roots. In: Hybrid rice.
International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 159–164
Ye Y, Liang X, Chen Y, Liu J, Gu J, Gu R et al (2013) Alternate wetting and drying irrigation and
controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer in late-season rice. Effects on dry matter accumulation,
yield, water and nitrogen use. Field Crop Res 144:212–224
Yeomans JC, Bremner JM (1986) Effects of urease inhibitors on denitrification in soil. Commun
Soil Sci Plant Anal 17:63–73
Yoshida S (1981) Fundamentals of rice crops science. International Rice Research Institute, Los
Baños
Yu X, Bell PF (1998) Nutrient deficiency symptoms and boron uptake mechanisms of rice. J Plant
Nutr 21:2077–2088
Zhang AP, Liu RL, Yang SQ, Zhang QW, Li YH, Yang ZL (2012) Effect of side bar fertilization
technology based on slow-release fertilizer on rice yield and nitrogen losses. J Agro Environ
Sci 31:555–562
Zhang Q, Wang GH, Feng YK, Sun QZ, Witt C, Dobermann A (2006) Changes in soil phosphorus
fractions in a calcareous paddy soil under intensive rice cropping. Plant Soil 288:141–154
Zhao FJ, Withers PJA, Evans EJ, Monagham J, Salmin SE, Shewry PR et al (1997) Sulphur nutri-
tion: an important factor for the quality of wheat and rapeseed. In: Ando T, Fujita K, Mae T,
Matsumoto H, Mori S, Sekiya J (eds) Plant nutrition for sustainable food production and envi-
ronment. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp. 917–922
Chapter 11
Water Management in Rice

Avishek Datta, Hayat Ullah, and Zannatul Ferdous

11.1  Introduction

11.1.1  Background

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is grown in at least 114 countries of the world, and more than
50 of them produce equal to or more than 100,000 t year−1. About 491.4 million tons
(mt) of rough rice was produced worldwide from 160.6 million hectares (m ha) of land
in 2015 (FAO 2015). Rice, maize (Zea mays L.), and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) are
the main staple food sources for human, but rice becomes the most important with
respect to human nutrition and caloric intake as maize is used for purposes other than
human consumption. Most of the countries consume their own rice; therefore, the
economic importance of rice is different from other export commodities, and only
5–6 % export occurs worldwide.
Rice is not exclusively a wetland plant (hydrophyte), but its growth in inundated
conditions (5–10 cm water layer) is being practiced for a long time. The reasons for
growing rice in inundated conditions are mostly agronomic, and it would be possi-
ble to grow rice in less water environments like other crops. The main agronomic
advantages associated with this practice are suppression of weeds, ease of plowing,
storage of water from heavy rainfall (particularly during monsoon season), and pro-
vision of habitat for the growth of an aquatic fern Azolla. Azolla can play an impor-
tant role in nitrogen (N) fertilization of rice fields by making symbiotic association

A. Datta (*) • H. Ullah • Z. Ferdous

Agricultural Systems and Engineering, School of Environment,
Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology,
Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 255

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_11
256 A. Datta et al.

with a cyanobacteria/blue-green alga (Anabaena azollae). The demand for rice is

increasing with growing population, while water resources are getting scarce.
Hence, the rice-growing practices requiring less water input are needed to be
adapted. The benefits associated with growing rice under inundated conditions
could be achieved even without this practice, for example, by plowing, fertilizing,
and weeding through tractors and spraying of herbicides. High labor needs and
emission of more greenhouse gases under wet conditions are the other problems
associated with rice production under inundated conditions.
Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and aerobic rice provide a respective 38
and 40 % reduction in water input (Lampayan et al. 2015; Peng et al. 2006) to rice
over the conventional flooding; however, the farmers are reluctant to adopt these
practices because of possible yield reduction and certain information gaps regarding
these systems. The existing practice of rice cultivation where fields are kept continu-
ously flooded is more popular among farmers because of weed suppression and
higher yield. However, this practice causes excessive water loss due to higher seep-
age, percolation, and evapotranspiration (Grassi et al. 2009). Moreover, changing
climate with a direct effect on agricultural water availability is a serious threat for
the existing systems of rice cultivation (Yoo et al. 2012). Changing climate scenar-
ios (warming in particular) is expected to cause a 13–23 % rise in irrigation water
requirement for rice cultivation (De Silva et al. 2007; Thomas 2008; Shahid 2011;
Chung et al. 2011). The factors lowering the productivity of rice and diminishing its
optimum performance under low water input systems are required to be understood.
This will help in judicious use of available water resources for sustainable rice
production.

11.1.2  Rice Environments

Unlike other food crops, rice has a wide range of ecological amplitude and can be
grown in a variety of habitats with different hydrological conditions, climate, and
soil types (Bouman et al. 2007). Rice is unique among cereals due to its ability to
grow in wetland environment. Being an extremely versatile crop, rice can grow in
dry and wetland conditions and low and high altitudes from the Mekong delta in
Vietnam to the highlands of Madagascar (Seck et al. 2012). It has been reported that
rice is grown on approximately 158 m ha of land worldwide producing more than
700 m t in 2009 (IRRI, AfricaRice and CIAT 2010). The four main rice production
environments based on its hydrology (Bouman et al. 2007; Seck et al. 2012) are
summarized below:
(i) Irrigated rice: Almost 75 % of the world rice production comes from irrigated
lowland rice with a cultivated area of about 85–90 m ha where the main source
of water is irrigation for at least 80 % of crop duration (IRRI, AfricaRice and
CIAT 2010). Global food security is largely dependent on this system. Farm
size for this type of rice cultivation system is small (0.5–2 ha) where rice is
11  Water Management in Rice 257

cultivated once, twice, or thrice a year as monocrop or sometimes in rotation

with other crops such as wheat. In Asia, 56 % of the total rice-cultivated area
is under this system (Swain et al. 2005). Transplanting method of cultivation is
commonly used in irrigated rice production with bunded (diked) fields where
water is supplied by irrigation. The average yield is around 5.4 t ha−1.
(ii) Rainfed lowland rice: Rainfall is the only source of water for rainfed lowland
rice production system. Fields for this system of cultivation are also bunded
and are flooded with rainwater for at least part of the cropping season. The
share of this system in global rice production is about 20 % with a cultivated
area of about 40–45 m ha (IRRI, AfricaRice and CIAT 2010). Nearly 26 % of
the total rice-cultivated area in Asia is under this system (Swain et al. 2005).
The average yield is low (1–2.5 t ha−1). Some of the major yield-limiting fac-
tors for this system include drought, flood, weed infestation, iron toxicity, and
disease (Seck et al. 2012).
(iii) Rainfed upland rice: Cultivation of rice like any other cereal is known as
upland rice. Fields are characterized by well-drained, unsaturated, and aerobic
soil without any ponded water for more than 80 % of the crop growth period.
Broadcasting method is commonly used for this system where land is tilled
prior to starting of rainy season. No water is held on the surface as there is no
bunding. In Asia, only 9.2 % of rice-cultivated area falls under this system. The
major constraints for this system include erratic rainfall, poor weed control,
low fertilizer use, and high disease incidence. The average yield is about
1 t ha−1 (Seck et al. 2012).
(iv) Deep water or floating rice: Rice cultivated in areas where water depth reaches
1 m or more for a period of 10 days–5 months is called deep water or floating
rice (Seck et al. 2012). About 11–14 m ha of rice-cultivated area is under this
system across the globe. Commonly available varieties of rice are not suitable
for this system. Rice cultivated under this system has some special genetic
characteristics. These are quick growth and stem/root elongation rate of as
high as 10 cm day−1 with the rise in floodwater and formation of adventitious
roots for direct absorption of nutrients from floodwater in addition to regular
root system grounded in the soil (Balasubramanian et al. 2007).

11.2  Rice and Water Input

Total water applied either through irrigation or precipitation to the rice production
systems is collectively called water input (Jabran et al. 2015a). Water needed for
rice cultivation is more than any other arable crops. Nearly 75 and 80 % of the total
existing water resources of the world and Asia, respectively, are devoted to rice
production (Bouman et al. 2007). Presently, the traditional ways of growing rice
(flooding and puddling the soil followed by seedling transplanting) are increas-
ingly becoming difficult due to acute water and labor shortage in major rice-pro-
ducing areas of the world (Farooq et  al. 2011a; Jabran et  al. 2015a, b). Many
258 A. Datta et al.

alternate ways to the traditional system have been developed with a considerable
water saving potential such as dry-seeded rice, aerobic rice, and transplanted rice
with AWD. Water savings of 35–57 % have been reported for cultivating rice in
non-­flooded and non-puddled soils compared with traditional transplanted rice
(Peng et al. 2006; Bhushan et al. 2007). Similarly, 32–88 % higher water produc-
tivity has been recorded for dry-seeded rice compared with transplanted rice
(Bouman et al. 2005). Water savings between 20 and 21 % and 32 and 34 % have
been reported for transplanted rice with AWD and dry-seeded rice, respectively,
compared with transplanted rice with continuous flooding in Punjab, Pakistan
(Jabran et al. 2015a). The average value of water input for irrigated rice in Asia is
around 1300–1500 mm (Bouman et al. 2007). Total seasonal water input required
for rice is up to two to three times higher than other cereals (Tuong et al. 2005).
Soil texture plays an important role in deciding water input to rice. Water input
could be as low as 400 mm for a heavy clay soil with shallow groundwater table to
as high as 2000 mm for a coarse-textured soil (sandy or loamy) with deep ground-
water table (Cabangon et al. 2004). Water requirement is the highest for irrigated
lowland rice followed by rainfed lowland rice (Bouman et  al. 2007). This high
demand is due to high outflow by seepage, percolation and evapotranspiration dur-
ing crop growth. With better crop and water management practices, the amount of
water needed for lowland rice cultivation could be minimized. For example, reduc-
ing the time lag between soaking and transplanting to a few days, the amount of
water required for wet land preparation could be as low as 100–150 mm (Bouman
et al. 2007). But in most of the cases with large-scale irrigation systems with poor
water control, the time lag between soaking and transplanting can go up to 2
months, and water inputs for land preparation can be as high as 940 mm (Bouman
et al. 2007).
Transplanting and wet direct-seeding methods are generally used for lowland
rice cultivation in Asia. Land preparation consisting of soaking, plowing, and pud-
dling is an important step before practicing either of the methods. The water input
in rice fields is not uniform (different amount of water is needed in different areas
and different environments), and depends on various factors such as outflow rate,
crop growth, duration and method used for land preparation. For modern high-­
yielding varieties with a typical 100-day season, the total input of water varies
from 700 to 5300 mm based on different factors such as soil characteristics, cli-
mate, and hydrological conditions, while for many lowland areas, a typical value
is 1000–2000  mm (Tuong and Bouman 2003). For normal growth and mainte-
nance of flooded condition, it is necessary to match outflow of water. Major causes
of outflow under flooded conditions are seepage and percolation to the surround-
ings as well as evaporation and transpiration to the atmosphere. The resistance of
soil to water movement and depth of ponded water mainly govern the flow rates of
seepage and percolation, both of which are often considered in combination as it is
difficult to separate these under field situations. Different stages in the crop growth
period have different values of seepage and percolation, for example, seepage and
percolation values during land preparation are reported as high as 25 mm day−1 due
to cracks in the soil (Tuong et al. 1996). During the crop growth period, seepage
11  Water Management in Rice 259

and percolation values in heavy soil are reported between 1 and 5 mm day−1, and
in sandy and sandy loam soil, these are between 25 and 30 mm day−1 (Wickham
and Singh 1978; Jha et al. 1981). Evaporation and transpiration cannot be sepa-
rated and a combined term evapotranspiration is used. Evaporation occurs during
land preparation from moist soil (ponded water) and from soil and water surface
between crops, whereas transpiration occurs from plant surfaces during the crop
growth period. In Asia, evapotranspiration value ranges from 4 to 7 mm day−1 (De
Datta 1981; Tuong 1999). Out of all these outflows from a rice field, transpiration
is beneficial as it is directly involved in growth and yield. Seeping water could also
be reused downstream in the catchment areas and might not be a true loss. Most of
the water input to a rice field should compensate for all types of outflows such as
seepage and percolation during land preparation and crop growth period and evap-
oration during land preparation. All these flows have no role in plant growth and
yield.

11.3  Rice Water Productivity

Water productivity can be defined as grain yield per unit of water supplied through
irrigation (WPI), which is known as irrigation water productivity; or grain yield per
unit of water input (irrigation plus rainfall) (WPIR), which is known as total water
productivity; or grain yield per unit of water loss through evapotranspiration (WPET),
which is known as crop water productivity (Tuong and Bouman 2003; Timsina et al.
2008). Water productivity values for either case are not consistent under field condi-
tions. At field level, a typical value for WPIR is 0.2–1.1 g kg−1, and that of WPET
ranges from 0.4–1.6  g  kg−1 (Bouman and Tuong 2001). Different environmental
conditions provide different values of evapotranspiration and different yields, and
for this reason a wide variation exists for WPET values. Water productivity is also
related to N fertilizer rate and other agronomic practices. Due to high unproductive
outflows through seepage, percolation and evaporation from rice field, the value for
WPIR for rice is less than half of many other C3 crops. The value of WPET for rice and
other C3 crops have little difference.
Water productivity can be increased by adopting different water-saving practices
such as improved irrigation management (Bouman and Tuong 2001), making effi-
cient use of rainfall and increasing yield per unit evapotranspiration (Tuong and
Bouman 2003), growing short-duration cultivars (Bennett 2003) and growing of crop
in the period of low evaporative demand by altering the date of transplanting and
synchronization of growth cycle (Chahal et al. 2007; Timsina et al. 2008). There is
an increased interest to develop water-saving rice production systems all over the
world due to water shortage (Farooq et al. 2011a, b; Jabran et al. 2012a, b; Nie et al.
2012). Dressing the soil surface with some amendments, such as mulches, could
benefit rice production under water-limited environments by minimizing evaporative
losses and enhancing soil water retention (Jabran et al. 2015a). Productive use of
water in rice production (basmati rice) can be maximized by adjusting its t­ ransplanting
260 A. Datta et al.

time (Mahajan et al. 2015). In Northwest India, delaying transplanting of some pho-
toperiod-insensitive basmati cultivars resulted in higher water p­ roductivity (WPI,
WPIR, and WPET) from reduced irrigation requirement and maintenance of grain
yield as these cultivars matured almost 2–3 weeks earlier than other photoperiod-­
sensitive cultivars (Mahajan et  al. 2015). Short-duration cultivars mature earlier;
therefore, short-duration cultivars are better than medium- and long-­duration culti-
vars in water-saving rice cultivation systems (Mahajan et al. 2009).

11.4  The Rice Plant and Drought

Rice is the staple food for more than three billion people of the world, especially in
developing countries in Asia where water shortage and drought are imminent threats
to food and nutrition security. Water is the most important component for sustain-
able rice production across the globe, especially in those areas where it is grown in
traditional ways. Increased competition for water, reduced investments in irrigation
infrastructure, water quality deterioration due to pollution and excessive withdraw-
als of groundwater are some of the major problems that could pose serious threat for
sustainable rice production (Lampayan et al. 2015). These issues seem to be even
more severe in the future, but rice production must be significantly increased to
meet the food demand of the world despite all these challenges. Therefore, the most
viable option is the production of more rice with less water that would ensure the
food, water, economic and social security of the world.
The main sources of water for rice are the river, the rain and groundwater; there-
fore, the water scarcity paradigm needs to be carefully defined (Totin et al. 2013). In
broad sense, water scarcity can be divided into two main types: meteorological and
technical. Meteorological water scarcity is caused by severe reduction in normal
rainfall than the mean annual rainfall or shifting of rainfall timing in a season (Totin
et al. 2013). It has been reported that the current climate change is causing long-term
shift in rainfall timing adding additional uncertainty to the normal variability
(Nyakudya and Stroosnijder 2011). Both the gravity irrigated and rainfed crops are
affected by low rainfall as there will be less water in the river and wells as well.
Technical water scarcity is not due to unavailability of water rather it is caused by
certain technical problems such as collapse of canal bank or very high intake of
water at a level due to some technical defects in the irrigation infrastructure. In addi-
tion, improper or untimely (late) cleaning of irrigation canals also causes severe
water shortages in the fields that are at high elevation in the command area. Presence
of insufficient water to be pumped to upland part of inland valley is another technical
issue that results in water scarcity (Totin et al. 2013). For example, in Indian State of
Punjab, 97 % of the area is under irrigation (Hira 2009). A rapid fall of water table
in Punjab is evident and is caused by excessive withdrawal of groundwater mainly
due to early transplanting of rice and subsidized electricity to tube wells (Hira 2009).
Nearly two-third fall in water table could be avoided by delaying rice transplanting
from 10 to 30 June and shifting subsidies from input to output (Hira 2009).
11  Water Management in Rice 261

The ancestors of cultivated rice were perennial semiaquatic plants (Lafitte and
Bennett 2002), and this wetland ancestry of rice is evident in its various morpho-
logical and physiological characteristics that are unique among cultivated crop spe-
cies (Bouman et al. 2007). Lowland rice is extremely sensitive to drought, which is
defined here as any situation where there is no standing water and the water content
in the rooted soil is below saturation. The effect of drought on rice starts when soil
moisture level drops below saturation point. Rice uses various mechanisms to
respond to drought conditions summarized by Bouman and Tuong (2001) and
Bouman et al. (2007) as follows:
(i) Inhibition of leaf growth and decline in leaf area, leading to less light inter-
ception resulting in reduced rate of photosynthesis. Both cell division and cell
enlargement are affected by drought stress; however, cell enlargement is more
sensitive to drought stress than cell division. When soil moisture tension is
greater than 1  kPa (soil dries below saturation), leaf area expansion starts
reducing in most of the cultivars, while for aerobic species, the same condi-
tion starts when 30  % of the available soil moisture has been extracted
(Wopereis et al. 1996).
(ii) Stomatal closure, leading to reduced transpiration rate and photosynthesis.
The closure of stomata is not an immediate effect of drought stress and plants
keep their stomata open up to a certain time to maintain the process of photo-
synthesis. Assimilates produced during this time are not used for leaf growth,
but stored in leaves, stems or roots and the same may be used for leaf growth
and development on return of normal conditions. In some high-yielding vari-
eties (e.g., IR72), closing of stomata starts when soil moisture tension reaches
to 75 kPa (Wopereis et al. 1996).
(iii) A rapid senescence of leaves in most cultivars causing a reduction in canopy
photosynthesis.
(iv) Rolling of leaf to reduce effective leaf area for light interception.
(v) Changes in assimilate partitioning where roots grow more (number and
depth) during vegetative development compared with shoots. Deep root sys-
tems help absorb more water from the deeper soil layers. Assimilate partition-
ing among various shoot components is rarely affected.
(vi) Reduction in plant height, which may or may not cause a reduction in yield.
(vii) Delayed flowering. For photoperiod-insensitive varieties, a delay of 3–4 weeks
in flowering can be noted when drought stress is experienced during the veg-
etative growth stage. The drought induced delay in flowering, however,
depends on the crop growth stage where early-season drought has more
severe effects than late-season drought.
(viii) Reduced tillering and tiller death. The number of tillers and panicles per hill
are reduced when plants are exposed to drought stress. The effect is more
prominent when drought occurs before or during tillering stage.
(ix) Reduced number of spikelets when drought stress occurs between panicle
initiation and flowering, leading to a reduction in number of grains per
panicle.
262 A. Datta et al.

(x) Spikelet sterility occurs when drought stress is experienced around flowering
stage. This causes a reduction in number of filled spikelets resulting in less
number of grains per panicle.
(xi) Decreased grain weight when drought affects the crop after flowering.
In the above consequences of drought stress on rice, some processes are irrevers-
ible and cannot be restored such as leaf senescence, reduction in number of spike-
lets, spikelet sterility and a decrease in weight of grain, whereas some other
processes could be restored when drought is relieved such as leaf rolling and stoma-
tal closure. Nutrient use efficiency may also be affected by drought stress. Overall,
the effect of drought on rice yield depends on its timing, duration, frequency and
severity (Bouman and Tuong 2001).

11.5  Water Management Strategies for Rice

11.5.1  Land Preparation

One of the prerequisites for a good crop husbandry is a well-leveled field (Bouman
et al. 2007). Higher parts of a field may become dry, whereas water may stagnate in
lower parts when fields are not well-leveled, which could result in uneven early crop
growth, unequal distribution of fertilizer and greater emergence of weeds. For any
crop including rice, one of the basic technology options to help farmers cope with
water scarcity at the field level is proper land preparation. A well-prepared field is
important to ensure good water management, weed control, nutrient recycling and
soil pathogen suppression. The important land preparation practices for good water
management include tillage operations, field channels and land leveling (Bouman
et al. 2007).
Laser leveling is a modern type of land leveling process during which the land
surface is smoothened (± 2  cm) from its average elevation using laser-equipped
tractor-pulled scrapers. Large horsepower tractors and soil movers equipped with
global positioning systems and/or laser-guided instrument are used for this practice
for creating the desired soil slope/level either by cutting or filling. Laser leveling is
an efficient technique used for achieving higher level of accuracy and has the poten-
tial for water saving and higher crop yields. Some of the benefits associated with
this technique include:
(i) Uniform germination resulting in an improvement in crop establishment and
consequently high yield due to uniform soil moisture
(ii) Improvement of irrigation efficiency and conservation of water
(iii) Reduction of irrigation time and effort to manage the crop
(iv) Uniform planting that helps achieve higher yield
(v) Reduction of insect pests, weeds, and disease problems
(vi) Cost reduction due to reduced input of seeds, fertilizer, fuels, and chemicals
11  Water Management in Rice 263

Some major limitations of laser leveling are (i) high cost of the equipment/laser
instrument, (ii) need for skilled operator to set/adjust laser settings and operate the
tractor, and (iii) more efficient for regularly sized and shaped field.

11.5.1.1  Tillage Operations

Tillage operations include puddling, bund preparation, and maintenance. It covers vari-
ous practices ranging from zero or minimum tillage with minimum soil disturbance to
a totally puddled soil where soil structure is destroyed. Tillage operations consist of
different steps: (i) plowing to dig up (till), mix, and overturn the soil, (ii) breaking of
soil clods and incorporation of plant residues through harrowing, and (iii) field level-
ing. Initial land preparation should start immediately after previous harvest to effec-
tively control weeds and to manage water inputs. Hydraulic conductivity, the capacity
of the soil to conduct water downward and sideward of the soil, governs the seepage
and percolation flows from a rice field (Bouman et al. 2007). When large and deep
cracks are present in a field during soaking (before puddling), a significant amount of
water can be lost as these cracks favor downward flow below the root zone. In order to
reduce this loss, an additional shallow tillage before land soaking is recommended to
close the cracks. A 100 mm reduction in water input was recorded by Cabangon and
Tuong (2000) during wet land preparation through additional shallow tillage.
Thorough puddling of soil is helpful in reducing permeability and percolation rates;
however, the efficacy of puddling largely depends on soil texture. For example, this
practice is more efficient in clay soils compared with coarse soils as clay particles are
negligible in a coarse-textured soil to migrate downward and fill the cracks. Puddling
itself is a water-consuming process, and there is a trade-off between water consumed
during puddling and water saved by reduced percolation rates. In a sandy topsoil with
loamy subsoil (at least 5 %), use of heavy machinery for soil compaction is reported
to reduce soil permeability (Harnpichitvitaya et al. 1999). It would be difficult for the
small farmers to compact their soils due to a high cost involvement, and a larger-scale
adoption of this technology could be feasible with government support.
To minimize water loss in form of seepage, bunds should be well compacted, and
any cracks and rat holes should be sealed at the beginning of the crop growth period.
Height of bund should be between 30 and 50 cm to avoid any over-bund flow during
heavy rainfall. Small levees of 5–10  cm height in the bunds can be used to keep
water up to 20 cm height (Bouman et al. 2007). Plastic sheets in bunds are also rec-
ommended to reduce seepage loss, and a reduction of 450 mm of total water use in
the rice field by lining the bunds with plastic has been reported (Bouman et al. 2005).

11.5.1.2  Controlled Irrigation Through Field Channels

Field channels are practically absent in many irrigation systems in Asia. Water flow
from one field into the other usually occurs through breaches in the bunds (Bouman
et al. 2007). This method has many disadvantages, for example, the amount of water
264 A. Datta et al.

flow from a rice field cannot be controlled and it is not possible to practice field-­
specific water management. This suggests that farmers may not be able to com-
pletely drain their fields before harvest as water keeps flowing inside the field from
other fields. In addition, the downstream field may not receive water if farmers of
upstream field retain water in their fields or let their fields dry out for harvesting.
Continuous flow of water through the fields also causes removal of valuable nutri-
ents from the fields. An improvement in the individual control of water could be
possible by making separate field channels to convey water to and from each field
with greater efficiency.

11.5.2  Unproductive Water Outflow Reduction

A considerable amount of water is lost both during land preparation and crop growth
period through unproductive evaporation, seepage, and percolation flows (Bouman
and Tuong 2001). It is essential to reduce these losses for increasing rice water pro-
ductivity. Unproductive water loss can be minimized through various measures
including (i) reducing the duration of land preparation by minimizing the idle peri-
ods, (ii) increasing the resistance of soil to water flow, and (iii) reducing the hydro-
static pressure of water (Bouman and Tuong 2001).

11.5.2.1  R
 educing the Duration of Land Preparation by Minimizing
the Idle Periods

“Idle periods” in rice production is the period that lies in between tillage operations
and transplanting. In transplanted rice, seedlings are grown for 2–4 weeks in a seed-
bed, and during this period, the fields surrounding the seedbed are tilled (land prepa-
ration) and flooded using a field-to-field irrigation system. In this case, a huge
amount of water is lost through unproductive flows. This land preparation period
can be minimized through good irrigation practices such as supplying irrigation
water directly to seedlings in nurseries without submerging the main fields and
development of irrigation system where farmers can irrigate their fields independent
of the surrounding fields. Different countries have different practices for this pur-
pose, for example, specific land areas are devoted to community seedbeds in China
and Vietnam that can be irrigated independently (Tuong and Bouman 2003). In
Malaysia, about 375 mm water has been annually saved in two rice-cropping sea-
sons under Muda Irrigation System where canal and drainage intensity has been
increased from 10 to 30  m  ha−1, resulting in a reduction in the duration of land
preparation by 25 days (Abdullah 1998). Direct seeding rather than transplanting
rice seedling is another way to reduce the “idle periods” of land preparation
(Bhuiyan et al. 1995). However, the cropping duration of direct-seeded rice is more
than transplanting rice; hence, more water is utilized during this long-growing
season.
11  Water Management in Rice 265

11.5.2.2  Increasing the Resistance of Soil to Water Flow

Physical properties of soil such as texture, structure, and porosity are important fac-
tors that may affect the water flow into the soil. Changing the physical properties of
soil can offer more resistance to water flow and hence reduce water loss through
evaporation, seepage, and percolation flows. In order to close the cracks in soil, an
additional shallow tillage before land preparation is very effective (Cabangon and
Tuong 2000). Thorough puddling of soil is helpful in reducing permeability and
percolation rates. Soil compaction through heavy machinery has been proven effec-
tive in decreasing soil permeability. Different types of physical barriers such as
plastic sheets underneath rice soils are also beneficial in reducing water loss through
seepage and percolation; however, most of the physical barriers are cost-prohibitive
and beyond the financial scope of the poor farmers (Tuong and Bouman 2003).

11.5.2.3  Reducing the Hydrostatic Pressure of Water

A reduction in hydrostatic pressure can be obtained by reducing seepage and perco-

lation flows that result from a changed water management. Instead of keeping the
rice field continuously under flooded conditions (5–10 cm of standing water), the
floodwater depth can be minimized by keeping the soil around saturation or AWD
regimes can be imposed (Tuong and Bouman 2003). Soil saturation is mostly
attained by providing irrigation with about 1 cm water depth a day or so after the
disappearance of standing water.

11.5.3  Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD)

It is a technology developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and

its national agricultural research and extension system to cope with increasing
shortage of water for agricultural use, especially for rice. In AWD, irrigation water
of about 2–5 cm is applied with an interval of 2–7 days followed by disappearance
of ponded water from soil surface (Tuong and Bouman 2003).
Being a high water-demanding plant, a minor decrease in water demand by rice
will help save a large volume of this precious natural resource. For this purpose,
efforts have been made in the past several decades to increase rice water productiv-
ity both from irrigation and rain by decreasing water use in rice production. One of
such technologies is AWD where the field is not continuously flooded but the soil is
allowed to dry out for one to several days after flooded water disappear and then
flooded again (Lampayan et al. 2015). It is an efficient technology capable of reduc-
ing water demand by as much as 38 % with no adverse impact on yield when prac-
ticed correctly (Lampayan et  al. 2015). Proper and correct implementation also
indirectly helps in increasing farmers’ income by reducing expenses of water pump-
ing and fuel as observed in some Asian countries, for example, 17 % in southern
266 A. Datta et al.

Vietnam, 32 % in the Philippines, and 38 % in Bangladesh (Lampayan et al. 2015).
Adoption and implementation of this technology are very crucial for rice cultivation
as only 30 % of agricultural land is occupied by irrigated rice, but water consump-
tion is about 40  % of irrigated water (Dawe 2005). Water scarcity will affect
15–25 m ha of rice lands of the main producing countries of South and Southeast
Asia by 2025 (Tuong and Bouman 2003; Bouman et al. 2007). “Intermittent irriga-
tion” developed in India was a first form of AWD. This technique is exceedingly
becoming popular in East and Southeast Asian countries, but with different opera-
tional methods with respect to timing, frequency of non-flooded period, and dura-
tion depending on locality and environment (Lampayan et  al. 2015). There were
53–87 mm (13–16 %) savings in irrigation water in the AWD treatments compared
with the continuously submerged regime. However, grain yields of rice (7.2–
8.7 t ha−1) were not largely impacted by the water regimes. Water productivity was
significantly lower in the continuously submerged regime compared with the AWD
regime (Belder et al. 2004).
In some regions where scarcity of water is due to competition for water between
agriculture and other sectors, for example, in some parts of China, a special type of
AWD is practiced (Li and Barker 2004). In this specific practice of AWD, water of
about 50–60 mm is applied with an interval of 6–8 days for heavy soils and with
4–5 days interval for lighter soils. This follows a disappearance of water from soil
surface and drying of soil in a natural process until the next irrigation is done.
However, this method could not gain popularity among farmers possibly due to
fear of yield loss and its complicated implementation guidelines. Another type of
“safe” AWD was introduced by IRRI in 2002 with easy-to-use tools and simple
guidelines to reduce irrigation water input without compromising yield. This prac-
tice is recommended for many Asian countries including Vietnam (Rejesus et al.
2014), the Philippines (Rejesus et  al. 2011; Lampayan et  al. 2015), Bangladesh
(Price et al. 2013), and Myanmar (Lampayan et al. 2015). In these countries, this
practice has been widely adopted, and the factors responsible for the success in the
adoption of AWD could be used to successfully implement this technology in other
parts of the world. Bouman et al. (2007) mentioned about three major stages of
“safe” AWD:
(i) Shallow flooding during the first 2 weeks after transplanting to help suppress
weeds and recover plants from transplant shock.
(ii) Shallow ponding from heading to the end of flowering as this is a very critical
growth stage sensitive to water stress. During this stage, growth rate and water
requirement are also high.
(iii) AWD during all other stages after flowering and water is provided only when
perched water table drops to 15 cm below the soil surface. It has been proved
that the threshold of 15 cm does not cause any yield loss as at this stage roots
system is strong enough to absorb water from zone below 15 cm. At 15 cm soil
depth, water potential is more than −10 kPa that is the critical value for rice
and below which it starts showing symptoms of water-deficit stress (Bouman
and Tuong 2001).
11  Water Management in Rice 267

11.5.4  The System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a method of rice cultivation claimed

to use less seed (under SRI the seed requirement is reduced by 80–90 %) and less
water (water needs reduced by 25–50 %) and is reported to increase rice yields
(by 30–100 %) of marginal farmers using traditional varieties without the appli-
cation of agrochemical products (Stoop et al. 2002; Uphoff 1999, 2004, 2007).
This method differs from conventional method of rice cultivation with respect to
crop establishment, irrigation management, fertilizer application, and weed man-
agement (Berkhout et al. 2015). SRI techniques are based on exploiting the inter-
nal genetic potential of rice plant by close observation of the physiological
characteristics rather than depending on external inputs. Supporters of SRI con-
sider it more beneficial for poor and marginal farmers as it helps increase the
grain yield by improving physiological efficiency in terms of increased root bio-
mass, activity, longevity, and regulating available N status of rice plants without
depending on costly seeds and expensive chemical fertilizers (Stoop et al. 2002;
Uphoff 2007). The critics of this system do not agree with the claim of record-
breaking higher yield, and they note that the SRI approach requires intensive
labor inputs, heavy use of organic inputs, and a high degree of water management
(Surridge 2004; Latif et al. 2005; Senthilkumar et al. 2008). Despite many nega-
tive recommendations, smallholders in many countries including Cambodia,
China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam are reported to have adopted this
method (Kassam et  al. 2011). SRI is composed of 5–6 major cultivation
practices:
(i) Raising seedlings in a carefully managed nursery
(ii) Early transplanting of 8–15-day-old seedlings (careful transplanting just after
uprooting in a shallow depth of 1–2 cm)
(iii) Single transplant per hill in a square pattern with wider spacing (typically 25 ×
25 cm and possibly wider) of transplants
(iv) Careful water management to promote aerated moist conditions of the soil
with a periodic dry spell of 3–6 days
(v) Regular weeding through a rotary hoe to facilitate soil aeration
(vi) The use of organic fertilizers in the form of farmyard manure, compost and
green manure (Stoop et al. 2002, 2009)
These practices are considerably different from conventional cultivation methods
where 20–40-day-old seedlings are transplanted in closely spaced rows in clumps of
two to four plants at a time and the fields are kept flooded for most of the growing
season (transplanting to maturity).
Although these benefits are encouraging for resource-poor rice farmers to adopt
the system, a detailed literature evaluating diffusion and adoption of this practice is
limited. Most of the available literature dealing with SRI is focused on a localized
scale. As a result, it is difficult to judge how widely the system is adopted world-
wide. In addition, the factors shaping adoption patterns of this technique are also
268 A. Datta et al.

inconsistent but substantially vary with location and season resulting in heteroge-
neous productivity changes.

11.5.5  Direct Seeding Method of Cultivation

Direct seeding of rice (DSR) is a process of rice crop establishment from seeds
directly sown in the field rather than by transplanting seedlings raised from the
nurseries (Farooq et al. 2011a). There are three primary methods of DSR:
(i) Dry seeding – this is the process in which dry seeds are directly sown into dry
soil.
(ii) Wet seeding – sowing pre-germinated seeds on soil that is wet and puddled.
(iii) Water seeding – sowing seeds in standing water.
In Southeast Asia, a major shift has been observed from the traditional trans-
planting system (TPR) to DSR cultivation during recent years largely due to some
major problems associated with TPR cultivation including high water input, high
labor demand, and cost reducing the profit margin (Farooq et al. 2011a). The major
reasons of the shift from TPR to DSR include (i) increasing water scarcity and
decreasing availability of water for agriculture, (ii) labor shortage and increasing
labor wages, (iii) crop intensification and recent developments in DSR production
techniques, (iv) adverse effects of puddling on soil physical properties and the suc-
ceeding non-rice crop, and (v) rising interest in conservation agriculture (Kumar
and Ladha 2011). In Asia, about 50 % of total irrigation water is used for rice culti-
vation, while on global scale, the value ranges from 34 to 43  % (Bouman et  al.
2007).
The selection of TPR or DSR is dependent upon various factors, for example,
low wages and adequate water favor TPR, while high wages and water shortage
favor DSR. In Southeast Asia, DSR is generally practiced in the dry season to ensure
better water control, but like global trend, the share of this region in dry-season rice
production is less than 25 %. The share of DSR in global production is only 23 %
(Rao et al. 2007). Adapting DSR could be helpful in attaining optimal plant density
along with high water productivity, specifically for the areas where water scarcity is
the main issue. In TPR cultivation, nearly 1-month-old seedlings are transplanted
into puddled and continuously flooded soil, which is reported to increase nutrient
availability, especially Zn, P, and Fe, and suppress weeds (Singh et al. 2001).
In the present scenarios of water and labor crisis, DSR is a feasible alternative for
rice cultivation system in the world in general and Asia in particular. However, there
are some constraints of DSR method. The major issue associated with DSR method
is weed infestation; however, less weed pressure is reported when both pre- and
postemergence herbicides are applied (Mahajan et al. 2013). Farmers use different
weed management strategies based on their convenience, but an integration of dif-
ferent weed management strategies is required for effective weed management in
DSR system. Precise land leveling is another important issue and is reported to be a
11  Water Management in Rice 269

prerequisite for DSR. The precise land leveling can be performed using laser level-
ers (Mahajan et al. 2013). The use of proper seeding depth is a basic requirement of
DSR, and it depends on soil type and soil moisture levels (Mahajan et al. 2013).
Poor performance of most of the popular cultivars is another limiting factor of DSR
method. Short-duration cultivars perform better under DSR production system, and
use of long-duration cultivars usually results in lower yield (Mahajan et al. 2013).

11.5.6  Aerobic Rice System

Aerobic rice production is a system of growing specifically developed input-­

responsive varieties (aerobic varieties) in non-puddled, non-saturated, and well-­
drained soils without ponded water (Bouman et al. 2007). This is fundamentally a
different approach of rice cultivation in a system like other upland crops such as
maize and wheat to reduce water inputs in rice. In case of low rainfall, irrigation is
applied to bring soil moisture content to field capacity. This is done when soil mois-
ture content drops to certain threshold level, for example, halfway between field
capacity and wilting point (Doorenbos and Pruit 1984). Loss of water occurs
through evapotranspiration, and irrigation water should compensate that loss. It is
practically impossible to apply irrigation water only to the root zone. Some part of
the applied irrigation water is lost through deep percolation and is not available for
plant absorption. The field application efficiency mainly depends on the irrigation
method, for example, the efficiency is about 60–70 % for flash or furrow type of
surface irrigation, while it is more than 90  % for drip and sprinkle irrigation
(Lampayan and Bouman 2005). The water saving potential of rice cultivation as
upland crop varies with soil types. The practice of this method can reduce unpro-
ductive water loss from all types of soils, especially on soils with high seepage and
percolation rates (Bouman and Tuong 2001). The method not only lowers seepage
and percolation loss but also evaporation loss is reduced due to non-standing water
layer.
This change from anaerobic to aerobic systems is not only important in relation
to water saving but also has major impacts on weed management, diseases, soil
organic matter, nutrient dynamics, and greenhouse gas emissions. One of the major
issues associated with this shift is poor weed management as water has been tradi-
tionally considered as the “cheapest weed control agent,” but this benefit might not
be available anymore with the adoption of these water-saving technologies. Another
issue is the poor performance of lowland varieties under aerobic conditions. For the
development of such rice varieties, a study on the functional genomics of the plant
is required to find out the genetic mechanism of plant and its adaptive capability to
such stresses.
The practice of upland rice cultivation is common in some parts of the world and
generally comprises of two major systems: as a low-input subsistence farming in
Asia and as a high-input system commonly found in Brazil and some water-limited
areas of China (Lafitte et al. 2002). Majority of farmers grow upland rice as a low-­
270 A. Datta et al.

yielding subsistence crop to receive stable yields under the adverse upland condi-
tions. Upland varieties are drought tolerant but are low yielding where water deficit,
acid and infertile soils, weed competition, and diseases are the primary yield con-
straints (Lafitte et al. 2002). On the other hand, some of the lowland varieties are
cultivated under upland conditions with supplementary irrigation, but yield loss is
significantly high (McCauley 1990). De Datta et al. (1973) conducted an experi-
ment where a high-yielding lowland rice variety, IR20, was grown like an upland
crop under furrow irrigation. They observed a total water savings of 56 % and irriga-
tion water savings of 78 % compared with growing rice under flooded conditions,
but yield was reduced from 7.9 to 3.4  t  ha−1. Westcott and Vines (1986) and
McCauley (1990) conducted studies in two states of the USA (Texas and Louisiana)
on non-flooded irrigated rice (commercial varieties) using sprinkler irrigation under
lowland conditions. A reduction of 20–50  % in irrigation water requirement was
recorded compared with flooded conditions depending on types of soil, rainfall, and
water management practices, but yield was reduced by 20–30  % compared with
flooded conditions.
Ideally high-yielding varieties under upland conditions are required, and for this
purpose, new “aerobic rice” varieties are essential that can combine characters of
upland and lowland rice varieties, being high yielding like lowland varieties and
drought tolerant like upland varieties (Atlin et al. 2006). Brazil and North China are
among the pioneers of introducing such varieties. In Brazil, a yield of 5–7 t ha−1 is
recorded for this system of cultivation under sprinkler irrigation, and about
250,000 ha of land is used for cultivation of these varieties. In North China, flash
irrigation system in bunded fields is used for these varieties with a yield of about
6–7.5 t ha−1 (Lampayan and Bouman 2005). In China, these varieties are being cul-
tivated on about 120,000 ha of land.

11.5.7  Ground Cover Rice Production System (GCRPS)

Ground cover rice production system (GCRPS) is an innovative production tech-

nique developed to use less water and to improve tolerance to low temperature
(Shen et al. 1997; Liu et al. 2013). This water-saving technology was first developed
by the Agriculture Bureau of Shiyan region in China in 1990 (Shen et al. 1997). In
this system, soil surface is covered with a 5–7  μm thick plastic film; traditional
lowland rice cultivars are used and grown at soil saturation point without any stand-
ing water for the whole crop growth period (Qu et  al. 2012). This technique is
reported to conserve water, preserve heat, and alleviate low temperature stress dur-
ing early crop growing stage after transplanting, especially in water-deficit and cool
hilly areas (Shen et  al. 1997; Qu et  al. 2012). It also helps save water through
increased WUE by reducing evaporation and seepage. It has been reported that
WUE of GCRPS yielded up to 0.8–1.0 kg grain m−3 water (Tao et al. 2006) com-
pared with WUE of 0.4 kg grain m−3 water with the traditional method of cultivation
(Tuong et al. 2005). This technique is also environmental friendly as it helps reduce
11  Water Management in Rice 271

rate of herbicidal application because plastic film prevents weed germination and
development (Wu et al. 1999).
Despite the benefits of GCRPS, some disadvantages are also associated with the
application of this technique as reported under different conditions (Tao et al. 2006;
Qu et al. 2012). A reduction in grain yield compared with the traditional flooded
system was reported for areas without any water scarcity and low temperature stress
(Wu et al. 1999) as well as for sandy soils (Tao et al. 2006). However, this system
was reported to provide superior yield compared with the traditional flooded system
for areas where water is a limiting factor for crop growth and temperature is low
during the early crop growth stage (Qu et al. 2012). A significant increase in yield
in 22 sites out of the total 36 sites was observed by Liu et al. (2013) in central China
where this technique was first developed.
GCRPS is basically an “aerobic rice” system that utilizes plastic mulching or
straw mulching in the cultivation system. Plastic mulching with drip irrigation is a
relatively new water-saving technology for rice cultivation (He et al. 2013). He et al.
(2013) reported a yield reduction of 31.8–52.2 % under plastic mulching with drip
irrigation compared with conventional flooding, which was primarily due to a low
dry matter accumulation during post-anthesis. However, the WUE was the highest
under plastic mulching with drip irrigation (1.5–2.1 times higher compared with
conventional flooding cultivation system). Therefore, this method could be used as
a better water-saving technology in areas of water scarcity with lower yield poten-
tial (He et al. 2013).

11.5.8  Genetic Approach

Water productivity in rice production can be increased by suitable germplasm devel-

opment (Tuong and Bouman 2003). The primary goal of plant breeding in the past
several years has been to increase yield by reducing crop growth duration and to
introduce good agronomic traits. Water productivity of the modern “IRRI varieties”
with respect to total water inputs is almost three times higher compared with the
water productivity of the traditional varieties. Rice varieties developed before the
1980s are more efficient with high WPET as plant breeding program from the early
1960s to early 1980s emphasizes on yield improvement by reducing growth dura-
tion (Tuong 1999). Cultivars released after the mid-1980s have long growth dura-
tion with comparatively less WPET. Tropical japonica rice varieties have 25–30 %
higher photosynthesis to transpiration ratio than indica type indicating higher tran-
spiration efficiency of tropical japonica varieties (Peng et al. 1998).
Improvement of genetic resistance to biotic (e.g., rice blast disease) and abiotic
stresses (e.g., drought, salinity, submergence) is also important and effective breed-
ing approach to water-saving rice cultivation systems. Plant breeders have been suc-
cessful in manipulating drought escape in the drought-prone and low-fertility
rainfed environments. Reduction in growth duration and minimization of the risk of
coincidence of crop sensitive growth stages with water-deficit periods have helped
272 A. Datta et al.

minimize drought exposure (Tuong and Bouman 2003). The development of

drought-tolerant rice varieties has been slow mainly because of genetic complexity
of the trait and its interaction with the environment (Tuong and Bouman 2003), and
the unavailability of a specific method for screening the large number of genotypes
required in breeding for drought (Zeigler and Puckridge 1995). However, drought-­
tolerant varieties are developed and released in upland and rainfed lowland areas
(Tuong and Bouman 2003). Development of modern drought-screening facilities
and methods is helping in facilitating the process of understanding drought-­
resistance traits and in selecting drought-tolerant genotypes (O’Toole 2004). In
many rice-growing countries, salinity remains the most widespread soil problem,
and salinity-tolerant varieties are needed for such environments where the cultiva-
tion of conventional lowland varieties is not possible. One of the examples of
salinity-­tolerant rice varieties is Ir51500–AC11–1 (Tuong and Bouman 2003).

11.6  Conclusions and Future Thrusts

Water has been taken for granted for centuries in irrigated rice production under
continuously flooded fields, but the present looming water crisis stresses for a
change in rice production system in the future. There is a renewed research interest
on some of the traditional water-saving irrigation techniques that gained popularity
in the 1970s such as AWD and saturated soil culture. Water-saving potentials of
these technologies cannot be denied, but mostly associated with a yield penalty.
Asia, the biggest rice producer and severely affected by water scarcity, needs more
attention, and farmers in many Asian countries have already started adopting these
technologies. For example, AWD is mostly adopted by farmers in China (Li 2001),
North Central India, and Central Luzon, Philippines.
A modern concept of water-saving rice cultivation is aerobic rice system. The
credit of this system goes to the farmers of northern China and is now commercially
popular in Brazil. Water crisis is causing a shift of rice cultivation system from con-
tinuously anaerobic to alternate aerobic–anaerobic and then completely aerobic
conditions. For this purpose, a more advanced and effective rational engineering
strategies are required for the development of rice cultivars with high water produc-
tivity. Future research is needed to check the genetic improvement for drought toler-
ance in rice with respect to crop duration and WUE.  An integrated approach is
required for gene expression to increase water productivity. Cross-fertilization of
hardy wild rice species also needs attention from researchers. Similarly, a combina-
tion of traditional breeding methods with genetic transgenic methods might be a
better option. Site-specific studies are also required across the continents as a single
strategy might not be acceptable worldwide. In future research, focus should also be
given on crop nutrition, especially on micronutrients. Ecological monitoring of the
new system is also essential and should not be ignored. Overall, different physiolog-
ical and ecological tools should be explored to achieve maximum rice yield with
minimum water use.
11  Water Management in Rice 273

References

Abdullah N (1998) Some approaches towards increasing water use efficiency in the Muda irriga-
tion scheme. In: Proceedings of the workshop on increasing water productivity and efficiency
in rice-based systems, IRRI, Los Banos
Atlin GN, Lafitte HR, Tao D, Laza M, Amante M, Courtois B (2006) Developing rice cultivars for
high-fertility upland systems in the Asian tropics. Field Crops Res 97:43–52. doi:10.1016/j.
fcr.2005.08.014
Balasubramanian V, Sie M, Hijmans RJ, Otsuka K (2007) Increasing rice production in Sub-­
Saharan Africa: opportunities and challenges. Adv Agron 94:55–133. doi:10.1016/
S0065-2113(06)94002-4
Belder P, Bouman BAM, Cabangon R, Guoan L, Quilang EJP, Yuanhua L, Tuong TP (2004) Effect
of water-saving irrigation on rice yield and water use in typical lowland conditions in Asia.
Agric Water Manag 65:193–210. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2003.09.002
Bennett J  (2003) Opportunity for increasing water productivity of CGIAR crops through plant
breeding and molecular approaches. In: Kijne JW, Barker R, Molden D (eds) Water productiv-
ity in agriculture: limits and opportunities for improvement. CABI Publishing and International
Water Management Institute, Wallingford/Colombo, pp. 103–126
Berkhout E, Glover D, Kuyvenhoven A (2015) On-farm impact of the System of Rice
Intensification (SRI): evidence and knowledge gaps. Agr Syst 132:157–166. doi:10.1016/j.
agsy.2014.10.001
Bhuiyan SI, Sattar MA, Khan MAK (1995) Improving water use efficiency in rice irrigation
through wet-seeding. Irrig Sci 16:1–8. doi:10.1007/BF00208389
Bhushan L, Ladha JK, Gupta RK, Singh S, Tirol-Padre A, Saharawat YS, Pathak H (2007) Saving
of water and labor in a rice–wheat system with no-tillage and direct seeding technologies.
Agron J 99:1288–1296. doi:10.2134/agronj2006.0227
Bouman BAM, Tuong TP (2001) Field water management to save water and increase its productiv-
ity in irrigated lowland rice. Agric Water Manag 49:11–30. doi:10.1016/
S0378-3774(00)00128-1
Bouman BAM, Peng S, Castaneda AR, Visperas RM (2005) Yield and water use of irrigated tropi-
cal aerobic rice systems. Agric Water Manag 74:87–105. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2004.11.007
Bouman BAM, Humphreys E, Tuong TP, Barker R (2007) Rice and water. Adv Agron 92:187–237.
doi:10.1016/S0065-2113(04)92004-4
Cabangon RJ, Tuong TP (2000) Management of cracked soils for water saving during land prepa-
ration for rice cultivation. Soil Till Res 56:105–116. doi:10.1016/S0167-1987(00)00125-2
Cabangon RJ, Tuong TP, Castillo EG, Bao LX, Lu G, Wang G, Cui Y, Bouman BAM, Li Y, Chen
C, Wang J (2004) Effect of irrigation method and N-fertilizer management on rice yield, water
productivity and nutrient-use efficiencies in typical lowland rice conditions in China. Paddy
Water Environ 2:195–206. doi:10.1007/s10333-004-0062-3
Chahal GBS, Sood A, Jalota SK, Choudhury BU, Sharma PK (2007) Yield, evapotranspiration and
water productivity of rice (Oryza sativa L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) system in Punjab
(India) as influenced by transplanting date of rice and weather parameters. Agric Water Manag
88:14–22. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2006.08.007
Chung S-O, Rodriguez-Diaz JA, Weatherhead EK, Knox JW (2011) Climate change impacts on
water for irrigating paddy rice in South Korea. Irrig Drain 60:263–273. doi:10.1002/ird.559
Dawe D (2005) Increasing water productivity in rice-based systems in Asia-past trends, current
problems, and future prospects. Plant Prod Sci 8:221–230. doi:10.1626/pps.8.221
De Datta SK, Krupp HK, Alvarez EI, Modgal SC (1973) Water management in flooded rice. Water
management in Philippine irrigation systems: research and operations. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Banos, pp 1–18
De Datta SK (1981) Principles and practices of rice production. Int Rice Res Inst John Wiley and
Sons, New York
274 A. Datta et al.

Doorenbos J, Pruit WO (1984) Guidelines for predicting crop water requirements. FAO Irrigation
and Drainage Paper 24. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, 144 p. NII Article ID
(NAID):10011004841
De Silva CS, Weatherhead EK, Knox JW, Rodriguez-Diaz JA (2007) Predicting the impacts of
climate change – a case study of paddy irrigation water requirement in Sri Lanka. Agric Water
Manag 93:19–29. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2007.06.003
FAO (2015) World food and agriculture. Statistical yearbook 2015. The Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, p 369
Farooq M, Siddique KHM, Rehman H, Aziz T, Lee DJ, Wahid A (2011a) Rice direct seeding:
experiences, challenges and opportunities. Soil Tillage Res 111:87–98. doi:10.1016/j.
still.2010.10.008
Farooq M, Jabran K, Cheema ZA, Wahid A, Siddique KHM (2011b) The role of allelopathy in
agricultural pest management. Pest Manag Sci 67:493–506. doi:10.1002/ps.2091
Grassi C, Bouman BAM, Castaneda AR, Manzelli M, Vecchio V (2009) Aerobic rice: crop perfor-
mance and water use efficiency. J  Agric Environ Int Dev 103:259–270. doi:10.12895/
jaeid.20094.35
Harnpichitvitaya D, Trebuil G, Oberthür T, Pantuwan G, Craig I, Tuong TP, Suriya-Aruroj D
(1999) Identifying recommendations for subsoil compaction and soil management to improve
water-and nutrient use efficiency in rainfed lowland rice. In: Tuong TP, Kam SP, Wade L,
Pandey S, Bouman BAM, Hardy B (eds) Characterizing and understanding rainfed environ-
ments. Proceedings of the international workshop on characterizing and understanding rainfed
environments, International Rice Research Institute, pp 97–110
He H, Ma F, Yang R, Chen L, Jia B, Cui J, Fan H, Wang X, Li L (2013) Rice performance and water
use efficiency under plastic mulching with drip irrigation. PLoS One 8(12):e83103. doi:10.1371/
journal.pone.0083103
Hira GS (2009) Water management in northern states and the food security of India. J Crop Improv
23:136–157. doi:10.1080/15427520802645432
IRRI, AfricaRice and CIAT (2010) Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP). November 2010
Jabran K, Farooq M, Hussain M, Ehsanullah, Khan MB, Shahid M, Lee DJ (2012a) Efficient
weeds control with penoxsulam application ensures higher productivity and economic returns
of direct seeded rice. Int J Agric Biol 14:901–907
Jabran K, Ehsanullah HM, Farooq M, Babar M, Dogan MN, Lee DL (2012b) Application of
bispyribac-­sodium provides effective weed control in direct-planted rice on a sandy loam soil.
Weed Biol Manage 12:136–145. doi:10.1111/j.1445-6664.2012.00446.x
Jabran K, Ullah E, Hussain M, Farooq M, Haider N, Chauhan BS (2015a) Water saving, water
productivity and yield outputs of fine-grain rice cultivars under conventional and water-saving
rice production systems. Exp Agric 51:567–581. doi:10.1017/S0014479714000477
Jabran K, Ullah E, Hussain M, Farooq M, Zaman U, Yaseen M, Chauhan BS (2015b) Mulching
improves water productivity, yield and quality of fine rice under water-saving rice production
systems. J Agron Crop Sci 201:389–400. doi:10.1111/jac.12099
Jha KP, Chandra D, Challaiah (1981) Irrigation requirement of high-yielding rice varieties grown
on soils having shallow water-table. Indian J Agric Sci 51:732–737
Kassam A, Stoop W, Uphoff N (2011) Review of SRI modifications in rice crop and water manage-
ment and research issues for making further improvements in agricultural and water productiv-
ity. Paddy Water Environ 9:163–180. doi:10.1007/s10333-011-0259-1
Kumar V, Ladha JK (2011) Direct seeding of rice: recent developments and future research needs.
Adv Argon 111:297–413. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-387689-8.00001-1
Lampayan RM, Bouman, BAM (2005) Management strategies for saving water and increase its
productivity in lowland rice-based ecosystems. In: Proceedings of the First Asia-Europe work-
shop on sustainable resource management and policy options for rice ecosystems (SUMAPOL),
Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. On CDROM, Altera, Wageningen
Lampayan RM, Rejesus RM, Singleton GR, Bouman BA (2015) Adoption and economics of alter-
nate wetting and drying water management for irrigated lowland rice. Field Crops Res 170:95–
108. doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2014.10.013
11  Water Management in Rice 275

Lafitte HR, Bennett J (2002) Requirements for aerobic rice: physiological and molecular consider-
ations. Water-wise rice production. International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos,
pp 259–274
Lafitte HR, Courtois B, Arraudeau M (2002) Genetic improvement of rice in aerobic systems: prog-
ress from yield to genes. Field Crops Res 75:171–190. doi:10.1016/S03784290(02)00025-4
Latif MA, Islam MR, Ali MY, Saleque MA (2005) Validation of the system of rice intensification
(SRI) in Bangladesh. Field Crops Res 93:281–292. doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2004.10.005
Li YH (2001) Research and practice of water-saving irrigation for rice in China. In: Barker R,
Loeve R, Li Y, Tuong TP (eds) Water-saving irrigation for rice: proceedings of an international
workshop, Wuhan, China. International Water Management Institute, Colombo, pp. 1–9
Li Y, Barker R (2004) Increasing water productivity for paddy irrigation in China. Paddy Water
Environ 2:187–193. doi:10.1007/s10333-004-0064-1
Liu M, Lin S, Dannenmann M, Tao Y et al (2013) Do water-saving ground cover rice production
systems increase grain yields at regional scales? Field Crops Res 150:19–28. doi:10.1016/j.
fcr.2013.06.005
Mahajan G, Bharaj TS, Timsina J (2009) Yield and water productivity of rice as affected by time
of transplanting in Punjab, India. Agric Water Manag 96:525–532. doi:10.1016/j.
agwat.2008.09.027
Mahajan G, Chauhan BS, Gill MS (2013) Dry-seeded rice culture in Punjab State of India: lesson
learned from farmers. Field Crops Res 144: 89–99. doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2013.01.008
Mahajan G, Sharma N, Kaur R, Chauhan BS (2015) Comparison of photoperiod-sensitive and
photoperiod-insensitive basmati cultivars for grain yield, water productivity, and quality traits
under varied transplanting dates in Northwest India. Crop Pasture Sci 66:793–801. doi:10.1071/
CP14297
McCauley GN (1990) Sprinkler versus flood irrigation in traditional rice production regions of
southeast Texas. Agron J 82:677–683. doi:10.2134/agronj1990.00021962008200040006x
Nie L, Peng S, Chen M, Shah F, Huang J, Cui K, Xiang J (2012) Aerobic rice for water-saving
agriculture. A review. Agron Sustain Dev 32:411–418. doi:10.1007/s13593-011-0055-8
Nyakudya IW, Stroosnijder L (2011) Water management options based on rainfall analysis for
rainfed maize (Zea mays L.) production in Rushinga district, Zimbabwe. Agric Water Manag
98:1649–1659. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2011.06.002
O’Toole JC (2004) Rice and water: the final frontier. In: Vanavichit A (ed) Proceedings of the 1st
international conference on rice for the future, Kasetsert University, Bangkok, 31 August to 2
September: Kasetsart University; National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology,
and Rice Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, pp 12–29
Peng S, Laza RC, Khush GS, Sanico AL, Visperas RM, Garcia FV (1998) Transpiration efficien-
cies of indica and improved tropical japonica rice grown under irrigated conditions. Euphytica
103:103–108. doi:10.1023/A:1018383612439
Peng S, Bouman B, Visperas RM, Castaneda A, Nie L, Park H (2006) Comparison between aerobic
and flooded rice in the tropics: agronomic performance in an eight-season experiment. Field
Crops Res 96:252–259. doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2005.07.007
Price AH, Norton GJ, Salt DE, Ebenhoeh O et al (2013) Alternate wetting and drying irrigation for
rice in Bangladesh: is it sustainable and has plant breeding something to offer? Food Energy
Sec 2:120–129. doi:10.1002/fes3.29
Qu H, Ta H, Tao Y, Liu M, Shen K, Lin S (2012) Ground cover rice production system increases
yield and nitrogen recovery efficiency. Agron J 104:1399–1407. doi:10.2134/agronj2011.0419
Rao AN, Johnson DE, Sivaprasad B, Ladha JK, Mortimer AM (2007) Weed management in direct-­
seeded rice. Adv Agron 93:153–255. doi:10.1016/S0065-2113(06)93004-1
Rejesus RM, Pails FG, Rodriguez DGP, Lampayan RM, Bouman BAM (2011) Impact of the alter-
nate wetting and drying (AWD) water-saving irrigation technique: evidence from rice produc-
ers in the Philippines. Food Policy 36:280–288. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2010.11.026
Rejesus RM, Martin AM, Gypmantasiri P (2014) Enhancing the impact of natural resource man-
agement research: lessons from a meta-impact assessment of the Irrigated Rice Research
Consortium. Glob Food Sec 3:41–48. doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2013.11.001
276 A. Datta et al.

Seck PA, Diagne A, Mohanty S, Wopereis MCS (2012) Crops that feed the world 7: rice. Food Sec
4:7–24. doi:10.1007/s12571-012-0168-1
Senthilkumar K, Bindraban PS, Thiyagarajan TM, de Ridder N, Giller KE (2008) Modified rice
cultivation in Tamil Nadu, India: yield gains and farmers’ (lack of) acceptance. Agr Syst 98:82–
94. doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2008.04.002
Shahid S (2011) Impact of climate change on irrigation water demand of dry season Boro rice in
northwest Bangladesh. Clim Change 105:433–453. doi:10.1007/s10584-010-9895-5
Shen KR, Wang XC, Luo X (1997) Test and demonstration on wet-cultivation with film mulching
of rice. Hubei Agric Sci 5:18–22 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Singh S, Sharma SN, Prasad R (2001) The effect of seeding and tillage methods on productivity of
rice–wheat cropping system. Soil Till Res 61:125–131. doi:10.1016/S0167-1987(00)00188-4
Stoop WA, Uphoff N, Kassam A (2002) A review of agricultural research issues raised by the
system of rice intensification (SRI) from Madagascar: opportunities for improving farming
systems for resource-poor farmers. Agr Syst 71:249–274. doi:10.1016/
S0308-521X(01)00070-1
Stoop WA, Adam A, Kassam A (2009) Comparing rice production systems: a challenge for agro-
nomic research and for the dissemination of knowledge-intensive farming practices. Agric
Water Manag 96:1491–1501. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2009.06.022
Surridge C (2004) Feast or famine? Nature 428:360–361. doi:10.1038/428360a
Swain DK, Herath S, Pathirana A, Mittra BN (2005) Rainfed lowland and flood-prone rice: A criti-
cal review on ecology and management Technology for improving the productivity in Asia.
Role of Water Sciences in Transboundary River Basin Management, Thailand
Tao HB, Holger B, Klaus D (2006) Growth and yield formation of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in the
water-saving ground cover rice production system (GCRPS). Field Crops Res 95:1–12.
doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2005.01.019
Thomas A (2008) Agricultural irrigation demand under present and future climate scenarios in
China. Glob Planet Change 60:306–326. doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2007.03.009
Timsina J, Godwi D, Humphreys E, Yadvinder-Singh, Bijay-Singh, Kukal SS, Smith D (2008)
Evaluation of options for increasing yield and water productivity of wheat in Punjab, India
using the DSSAT-CSM-CERES-Wheat model. Agric Water Manag 95:1099–1110.
doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2008.04.009
Totin E, Stroosnijder L, Agbossou E (2013) Mulching upland rice for efficient water management:
a collaborative approach in Benin. Agric Water Manag 125:71–80. doi:10.1016/j.
agwat.2013.04.012
Tuong TP, Cabangon RJ, Wopereis MCS (1996) Quantifying flow processes during land soaking
of cracked rice soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 60:872–879. doi:10.2136/sssaj1996.03615995006000
030028x
Tuong TP (1999) Productive water use in rice production: opportunities and limitations. J Crop
Prod 2:241–264. doi:10.1300/J144v02n02_10
Tuong TP, Bouman BAM (2003) Rice production in water-scarce environments. In: Kijne JW,
Barker R, Molden D (eds) Water productivity in agriculture: limits and opportunities for
improvement. CABI Publishing, Oxon, pp. 53–67
Tuong TP, Bouman BAM, Mortimer M (2005) More rice, less water-integrated approaches for
increasing water productivity in irrigated rice-based systems in Asia. Plant Prod Sci 8:231–241.
doi:10.1626/pps.8.231
Uphoff N (1999) Agroecological implications of the system of rice intensification (SRI) in
Madagascar. Environ Dev Sustain 1:297–313. doi:10.1023/A:1010043325776
Uphoff N (2004) System of rice intensification responds to 21st century needs. Rice Today 3(3):42
(International Rice Research Institute (IRRI))
Uphoff N (2007) Agroecological alternatives: Capitalizing on existing genetic potentials. J Dev
Stud 43:218–236. doi:10.1080/00220380601055700
Westcott MP, Vines KW (1986) A comparison of sprinkler and flood irrigation for rice. Agron
J 78:637–640. doi:10.2134/agronj1986.00021962007800040016x
11  Water Management in Rice 277

Wickham TH, Singh VP (1978) Water movement through wet soils. International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI), Los Banos, Laguna, pp 337–358
Wopereis MCS, Kropff MJ, Maligaya AR, Tuong TP (1996) Drought-stress responses of two low-
land rice cultivars to soil water status. Field Crops Res 46:21–39.
doi:10.1016/0378-4290(95)00084-4
Wu LH, Zhu ZR, Liang YC, Shi WY, Zhang LM (1999) The development of the rice film mulching
cultivation. J Zheijang Univ 25:41–42 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Yoo SH, Choi JY, Nam WH, Hong E (2012) Analysis of design water requirement of paddy rice
using frequency analysis affected by climate change in South Korea. Agric Water Manag
112:33–42. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2012.06.002
Zeigler RS, Puckridge DW (1995) Improving sustainable productivity in rice based rainfed low-
land systems of south and Southeast Asia. Feeding four billion people. The challenge for rice
research in the 21st century. Geo J 35:307–324
Chapter 12
Insect Herbivores of Rice: Their Natural
Regulation and Ecologically Based
Management

Finbarr G. Horgan

12.1  Summary

The management of insect herbivores in rice ecosystems has been strongly influ-
enced by three poorly informed beliefs. These are (1) that insects have predomi-
nantly negative effects on crop health, (2) that herbivore damage translates directly
to yield loss, and (3) that insecticides are necessary to reduce losses due to insect
herbivores’. In the face of global changes, particularly increases in the production
and marketing of agrochemicals, these beliefs will lead to unsustainable rice pro-
duction systems and poor environmental health. This chapter assesses these beliefs,
challenges their validity, and (by analyzing the dynamics of herbivore populations
and their interspecific interactions in the rice ecosystem) presents a holistic alterna-
tive for understanding herbivore impacts on rice production systems. The chapter
proposes a focus on “rice ecosystem health” with herbivore management based on
ecological principals and incorporating such novel approaches as “ecological engi-
neering” for ecosystem stability and system resilience.

12.2  Introduction

Rice paddies are among the most biologically diverse agricultural systems on the
planet. Patterns of productivity in irrigated rice are dominated by flood cycles.
These cycles produce periodic shifts from dry to flooded conditions. Such shifts,

F.G. Horgan
Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology Sydney,
15 Broadway, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 279

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_12
280 F.G. Horgan

together with high primary productivity, promote a rich diversity of flora and fauna
(Catling 1992; Way and Heong 1994; Settle et al. 1996; Horgan et al. 2017a). The
biodiversity of rice fields, particularly flooded fields, contributes to the sustainabil-
ity and resilience of the system through several regulatory ecosystem functions
(Settle et al. 1996; Ings et al. 2009; Global Rice Science Partnership 2013). Because
of the enormous land area under rice production globally (>160 m ha) (Global Rice
Science Partnership 2013), it is imperative to manage rice landscapes recognizing
and protecting all their ecosystem functions. Such ecosystem functions include the
provisioning of food resources for humans, biodiversity maintenance and conserva-
tion, prevention of soil erosion and flooding, and the protection of water resources
and soil health (Global Rice Science Partnership 2013).
The arthropods that inhabit rice fields provide a range of essential ecosystem
services. A relatively small number of arthropod herbivores damage rice plants (see
below); however, the vast majority of arthropods species are beneficial. These recy-
cle organic materials through decomposition, act as natural enemies that reduce
herbivore damage, pollinate wildflowers and crops, or reduce weed populations by
attacking weed foliage and seeds (Way and Heong 1994; Settle et al. 1996; Schmidt
et al. 2015; Westphal et al. 2015). Rice fields, particularly in the tropics, often have
a higher diversity of arthropod natural enemies than herbivore species, resulting in
rice food webs that are understandably complex (Cohen et al. 1994; Wilby et al.
2006). High complexity in food web interactions is predicted to increase the stabil-
ity and resilience of rice ecosystems (Ings et al. 2009). Furthermore, by responding
to changing herbivore densities at spatial and temporal scales, several arthropods in
the rice community are recognized as important regulators of herbivore populations
(Sawada et al. 1993; De Kraker et al. 1999a, b; Wagiman et al. 2014). Therefore, any
discussion about the arthropod herbivores of rice would be incomplete without a
broader focus on their interactions with other components of the rice ecosystem,
particularly their natural enemies.
Rice has a complex crop cycle that includes a period with low amounts of living
biomass (after plowing and puddling), followed by a sudden and rapid accumulation
of rice and weed biomass after transplanting or direct seeding. A diversity of insect
natural enemies with distinct habitat requirements, behaviors, and diets are required
to maintain herbivores at low population densities (Settle et  al. 1996; Wilby et  al.
2006; Gurr et al. 2012). For example, early in the rice crop, when much of the bio-
mass is nonliving and invertebrate decomposers are abundant, generalist natural ene-
mies can invade the rice fields and build up numbers – these become the first line of
defense against rice pests that arrive to the fields after transplanting or sowing (Settle
et al. 1996). As the rice plants grow and develop, herbivores will invade the rice fields,
a small number of these can become rice pests if not effectively regulated; however,
generalist predators consume many of these early herbivore colonists. At the same
time, specialist natural enemies like egg parasitoids (Hymenoptera) and mirid preda-
tors (Homoptera: Miridae) begin to colonize the fields and build up numbers (Kenmore
et al. 1984; Settle et al. 1996). These specialists are essential to maintain low herbi-
vore numbers throughout the cropping period but are vulnerable to perturbations,
particularly during early crop stages. For this reason, it is strongly r­ecommended to
12  Insect Herbivores of Rice 281

promote natural enemy abundance during the early crop by ­creating suitable habitat
(i.e., ecological engineering) and avoiding pesticides (Settle et al. 1996; Gurr et al.
2012). It is important to note that rice attacked by herbivores at early crop stages can
often compensate well for damage and suffers no yield reductions (Rubia et al. 1996a;
Horgan et al. 2016a) or in some cases over compensates for low levels of damage
leading to higher yields (Nik Mohammad Noor et al. 1995; Islam and Karim 1997).
Knowledge of the complexity of the rice ecosystem has increased after several
years of detailed studies, particularly during the 1990s – however, the predominant
paradigms in rice crop management often overlook this knowledge, or fail to apply
it, and can sometimes lead to devastating consequences for rice farmers. Three pre-
dominant beliefs or attitudes expressed by rice farmers and agricultural extension
workers have been that (1) “insects”(implying “all” or “most” insects in the rice
field) consume and damage rice, that (2) the damage they cause is proportional or
correlated to yield loss, and that (3) insecticides are an efficient means of reducing
that damage, protecting the crop and increasing yield (Litsinger et al. 1987; Heong
et al. 1995; Rubia et al. 1996b; Heong and Escalada 1999). However, the reality is
much more complex. This chapter examines these common beliefs and presents
some new ideas that are generally good news for farmers and that should promote
more sustainable and environmentally friendly rice production.

12.3  A
 ddressing Common Beliefs About Insects in Rice
Fields

12.3.1  Assessing the Belief that Most Insects Are “Bad”

It is a common concern among researchers working in “pest” management that

farmers fail to differentiate “good insects” from “bad insects” and generally have
little understanding of the effectiveness of the “good insects” in managing the “bad”
(International Rice Research Institute 1993; Lazaro and Heong 1995). Often, farm-
ers that note one or two insects (individuals) attacking a rice plant will exaggerate
the potential risk when extrapolating to field scales. A single caterpillar feeding on
a plant or a small amount of apparent damage is often enough to precipitate a round
of insecticide spraying (Rubia et  al. 1996b; Bandong et  al. 2002; Escalada and
Heong 2004). Lazaro et  al. (1993) found that farmers grossly overestimate yield
losses from stemborers (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and often attributed yield losses
from other factors (lack of fertilizer, late planting, etc.) to insect damage. Farmers
who have poorly managed their fields, resulting in high densities of some apparent
pest (such as planthoppers [Homoptera: Delphacidae]), will often cause their neigh-
bors to unnecessarily spray their own fields in the mistaken belief that pest insects
will move from a sprayed field to any adjacent unsprayed field (Litsinger et al. 1987;
Rubia et al. 1996b). Unfortunately, pesticide vendors will often capitalize on the
farmer’s inability to accurately or objectively assess risks from insect herbivores to
282 F.G. Horgan

his/her rice crop by prescribing pesticide applications (Escalada et  al. 2009;
Thorburn 2015). Farmers’ field schools and targeted education campaigns have
gone a long way in improving the situation among farmers. For example, Indonesia’s
National Integrated Pest Management Program and the Farmer Field Schools of the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) were apparently
successful in reducing insecticide use in the 1990s (Matteson 2000; Thorburn 2015).
These schools aimed to train farmers to recognize the beneficial roles of predatory
insects; however, such education campaigns have variable impacts in reducing pes-
ticide applications (Lazaro and Heong 1995), suffer from a lack of continuity (due
to poor funding), and suffer from aggressive product advertising by agrochemical
companies (Escalada et al. 2009; Thorburn 2015), who sometimes become a part of
pest management training (Ferroni and Zhou 2012).

12.3.1.1  Contrasting Dynamics of Herbivore Populations

Approximately 800 insect herbivores have been noted to feed on rice, but only about
20 are considered economically damaging (Kiritani 1979; Pathak and Khan 1994).
Many are problematic due to their peculiar population dynamics, that is, they rarely
cause problems at endemic levels, but can lead to major yield losses when they
attain outbreak densities. Some of the characteristics of outbreak species can be
summarized as follows:
1. Many outbreak species, such as planthoppers and leaf folders (Lepidoptera:
Pyralidae), are migratory. For example, the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata
lugens (Stål), and rice leaf folder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenée), make
springtime migrations northward from tropical Southeast Asia to northern China,
Korea, and Japan with generally smaller migrations southward during the autumn
(Riley et al. 1995; Otuka et al. 2010). The rapid and massive concentration of
individuals carried on air currents may result in large and sudden increases in
abundance that overwhelm natural enemies and lead to severe damage (Otuka
et al. 2010). Evidence suggests that this has occurred in rice fields of Northeast
Asia for centuries and prior to modern rice cultivation methods (Miyashita 1963;
Litsinger et al. 1987).
2. Many outbreak species are tolerant to high levels of intraspecific crowding and
have an aggregated distribution in rice fields compared to non-outbreak species;
for example, planthoppers aggregate more than leafhoppers (Homoptera:
Cicadellidae), whereas stemborers and leaf folders have largely random distribu-
tions (Kuno and Hokyo 1970; Ôtake 1976; Iwao 1979). Aggregation often
improves conspecific fitness and may promote rapid population increases at
early colonizer generations (Horgan et al. 2016b).
3. Outbreak species are often typical r-strategists that have a high reproductive out-
put but consequent low defensive or competitive ability – making them vulner-
able to natural enemies (Southwood et  al. 1974). Among planthoppers,
physiological responses to plant age and conspecific density can also lead to
12  Insect Herbivores of Rice 283

rapid population increases at early stages of colonization (Padgham 1983).

Population density can also determine whether an individual is macropterous
(having greater dispersal capacity) or brachypterous (having higher fecundity)
and thereby ensures maximum planthopper fitness on the developing rice plant.
4. A number of herbivore species that reach outbreak densities are recognized as
invasive. These are species that have spread to new regions where they benefit
from reduced interspecific competition or predation. Noted examples include the
rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel; sorghum stemborer, Chilo
partellus (Swinhoe) (Pathak and Khan 1994); Mexican sugarcane borer, Eoreuma
loftini (Dyar) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) (Hunnel et al. 2010; Wilson et al. 2015);
and rice grain bug, Paromius nr. longulus Dall. (Homoptera: Lygaeidae; recently
discovered in the Philippines – Orboc personal communication). Some of these
species are not typical r-strategists. For example, invasive black bugs,
Scotinophara spp. (Homoptera: Pentatomidae), have become more problematic
in the Philippines in recent decades but have a relatively low fecundity and are
nonmigratory (Joshi et al. 2007). However, they often occur in large aggrega-
tions which may be the result of attraction toward village street lights or due to
habitat change (personal observations).
Some insect herbivores cause economic losses to rice farmers even at low
d­ ensities – this is often because they transmit harmful viruses, such as the Nephotettix
spp. (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) that transmit tungro virus in Southeast Asia or
Tagosodes orizicolus (Muir) (Homoptera: Delphacidae) that transmits Rice hoja
blanca virus (RHBV) in Central America and the Caribbean (Fujita et al. 2013).
Furthermore, some insect herbivores, such as rice bugs, Leptocorisa spp.
(Homoptera: Alydidae), are problematic because they damage the rice grains either
directly reducing yield at a late stage in the crop or reducing the quality of the seed
and thereby its market value (Jahn et al. 2004). These species are often polyphagous
and habitat generalists and, in contrast to the outbreak species discussed above,
often attain higher population densities in relatively heterogeneous habitats (Pathak
and Khan 1994).

12.3.1.2  Regulation of Herbivore Densities

Without natural enemies, population densities of any herbivore species would

increase exponentially, and rice cultivation would be impossible. Among the studies
that have examined regulation of rice herbivores, there have been two schools with
rather different emphases. Early studies, predominantly from Japan, focused on
intrinsic rates of natural increase and found density dependent reductions in egg
laying and population growth as important regulating factors. This density depen-
dence was often attributed to intraspecific competition with little role attributed to
natural enemies (Miyashita 1963; Kuno and Hokyo 1970). Studies in tropical rice,
particularly from Indonesia and the Philippines, focused more on the role of natural
enemies. These studies often found strong correlations between the abundance of
284 F.G. Horgan

a b
5.0 0.5

0.4
4.0
0.3
3.0
0.2
2.0
0.1
Predators/hill

1.0 0
0 10 20 0 0.25 0.5 0.75

c d
0.3 4.0

0.2
3.0
0.2
2.0
0.1
1.0
0.1

0.0 0.0
0 20 40 60 0 25 50 75

Number of N. lugens /hill

Fig. 12.1  Density-dependent responses by natural enemies to populations of the brown planthop-
per, Nilaparvata lugens, in rice: (a) Spiderling numbers in Philippine rice fields during the 1978
wet season. Data are from fields with cv. IR1917 (solid points) and cv. IR26 (open points), (b)
Paederus fuscipes (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) in rice fields on Java during 2011, (c) Cyrtorhinus
lividipennis, and (d) Microvelia spp. (Homoptera: Microveliidae) in Java during 1984/85 (solid
points) and 1985/86 (open points) cropping seasons (Redrawn using data from (a) Kenmore et al.
(1984), (b) Wagiman et al. (2014), and (c, d) Sawada et al. (1993))

planthopper and spiders, egg parasitoids, or mirid bugs (Fig. 12.1). These observa-
tions suggested density-dependent responses. Kenmore et al. (Kenmore et al. 1984)
pointed out that spiderling recruitment was highest when prey density was high –
suggesting numerical responses to density that were likely to be delayed; but some
species, like Cyrtorhinus lividipennis Reuter (Hemiptera: Miridae), responded
numerically through aggregation to areas of high herbivore densities (Sawada et al.
1993; Way and Heong 1994). Density dependence is a feature of regulation and an
indicator of a healthy rice environment.
Regulatory natural enemies are often not the principal mortality factors impact-
ing herbivore populations; mortality due to key factors (the main source of
­mortality – or main life stage affected by mortality) is often density independent and
may be determined by factors such as climate, poor synchronization of some insect
life stage with the crop, or generalist predators. For example, the key factor in the
12  Insect Herbivores of Rice 285

dynamics of stemborer populations in deepwater rice is neonate mortality between

the time of egg hatch and before the larva enters the rice stem (Islam 1994). During
this phase, natural enemies cause high mortality to neonates searching for suitable
feeding sites. Herbivore populations in rice are therefore affected by multi-tier sys-
tems that may include key factors such as generalist natural enemies that reduce
high herbivore densities to lower equilibrium points and regulators that maintain the
populations at this lower equilibrium density.

12.3.2  A
 ssessing the Belief that Yield Loss is Proportional to
Insect Damage
12.3.2.1  Difficulties in Measuring Yield Losses Due to Herbivores

Rice damage, rice plant responses to damage, and yield losses due to damage are all
features of the interactions between herbivores and the rice plant. Therefore, to ade-
quately define damage and yield losses due to herbivores, researchers must account
for a range of possible responses by rice plants, some of which are specific to certain
rice varieties or to particular cultivation systems. Thousands of rice varieties are cur-
rently used in modern agriculture, and most of these are genetically, anatomically,
and physiologically different and, hence, respond differently to herbivore damage.
For example, some varieties are highly tolerant to damage such that even severe insect
damage causes no yield decline (Horgan and Crisol 2013; Horgan et al. 2016a). In
some cases, certain insects may actually cause overcompensation, with higher yields
after damage (Nik Mohammad Noor et al. 1995; Rubia et al. 1996a; Islam and Karim
1997), whereas other varieties may be highly susceptible to herbivores, e.g., Taichung
Native 1 (De Datta 1981). Many studies that have attempted to assess yield losses to
herbivores have used only the most susceptible varieties (De Datta 1981). Although
fraught with methodological problems, several studies do give some reasonable indi-
cation of the potential effects of herbivores on rice yield. However, the following
cautions should be taken into account before considering the results of such studies:
1. Whereas scientists have normally focused on a single herbivore species and its
effects on a specific rice variety (or at most a small group of varieties), rice plants
in the field interact with a complex of herbivores. It is clear that damage from
different herbivores is not additive. Different herbivore species, even from the
same feeding guilds, have different effects on rice plants (Horgan et al. 2016a).
Furthermore, plant-mediated interactions between herbivores or between herbi-
vores and diseases can reduce the negative effects of one or other pest or disease
in a way that is ultimately beneficial to the plant (Pangga et al. 1993; Kanno and
Fujita 2003).
2. In order to estimate herbivore effects on yield, researchers have often used meth-
ods that do not adequately represent field situations. In greenhouse and pot
experiments, apart from a lack of natural enemies that would normally limit the
286 F.G. Horgan

buildup of pests, the herbivores themselves often find optimal conditions (i.e.,
controlled temperatures) or are adapted to captivity because they have been labo-
ratory reared for multiple generations. Furthermore, plants in pots are not repre-
sentative of field-grown plants because they often experience root competition in
confined spaces (Crisol et al. 2013).
3. Estimates of herbivore damage are often too general: Early reports gave blanket
estimates of about 30 % without considering spatial or temporal variability in
population densities (Litsinger et al. 1987). For example, it is quite likely that N.
lugens causes 100 % yield losses in some areas during some outbreaks, but at
endemic (chronic) densities, they may cause zero losses or even an increase in
yields. Since outbreaks are atypical events and are often the result of poor crop
management – such losses should not be taken into account when reporting “typ-
ical” herbivore-related yield losses.
4. In considering arthropod effects on yields, studies have been biased toward her-
bivores. This may seem logical, but only a few studies have quantified in eco-
nomic terms (as related to yield) the benefits of invertebrate decomposers or the
role of pollinators in increasing farm productivity (Settle et al. 1996; Gurr et al.
2016). In recent years, these economic advantages have been given more atten-
tion and are differentiated from yield losses as ecosystem services (Schmidt
et  al. 2015; Westphal et  al. 2015). However, researchers have not generally
looked at herbivory together with other ecosystem services – which should pro-
mote more balanced views and impart further knowledge in support of herbivore
management decisions. Some beneficial insects have been implicated in damag-
ing rice, for example, the lady beetle Micraspis crocea (Mulsant)(Coleoptera:
Coccinellidae) and the cricket Metioche vittaticollis (Stål)(Orthoptera: Gryllidae)
are efficient predators of rice herbivores, but these also consume rice pollen and
leaf tissues (Wilby et al. 2005). This sometimes causes farmers and researchers
to mistakenly regard these as pests (Pathak and Khan 1994, personal
observation).

12.3.2.2  Estimates of Herbivore-Related Yield Losses

Early estimates of insect damage appear quite variable and often remarkably high,
e.g., Grist and Lever (1969) indicated rice yield losses from insect herbivores in the
1960s to be 18–36 % in Asia, but only 2–3.5 % in Latin America. Walker (1987)
reviewed estimates of herbivore damage to rice during 1970–1983: National and
regional losses ranged from 4 to 45  %; losses to planthoppers in South and
Southeast Asia ranged from 1 to 40 %; and losses by stemborers in Asia ranged
from 1 to 40  %, whereas in Africa stemborers were estimated to cause 9–23  %
yield losses. The rice gall midge, Orseolia oryzae (Wood-Mason) (Diptera:
Cecidomyiidae), in Asia was estimated to cause yield losses of 6–70 %! It is inter-
esting to note that losses due to leaf folders in India were estimated at 10–18 % in
the study, but recently, it has become widely accepted that leaf folders cause negli-
gible or zero yield losses (Matteson 2000). It is likely that most of the higher
12  Insect Herbivores of Rice 287

estimates reported above concerned atypical outbreaks, which often attract

researcher attention and result in a bias toward higher estimates. The usual method
to assess yield losses in many early reports has been to correlate insect damage and
yield, using individual rice plants, field plots, or fields as sampling units (i.e.,
Katanyukul 1982). Such opportunistic studies are subject to unrepresentative sam-
pling, poor control of plant or plot management, and errors of “cause and effect.”
Although such studies may guide future research, they are not recommended as a
means of gaining concrete data. Furthermore, many older estimates of yield losses
from insects can now be deemed unrealistic for modern farms because of changing
preferences for rice varieties over the last several decades as well as an emphasis
on host plant resistance during national and international rice breeding programs
(Pathak and Khan 1994; Fujita et al. 2013). Hybrid rice varieties may be a notable
exception: Many hybrid rice varieties are highly vulnerable to insect herbivores but
are still grown by millions of farmers worldwide (Cheng 2009; Horgan and Crisol
2013).
Several authors have reported the results of experimental studies that examined
the effects of herbivore density on yield losses in rice. Because of the high diversity
of insect herbivores and rice varieties used in such experiments, the results cannot
be adequately addressed in the present chapter. However, the overall trends from
such studies can be largely divided into four categories:
1. No relation between herbivore densities and yield (no effect) or relatively minor
declines in yield at high  – but unrealistic  – densities (e.g., whorl maggot
(International Rice Research Institute 1988), caseworm, Nymphula depunctalis
Guenée (Heinrichs and Viajante 1987), rice bug, Leptocorisa oratorius (F.) (Van
Den Berg and Soehardi 2000))
2. Clear correlations between insect density and yield loss, but with often unrealis-
tically high densities that would exaggerate yield losses if the results were pro-
jected to rice fields (e.g., rice hispa, Dicladispa armigera Olivier (Coleoptera:
Chrysomelidae) (Chatterjee and Bera 1990); African gall midge, Orseolia ory-
zivora Harris (Nacro et al. 1996); L. oratorius (Morrill et al. 1989))
3. Clear correlations between insect density and yield loss with realistic densities
because the herbivore species in question is prone to outbreaks (e.g., Scotinophara
sp. (International Rice Research Institute 1988), N. lugens (Sarma and
ChannaBasavanna 1980), L. oryzophilus (Zou et al. 2004))
4. Correlations between insect density and yield loss at relatively low to moderate
densities, indicating that the herbivore may cause yield losses at typical field
densities (e.g., stemborers (Bandong and Litsinger 2005))
Often the results from different studies that assessed yield losses due to the same
herbivore species provide conflicting results (i.e., Morrill et al. 1989; Van Den Berg
and Soehardi 2000); this may reflect the different methods or different host plants
used in the evaluations. Further studies of yield losses that incorporate multiple
plant types (i.e., rice hybrids, pure-line varieties, or traditional varieties) are still
required to accurately define economic thresholds for future management programs
aimed at particular herbivore species.
288 F.G. Horgan

Studies that compare protected and control plots (called the “insecticide check
method”) are useful to estimate yield losses because they give estimates of damage
from the complete herbivore community under field situations. The insecticide check
method uses heavy insecticide applications, including mixing insecticides with the
soil, in an attempt to eliminate herbivores from field plots – these are then compared
to adjacent control plots that have received no insecticide applications. Some weak-
nesses of the system include phytotoxic and phytotonic effects of the insecticides,
effects of plot size, and the effects of pesticide drift on control plots and especially on
natural enemies (Litsinger et al. 1987). Using this method, Litsinger et al. (1987) pre-
sented estimates from the Philippines of insect-related crop losses that ranged from
2 % in traditional dryland crops (yield 2.9 t ha−1) to 23 % in modern dryland crops
(yield 4.2 t ha−1) and about 18 % in both traditional (yield 2.2 t ha−1) and modern
rainfed crops (yield 3.9 6 t ha−1). Variability between sites was large, with the effects
of herbivores ranging from −8 to 69 % yield declines (−8 implying a yield increase).
Interestingly, the ranges of grain weight (grain biomass) lost or gained were much
more consistent than percentage losses. Gains from insects (potential overcompensa-
tion) ranged from 0.04 to 0.3  t  ha−1, and losses from insects ranged from 0.1 to
2.4 t ha−1 or about 0.5 t ha−1 in the rainfed systems. In a similar study conducted over
13  years at four irrigated, double-cropping sites, yield losses were estimated to be
about 12 %, i.e., grain weight reduction of 0.6 t ha−1(Litsinger et al. 2005).
Recent estimates of rice crop losses due to insects have not been as rigorous or
as frequent as those conducted in the 1980s to1990s. Considering modern varieties
with higher yields, better crop management techniques including nutrient manage-
ment, and a likely maximum loss of about 0.5 t ha−1 due to chronic pests, it should
be expected that the percentage losses in yield would now be considerably lower
than in the 1960s (Grist and Lever 1969), 1970s (Walker 1987) or 1980s (Litsinger
et al. 1987, 2005). Until further estimates are available, losses due to herbivores in
unmanaged rice fields should be regarded as spatially and temporally variable and
likely to be below the economic thresholds for insecticide use at field or larger
scales. Certainly, based on the current understanding of herbivore-related yield
losses, and considering the capacity of rice plants to compensate for damage, it
would be hard to justify any prophylactic insecticide use in modern rice farms.

12.3.3  A
 ssessing the Belief that Insecticides Reduce Yield
Losses

A third predominant belief among farmers and extension workers is that insecti-
cides reduce damage and prevent yield losses. This belief has led to a multibillion
dollar industry and to a fear among many farmers (known as fear aversion) that rice
cannot yield without insecticides (Litsinger et al. 1987; Heong et al. 1994, 2002).
The economic value of farmer “fear aversion” is clear (Fig. 12.2). In order to better
 12  Insect Herbivores of Rice 289

a b
3,000,000

China 1,400,000 South East Asia

1,200,000

2,500,000 1,000,000

800,000

600,000

2,000,000 400,000
Value in US$1,000

200,000

0
1,500,000
c
1,400,000
South Asia
1,200,000
1,000,000
1,000,000

800,000

600,000
500,000
400,000

200,000

0 0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Year

Fig. 12.2  Value of insecticide exports (solid points) and imports (open points) in (a) China, (b)
Southeast Asia, and (c) South Asia between 1960 and 2010. Note that China and South Asia
became net exporters between 1995 and 2000 (Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations)

understand the issues related to insecticide use and its effects on rice, some points
should be considered:
1. Insecticides are toxic and rice plants are living organisms; therefore, the insecti-
cides also affect the plants. For example, studies using a range of insecticides
and spraying at different times and at different intensities have indicated that late
spraying can directly reduce rice yields (Peñalver 2014).
2. Insecticides will often miss their target pests because of poor timing or because
the target is hidden in the stem, located at the base of the plant, or at a life stage
that is not affected by the chemical. Insecticides are often not applied properly
because of mixing of chemicals or poor access to efficient spray equipment
(Heong et al. 2015). Also, because of the rapid development of herbivore resis-
tance to insecticides, many chemical products have a short utility time
(Matsumura et al. 2008); however, because products are not removed from mar-
kets, they continue to be used without effect.
290 F.G. Horgan

3. Insecticides can cause physiological resurgence, that is, the target herbivore
responds to the insecticide by increasing feeding, reproduction, or population
growth. This has now been well documented for planthoppers (Azzam et  al.
2009, 2011) and is becoming increasingly clear for stemborers and leaf folders
(Wang et al. 2005; Yu et al. 2007; Horgan et al. 2017b).
4. Insecticides are indiscriminate; they usually kill or damage all insects including
the beneficial natural enemies of herbivores. Some insecticides are less toxic to
natural enemies than to herbivores, but even when natural enemies survive, or
where they rapidly recolonize insecticide-treated fields, their efficiency in preda-
tion may be reduced (Horgan et al. 2017b). These effects of insecticides on natu-
ral enemies can lead to ecological resurgence. Ecological resurgence has been
well documented for planthoppers (Kenmore et al. 1984).
5. In some cases, applying insecticides to combat one pest will cause resurgence of
a second pest – such is the case with planthopper outbreaks which develop after
insecticide applications made to control leaf folders (Ooi and Saleh 1979).
Interestingly, herbicides, fungicides, and molluscicides have also been noted to
increase herbivore damage to rice (Azzam et al. 2009, 2011; Horgan et al. 2014).
6. Apart from the negative effects on rice ecosystem function and potential negative
effects on yield, pesticides also have negative effects on human health and on
livestock and wildlife (Pingali and Roger 1995).
Despite these obvious caveats and the need for caution, the pesticide industry
has expanded: Asian farmers can now choose from thousands of insecticide prod-
ucts (Litsinger et al. 1987; Heong et al. 1994; Heong and Escalada 1999). Figure
12.2 indicates insecticide imports and exports in Asia over 50 years. It is apparent
that since the year 2000, insecticide purchases have increased dramatically in
South and Southeast Asian countries. Similar trends have been noted in Latin
America and West Africa (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations). Interestingly, the dramatic increases in pesticide imports into South and
Southeast Asia began at about the time that China and India turned from being net
importers to major exporters of insecticides (Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations). Despite the massive increases in insecticide availability in
Asia, there has been no proportionate increase in national rice yields (Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). Furthermore, outbreaks of resur-
gence pests such as planthoppers have become increasingly common during the
last 10–15 years (Cheng 2009; Fig. 12.3). Heong et al. (2015) have indicated from
their results of over 3800 farmer interviews in Vietnam that rice yields have gener-
ally remained constant despite farmers applying insecticides between 0 and >8
times per crop. Judging from recent literature, it is possible that insecticides have
become the principal drivers of rice herbivore outbreaks in Asia and are inadver-
tently the major cause of insect-mediated yield losses when viewed at larger spatial
and temporal scales.
12  Insect Herbivores of Rice 291

Fig. 12.3  Farmers in East Java (Indonesia) manage long, narrow plots of rice and vegetables.
Varying degrees of damage to individual fields during a brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens)
outbreak (indicated by differing degrees of browning) highlight the role of poor crop management
in inducing outbreaks. All fields in this photo were transplanted at the same time with cv. Ciherang,
but farmers applied varying amounts and types of insecticide to their plots

12.4  Building a Sustainable Rice Production System

12.4.1  The Rice Plant at the Center

The rice plant is central to the functioning and dynamics of the rice ecosystem. Rice
varieties are generally categorized between susceptibility and resistance based on
responses by key herbivores or diseases to the plants (Horgan 2012). Farmers are
expected to base their choice of varieties on levels of known resistance. However, this
seems to be rarely the case. For example, several reports have indicated that hybrid
rice varieties are associated with high levels of damage from planthoppers and stem-
borers throughout Asia. Despite such apparent susceptibility to damage, hybrid rice
varieties have been increasingly adopted by Asian farmers and are the main rice vari-
eties grown in China and northern Vietnam (Horgan and Crisol 2013). Nevertheless,
292 F.G. Horgan

researchers continue to focus on the development of rice varieties with resistance to

important insect herbivores and diseases (Chen et  al. 2012; Fujita et  al. 2013). A
recent appraisal of rice pest management literature (Horgan 2012) indicates host plant
resistance as the main focus of public research for the last several decades followed
closely by research on potential insecticides (Horgan 2012). Furthermore, since the
1990s, research in rice stemborers has been dominated by transgenic approaches to
resistance with almost no research into “native” resistance sources (Horgan 2012).
Whereas transgenic resistance holds some promise, transgenic resistant rice is not
currently available to rice farmers because of logistics around the distribution of
transgenic varieties, a lack of confidence among farmers and consumers, and difficul-
ties in managing the development of adapted herbivore populations (Teetes 1994;
Horgan 2012). More recently, some reassessment of native host plant resistance
against rice stemborers has been reinitiated (Way et al. 2006; Hamm et al. 2012).
The development of resistant rice varieties using conventional breeding tech-
niques has been more successful against herbivores that have intimate associations
with their host plant. These are usually monophagous species, such as planthoppers
or gall midges, that can regulate plant hormones or sequester plant defenses to allow
feeding or gall formation (Bentur et al. 2008; Fujita et al. 2013). Currently over 85
genes have been identified imparting resistance against planthoppers and leafhoppers
(Fujita et al. 2013; Horgan et al. 2015). Many of these genes have come from wild
rice species, but several are from traditional rice varieties from Bangladesh, India,
and Sri Lanka (Fujita et al. 2013). Planthoppers and leafhoppers feed less, gain less
weight, develop slowly, and lay fewer eggs on varieties that carry resistance genes.
However, the mechanisms underlying these responses have not generally been eluci-
dated (Horgan 2009). Rice gall midge resistance is better understood and appears to
be governed by gene-for-gene relationships akin to disease resistance. About 14 gall
midge resistance genes have been identified, and these have been incorporated into
several resistant rice varieties (Bentur et al. 2008). However, insect herbivores can
often quickly adapt to resistant varieties (Peñalver Cruz et al. 2011; Ferrater et al.
2013, 2015; Vu et al. 2014), and recent studies have indicated a gradual loss of resis-
tance against field populations of target herbivores, e.g., O. oryzae (Bentur et  al.
2008) and N. lugens (Horgan et al. 2015; Srinivasan et al. 2015). Clearly, host plant
resistance is limited by the emergence of virulent herbivore populations; hence,
effective resistance needs to be conserved through careful resistance management.
This includes the limited deployment of resistance genes in time and space, careful
crop management to avoid compromising resistance (Peñalver 2014), and attention
to the preservation of natural enemies, some of which may be more effective in kill-
ing herbivores on resistant plants (Kartohardjono and Heinrichs 1984; Horgan 2012).
Several researchers have dedicated themselves to the development of resistant
varieties; however, issues of tolerance (the ability of a plant to compensate for dam-
age) have received little attention. Resistance and tolerance are often regarded as
antagonistic; however, it seems clear that tolerance traits are also governed by major
genes and that breeding for tolerance is possible (Horgan and Crisol 2013). However,
it has been difficult to define and screen for tolerance, and the effects of tolerance in
the field are difficult to predict (Horgan 2012). For example, tolerance to disease
may allow the buildup of disease-causing organisms including insect-vectored viral
12  Insect Herbivores of Rice 293

diseases. Similarly, tolerance to herbivores might cause larger and more widespread
outbreaks in poorly managed production systems (Horgan 2012).
The benefit of tolerance for sustainable rice production systems (where natural
enemies are promoted) is that it allows herbivore populations to attain relatively
high numbers (compared to non-tolerant varieties) before they cause any economic
damage to the crop. By maintaining densities of herbivores in rice fields, natural
enemies can stabilize the herbivore populations. This suggests that highly tolerant
hybrid rice varieties, although often reported as susceptible to herbivores, might be
a good option for organic, pesticide-free, or other environmentally friendly produc-
tion systems (Horgan and Crisol 2013; Horgan et al. 2016a). Tolerance is however
also a feature of crop management. High fertilizer use in farmer’s fields results in
faster growth rates and larger plants which often increases rice tolerance (Horgan
and Crisol 2013; Horgan et al. 2016a). Therefore, the development of sustainable
rice systems depends on a good knowledge of the rice variety and selection of the
crop based on known resistance (including knowledge of resistance genes that are
useful for the given region), plant-based tolerance, and proper nutrient management
that avoids too high fertilizer levels for the yield potential of the variety.

12.4.2  Creating a Healthy Rice Ecosystem

12.4.2.1  Landscape Approaches to the Management of Herbivores

Some herbivore management practices are effective at field scales. For example,
farmers can opt to use resistant varieties, biological control agents, or pheromone
traps in their fields to reduce herbivore damage (Lv et  al. 2015). Changing farm
management practices at landscape scales (because farmers widely adopt some new
management practice) can profoundly affect herbivore population dynamics (Song
et  al. 1982; Kiritani 1988; Thies and Tscharntke 1999; Horgan and Crisol 2013;
Srinivasan et al. 2016). Furthermore, the coordination of farmer activities can deter-
mine the impact of landscape effects on herbivore populations, e.g., synchronized
cropping has been implicated in reducing densities of stemborers and leafhoppers
(Horgan and Crisol 2013), whereas it increases densities of planthoppers (Sawada
et al. 1992; Wada and Nik Mohammad Noor 1992). Synchrony of cropping is an
important criterion for reducing rice viruses that are vectored by insects (Chancellor
et al. 1999). Landscape approaches to crop management are expected to contribute
to the sustainability of production landscapes and to resilience against perturba-
tions – including stabilizing the effects of poor management by one or other farmer
at larger spatial and temporal scales. One landscape approach to pest management
that is gaining increasing attention is ecological engineering.

12.4.2.2  Agroecology and Ecological Engineering

Ecological engineering is the deliberate manipulation of habitat for the benefit of

society and the natural environment (Gurr 2009; Gurr et al. 2012). The method is
strongly knowledge based and requires a thorough understanding of the potential
294 F.G. Horgan

positive and negative effects of any interventions by the practitioner prior to imple-
mentation. Ecological engineering for pest management mainly focuses on increas-
ing the abundance, diversity, and function of natural enemies in agricultural habitats
by providing refuges and alternate or supplementary food resources (Landis et al.
2000; Lv et al. 2015). Research into ecological engineering in rice production sys-
tems largely began in the early 2000s. Reports on the success of the method are now
beginning to emerge from recent research conducted at landscape scales in Thailand,
Vietnam, China, and the Philippines (Gurr et al. 2016; Horgan et al. 2016c).
During the 1990s, research from the Philippines, although not originally referred
to as “ecological engineering,” examined the effects of weedy bunds, or bunds
planted with dry crops, on the mortality of rice herbivores at different distances
from the bunds. These studies indicated that weeds and dry crops provide alternate
hosts for some important natural enemies of planthoppers and stemborers; however,
weedy bunds often also attracted rice herbivores (Morrill and Almazan 1990;
Marcos et al. 2001; Yu 2001; Way and Javier 2001). More recently, ecological engi-
neering for rice pest management has focused on planting flower strips (with nectar
producing ornamental flowers or flowering vegetable crops) along rice bunds. For
example, several thousand hectares of rice have had flowers planted along bunds in
South Vietnam following campaigns by local government (Westphal et  al. 2015;
Horgan et al. 2016c; Fig. 12.4). Flower strips are predicted to increase the habitat
value of rice fields for the natural enemies of insect herbivores. Certain flowering
plants have been shown to prolong the life or enhance reproduction of planthopper
egg parasitoids and predatory mirid bugs in the laboratory (Zhu et  al. 2013a, b).
Furthermore, field studies have shown vegetable strips and vegetable plots to reduce
planthopper populations in rice; however, the effects were not only due to natural
enemies but also due to reduced “apparency” (the ability of the herbivore to find the
crop) or to the vegetables acting as a physical barrier to herbivore dispersal (Lin
et al. 2011; Yao et al. 2012). Planting strips of mung bean (Vigna radiata L. Wilzeck)
on rice bunds in the Philippines has been shown to increase spider densities and the
ratio of spiders to planthoppers in the rice (Horgan, unpublished data).
Apart from supporting populations of parasitoids and predatory arthropods, strips
and plots of vegetables also provide habitat for insectivorous birds and p­ ollinators and
will also produce fruits and vegetables as supplementary food for farm households
(Horgan et al. 2017a, b; and 12.4). A multisite study conducted between 2009 and
2012 in China, Thailand, and Vietnam found ecologically engineered rice landscapes
to produce several economic and environmental benefits (Gurr et al. 2016). Data from
across the sites indicated that flower strips on rice bunds could reduce planthopper
populations, reduced insecticide applications by 70 %, increased rice grain yields by
5 %, and delivered a 7.5 % economic advantage over conventional rice (Gurr et al.
2016). It is clear from this study that the benefits of ecological engineering were due
to the combined effects of flowering bunds creating a habitat for natural enemies
together with a lower mortality of natural enemies (and possibly reduced potential for
physiological resurgence of rice herbivores) because of reduced pesticide applica-
tions (Gurr et al. 2016). In a related study, Lv et al. (2015) found lower herbivore
damage, higher farm profits and benefits for the environment that included a higher
abundance of frogs at an ecologically engineered site compared to conventionally
12  Insect Herbivores of Rice 295

Fig. 12.4 High-diversity
vegetation patches at a rice
farm in Mindanao,
Philippines. These patches
were interspersed among
the rice paddies and
produced flowering fruits
and vegetables including
bitter gourd, mung bean,
lady finger, and string
beans. Natural enemies of
key rice herbivores were
attracted to the bitter gourd
and mung bean flowers

farmed sites (Fig. 12.5). These results point to ecological engineering as an exciting
development for herbivore management in rice that promises to contribute to the sus-
tainability and resilience of rice production systems as research continues.

12.5  Concluding Remarks

Rice farmers, agricultural extension officers, and researchers will need to reap-
praise some common beliefs about yield losses to rice caused by insect herbivores
and about the effectiveness of insecticides in maintaining or increasing grain
yields. Three prominent beliefs are not substantiated by current scientific knowl-
edge and should not be held as valid generalizations to guide management deci-
sions. These are (1) that insects have generally negative effects on crop health, (2)
that herbivore damage translates directly to yield loss, and (3) that insecticides
increase rice yields. Adherence to these unfounded beliefs will reduce the produc-
tivity, profitability, and sustainability of rice production landscapes. Such negative
consequences will be further enhanced in the face of global changes such as the
phenomenal increases in modern industrial output (especially in China and India),
in mechanization, in communication technologies and advertising, and in
296 F.G. Horgan

a b
50 20

40
15

Damselflies
Predators

30
10
20
5
10

0 0

c d
30 60

25 50

20 40
Parasitoids

Frogs
15 30

10 20

5 10

0 0
Tillering booting milking maturing Tillering booting milking maturing

Crop stage

Fig. 12.5  Indices of abundance of (a) predatory insects, (b) parasitoids, (c) damselflies, and (d)
frogs (Rana limnocharis Gravenhorst) at an ecologically engineered site (grey points) and adjacent
farmers’ fields (solid points) in China during 2010. The ecologically engineered site had vetiver
grass (Vetiveria zizaniodes [L.]) and sesame (Sesamum indicum [L.]) planted on the rice bunds and
reduced insecticide applications by 75  %. The farmers’ fields used insecticides only to control
herbivores. Average rice yields at the sites were 10.0 t ha−1 at the ecologically engineered site and
10.3 t ha−1 in the conventional farms. The engineered sites also gained US$ 120/ha from sesame
production and saved US$ 150/ha on insecticides. To date, few field studies have assessed the
potential of ecological engineering for pest management in rice (Redrawn from Lv et al. (2015))

transportation networks. A common understanding of the potential effects of cli-

mate on herbivores is that it may affect species distributions and allow the expan-
sion of pests and diseases to higher latitudes. However, concurrent changes in the
distributions of natural enemies are expected to buffer against any negative impacts
from expanding herbivore ranges (Kiritani 1999). It is therefore essential to pro-
mote a holistic approach to rice production that emphasizes “rice ecosystem
health.” This will be achieved by recognizing the deleterious effects of insecticides
and by enhancing the overwhelming benefits of natural enemies and landscape
diversity. Strategies, such as agroecology and ecological engineering that preserve
food web complexity, ecosystem stability, and system resilience in rice landscapes,
deserve further research attention and constitute an important avenue for attaining
global food security.
12  Insect Herbivores of Rice 297

References

Azzam S, Wang F, Wu J-C, Shen J, Wang L-P, Yang G-Q et al (2009) Comparisons of stimulatory
effects of a series of concentrations of four insecticides on reproduction in the rice brown plan-
thopper Nilaparvata lugens Stål (Homoptera: Delphacidae). Int J Pest Manage 55:347–358
Azzam S, Yang F, Wu J-C, Geng J, Yang G-Q (2011) Imidacloprid-induced transference effect on
some elements in rice plants and the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Hemiptera:
Delphacidae). Insect Sci 18:289–297
Bandong JP, Litsinger JA (2005) Rice crop stage susceptibility to the rice yellow stemborer
Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker)(Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Int J Pest Manage 51:37–43
Bandong JP, Canapi BL, Dela Cruz CG, Litsinger JA (2002) Insecticide decision protocols: a case
study of untrained Filipino rice farmers. Crop Prot 21:803–816
Bentur JS, Cheralu C, Rao RM (2008) Monitoring virulence in Asian rice gall midge populations
in India. Entomol Exp Appl 129:96–106
Catling D (1992) Rice in deep water. Macmillan Press, London
Chancellor TCB, Azzam O, Heong KL (1999) Rice tungro disease management. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Baños
Chatterjee B, Bera PK (1990) Rice grain yield loss due to rice hispa damage. Int Rice Res N 15:5
Chen H, Stout MJ, Qian Q, Chen F (2012) Genetic, molecular and genomic basis of rice defense
against insects. Crit Rev Plant Sci 31:74–91
Cheng J (2009) Rice planthopper problems and relevant causes in China. In: Heong KL, Hardy B
(eds) Planthoppers: new threats to the sustainability of intensive rice production systems in
Asia. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 157–178
Cohen JE, Schoenly K, Heong KL, Justo H, Arida G, Barrion AT et al (1994) A food web approach
to evaluating the effect of insecticide spraying on insect pests population dynamics in a
Philippine irrigated rice ecosystem. J Appl Ecol 31:747–763
Crisol E, Almazan MLP, Jones PW, Horgan FG (2013) Planthopper–rice interactions: unequal
stresses on pure-line and hybrid rice under similar experimental conditions. Entomol Exp Appl
147:18–32
De Datta SK (1981) Principles and practices of rice production. Wiley, New York
De Kraker J, van Huis A, Heong KL, van Lenteren JC, Rabbinge R (1999a) Population dynamics
of rice leaffolders (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and their natural enemies in irrigated rice in the
Philippines. Bull Entomol Res 89:411–421
De Kraker J, Van Huis A, Van Lenteren JC, Heong KL, Rabbinge R (1999b) Egg mortality of rice
leaffolders Cnaphalocrocis medinalis and Marasmia patnalis in irrigated rice fields. Biocontrol
44:449–471
Escalada MM, Heong KL (2004) A participatory exercise for modifying rice farmers’ beliefs and
practices in stem borer loss assessment. Crop Prot 23:11–17
Escalada MM, Heong KL, Huan NH, Chien HV (2009) Changes in rice farmers’ pest management
beliefs and practices in Vietnam: an analytical review of survey data from 1992–2007. In:
Heong KL, Hardy B (eds) Planthoppers: new threats to the sustainability of intensive rice pro-
duction systems in Asia. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 447–456
Ferrater JB, de Jong PW, Dicke M, Chen YH, Horgan FG (2013) Symbiont-mediated adaptation by
planthoppers and leafhoppers to resistant rice varieties. Arthropod Plant Interact 7:591–605
Ferrater JB, Naredo AI, Almazan MLP, de Jong PW, Dicke M, Horgan FG (2015) Varied responses
by yeast-like symbionts to virulence adaptation in a monophagous phloem-feeding insect.
Arthropod Plant Interact 9:215–224
Ferroni M, Zhou Y (2012) Achievements and challenges in agricultural extension in India. Glob
J Emerg Mark Econ 4:319–346
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Statistics division. (cited 2015 Oct 15).
Available from: http://faostat3.fao.org/home/E
298 F.G. Horgan

Fujita D, Kohli A, Horgan FG (2013) Rice resistance to planthoppers and leafhoppers. Crit Rev
Plant Sci 32:162–191
Global Rice Science Partnership (2013) Rice almanac, 4th edn. International Rice Research
Institute, Los Baños
Grist DH, Lever RJAW (1969) Pests of rice. Butler and Tanner, London
Gurr GM (2009) Prospects for ecological engineering for planthoppers and other arthropod pests
in rice. In: Heong KL, Hardy B (eds) Planthoppers: new threats to the sustainability of intensive
rice production systems in Asia. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños,
pp. 371–388
Gurr GM, Heong KL, Cheng JA, Catindig J (2012) Ecological engineering strategies to manage
insect pests in rice. In: Gurr GM, Wratten SD, Snyder WE, Read DMY (eds) Biodiversity and
insect pests: key issues for sustainable management. Wiley Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 214–229
Gurr GM, Lu Z, Zheng X, Xu H, Zhu P, Chen G, Yoa X, Cheng J, Zhu Z, Catindig JL, Villareal S,
Chien HV, Cuong LQ, Channoo C, Chengwattana N, Lan LP, Hai LH, Chaiwong J, Nicol HI,
Perovic DJ, Wratten SD, Heong KL (2016) Multi-country evidence that crop diversification
promotes ecological intensification of agriculture. Nature Plants 14:1–4
Hamm JC, Sidhu JK, Stout MJ, Hummel NA, Teagan TE (2012) Oviposition behavior of Diatraea
saccharalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) on different rice cultivars in Louisiana. Environ Entomol
41:571–577
Heinrichs EA, Viajante VD (1987) Yield losses in rice caused by the caseworm Nymphula depunc-
talis Guenée (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). J Plant Prot Trop 4:15–26
Heong KL, Escalada MM (1999) Quantifying rice farmers’ pest management decisions: beliefs
and subjective norms in stem borer control. Crop Prot 18:315–322
Heong KL, Escalada MM, Mai V (1994) An analysis of insecticide use in rice: case studies in the
Philippines and Vietnam. Int J Pest Manage 40:173–178
Heong KL, Teng PS, Moody K (1995) Managing rice pests with less chemicals. GeoJournal
35:337–349
Heong KL, Escalada MM, Sengsoulivong V, Schiller J (2002) Insect management beliefs and prac-
tices of rice farmers in Laos. Agric Ecosyst Environ 92:137–145
Heong KL, Escalada MM, Van Chien H, Delos Reyes JH (2015) Are there productivity gains from
insecticide applications in rice production? In: Heong KL, Cheng J, Escalada MM (eds) Rice
planthoppers: ecology, management, socio economics and policy. Springer, Beijing,
pp. 179–189
Horgan FG (2009) Mechanisms of resistance: a major gap in understanding planthopper-rice inter-
actions. In: Heong KL, Hardy B (eds) Planthoppers: new threats to the sustainability of inten-
sive rice production systems in Asia. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños,
pp. 281–302
Horgan FG (2012) Diversity and defense: plant-herbivore interactions at multiple scales and tro-
phic levels. In: Gurr GM, Wratten SD, Snyder WE, Read DMY (eds) Biodiversity and insect
pests: key issues for sustainable management. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 241–258
Horgan FG, Crisol E (2013) Hybrid rice and insect herbivores in Asia. Entomol Exp Appl
148:1–19
Horgan FG, Felix MI, Portalanza DE, Sanchez L, Moya Rios WM, Farah SE et al (2014) Responses
by farmers to the apple snail invasion of Ecuador’s rice fields and attitudes toward predatory
snail kites. Crop Prot 62:135–143
Horgan FG, Ramal AF, Bentur JS, Kumar R, Bhanu KV, Sarao PS et al (2015) Virulence of brown
planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) populations from South and South East Asia against resistant
rice varieties. Crop Prot 78:222–231
Horgan FG, Crisol Martinez E, Almazan MLP, Romena A, Ramal AF, Ferrater JB et al (2016a)
Susceptibility and tolerance in hybrid and pure-line rice varieties to herbivore attack: biomass
partitioning and resources-based compensation in response to damage. Ann Appl Biol
169:200–213
12  Insect Herbivores of Rice 299

Horgan FG, Naik BS, Iswanto EH, Almazan MLP, Ramal AF, Bernal CC (2016b) Responses by
the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), to conspecific density on resistant and sus-
ceptible rice varieties. Entomol Exp Appl 158:284–294
Horgan FG, Ramal AF, Bernal CC, Villegas JM, Stuart AM, Almazan MLP (2016c) Applying
ecological engineering for sustainable and resilient rice production systems. Procedia Food Sci
6:7–15
Horgan FG, Ramal AF, Villegas JM, Almazan MLP, Bernal CC, Jamoralin A et al (2017a)
Ecological engineering with high diversity vegetation patches enhances bird activity and eco-
system services in Philippines rice fields. Reg Environ Change (in press)
Horgan FG, Ramal AF, Villegas JM, Jamoralin A, Bernal CC, Perez MO et al (2017b) Effects of
bund crops and insecticide treatments on arthropod diversity and herbivore regulation in tropi-
cal rice fields. J Appl Entomol (in press)
Hunnel NA, Hardy T, Reagan TE, Pollet D, Carlton C, Stout MJ et al (2010) Monitoring and first
discovery of the Mexican rice borer Eoreuma loftini (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in Louisiana.
Fla Entomol 93:1230124
Ings TC, Montoya JM, Bascompte J, Blüthgen N, Brown L, Dormann CF et al (2009) Review:
ecological networks-beyond food webs. J Anim Ecol 78:253–269
International Rice Research Institute (1988) IRRI Annual report for 1988. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 245–276
International Rice Research Institute (1993) IRRI program report for 1993. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 22–23
Islam Z (1994) Key factor responsible for fluctuations in rice yellow stemborer populations in
deepwater rice ecosystems. Insect Sci Appl 15:461–468
Islam Z, Karim ANMR (1997) Whiteheads associated with stem borer infestation in modern rice
varieties: an attempt to resolve the dilemma of yield losses. Crop Prot 16:303–311
Iwao S (1979) Analysis of spatial distribution patterns and density estimation in insect populations
with particular reference to pests of the rice plants. In: Academia Sinica (ed) Proceedings of the
Republic of China-Japan symposium on rice productivity, Institute of Botany. Academia
Sinica, Beijing, pp 111–122
Jahn GC, Domingo I, Almazan MLP, Pacia J  (2004) Effect of rice bug Leptocorisa oratorius
(Hemiptera: Alydidae) on rice yield, grain quality, and seed viability. Econ Entomol
97:1923–1927
Joshi RC, Barrion AT, Sebastian LS (2007) Rice black bugs: taxonomy, ecology, and management
of invasive species. Philippine Rice Research Institute, Nueva Ecija
Kanno H, Fujita Y (2003) Induced systemic resistance to rice blast fungus in rice plants infested
by white-backed planthopper. Entomol Exp Appl 107:155–158
Kartohardjono A, Heinrichs EA (1984) Populations of the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens
(Stål) (Homoptera: Delphacidae), and its predators on rice varieties with different levels of
resistance. Environ Entomol 13:359–365
Katanyukul W (1982) Rice yield losses to gall midge in north Thailand. Int Rice Res N 7:6
Kenmore PE, Cariño FO, Perez CA, Dyck VA, Gutierrez AP (1984) Population regulation of the
rice brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål) within rice fields in the Philippines. J Plant
Prot Trop 1:19–37
Kiritani K (1979) Pest management in rice. Annu Rev Entomol 24:279–312
Kiritani K (1988) What has happened to the rice borers during the past 40 years in Japan? JARQ
21:265–268
Kiritani K (1999) Shift in IPM strategy for rice under global warming in temperate areas: In:
Zhang R, Gu D, Zhang W, Zhou C, Pang Y (eds) Integrating pest management in rice-based
ecosystem. Zhongshan University, Zhongshan, pp 235-244
Kuno E, Hokyo N (1970) Comparative analysis of the population dynamics of rice leafhoppers,
Nephotettix cincticeps Usler and Nilaparvata lugens Stål, with special reference to natural
regulation of their numbers. Res Popul Ecol XII:154–184
300 F.G. Horgan

Landis DA, Wratten SD, Gurr GM (2000) Habitat management to conserve natural enemies of
arthropod pests in agriculture. Annu Rev Entomol 45:175–201
Lazaro AA, Heong KL (1995) Analysis of factors influencing farmers’ insecticide sprays. Int Rice
Res N 20:2
Lazaro AA, Rubia EG, Almazan LP, Heong KL (1993) Farmer’s estimates of percent white heads.
Int Rice Res N 18:31
Lin S, You MS, Yang G, Chen LL (2011) Can polycultural manipulation effectively control rice
planthoppers in rice-based ecosystems? Crop Prot 30:279–284
Litsinger JA, Canapi BL, Bandong JP, Dela Cruz CG, Apostol RF, Pantua PC et al (1987) Rice crop
loss from insect pests in wetland and dryland environments of Asia with emphasis on the
Philippines. Insect Sci Appl 8:677–692
Litsinger JA, Bandong JP, Canapi BL, Dela Cruz GC, Pantua PC, Alviola AL et  al (2005)
Evaluation of action thresholds for chronic insect pests in the Philippines. I. Less frequently
occurring pests and overall assessment. Int J Pest Manage 51:45–61
Lv Z, Zhu P, Gurr GM, Zheng X, Chen G, Heong KL (2015) Rice pest management by ecological
engineering: a pioneering attempt in China. In: Heong KL, Cheng J, Escalada MM (eds) Rice plan-
thoppers: ecology, management, socio economics and policy. Springer, Beijing, pp. 161–178
Marcos TF, Flor LB, Velilla AR, Schoenly KG, Manalo JO, Ofilas OM et al (2001) Relationship
between pests and natural enemies in rainfed rice and associated crop and wild habitats in
Ilocos Norte, Philippines. In: Mew TW, Borromeo E, Hardy B (eds) Exploiting biodiversity for
sustainable pest management. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 23–42
Matsumura M, Takeuchi H, Satoh M, Sanada-Morimura S, Otuka A, Watanabe T et  al (2008)
Species-specific insecticide resistance to imidacloprid and fipronil in the rice planthoppers
Nilaparvata lugens and Sogatella furcifera in East and South-east Asia. Pest Manag Sci
64:115–1121
Matteson PC (2000) Insect pest management in tropical Asian irrigated rice. Annu Rev Entomol
45:549–574
Miyashita K (1963) Outbreaks and population fluctuations of insects with species reference to
agricultural insect pest sin Japan. Bull Nat Inst Agr Sci 15:99–170
Morrill WL, Almazan LP (1990) Effect of host plant species and age of rice bug (Hemiptera:
Alydidae) eggs on parasitism by Gryon nixoni (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). J  Entomol Sci
25:450–452
Morrill WL, Arida GS, Estano D, Dulay AC (1989) Assessment of crop loss due to the rice bug,
Leptocorisa oratorius (F.) (Hemiptera: Alydidae), in the Philippines. In: ADAP (ed) Proceedings
of the ADAP crop protection conference. University of Hawaii, Honolulu, p 44–46.
Nacro S, Heinrichs EA, Dakouo D (1996) Estimation of rice yield losses due to the African rice
gall midge, Orseolia oryzivora Harris and Gagne. Int J Pest Manage 42:331–334
Nik Mohammad Noor NS, Chang PM (1995) Rice leaffolder in Malaysia and implications of not
controlling them. In: International Rice Research Institute (ed) Proceedings of the workshop on
reducing early season insecticide use for leaffolder control in rice: impact, economics and
risks. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 1–15
Ooi PAC, Saleh AR (1979) Outbreaks of two delphacid planthoppers in the Muda irrigation scheme
and their control. Crop Protection Division, Department of Agriculture, Malaysia and Muda
Agricultural Development Authority, Kuala Lumpur
Ôtake A (1976) Studies on populations of Sogatella furcifera Horváth and Nilaparvata lugens Stål
(Hemiptera: Delphacidae) and their parasites in Sri Lanka. Appl Entomol Zool 11:284–294
Otuka A, Matsumura M, Sanada-Morimura S, Takeuchi H, Watanabe T, Ohtsu R et al (2010) The
2008 overseas mass migration of the small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus, and
subsequent outbreak of the rice stripe disease in western Japan. Appl Entomol Zool
45:259–266
Padgham DE (1983) The influence of host-plant on the development of the adult brown planthop-
per, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål)(Hemiptera: Delphacidae), and its significance in migration. Bull
Entomol Res 73:117–128
12  Insect Herbivores of Rice 301

Pangga IB, Fabellar LT, Teng PS, Heong KL (1993) Leaf blast (Bl)-leaffolder (LF) interactions in
lowland rice. Int Rice Res N 18:26–27
Pathak MD, Khan ZR (1994) Insect pests of rice. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños
Peñalver CA (2014) Interactions between crop management and rice resistance to the brown plan-
thopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål.): fertilizer levels, insecticides, biocontrol and the integrity of
resistance [dissertation]. Lancaster University, Lancaster
Peñalver Cruz A, Arida A, Heong KL, Horgan FG (2011) Aspects of brown planthopper adaptation
to resistant rice varieties with the Bph3 gene. Entomol Exp Appl 141:245–257
Pingali PL, Roger PA (1995) Impact of pesticides on farmer health and the rice environment.
International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños
Riley JR, Reynolds DR, Smith AD, Edwards AS, Zhang XX, Cheng XN et al (1995) Observations
of the autumn migration of the rice leaf roller Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Lepidoptera:
Pyralidae) and other moths in eastern China. Bull Entomol Res 85:397–414
Rubia EG, Heong KL, Zalucki M, Gonzales B, Norton GA (1996a) Mechanisms of compensation
of rice plants to yellow stem borer Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker) injury. Crop Prot
15:335–340
Rubia EG, Lazaro AA, Heong KL, Diah, Nurhasyim, Norton GA (1996b) Farmers’ perceptions of
the white stem borer Scirpophaga innotata (Walker), in Cilamaya, West Java, Indonesia. Crop
Prot 15:327–333
Sarma PV, ChannaBasavanna GP (1980) Studies on population growth of the brown planthopper
Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) and resultant yield loss. Mysore J Agr Sci 14:344–348
Sawada H, Subroto SWG, Suwardiwijaya E, Mustaghfirin, Kusmayadi A. (1992)  Population
dynamics of the brown planthopper in the coastal lowland of West Java, Indonesia. JARQ 26:
88–97
Sawada H, Kusmayadi A, Subroto SWG, Suwardiwijaya E Mustaghfirin (1993). Comparative
analysis of population characteristics of the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens Stål,
between wet and dry rice cropping seasons in West Java, Indonesia. Res Popul Ecol
35:113–137
Schmidt A, John K, Arida G, Auge H, Brandl R, Horgan FG et al (2015) Effects of residue manage-
ment on decomposition in irrigated rice fields are not related to changes in the decomposer
community. PLoS One 10:e0134402
Settle WH, Ariawan H, Astuti ET, Cahyana W, Hakim AL, Hindayana D et al (1996) Managing
tropical rice pests through conservation of generalist natural enemies and alternative prey.
Ecology 77:1975–1988
Song YH, Choi SY, Hyun JS (1982) A study on the phenology of the striped rice borer, Chilo sup-
pressalis (Walker), in relation to the introduction of new agricultural practices. Korean J Plant
Prot 21:38–48
Southwood TRE, May RM, Hassell MP, Conway GR (1974) Ecological strategies and population
parameters. Am Nat 108:791–804
Srinivasan TS, Almazan MLP, Bernal CC, Fujita D, Ramal AF, Yasui H et al (2015) Current utility
of the BPH25 and BPH26 genes and possibilities for further resistance against plant- and leaf-
hoppers from the donor cultivar ADR52. Appl Entomol Zool 4:533–543
Srinivasan TS, Almazan MLP, Bernal CC, Ramal AF, Subbarayalu MK, Horgan FG (2016)
Interactions between nymphs of Nilaparvata lugens and Sogatella furcifera (Hemiptera:
Delphacidae) on resistant and susceptible rice varieties. Appl Entomol Zool 51(1):81–90
Teetes GL (1994) Adjusting crop management recommendations for insect resistant crop varieties.
J Agr Entomol 11:191–200
Thies C, Tscharntke T (1999) Landscape structure and biological control in agroecosystems.
Science 285:893–895
Thorburn C (2015) The rise and demise of integrated pest management in rice in Indonesia. Insects
6:381–408
Van Den Berg H, Soehardi (2000) The influence of the rice bug Leptocorisa oratorius on rice yield.
J Appl Ecol 37:959–970.
302 F.G. Horgan

Vu Q, Quintana R, Fujita D, Bernal CC, Yasui H, Medina CD et al (2014) Responses and adapta-
tion by Nephotettix virescens to monogenic and pyramided rice lines with Grh-resistance
genes. Entomol Exp Appl 150:179–190
Wada T, Nik Mohammad Noor NS (1992) Population growth pattern of the rice planthoppers,
Nilaparvata lugens and Sogatella furcifera, in the Muda area, West Malaysia. JARQ
26:105–114
Wagiman FX, Tamba B, Rinarti I (2014) Functional and numerical response of Paederus fuscipes
against Nilaparvata lugens Stål and their spatial distribution in the rice fields. ARPN J Agr Biol
Sci 9:117–121
Walker PT (1987) Losses in yield due to pests in tropical crops and their value in policy decision-­
making. Int J Trop Insect Sci 8:665–671
Wang A-H, Wu J-C, Shu Y-S, Liu J-L, Yue J-F, Wang M-Y (2005) Selective insecticide-induced
stimulation of fecundity and biochemical changes in Tryporyza incertulas (Lepidoptera:
Pyralidae). Econ Entomol 98:1144–1149
Way MJ, Heong KL (1994) The role of biodiversity in the dynamics and management of insect
pests of tropical irrigated rice – a review. Bull Entomol Res 84:567–587
Way M, Javier G (2001) Approaches to a relevant understanding of biodiversity for tropical irri-
gated rice pest management. In: Mew TW, Borromeo E, Hardy B (eds) Exploiting biodiversity
for sustainable pest management. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 3–14
Way MO, Reay-Jones FPF, Reagan TE (2006) Resistance to stem borers (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)
among Texas rice cultivars. Econ Entomol. 99:1867–1876
Westphal C, Vidal S, Horgan FG, Gurr GM, Escalada M, van Chien H et al (2015) Managing mul-
tiple ecosystem services with flower strips and participatory approaches in rice production
landscapes. Basic Appl Ecol 16:681–689
Wilby A, Villareal SC, Lan LP, Heong KL (2005) Functional benefits of predator species diversity
depend on prey identity. Ecol Entomol 30:497–501
Wilby A, Lan LP, Heong KL, Huyen NPD, Quang NH, Minh NV et al (2006) Arthropod diversity
and community structure in relation to land use in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Ecosystems
9:538–549
Wilson BE, Hardy TN, Beuzelin JM, Vanweelden MT, Reagan TE, Miller R, Meaux J et al (2015)
Expansion of the Mexican rice borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) into rice and sugarcane in
Louisiana. Environ Entomol 44:757–766
Yao F-L, You MS, Vasseur L, Yang G, Zheng Y-K (2012) Polycultural manipulation for better regu-
lation of planthopper populations in irrigated rice-based ecosystems. Crop Prot 34:104–111
Yu X (2001) Role of Saccharosydne procerus on Zizania caduciflora as an alternate host for
Anagrus nilaparvatae, the egg parasitoid of the brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, which
attacks temperate rice. In: Mew TW, Borromeo E, Hardy B (eds) Exploiting biodiversity for
sustainable pest management. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 15–22
Yu Y-S, Xue S, Wu J-C, Wang F, Yang G-Q (2007) Changes in levels of juvenile hormone and
molting hormone in larvae and adult females of Chilo suppressalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)
after imidacloprid applications to rice. Econ Entomol. 100:1188–1193
Zhu P, Gurr GM, Lu Z, Heong K, Chen G, Zheng X et al (2013a) Laboratory screening supports
the selection of sesame (Sesamum indicum) to enhance Anagrus spp. parasitoids (Hymenoptera:
Mymaridae) of rice planthoppers. Biol Control 64:83–89
Zhu PY, Sheng XQ, Feng DH, Chen GH, Lu ZX (2013b) Effects of feeding parental adults with
plant flowers on growth and predatory capacity of next generation of mirid bug Cyrtorhinus
lividipennis. China Plant Prot 33:17–21
Zou L, Stout MJ, Dunand RT (2004) The effects of feeding by the rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus
oryzophilus Kuschel, on the growth and yield components of riceOryza sativa. Agr Forest
Entomol 6:47–53
Chapter 13
Importance and Management of Rice
Diseases: A Global Perspective

G.S. Laha, Ram Singh, D. Ladhalakshmi, S. Sunder, M. Srinivas Prasad,

C.S. Dagar, and V. Ravindra Babu

13.1  Introduction

Global agriculture has undergone a significant change with respect to input use,
­varietal diversity and cropping intensity during the last five decades. In addition,
visible changes in the climatic parameters have severely affected the global
­
­agriculture. Globally rice is the principal food crop especially in the developing
world. Achieving the increased production target for rice has become very c­ hallenging
due to unabated growth in global population and continuous loss of arable land to
industrialization and human settlement. Scarcity of labour and water (particularly in
the developing world with semi-mechanized farming) has become a barrier to higher
rice production. Intensive rice cultivation accompanied by heavy use of fertilizers
and pesticides is adopted in order to achieve high rice production. Non-judicious and
over-exploitation of modern agricultural technologies has resulted in sickening of
cultivable lands, contamination of groundwater and development of pesticide-­
resistant strains of pests and pathogens. Widespread cultivation of few high-yielding
nitrogen-responsive varieties with narrow genetic base replacing the mosaic of local
land races and traditional crop varieties has resulted in unabated spread and epidemic
development of different plant diseases (Keneni et al. 2012). Mankind has seen many
horrific instances of such epidemics of different plant diseases. The most dreaded

G.S. Laha (*)

Department of Plant Pathology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research,
Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030, Telangana State, India
e-mail: [email protected]
R. Singh • S. Sunder • C.S. Dagar
CCS HAU Rice Research Station, Kaul 136 021, Haryana, India
e-mail: [email protected]
D. Ladhalakshmi • M.S. Prasad • V.R. Babu
ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030, Telangana State, India

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 303

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_13
304 G.S. Laha et al.

one was ‘The Great Irish Famine’ which occurred during 1845 due to widespread
cultivation of genetically uniform clone of a single potato variety called ‘Lumper’
coupled with favourable weather conditions (Zadoks and Schein 1979). Historically,
rice crop has also suffered severe epidemics in the past. The ‘Great Bengal Famine’
during 1942 where an estimated 2 million people died due to widespread occurrence
of brown spot disease which devastated the rice crop in Eastern India (Strange and
Scott 2005; Barnwal et al. 2013). Severe rice blast epidemics resulted in yield loss
ranging from 10–50 % and caused a major food crisis in South Korea in the 1970s
(Mew et al. 2004). Rice diseases have always affected the potential yields. Globally,
yield losses in rice due to pests (diseases, animal pests and weeds) vary from 20 % to
30 % of the attainable yields (Savary et al. 2012).
The use of disease-resistant cultivars and fungicide application play an important
role in minimizing the yield loss caused by different diseases. Fungicide use in
South Asia is highest in India and Vietnam where more than 75 % of the farmers
apply fungicides (Heong and Escalada 1997) and is expected to increase further.
Host resistance has played a major role in sustaining rice productivity, though major
emphasis has been given mainly for the major diseases like bacterial blight (BB)
and blast (Leung et al. 2003). Evenson (1998) predicted that modern high-yielding
varieties (HYVs) with inbuilt resistance to rice diseases would contribute 7–10 %
yield gain in rice production. Several resistant rice varieties possessing multiple
bacterial blight resistance genes, released in different countries, viz. India, China,
Indonesia and the Philippines, exhibited a yield advantage ranging from 11 to 31 %
over the standard popular varieties (Leung et  al. 2004; Sundaram et  al. 2008;
Gopalakrishnan et al. 2008). Several rice varieties are also being improved for blast
resistance by pyramiding different blast resistance genes (Singh et al. 2011). Efforts
are also being made to combine both blast and BB resistance in a single rice variety
(Hari et al. 2013; Balachiranjeevi et al. 2015), and such varieties with inbuilt resis-
tance to multiple biotic stresses are expected to further reduce the loss in rice yield
due to biotic stresses.
Recently, the intensity and profile of rice diseases has been impacted by changes
in several climatic parameters, especially temperature, relative humidity and rainfall
pattern, changes in cropping pattern and intensity, increased use of inputs, changes
in varietal composition in a particular region and widespread cultivation of few
selected high-yielding varieties (narrow genetic base). A number of research reports
using controlled experiments have demonstrated that changes in environmental
parameters can significantly affect the intensity of plant diseases. Kobayashi et al.
(2006) demonstrated that a rise in CO2 concentration increased leaf blast and sheath
blight development indicating that potential risks of rice blast and sheath blight
would increase in rice grown under elevated CO2. Temperature changes may also
alter the level of host resistance. Webb et al. (2010) reported that though the effec-
tiveness of most of bacterial blight resistance genes in rice reduces with increase in
temperature, BB resistance gene Xa7 was more effective at higher temperature
(35:31 °C, day/night) than at lower temperature (29:21 °C, day/night) in restricting
bacterial blight disease severity in rice and population of its pathogen, Xanthomonas
oryzae pv. oryzae. An increase in total rainfall during the month of August resulted
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 305

in epidemic form of bacterial blight in Punjab, India (Sharma et al. 2007). Climate
change would cause increased problem with insect-transmitted diseases, particu-
larly in developing countries (Chauhan et al. 2014).
The changes in cultivation practices and climatic parameters have changed the
rice disease scenario in different rice production systems globally, especially in Asia
(Mew et al. 2004). Many diseases hitherto considered as minor have become very
serious in many rice-growing areas. For example, false smut of rice, which was once
considered as the sign of bumper harvest, has now become a serious problem in
several countries (Ladhalakshmi et  al. 2012b). The problems like neck blast and
brown spot have become more widespread especially in Asia (Barnwal et al. 2013;
Khan et al. 2014). Bakanae disease, which was considered a minor problem, has
become a major threat to rice production in Northwestern India especially on
‘Basmati’ (scented) rice varieties. In the present chapter, discussion will be confined
to major and emerging diseases of rice.

13.2  Bacterial Diseases

Many bacterial diseases are known to infect rice, viz. bacterial blight (Xanthomonas
oryzae pv. oryzae), bacterial leaf streak (Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola), bacte-
rial panicle blight (Burkholderia glumae), bacterial brown stripe (Acidovorax
avenae subsp. avenae), sheath brown rot (Pseudomonas fuscovaginae), bacterial
sheath rot (Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae) and bacterial foot rot (Dickeya
zeae, formerly Erwinia chrysanthemi). Out of these, bacterial blight and bacterial
leaf streak being of economic importance are discussed.

13.2.1  Bacterial Blight

13.2.1.1  History and Geographical Distribution

Bacterial blight (BB) of rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Ishiyama)
Swings et al. (Xoo) is widely distributed throughout the globe (Fig. 13.1). The dis-
ease was first reported from Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan in 1884. However, the
causal bacterium was described in 1922. Subsequently, the disease was reported
from East, South and Southeast Asian countries (Devadath 1992; Win et al. 2013)
and Australia (Ou 1985). In Africa, the disease was first reported in West Africa by
Buddenhagen et  al. (1979) from Mali. Subsequently, it was reported from many
other West African and some East African countries (Sere et al. 2013). The disease
was reported from most of the rice-growing areas of Caribbean region, namely,
Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Salvador and Panama and South America including
Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia (Lozano 1977). From North America,
Jones et  al. (1989) reported the occurrence of BB from Texas and Louisiana.
306 G.S. Laha et al.

Fig. 13.1  Global distribution of bacterial blight of rice

However, its occurrence has not yet been confirmed from Europe. In India, the
­disease was first reported from Maharashtra (Srinivasan et al. 1959), and with the
widespread cultivation of semidwarf, high-yielding and nitrogen-responsive variet-
ies like Taichung Native 1, it spread like wild fire in almost all the major r­ ice-growing
regions.

13.2.1.2  Economic Importance

Though the disease is reported worldwide, it has economic importance mainly in

Asia and in some parts of Western Africa (OEPP/EPPO 2007), especially in irri-
gated and rain-fed lowland ecosystems. BB is essentially a monsoon season disease
of high-yielding rice varieties grown under heavy nitrogen fertilization. BB epidem-
ics in Northwestern India during 1979 and 1980 and in South India during 1998,
2010 and 2013 (Laha et al. 2009; Yugander et al. 2014) are some of the examples of
its destructive nature in the tropics. BB has become a major problem in several West
African countries like Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali causing 50–90 % yield loss
(Sere et al. 2005; Basso et al. 2011). Yield losses due to this disease ranging from 2
to 74 % depending on varieties, season, weather conditions, stages of infection and
nitrogen application have been reported (Reddy 1989). In India, inoculation of
pathogen 30 days after transplanting (DAT) resulted in a highest mean yield loss of
30  %, which decreased significantly with delayed inoculation at 45 DAT and 75
DAT. Among the varieties, the highest yield loss was recorded in Pusa Basmati-1
(45  %) followed by Haryana Shankar Dhan-1 (31  %), while it was minimum in
HKR 47, i.e. 23  % (Singh et  al. 2013). The BB disease is most destructive in
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 307

Southern China which is the major indica rice cultivation region. A major BB epi-
demic was recorded in Changjiang River valley region during 1974–1975 (Qi 2009).
The disease caused yield loss up to 50 % in the Philippines (Mew et al. 1993) and
up to 26 % in Nepal (Adhikari and Mew 1991). There has been an alarming increase
in BB incidence in Pakistan especially in ‘Kaller’ belt which is famous for rice cul-
tivation (Khan et al. 2000; Akhtar et al. 2003). In Japan, 0.09–0.15 m ha rice crop
was severely affected with BB with an annual loss of 0.022–0.11  m tons during
1954. However, the disease incidence has markedly decreased after 1975. Though
reported from few South and Central American countries, BB is not endemic in
these regions (Corral et al. 2013).

13.2.1.3  Symptoms

BB is a typical vascular disease and has three distinct phases of symptoms.

Leaf Blight Phase  It is the most common phase of this disease, in which water-­
soaked lesions appear on the tip of the leaves and increase longitudinally down-
wards (Fig. 13.2b). Initially, the lesions are pale green in colour but later turn into
yellow to straw coloured stripes with wavy margins. Lesions may start at one or
both the edges of the leaves. Occasionally, the linear stripes may develop anywhere
on the leaf lamina or along the midrib with or without marginal stripes. As the dis-
ease advances, the lesion covers the entire leaf blade (Fig. 13.2d), turns white and
later becomes greyish or blackish due to the growth of various saprophytic fungi. In
humid areas, on the surface of the young lesions, yellowish, opaque and turbid
drops of bacterial ooze may be observed during early morning (Fig. 13.2b), which
dry up to form small, yellowish, spherical beads.
Kresek or Wilt Phase  It is the most destructive phase of the disease in the tropics,
which results from early systemic infection in the nursery or from seed infection.
The leaves roll completely, droop and turn yellow or grey and ultimately the tillers
wither away. In severe cases, the affected hills may be completely killed (Fig. 13.2c).

Pale Yellow Leaf Phase  This phase of the disease has been reported from the
Philippines only. Some of the youngest leaves in a clump may become pale yellow
or whitish. The diseased leaves later wither, turn yellowish brown and dry up.

13.2.1.4  Pathogen

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Ishiyama) Swings et al. is a Gram-negative, non-­

spore-­forming, rod-shaped, motile bacterium having a single polar flagellum. It pro-
duces a characteristic non-diffusible yellow pigment called xanthomonadin (a
brominated, aryl polyene pigment) and belongs to family Xanthomonadaceae, order
Xanthomonadales, class Gammaproteobacteria and phylum Proteobacteria in the
domain Bacteria (Fig. 13.2a).
308 G.S. Laha et al.

Fig. 13.2  Symptoms and causal bacterium of bacterial blight of rice: (a) colonies of Xanthomonas
oryzae pv. oryzae; (b) typical leaf blight phase under natural field condition (inset bacterial ooze
on infected leaf); (c) Kresek phase of the disease; (d) rice field severely infected with bacterial
blight

13.2.1.5  Disease Cycle and Epidemiology

Studies carried out under All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project (AICRIP)
and at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Manila, Philippines revealed
that although a high percentage of seed infection can be observed especially in
tropical regions, such seeds may not produce diseased plants (Laha et al. 2009). The
ratoons and self-grown plants in lowlands constitute the primary source of inoculum
in some parts of Asia. In double-cropped areas, infected straw and stubble, infected
wild rice and living rice plants growing in ponds, ditches and irrigation channels
during off season serve as a source of inoculum. Staggered sowing and transplant-
ing result in overlapping of crops, and in such scenario the spread of the disease is
very easy and fast. The pathogen surviving on some grasses like Leersia hexandra,
Cyperus rotundus and Panicum repens and irrigation water contaminated with
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 309

bacteria flowing through the fields also act as a source of primary inoculum.
Combination of cloudy and rainy weather or drizzling condition, floods, cyclone or
strong winds, excess and late top dressing of nitrogenous fertilizer and moderate
temperature of 28–30  °C favour the rapid buildup of the BB disease (Ezuka and
Kaku 2000).

13.2.1.6  Disease Management

As chemical control of the disease is not very successful especially in the tropics,
host plant resistance is the best solution. Cultural practices, host nutrition and lim-
ited chemical control measures help in reducing the initial inocula and secondary
spread of the disease.
Host Resistance  Breeding and deployment of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) car-
rying major resistance genes (R genes) are the most effective approach for manag-
ing the disease. Following the release of IR 20 and IR 22 as first BB-resistant HYVs
from IRRI in 1969, a large number of BB-resistant varieties, mostly possessing BB
resistance gene Xa4, were released in different Asian countries during the 1970s and
1980s (Khush et  al. 1989). However, these varieties have become susceptible in
many countries due to the appearance of new and more virulent forms of the patho-
gen. Subsequently, plant breeders started incorporating other BB resistance genes
like xa5 and Xa7 (Khush et al. 1989). Paradigm shift in BB resistance breeding took
place with the discovery of a major dominant BB resistance gene, Xa21, from wild
rice Oryza longistaminata (Khush et al. 1990).
To date, more than 35 BB resistance genes have been identified from diverse
sources (Sundaram et al. 2014; Kim et al. 2015). However, only a few genes, viz.
Xa4, xa5, Xa7, xa13, Xa21, Xa23, Xa27, Xa30(t)/Xa38 and Xa33, are being used for
marker-assisted selection (MAS) breeding. As the resistance conferred by single
gene is often short lived, the best way to ensure the durability of resistance is to
pyramid multiple resistance genes into a single cultivar using MAS.  Using this
approach, several BB-resistant varieties have been released by introgressing
­different BB resistance genes like Improved Samba Mahsuri (Xa21, xa13 and xa5)
and Improved Pusa Basmati-1 (Xa21 and xa13) in India (Laha et al. 2009; Singh
et al. 2012a), Angke (Xa4 and xa5) and Konde (Xa4 and Xa7) in Indonesia, NSIC
Rc142 (Tubigan 7) and NSIC Rc154 (Tubigan 11) having a combination of Xa4 and
Xa21 in the Philippines and Zhonghui 8006 (Xa21), Zhonghui 218 (Xa21), Guodao
1, Guodao 3, Guodao 6 and II You 8006 in China (Verdier et al. 2012; Rao et al.
2014). Chen et al. (2000) improved BB resistance of Minghui 63, a restorer line
widely used in China by introgressing Xa21 through MAS. Subsequently, Zhang
et al. (2006) pyramided two BB resistance genes Xa7 and Xa21 in Minghui 63 for
providing durable BB resistance. Studies on host plant resistance are not as exten-
sive in Africa as in Asia. Banito et al. (2012) found NERICA 4, NERICA 8 and
NERICA 14 as moderately resistant to BB, while Djedatin et al. (2011) found a few
accessions of O. glaberrima as highly resistant to Xoo race A3 from Mali.
310 G.S. Laha et al.

Chemical Control  Several chemicals, viz. Sankel, phenazine, cellomate, strepto-

mycin, chloramphenicol, have been tested and used for the control of bacterial
blight disease. However, none of these chemicals provided satisfactory control
under tropical conditions (Srivastava 1972). Some of these chemicals may offer
partial control of the disease particularly when disease pressure is low. Two chemi-
cals, ATDA (2-amino-1, 3, 4-thiadiazole) and TF-130, were found to be highly
effective against the disease in Japan and other countries but were withdrawn on
account of residues in seeds at non-permissible limits (Srivastava 1972).
Seed infection can be eradicated by soaking the seeds for 12 h in 0.025 % solution
of Agrimycin 100 (an antibiotic containing 15 % streptomycin and 1.5 % terramycin)
plus 0.05 % wettable Ceresan and then transferring the seed to hot water at 52–53 °C
for 30  minutes. Overnight soaking of infected seeds in 100  ppm Streptocycline
(streptomycin 12  % + chlorotetracycline hydrochloride 1.5  %) solution can also
effectively eradicate the seed infection. Two sprays of Agrimycin 100 (250 ppm) can
effectively reduce the disease intensity and have been advocated for checking sec-
ondary spread of the disease. Five sprays (at 12-day interval) of Agrimycin 100 and
Fytolan (copper oxychloride) (50:500) or 665 ppm of Agrimycin 500 (streptomycin
sulphate 1.75 % + terramycin 0.17 % + tribasic copper sulphate 42.4 %) can also
satisfactorily reduce the disease (Singh et al. 1980). Application of ‘Klorocin’ (stable
bleaching powder) at 12.5 kg/ha at nursery and 10 days after transplanting can reduce
the disease (Laha et al. 2009). Singh et al. (2012b) recorded highest BB control in a
treatment combination of single spray of 2,4-D ethyl ester (1.0 ml/l) with two sprays
of Streptocycline (200 mg/l) + copper oxychloride (2.5 g/l).
Cultural Control  The importance of cultural practices is being re-emphasized as
an essential component in the integrated disease management practice. Practices
like keeping the fields free of weeds like Cyperus spp. and Leersia spp.; removing
infected plant debris, self-grown rice plants and ratoons and infected wild rice;
avoiding pruning of leaves either at the time of transplanting or later during the crop
season; avoiding field to field irrigation; use of healthy and disease-free seeds;
­raising seedlings in raised seedbeds/upland nursery; and avoidance of inundation of
nursery or main fields till maximum tillering stage can reduce the intensity of the
disease. Judicious application of nitrogen in 3–4 splits without sacrificing yield with
required level of potassium may be recommended during wet season (Ezuka and
Kaku 2000; Laha et al. 2009).

13.2.2  Bacterial Leaf Streak

13.2.2.1  History, Distribution and Economic Importance

Bacterial leaf streak (BLS) caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola (Fang
et al.) Swings et al. was first reported from the Philippines (Reinking 1918) as bac-
terial leaf stripe. Since then, BLS has been reported from most of the countries in
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 311

tropical and subtropical Asia, Australia and several African countries like Burkina
Faso, Burundi, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda. The disease is cur-
rently widespread and of economic importance in tropical Asian countries like
India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Thailand (Shekhawat and
Rao 1972; Ou 1985; Nino-Liu et al. 2006; http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/56977).
The pathogen has been listed in the Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act of the
United States as a potential bioterrorism agent, necessitating strict biosecurity and
biosafety measures to avoid its release and spread in the environment (Nino-Liu
et  al. 2006). BLS is economically less important compared to bacterial blight of
rice. Though extensive reports are not available, yield loss due to BLS may range
from 1.5 to 17 % depending on the cultivars and climatic conditions (Opina and
Exconde 1971).

13.2.2.2  Symptoms

Initial symptoms appear as fine, water-soaked to translucent interveinal streaks of

various lengths anywhere on the leaves (Fig. 13.3). The lesions enlarge, turn
yellowish-­orange to brown (depending on cultivar) and eventually coalesce length-
wise resulting in bigger streaks. With time, the leaves may be completely blighted.
Numerous tiny yellow beads of bacterial exudate are commonly found on the
lesions. In many cases, concurrent occurrence of both BB and BLS in the same field
or on the same leaf has also been noted.

13.2.2.3  Pathogen

The morphological characters and taxonomic position of Xanthomonas oryzae pv.

oryzicola are similar to that of Xoo.

Fig. 13.3 Characteristic
symptoms of bacterial leaf
streak under natural
condition showing
translucent interveinal
streaks
312 G.S. Laha et al.

13.2.2.4  Disease Cycle and Epidemiology

Infected seed is considered as the primary source of inoculum. The pathogen can
survive from one season to another in infected seeds but not in the debris (Shekhawat
and Srivastava 1972). In the double- and triple-cropped areas, the bacterium may
survive on the living host itself. Infected wild rice can also be a source of inoculum.
In addition, this bacterium may be able to survive in irrigation water. The bacte-
rium penetrates the leaf mainly through stomata or wounds, multiplies in the sub-­
stomatal cavity and then colonizes the intercellular spaces of the parenchyma (Ou
1985). In advanced stages, masses of bacteria ooze out through stomata and get
deposited on the leaf surfaces which provide the inoculum for secondary spread by
contact, wind and rain. Disease development is favoured by drizzling, stormy
weather, high humidity, moderate temperature and excess application of nitroge-
nous fertilizers.

13.2.2.5  Disease Management

Compared to BB, much less information is available on host plant resistance against
this disease. Goto (1965) found that japonica cultivars are relatively more resistant
compared to indica varieties. A number of varieties including Zenith, Tetep, H 4, S
67, Co 4, BJ 1 and DZ 60 have been reported to be resistant to this disease (Ou
1985). In contrast to BB, the genetic resistance to BLS in most of the germplasm is
quantitative in nature (Tang et al. 2000). In India, varieties like IR 20, Jagannath and
Krishna have shown good level of tolerance. In addition to Oryza gene pool, a non-­
host R gene, Rxo-1 from maize, when introduced in rice, conferred resistance to
BLS (Zhao et al. 2005). Since the disease is known to be seed transmitted, the use
of disease-free seeds and seed treatment by soaking the seeds in 0.025  %
Streptocycline for 12 h or by hot water treatment at 50 °C for 30 minutes can prove
effective against this disease. Spraying of Vitavax (0.15–0.3 %) has been found to
be very effective against BLS (Shekhawat and Srivastava 1971).

13.3  Fungal Diseases

Of various fungal diseases attacking rice, leaf and panicle blast [Magnaporthe ory-
zae (anamorph: Pyricularia oryzae)], sheath blight [Thanatephorus cucumeris
(anamorph: Rhizoctonia solani)], brown spot [Cochliobolus miyabeanus (ana-
morph: Helminthosporium oryzae)] and false smut [Villosiclava virens (anamorph:
Ustilaginoidea virens)] are the most serious diseases. The emerging diseases like
foot rot and bakanae [Gibberella fujikuroi (anamorph: Fusarium moniliforme)],
sheath rot (Sarocladium oryzae) and stem rot [Magnaporthe salvinii (anamorph:
Sclerotium oryzae)] are also causing significant yield losses in some rice-growing
regions.
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 313

13.3.1  Rice Blast

13.3.1.1  History and Geographic Distribution

Rice blast caused by Pyricularia oryzae Cav. [teleomorph: Magnaporthe oryzae

(Hebert) Barr)] is the most severe and widely distributed disease of rice worldwide
having significant economic importance (DRR 1975–2014; Ou 1985). This fungus
has been ranked as at the top in the list of world’s top ten dangerous fungal pathogens
of crops (Dean et al. 2012). Rice blast is one of the earliest known plant diseases and
the record of its occurrence can be traced back to as early as the seventeenth century
in China (Ou 1985). The disease has now been reported from >85 countries indicating
presence of the disease practically in every place where rice is grown commercially
(Fig. 13.4; Ou 1985; Kato 2001). In temperate and subtropical Asia, it is highly
destructive in lowland rice, while in tropical Asia, Latin America and Africa, it affects
upland rice. In India, the disease gained importance when a severe epidemic occurred
in Thanjavur (Tanjore) delta of South India in 1919. Presently in India, blast is espe-
cially problematic in temperate areas, hilly tracts, tropical uplands and in delta regions.

13.3.1.2  Economic Importance

Blast is the principal biotic production constraint of rice. Several epidemics have
been reported from different countries, and it has been estimated that the amount of
rice that is lost annually due to blast can feed 60 million people (Zeigler et al. 1994).
Average losses in the range of 10–30 % are typical although regional epidemics can
be more devastating (Dean et al. 2012) resulting in grain yield loss up to 100 %

Fig. 13.4  Global distribution of rice blast disease

314 G.S. Laha et al.

under favourable conditions. Different estimates of yield loss ranging from 5 to

10 % in India, 8 % in Korea, 14 to 50 % in China, 60 % in Thailand and 50–85 % in
the Philippines have been reported (Ou 1985; Wang et al. 2014). It is estimated that
157 million tons of paddy was lost due to blast worldwide during 1975–1990 (Baker
et al. 1997). Severe yield losses due to blast have been reported in different African
countries ranging from 36 to 63 % in Burkina Faso, 35–50 % in Nigeria, 20–30 %
in Benin, 64 % in Togo, up to 80 % in Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire and up to
100 % in Ghana and Gambia (Sere et al. 2013). Severe blast epidemics were reported
on variety Newbonnet in Arkansas, USA (Lee 1994), and on a newly released vari-
ety Colosso in Brazil (Prabhu et al. 2009) causing yield losses ranging from 25 to
50 % and up to 100 %, respectively.

13.3.1.3  Symptoms

The fungus can infect leaves, nodes and various parts of the panicle.
Leaf Blast  Greyish or bluish dots of 1–3 mm diameter appear on the leaf blades.
On susceptible cultivars, the spots enlarge quickly under humid conditions and
become elliptical or ‘eye shaped’ with grey or whitish centre and brown or dark
brown margin (Fig. 13.5b, c). Fully developed spots on the susceptible cultivars
may be 1–1.5  cm long and 0.3–0.5  cm broad. In severe infection, seedlings and
plants in the nursery may be completely blasted or killed. On the resistant cultivars,
minute brown specks of pinhead size may be observed.
Node Blast  The pathogen also infects the nodes that turn black and get weakened
due to tissue disintegration, resulting in breakage of stem at the nodal region fol-
lowed by death of all the plant parts above the infected nodes (Fig. 13.5d).

Neck and Panicle Blast  At the time of flowering, area near the panicle base is
girdled by a greyish brown lesion, and the panicle falls over in the case of severe
infection (Fig. 13.5e, f). The neck becomes shrivelled and covered with grey myce-
lium. If neck infection occurs before the milk stage, the entire panicle may die pre-
maturely, leaving it white and completely unfilled. Later, infections may cause
incomplete grain filling and poor milling quality. The pathogen also causes brown
lesions on panicle branches and on the spikelet pedicels, resulting in panicle blast.
Infection of the neck, panicle branches and spikelet pedicels may occur together or
may occur separately.

13.3.1.4  Pathogen

Rice blast pathogen, Magnaporthe oryzae (previously M. grisea; anamorph:

Pyricularia oryzae), is a filamentous ascomycetous fungus and is classified in the
newly erected family Magnaporthaceae (Fig. 13.5a). M. oryzae is a heterothallic
fungus and the population is composed of distinct mating types, viz. Mat 1-1 and
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 315

Fig. 13.5  Symptoms and causal organism of rice blast: (a) Magnaporthe oryzae, causal organism
of rice blast disease; (b) minute blast lesions on leaves; (c) characteristic eye-shaped lesions on
leaves; (d) node blast; (e) typical panicle blast; (f) severe panicle blast-infected rice field

Mat 1-2 (Yoder et al. 1986). When the fertile isolates carrying opposite mating types
are paired on an appropriate medium, they will form sexual fruiting bodies, i.e.
perithecia within 21 days. However, isolates from rice are very rarely sexually fer-
tile because most of the isolates belong to one mating type, i.e. female fertile except
for a limited number of hermaphroditic strains (Notteghem and Silue 1992; Kumar
et al. 1999; Kang et al. 2000). In contrast, isolates from other hosts like Eragrostis
curvula, Eleusine indica or Eleusine coracana are usually hermaphrodite and capa-
ble of mating and producing viable ascospores (Kang et al. 2000). The rice isolates
can frequently undergo crosses with hermaphroditic strains from other grass hosts.
However, progenies from such crosses are less aggressive on rice and backcrosses
are necessary to recover full pathogenic potential on rice (Notteghem and Silue
1992; Priyadarisini et al. 1999). The sexual stage has not been observed in nature
and the fungus mainly reproduces asexually through production of conidia.

13.3.1.5  Disease Cycle and Epidemiology

In temperate regions, mycelium and conidia on diseased straw and infected seeds
are the principal sources of primary infection. The fungus can attack a number of
cereal and grass hosts which could be important source of primary infection. In the
tropical climate of South India, where several crops of rice are taken in a year, the
pathogen maintains a continuous disease cycle on the rice crop itself. Under favour-
able conditions, the conidia can produce symptoms within 4–5 days of infection.
316 G.S. Laha et al.

Conidia are produced on the lesions 6–7 days after infection and disseminated by
wind. A typical leaf blast lesion produces 2000–6000 conidia each day for about
14 days. The rate of sporulation increases with increase in relative humidity, while
release and flight of spores increase with enhancement in dew period and wind
speed, respectively. The secondary cycles can be repeated many times during the
growing season, with the potential for very high amount of disease within the crop.
The disease intensity at the termination of vegetative growth phase influences the
disease intensity during the reproductive phase. Spores produced near the end of the
growing season may infect the collar of the flag leaf producing symptoms called
‘collar rot’. They may also infect the neck when it emerges from the infected collar,
causing ‘neck rot’ or ‘neck blast’ symptoms (Ou 1985).
Low night temperature (below 24  °C) alternating with a day temperature of
around 28–30 °C coupled with high relative humidity (more than 90 %) favours the
disease development. Frequent rains, continuous spell of cloudy weather, dew, fog,
high relative humidity and high nitrogen application favour rapid buildup of the
disease. High incidence of blast in upland condition can be attributed to longer dew
period, drought stress (which induces blast susceptibility) and low silica content
(Sah and Bonman 2008; Dodan et al. 2007).

13.3.1.6  Disease Management

Though chemical control measures for managing the disease have been very suc-
cessful, a major emphasis has been given to host plant resistance due to increased
concern of ill effects of chemical pesticides.
Host Plant Resistance  Development and use of rice varieties with effective and
durable resistance to blast is the most promising choice for disease management.
Systematic breeding for blast resistance in different countries like Japan, China, the
Philippines, India, Korea, Thailand and other Asian countries and in the United
States led to the development and release of several blast-resistant varieties. Varieties
like IR 64, Rasi and IR 36 expressed good level of blast resistance in India and
elsewhere. A blast-resistant rice variety Katy was released in the United States
(Moldenhauer et al. 1990). Several NERICA rice varieties like NERICA # 9, 12, 15,
16 and 18 and other varieties like IRAT 13, ROK-16, LAC 23, Moroberekan and
FARO 11 were found resistant to blast in several West African countries (Fomba and
Taylor 1994). In India, rice genotypes HKR 04-487, HKR 05-436, HKR 05-476,
Haryana Mahak 11, PAU 3237-1-B-B-19, PAU 3237-1-B-B-20 and PAU 3237-1-B-­
B-22 have been found resistant to both leaf blast and neck blast (Singh et al. 2010a).
Breeding for resistance to blast has, however, often been frustrated by the rapid
evolution of the pathogen to new and more virulent forms especially when the vari-
etal resistance is based on single gene.
Gene pyramiding seems promising to provide broad spectrum and durable resis-
tance. Since the identification of first blast resistance gene, Pia from japonica rice
variety Aichi Asahi (Kiyosawa 1967), 100 blast resistance genes and 347 quantitative
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 317

trait loci (QTLs) have been identified from diverse germplasm (Koide et al. 2009;
Sharma et al. 2012; Wang et al. 2014). Most of these genes have been identified from
either japonica cultivars (45 %) or indica cultivars (51 %). Only four blast resistance
genes have been identified from wild rice, viz. Pi9 from O. minuta, Pi40 from O.
australiensis, Pi54rh from O. rhizomatis and Pirf2-1(t) from O. rufipogon (Sharma
et al. 2012; Wang et al. 2014). Wild rice still remains much untapped resource for
blast resistance. Out of the 100 reported blast resistance genes, 22 Pi genes have been
cloned and characterized (Sharma et al. 2012; Wang et al. 2014). Some of the blast
resistance genes like Pi1, Pi2 (Piz5), Pi54, Pi40, Pi9, Pi5, Pita and Pizt have been
found to confer high and broad level of resistance to blast pathogen in India and
elsewhere (Prasad et al. 2010). Some of these genes have been used for gene pyra-
miding for durable blast resistance. Hittalmani et al. (2000) pyramided three blast
resistance genes Pi1, Piz5 and Pita into CO 39, a blast-susceptible cultivar, and the
pyramided lines exhibited high level of blast resistance. Similarly, two blast resis-
tance genes, viz. Pish and Pib, were pyramided in the genetic background of CO 39
by Koide et al. (2010). Blast resistance genes Pi1, Pi2 and Pi54 have been intro-
gressed in two highly popular rice varieties BPT 5204 and Swarna (Prasad et  al.
2010). Singh et al. (2011) reported development of improved Pusa 6A, Pusa 6B and
PRR 78, the parental genotypes of rice hybrid Pusa RH 10 by pyramiding two blast
resistance genes, Pi54 and Piz5. Miah et al. (2013) advocated combination of major
genes with QTLs (slow blasting components) for increased stability of blast resis-
tance. Other strategies like use of cultivar mixtures, near isogenic multilines and use
of partial resistance (slow blasting) have been suggested by various researchers
(Kapoor 2010) to slow down the pathogen evolution.
Cultural Control  Cultural practices like use of healthy seeds collected from
disease-­free fields; destruction of weeds, collateral hosts and crop residues; raising
seedlings in the water-covered seedbeds; balanced application of fertilizers; appli-
cation of farm yard manure and rice husk ash; and wider spacing have been found
to reduce the disease severity in the fields (Dodan et al. 2007). Adjustment of plant-
ing time and continuous maintenance of standing water in the field have also been
found to be helpful in minimizing the blast incidence (Singh et al. 1999).

Biological Control  Reduction of blast disease severity under experimental condi-

tion by application of different biocontrol agents like Pseudomonas fluorescens,
Bacillus subtilis and B. polymyxa has been reported by several workers
(Gnanamanickam and Mew 1992; Chatterjee et al. 1996; Yoshihiriro et al. 2003;
Kavitha et al. 2005). However, large-scale field evaluation is still required for com-
mercial use of these organisms.

Chemical Control  Chemical control has been practiced and found to be highly satis-
factory at many places. Regular monitoring of the fields is an important aspect for
successful management of the disease. For example, if leaf blast lesions are present
during the booting stage and if environmental conditions are favourable, then one
application of a suitable fungicide is required to protect the panicles from neck blast
318 G.S. Laha et al.

infection. In endemic areas, seed treatment with pyroquilon 50 WP at 1 g/kg or tricy-

clazole 75 WP at 1 g/kg or carbendazim 50 WP at 2 g/kg has been found to protect the
plants from seedling blast. When the leaf blast symptoms appear in fields, the options
for chemical control include tricyclazole 75 WP at 0.6 g/l or iprobenphos 48 EC at 2 g/l
or isoprothiolane 40 EC at 1.5 ml/l or kasugamycin 3 SL at 2.5 ml/l or carbendazim 50
WP at 1 g/l or azoxystrobin at 1 ml/l or metominostrobin 20 SC at 2 ml/l. Many com-
bination products like tricyclazole + propiconazole, tricyclazole + mancozeb, tri-
floxystrobin 25 % + tebuconazole 50 %, fenoxalin + isoprothiolane and epoxiconazole
+ carbendazim were found to be very effective against blast (DRR 1975–2014).
However, the farmers are advised to strictly adhere to the use of recommended chemi-
cals, their doses, formulation and time of application for better disease management
and to overcome the problem of pesticide residues in rice grains and straw.

13.3.2  Sheath Blight

13.3.2.1  History and Geographical Distribution

Sheath blight (Shbl), also known as ‘oriental sheath blight’ caused by Rhizoctonia
solani Kuhn (AG 1 IA) [teleomorph: Thanatephorus cucumeris (Frank) Donk], is a
potentially devastating fungal disease in all temperate and tropical rice production
regions throughout the globe, particularly in irrigated rice production systems. The
disease was first reported from Japan in 1910 by Miyake (1910) and subsequently
from most of the East and Southeast Asian countries. Thereafter, the disease was
reported from many African and North and South American countries (Fig. 13.6;
Gangopadhyay and Chakrabarti 1982; Dath 1990; Dasgupta 1992; Ou 1985;

Fig. 13.6  Global distribution of sheath blight disease of rice

13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 319

Sivalingam et al. 2006). In India, sheath blight was first reported from Gurdaspur
(Punjab) by Paracer and Chahal (1963).

13.3.2.2  Economic Importance

It is a major production constraint in tropical Asia and in Southern United States.

Yield losses ranging from 20 to 50 % have been reported depending on the intensity
of infection and climatic conditions in different countries (Kozaka 1975; Lee and
Rush 1983; Ou 1985; Rajan 1987; Kannaiyan and Prasad 1978a). However, under
high disease severity, the yield loss may reach up to 70 % (Baby 1992). In earlier
studies, Hori and Anraku (1971) reported a yield loss of 25  % if the disease is
extended up to the flag leaves and in the range of 30–40 % in the case of severe
infection of the sheath and leaf blades (Kozaka 1970). Studies carried out at IRRI,
Philippines reported a 24 % yield loss in susceptible cultivars under highest level of
disease intensity and nitrogen application (Anonymous 1976). In China alone, about
15–20 million ha of rice area is affected by sheath blight, causing losses of 6 million
tons of grains per year (Chen et al. 2014). Under conditions favourable for disease
development, rice grain yield losses ranging from 4 to 50 % have been attributed to
sheath blight in Southern United States (Marchetti 1983; Lee and Rush 1983; Groth
and Bond 2007). In Arkansas, incidence of sheath blight was observed in 50–66 %
of rice fields, causing 5–15 % yield losses in 2001 (Annou et al. 2005).

13.3.2.3  Symptoms

Typical sheath blight symptoms appear as greyish, water-soaked lesions on leaf

sheaths at or above the waterline. The lesions soon enlarge, with irregular dark
brown margins, while the centre is bleached to greyish white. Appearance of many
such lesions on the leaf sheath gives the look of snake skin (Fig. 13.7b). The infec-
tion spreads rapidly to upper leaf sheaths and leaf blades of the same or adjacent
tillers from the water level to flag leaf, ultimately causing death of whole leaf, tiller
and the plant (Fig. 13.7c). Infected plants are usually found in a circular pattern,
locally referred to as ‘bird’s nest’ bearing few grains only (Hollier et al. 2009; Fig.
13.7e). Under moist conditions, brown silky mycelium and brown to dark brown
sclerotia are found loosely attached on the lesions, which get easily dislodged from
the plants at maturity (Ou 1985; Dath 1990). The pathogen can also cause infection
in the nursery (Fig. 13.7d). The pathogen is also known to cause panicle infection
resulting in production of unfilled, chalky and fissured kernels (Candole et al. 2000)
and spotted/discoloured seed (Acharya et al. 2004). Seedlings raised from infected
seeds bear brownish black to blackish discoloured lesions on coleoptile, first leaf,
radicle, second leaf and sheath (Sivalingam et al. 2006). When the relative humidity
is more than 90 % and temperature is in the range of 28–35 °C, infection spreads
rapidly through runner hyphae to the upper plant parts and also to the neighbouring
plants.
320 G.S. Laha et al.

Fig. 13.7  Symptoms and causal organism of sheath blight disease of rice: (a) Rhizoctonia solani,
the causal organism of rice sheath blight disease; (b) characteristic symptom on sheath; (c) char-
acteristic symptom of sheath blight extending up to flag leaf along with fungal sclerotia; (d) rice
nursery bed showing severe sheath blight infection; (e) severely sheath blight-infected rice field
resembling bird’s nest structure

13.3.2.4  Pathogen

The teleomorph, Thanatephorus cucumeris, belongs to class Basidiomycetes. In

addition to its anamorph, R. solani (Fig. 13.7a), two other species of Rhizoctonia,
viz. R. oryzae causing rice sheath spot and R. oryzae-sativae causing aggregate
sheath spot, have been found to be associated with this disease. All the three patho-
gens may occur concurrently and sometimes referred to as rice sheath blight disease
complex.

13.3.2.5  Disease Cycle and Epidemiology

Although basidiospores produced by T. cucumeris on the host plant can initiate

infection, it is generally considered unimportant in the epidemiology of rice sheath
blight. Sclerotia produced by the fungus and to a lesser extent the fungal mycelium
surviving in the plant debris serve as a major source of primary infection, particu-
larly in humid tropics. Sclerotia can also survive for a long period in the temperate
rice production areas. Different agricultural operations such as ploughing, levelling,
transplanting and weeding help the surviving sclerotia to come up at the plant water
surface and make initial contacts with the host. Rainwater runoff and flood
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 321

irrigation permit good dispersal of floating sclerotia and consequently provide the
primary foci of infection through the vast stretches of rice fields. Several weed
plants, viz. Cynodon dactylon, Echinochloa crus-galli, E. colona, Euphorbia micro-
phylla, Leptochloa chinensis, Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Dichanthium annulatum
and Paspalum distichum, growing in and around paddy fields have been found to be
naturally and artificially infected by the pathogen and can be an important source of
primary infection (Singh et al. 2012c). In the tropics, infected straw piled up on the
bunds, stubbles and infected weeds contribute significantly to the primary infection
resulting in the appearance of the disease near the bund. The form attacking rice can
also attack soybean causing aerial blight, and rice-soybean rotation has been attrib-
uted to be one of the major factors for increased sheath blight intensity in Gulf Coast
regions of the United States and parts of Brazil (Rodrigues et al. 2003; Groth and
Bond 2007). In addition, the pathogen can also be seed-borne, and various workers
have reported seed infection ranging from 10 to 39 % (Saksena and Chaubey 1972;
Kannaiyan and Prasad 1978b; Dasgupta 1992).
Sheath blight is basically a disease of warm and humid area (28–30 °C tempera-
ture and 96–97 % RH). Cultivation of high-yielding, semidwarf, nitrogen-­responsive
varieties with broad leaves and thick canopy, close planting and heavy application
of nitrogenous fertilizers leading to increased plant-to-plant contact and increase in
humidity in the microclimate during maximum tillering stage are known to further
aggravate the disease.

13.3.2.6  Disease Management

In the absence of a desired level of resistance in commercially popular varieties to sheath

blight, the disease management mainly relies on chemical control. Many good fungi-
cides are available for the control of sheath blight. There is an increasing attempt to
introduce integrated approach to manage this disease by combining the host plant resis-
tance, cultural methods, biological methods and need-based application of chemicals.
Host Plant Resistance  Presently none of the commercially popular varieties have
desired level of resistance to sheath blight because of non-availability of high level
of resistance in O. sativa gene pool. However, traditional rice cultivars like
Swarnadhan, Radha, Pankaj, Vikramarya, Tetep, Jasmine 85, Tequing, Bhasamanik,
Lalsatkara and selected rice lines, viz. ARC 15762, ARC 18119, ARC 18275, ARC
18545, HKR 99-103, HKRH 1059 and IR 64683-87–2-2-3-3, have moderate level
of resistance (Singh et al. 2010b; Srinivasachary et al. 2011). In China, Xie et al.
(1992) reported good level of resistance in rice lines LSBR 5 and LSBR 33, while
Zuo et al. (2009) reported high level of resistance in a novel rice line YSBR 1, devel-
oped from a cross between japonica and indica rice. Moderate to good level of
resistance has been reported from different wild rice accessions like O. nivara, O.
rufipogon, O. meridionalis, O. barthii and O. latifolia (Ram et al. 2008; Prasad and
Eizenga 2008). The resistance to sheath blight is a complex and quantitative charac-
ter governed by polygenes, though some reports suggest that sheath blight resis-
tance in some rice cultivars is controlled by few major genes (Pan et al. 1999).
322 G.S. Laha et al.

Over the past two decades, several sheath blight resistance quantitative trait
loci (QTLs) have been mapped in different rice cultivars like Tetep, Tequing and
Jasmine 85 (Srinivasachary et al. 2011). However, many of them are reported to
be associated with plant morphological traits and heading dates. Some of these
QTLs, confirmed to be associated with sheath blight resistance, could be used for
pyramiding into popular rice varieties. Singh et al. (2012a) developed improved
Basmati rice lines by combining xa13, Xa21, Pi54 and a major QTL qSBR 11-1
for bacterial blight, blast and sheath blight resistance through marker-assisted
backcross breeding. Subsequently, Zuo et  al. (2014) reported that pyramiding
sheath blight resistance QTL qSB-9TQ and morphological trait QTL TAC 1TQ is a
potential approach in improving sheath blight resistance as these QTLs exhibited
more resistance than the near isogenic lines (NILs) containing only one of them.
Introduction of different chitinase genes (Chi11 and RC7 from rice), McCHIT (a
class I chitinase gene of bitter melon), Cht42 (a chitinase gene from Trichoderma
spp.), thaumatin-like protein (tlp) gene, a member of the PR-5 group of PR protein
genes, pinA and pinB (structural protein from Triticum aestivum), Ace-AMP1 (non-­
lipid transfer protein from Allium cepa), β-1,3-glucanase (tobacco β-1,3-glucanase),
Rs-AFP2 (defensin gene from Raphanus sativus), Dm-AMP1 (defence gene from
Dahlia merckii), npr1 (non-expressor of PR-1) and rice oxalate oxidase 4 (Osoxo4)
in different rice cultivars resulted in increased tolerance to rice sheath blight dis-
ease. Simultaneous co-expression of some transgenes like rice chitinase (chi11) and
β-1,3-glucanase, chi11 and tlp, maize ribosome inactivating protein gene MOD1
and a rice basic chitinase gene RCH10 showed enhanced resistance against sheath
blight infection (Datta and Datta 2009; Srinivasachary et  al. 2011; Molla et  al.
2013).
Induced Resistance and Biological Control  Few reports suggest that resis-
tance can be induced in rice plants against sheath blight pathogen either by cer-
tain chemicals or by plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (Manibhushan Rao
et  al. 1990). Application of certain tolerance-inducing chemicals such as sali-
cylic acid, gamma-­aminobutyric acid and chitosan through seed treatment and/or
foliar application was found to reduce sheath blight disease significantly (Laha
et al. 1997; Dantre and Rathi 2007; Liu et al. 2012). Nandakumar et al. (2001)
reported induced systemic resistance against sheath blight of rice by strains of
Pseudomonas fluorescens. Several reports have indicated that application of dif-
ferent antagonistic bacteria like P. fluorescens, P. putida and Bacillus subtilis can
substantially reduce sheath blight disease severity (Mew and Rosales 1992;
Krishnamurthy and Gnanamanickam 1997; Laha and Venkataraman 2001). In
China, a microbial pesticide ‘Wenquning’ (based on Bacillus subtilis) has also
been found to be effective against sheath blight (Ren 2007). Several commercial
botanical pesticides like TriCure and Achook (both containing azadirachtin),
Biotos (a product from Gaultheria) and Spictaf were found to reduce sheath
blight disease severity (Muralidharan et  al. 2003a; Biswas and Roychoudhury
2003; Kandhari 2007).
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 323

Cultural Control  Cultural practices like wider spacing (to reduce high humidity
in the plant ecosystem and to reduce plant-to-plant contact), destruction of stubbles
and weeds in and around rice fields, adoption of green manuring, avoidance of field
to field irrigation, planting of rice seedlings a little distance away from the bunds
and keeping the bunds and field free from alternate and collateral weed hosts can
significantly reduce sheath blight disease severity. Several studies have indicated
that soil amendments with different organic manures like Sesbania aculeata,
Crotalaria juncea, Gliricidia leaves and neem cake can drastically reduce sheath
blight disease intensity. Application of silica has also been shown to reduce the
intensity of sheath blight (Rodrigues et al. 2003).

Chemical Control  The disease can be effectively managed by applying various

chemicals like validamycin 3 L at 2.5 ml/l or propiconazole 25 EC at 1 ml/l or hexa-
conazole 5 EC at 2 ml/l or carbendazim 50 WP at1 g/l or thifluzamide 24 SC at 30 g
a.i./ha. Several researchers have recorded excellent control of sheath blight with foliar
application of strobilurins, especially azoxystrobin. Many a times, the disease appears
in patches near the bunds and progresses inside the main fields. In such cases, spray-
ing can be restricted to those patches to reduce the amount of fungicide application
and to check further spread of the disease inside the field. Singh et al. (2010c) reported
that hexaconazole and diniconazole reduced the disease severity by 72 and 69  %,
respectively, along with an enhanced grain yield. Many combination products like
Filia 52.5 SE (tricyclazole and propiconazole combination), Nativo 75 WG (trifloxys-
trobin and tebuconazole combination) and Lusture 37.5 SE (flusilazole and carben-
dazim combination) have also been found very effective against this disease.

13.3.3  False Smut

13.3.3.1  History and Distribution

False smut caused by Ustilaginoidea virens (Cooke) Takahashi [teleomorph:

Villosiclava virens (Nakata) Tanaka and Tanaka] was first reported in India by
Cooke in 1878, and subsequently, the disease was reported from more than 60 coun-
tries including China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh,
Burma, Brazil, Fiji, Japan, Pakistan, Egypt, Nepal, Nigeria, the United States and
France (Biswas 2001; Ahonsi and Adeoti 2002; Atia 2004; Brooks et  al. 2010;
www.plantwise.org/KnowledgeBank).

13.3.3.2  Economic Importance

False smut disease had been recognized as a symbol of bumper harvest and in
some parts of Southern India it is popularly known as “Laxmi” (goddess of
wealth and prosperity) disease. However, with changed cultivation practices
324 G.S. Laha et al.

involving widespread use of high-yielding varieties, hybrids and heavy use of

chemical fertilizers coupled with changes in the climatic parameters, the d­ isease
has become a serious problem in different rice ecosystems (Ladhalakshmi et al.
2012a). The yield losses in different states of India have been estimated to vary
between 0.2–49 % depending on disease severity and rice varieties (Dodan and
Singh 1996). In China, 50–60 % of disease infection with the yield reduction of
5–30 % was reported (Sanghera et al. 2012). Over 25 % yield reduction due to
false smut was reported from Tumbes Valley in Peru (Atia 2004). In hybrid rice
cultivation, incidence of false smut during the rainy season reduced the yield to
3 t/ha as against 6 t/ha (Elazegui et al. 2009). In Egypt, yield losses ranged from
1 to 11 % (Atia 2004). Globally, yield loss due to false smut has been reported
to range between 3 and 81 % depending on the rice variety and disease intensity
(Haiyong et  al. 2015). In addition to direct loss to the crop, the fungus also
produces a toxin known as ‘Ustiloxin’ (Koiso et  al. 1994) which can inhibit
seed germination and is also poisonous to domestic animals and humans (Koiso
et al. 1998).

13.3.3.3  Symptoms

Pathogen affects young ovary of individual spikelets and transforms them into yellow,
olive green to blackish spore balls (smut balls) known as pseudomorph (Fig. 13.8a, e).
Initially, the fungal growth is confined between glumes which later get enlarged
enclosing the floral parts. Young smut balls are white in colour enclosed in a whitish

Fig. 13.8  Symptoms of false smut disease of rice: (a) yellow to olive green smut balls; (b) young
smut ball covered with whitish membrane; (c) sclerotia of U. virens; (d) ovoid minute conidia of
U. virens; (e) severe false smut infection under field condition
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 325

membrane (Fig. 13.8b). Subsequently, the membrane bursts, releasing orange spore
masses which later turn into olive green to black.

13.3.3.4  Pathogen

U. virens produces both sexual (ascospores on sclerotia) and asexual (chlamydo-

spores and conidia) stages in its life cycle (Biswas 2001). Sclerotia are found
embedded inside or loosely attached to the pseudomorph or sometimes cover the
pseudomorph (Fig. 13.8c). Sclerotia are clavate, reniform, horseshoe shaped to
indefinite in shape, concave on the inner side, convex on the outer side and hard
in nature. Overwintered sclerotia on germination produce stalked stromata which
contain perithecia, and each flask-shaped perithecium contains cylindrical asci
with a hemispherical apical appendage. Each ascus contains eight ascospores
which are hyaline, one celled and filiform (Tanaka et  al. 2008). The yellow-
coloured chlamydospores on germination bear hyaline, ovoid and minute conidia
(Fig. 13.8d).

13.3.3.5  Disease Cycle and Epidemiology

Sclerotia act as a major source of primary inoculum and chlamydospores play an

important role in the secondary infection. Release of ascospores from sclerotia
coincides with the anthesis of rice crop and initiates infection on the floral parts
producing chlamydospores. These airborne chlamydospores may cause infection
again. In addition, hibernated chlamydospores from the soil can also infect the rice
panicles. In the hilly areas, the presence of sclerotia can serve as primary inocu-
lum, whereas in the plain region, chlamydospores act as primary inoculum. Other
than rice crop, the pathogen also infects maize (Abbas et  al. 2002; Gohel et  al.
2014) and different weed species, viz. Echinochloa crus-galli, Digitaria margin-
ata, Panicum trypheron and Imperata cylindrica. Prevalence of conducive envi-
ronmental conditions like low temperature (especially low night temperature),
high humidity (>90  %) and drizzling conditions during flowering time favours
disease development.

13.3.3.6  Disease Management

Use of resistant or tolerant varieties, chemical and cultural practices is important for
management of the disease.
Host Plant Resistance  In India, several rice cultivars were reported to be resistant or
tolerant to false smut under natural conditions, viz. Anupama, Cauvery, China 988,
Govind, HKRH 21, MTU 1067, Sakha 102, VL 501, HKR 47, HKR 127, Jhelum and
Shalimar Rice-1, HKR 95-222, HKR 98-418, HKR 08-12, HKR 08-17, HKR 08-71,
326 G.S. Laha et al.

HKR 08-110, IR 50, Paicos-1, PR 113 and PR 114 (Singh et al. 2010b; Sanghera et al.
2012, Dodan et al. 2013; Lore et al. 2013; Singh and Sunder 2015). In China, quantita-
tive resistance was reported against false smut disease by Zhou et al. (2013).

Cultural Methods  Several cultural practices like use of sclerotia free seeds, clean-
ing of bunds, adjustment of sowing dates to avoid coincidence of booting stage with
rainy period and application of balanced fertilizer can substantially reduce disease
incidence in the fields. Furrow-irrigated rice cultivation system has been reported to
have less disease severity compared to flooded fields (Dodan and Singh 1995, 1996;
Ladhalakshmi et al. 2012b).

Chemical Control  Several fungicides have been found to be effective in reducing

false smut disease severity. In India, spraying fields during flowering with chloro-
thalonil 75 WP at 2 ml/l or copper oxychloride 50 WP at 4 g/l or epoxiconazole 12.5
EC at 2 ml/l or propiconazole 25 EC at 1 ml/l have been found to be effective (Singh
et  al. 2002a). Foliar spraying of a combination fungicide, trifloxystrobin 25  % +
tebuconazole 50 % (Nativo 75WG) at booting or 50 % panicle emergence stage and
application of simeconazole at submerged condition 3 weeks before heading have
also been found to be highly effective against false smut (Tsuda et al. 2006; Singh
and Sunder 2015).

13.3.4  Foot Rot and Bakanae

13.3.4.1  History and Geographical Distribution

The disease was known in Japan since 1828. It has also been called as Fusarium
blight, elongation disease, fusariosis and white stalk in China; palay lalake or man
rice in British Guiana; foot rot in the Philippines; otoke nae (male seedling) in
Japan; bakanae in the United States, Africa and Australia; foot rot and bakanae in
French Equatorial, Africa and Ceylon; and foolish plant or foot rot in India. The
disease is widely distributed in almost all rice-growing areas of the world including
Africa (Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Cameroon), Asia (India,
Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Ceylon, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Pakistan, Iran, the
Philippines, Bangladesh, China and Nepal), some North and South American coun-
tries (Suriname, British Guiana, Trinidad, the United States, Venezuela, Brazil,
Mexico), Australia and some European countries (Italy, Spain and Turkey)
(Gangopadhyay 1983; Ou 1985; Khokhar 1990; Singh and Sunder 2012).

13.3.4.2  Economic Importance

The disease is commonly seen in many parts of Southeast Asia, but percentage of
infection is usually small. However, under favourable conditions, it has been
reported to cause 20–50  % yield loss in Japan, 70  % to almost complete loss in
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 327

Fig. 13.9  Symptoms of foot rot and bakanae disease of rice: (a) elongated seedlings in seedbed;
(b) field view of bakanae in planted crop; (c) wilting or dying of plants; (d) mycelium and
conidia on dying plants; (e) adventitious roots from lower nodes of infected plants; (f) white ear
heads

Australia, 4–15 % in Thailand, 5–23 % in Spain, 3–95 % in India, 40 % in Nepal

and 7–58 % in Pakistan (Singh and Sunder 1997; Yasin et al. 2003).

13.3.4.3  Symptoms

Gibberella fujikuroi causes elongated, slender, pale seedlings that are conspicuous
and found to be scattered in the field. Infected seedlings may also be stunted and
chlorotic, showing crown or foot rot symptoms. The disease occurs both in main and
ratoon crops, in seedbeds as well as in the field (Fig. 13.9a, b).The infected seedlings
usually die either before or after transplanting. Often diseased plants have fewer til-
lers, and their leaves dry one after the other, wilt and die within a few weeks (Fig.
13.9c). The presence of white or pink mycelial growth (Fig. 13.9d), adventitious
roots from the lower nodes (Fig. 13.9e) and wider leaf angles with stem are the other
diagnostic features of the disease. Plants surviving till maturity bear only empty
panicles (Fig. 13.9f). In Japan, infected panicles are often termed as pink panicles.
The fungus is also known to cause grain infection at maturity and pre-emergence
seedling death. The type of symptoms produced is mainly determined by the rela-
tive amount of growth hormones (gibberellic acid and fusaric acid) produced by the
fungus, which are dependent on fungus strain, inoculum level and nutritional condi-
tions of the soil (Webster and Gunnell 1992; Singh and Sunder 2012). At the end of
season, lower sheaths become blue and turn into black colour having small scattered
pycnidia. Perithecia are also produced on the diseased plants under favourable con-
ditions (Sun and Snyder 1978).
328 G.S. Laha et al.

13.3.4.4  Pathogen

Perithecia of G. fujikuroi (Sawada) Wollenweber (anamorph: Fusarium monili-

forme Sheldon) are dark blue and globose to conical, 200–400 × 150–400 μm in
dimension. Asci are ellipsoid to clavate and contain 4–8 hyaline, elliptical, 1–3 sep-
tate ascospores measuring 15–18 × 6.7 μm. Microconidia are hyaline, oval to cla-
vate, single celled, 5–12  ×  3–3.5  μm and formed in chains or false heads from
monophialides. Macroconidia are somewhat sickle shaped to almost straight, with a
foot-shaped basal cell, usually 3–5 septate, and measure 8.4–66 × 2.4–3.5 μm. The
fungus does not produce chlamydospores. Dark blue sclerotia are sometimes pres-
ent (Hashioka 1971; Ou 1985).

13.3.4.5  Disease Cycle and Epidemiology

The disease is seed-borne and is primarily seed transmitted. The seed infection is
caused by secondary airborne conidia and ascospores, discharged from diseased
plants from heading to harvest. The fungus is both internally and externally seed-­
borne, and its recovery was higher from lemma and palea than endosperm and
embryo (Manandhar 1999). The pathogen can survive in endosperm and embryo to
the extent of 15 % and 6 %, respectively, till commencement of next crop season
(Kumar and Sunder 2015). Raza et al. (1993) reported a maximum of 22 % seed
infection from naturally infested samples from Pakistan. The fungus grows inter-
cellularly in stigma and anthers within 48 h and finally reaches and covers the ovary.
Sowing of 100 % infected seeds produced 30–68 % diseased seedlings. The fungus
also survives in soil in infected crop residues as thick-walled hyphae or macroco-
nidia, but it is of less significance (Singh and Sunder 2012).
The fungus infects rice seedlings through roots or crowns and grows systemi-
cally in the plants, where it produces growth hormones gibberellins and fusaric acid.
The mycelium and microconidia of the pathogen concentrate in the vascular bun-
dles, especially in the large pitted vessels and lacunae of the xylem vessels of stem,
leaf blades, sheaths and adventitious roots (Singh and Sunder 1997). The disease is
favoured by high temperature (30–35 °C), injury to the roots of seedlings during
uprooting and application of high dose of nitrogenous fertilizers. Chan et al. (2004)
observed that sprouting period was the most sensitive for infection.

13.3.4.6  Disease Management

Host Plant Resistance  Cultivation of resistant varieties is the most effective, safe
and practical mean of avoiding loss in crop yield. Several genotypes, viz. Co 18, Co
22, ADT 8, PTB 7, GEB 24, GSL-66, GSL-67, GSL-68, IR 20, IR 26, IR 32, IR 38,
IR 44, IR 45, KS 133 and Punjab Mahak, have been found to possess tolerance/
resistance to bakanae (Ghazanfar et al. 2013; Kumar et al. 2014), and some of these
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 329

lines can be used as donor in breeding programme. Reaction of rice genotypes to

bakanae has been reported to be crop growth stage dependent. In China, Lu (1994)
observed that rice genotype Longjiao 86074-6 was resistant at the seedling stage but
moderately susceptible at the adult stage; Qingxi 96 was moderately resistant at the
seedling stage but resistant at the adult stage, while cultivars Zupei 7, Dongrong
84-21, G-6 and Sui 89-17 were moderately resistant at both stages. Resistance in
rice against bakanae is monogenic, recessive in IR 6 and dominant in KS 282. Two
quantitative trait loci (QTLs), namely, QB 1 and QB 10 on chromosomes 1 and 10,
have been identified for bakanae resistance, which exhibited additive effect (Kumar
et al. 2014). Coarse varieties were more tolerant to bakanae disease than the fine
ones (Ghazanfar et al. 2013). All dwarf and semidwarf genotypes carrying genes d
29, Sd 6 or Sdq (t) showed resistance and may be used as donors for improvement
of bakanae resistance in rice breeding programme (Ma et al. 2008).

Cultural Management  Uprooting rice nursery in standing water, late planting and
rotating rice with pasture crops proved effective in avoiding bakanae infection.
Removal and destruction of infected plants from the field can help in minimizing
the inoculum and reducing seed-borne infection. Applications of potassium and soil
amendment with neem cake, groundnut cake (Kumar et  al. 2014) and sugarcane
press mud (authors’ observation) have also been found to suppress the pathogen.
The disease incidence was significantly lower when nursery was raised by sowing
seeds under dry conditions compared to sowing of sprouted seeds in puddled beds
(Sunder et al. 2014b).

Biological Control and Use of Botanicals  Several fungal and bacterial antago-
nists and botanical extracts are known to suppress mycelial growth, conidia produc-
tion and germination of F. moniliforme and to reduce disease incidence significantly.
Kumar et al. (2014) reported effectiveness of several strains of Pseudomonas fluo-
rescens, Bacillus subtilis, B. megaterium, Trichoderma harzianum, T. virens, T.
asperellum and Talaromyces spp. in suppressing bakanae disease. Treating seeds
with antagonists such as B. subtilis, T. harzianum and T. virens reduced the disease
severity (Dehkaei et al. 2004). Combining the biocontrol agents as seed treatment
was more effective than spraying antagonists. Seed treatment with metabolites pro-
duced by different soilborne bacteria also efficiently inhibited bakanae development
(Motomura et al. 1997). In China, high efficacy of two antagonistic bacterial strains,
viz. B-916 and P-91, has been reported against bakanae (Chen et al. 1998). Kumar
et al. (2014) reported that extracts of Azadirachta indica and Decalepis hamiltonii
and oil of Hedychium spicatum and Acorus calamus were highly anatagonistic to
pathogen growth. Aerated vermicompost tea was found highly effective in field tri-
als (Kumar et al. 2014).

Chemical Control  Salt water can be used to separate lightweight, infected seeds
from seed lots, thereby reducing the seed-borne inoculum. Seed soaking in 0.1 %
solution of organomercury compounds (acetate and chloride groups) for 16–24 h or
in 0.25 % solution for 2 h was recommended in Japan (Ou 1985). Effective disease
330 G.S. Laha et al.

control has also been reported by seed dressing or slurry treatment with different
fungicides and their combinations like benomyl, benomyl + thiram, mancozeb +
benomyl, carbendazim, carbendazim + mancozeb, propiconazole, thiophanate-­
methyl, thiophanate-methyl + thiram, prochloraz, prochloraz + carbendazim, kasu-
gamycin, triforine, carboxin + thiram, iprodione and ferimzone in different parts of
the world. Seed treatment with carbendazim (0.5 g/l) + Streptocycline (0.01 g/l) for
12 h and smearing of the seeds with talc formulation of T. harzianum at 15 g/kg of
seed immediately before sowing and seedling root dip with T. harzianum at 15 g/l
water proved most effective against bakanae (Kumar et al. 2014).
Beside seed treatment, seedling dip in 0.1  % carbendazim or benomyl for 6–8  h
(Bagga and Sharma 2006) and soil drenching with carbendazim and difenoconazole
proved highly effective in curtailing the disease. Foliar application of benzimidazoles
(benomyl and carbendazim) at 0.1 % significantly reduced grain infection by the patho-
gen. In addition, sand mix application of carbendazim in nursery beds at 1 g/m2, 7 days
before uprooting of seedlings, also helps in reducing bakanae incidence in the main field
(Kumar et al. 2014; Sunder et al. 2014b). Suzuki et al. (1994) reported the effectiveness
of EC formulation of triflumizole (Trifmine) in reducing the bakanae disease.

13.3.5  Brown Spot

13.3.5.1  History and Geographical Distribution

Brown spot of rice is known to occur in Japan since 1900. It has been reported from
almost all the countries of Asia, Africa, South and North America including the
Caribbean region, Australia and several European countries like France, Spain,
Portugal, Switzerland, Serbia, Greece and Turkey (Ou 1985; Khalili et  al. 2012;
www.plantwise.org).

13.3.5.2  Economic Importance

Brown spot disease appears to be more on rain-fed rice where rice is grown in poor
soils coupled with erratic rainfall or water supply and nutritional imbalances, espe-
cially nitrogen and available potassium. There are indications of increased occur-
rence of brown spot in recent years (Savary et al. 2005), perhaps due to changes in
climatic conditions especially rainfall pattern. Average grain yield loss ranging from
4 to 52 % has been reported from different countries (Sunder et al. 2014a). However,
losses up to 90  % have been observed under certain conditions especially in the
rain-fed ecosystem, where water supply is scarce, combined with nutritional imbal-
ance, particularly lack of nitrogen (Sunder et al. 2014a). This disease has historic
importance as it caused heavy yield losses in Eastern India which is considered to
be a major factor for the ‘Bengal Famine’ during 1942. Beside quantitative losses,
it is also known to reduce the quality and germinability of the seed.
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 331

13.3.5.3  Symptoms

The disease appears on coleoptiles, leaf sheath and leaf blade as brown spots with
grey or whitish centre, cylindrical or oval in shape resembling sesame seeds usually
with yellow halo on leaves (Fig. 13.10a, c). On glumes, black or dark brown spots
are produced resulting in discoloured and shrivelled grains. Under favourable con-
ditions, dark brown conidiophores and conidia develop on the spots giving a velvety
appearance. Young roots may also show blackish lesions (Ou 1985). The pathogen
has also been reported to cause brown to dark brown lesions on panicle stalk at the
joint of flag leaf to stalk. These lesions usually extend downwards beneath the
sheath resulting in severe wet rotting (Fig. 13.10b) and appearance of greyish myce-
lial growth (Sunder et al. 2005).

13.3.5.4  Pathogen

The fungus Drechslera oryzae Subr. and Jain (syn. Bipolaris oryzae Shoemaker,
Helminthosporium oryzae Breda de Haan) [telemorph: Cochliobolus miyabeanus
(Ito and Kuribayashi) Drechsler ex Dastur = Ophiobolus miyabeanus Ito and
Kuribayashi] produces grey to olive or black, inter- and intracellular mycelium. The
sporophores are thick, erect, geniculate, dark olivaceous at the base and lighter
towards the tip. Conidia are brownish, 5–10 septate, slightly curved, widest at the
middle with the oldest conidium towards the base. The sizes of conidiophores and
conidia vary from 68 to 688 × 4–20 μm and 15–170 × 7–26 μm, respectively, in dif-
ferent countries (Ou 1985). Perithecia of the fungus are globose to depressed glo-
bose, with the outer wall dark yellowish brown and pseudoparenchymatous and
560–950 × 368–377 μm in dimensions. The asci are cylindrical to long, fusiform,
142–235 × 21–36 μm and contain filamentous or long cylindrical, hyaline or pale
olive-green, 6–15 septate ascospores measuring 250–469 × 6–9 μm (Ou 1985).

Fig. 13.10  Symptoms of brown spot disease of rice: (a) typical brown spots on rice leaves; (b)
stalk rot phase of brown spot of rice; (c) field severely infected with brown spot
332 G.S. Laha et al.

13.3.5.5  Disease Cycle and Epidemiology

The fungus surviving in soil and infected plant parts including stubbles, straw and
grains acts as primary source of inoculum. Many plant species including Cynodon
dactylon, Digitaria sanguinalis, Echinochloa colona, E. frumentacea, Euchlaena
mexicana, Imperata spp., Leersia hexandra, Panicum miliare, P. miliaceum,
Pennisetum typhoides, Saccharum officinarum, Zizania latifolia and some wild rice
including Oryza coarctata, O. granulate, O. malampuzhensis, O. latifolia, O. rid-
leyi, O. perennis, O. fatua, O. jeyporensis, O. montana and Zizania aquatica have
been reported to be infected by the pathogen under natural or artificial inoculation
conditions (Gangopadhyay 1983; Ou 1985; Sunder et al. 2014a). Some of the work-
ers reported cross pathogenicity as isolates of H. oryzae from wheat, oat, Echinochloa
phyllopogon and Phragmites australis attacked rice and a rice isolate attacked
maize, sorghum, oats, barley and sugarcane (Sunder et  al. 2014a). The primary
infection is usually initiated by the infected seed as necrotic lesions on coleoptile
and sheath of first leaves. The subsequent lesions on leaves arise from secondary
infection by airborne spores produced on primary lesions (Ou 1985).
The disease is aggravated by prolonged leaf wetness, high soil pH, late planting,
nutritional imbalances especially low levels of N, K, Mn, Si, free Fe, low CEC and
low organic matter. It has been observed that NO3 induces greater susceptibility than
NH4 (Ou 1985; Datnoff et al. 1992).

13.3.5.6  Disease Management

Host Plant Resistance  Partial to complete resistance to brown spot pathogen has
been identified in several genotypes including HRC 726, HRC 7288, NIC 105703,
NIC 105784 and NIC 1105815 (Shukla et al. 1995) and BPT 1788, MTU 1067 and
Swarnadhan (Sunder et  al. 2005) under field conditions, and some of these lines
may be used as donors for brown spot resistance breeding programme. Resistance
to brown spot is known to vary with crop stage (Omar et al. 1979). Sato et al. (2008)
identified three QTLs, viz. qBS 2, qBS 9 and qBS 11, on chromosomes 2, 9 and 11
for brown spot resistance in rice cultivar Tadukan, while Katara et al. (2010) identi-
fied 10 QTLs associated with brown spot resistance, some of which may be com-
mon to those of Sato et al. (2008).

Chemical Control  Seed treatment with various chemicals like organomercurials,

triforine, bitertanol, pyroquilon, tricyclazole, chlorothalonil, quinolate, edifenphos,
carbendazim, benomyl, mancozeb, thiram and captan is quite effective against H.
oryzae in different parts of the world (Sunder et al. 2014a). Seed soaking in 2-methyl
1,4-naphthaquinone (vitamin K3), Na-pentachlorophenate, boric acid and β-indole
acetic acid and seedling treatment with sulphanilamide and griseofulvin signifi-
cantly reduced disease severity. Foliar application of many chemicals, viz. manco-
zeb, Ridomil MZ, edifenphos, iprobenphos, iprodione, chlorothalonil, bitoxazol,
propiconazole, hexaconazole, tebuconazole, Sisthane, Shin-mel, triphenyltin
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 333

hydroxide, thiophanate-methyl, Antracol, azoxystrobin, trifloxystrobin + propicon-

azole, difenoconazole + propiconazole and antibiotics like blasticidin SM, aureo-
fungin, mycobacillin and versicolin, is highly effective against brown spot. Among
these, propiconazole, hexaconazole and mancozeb are commonly used against both
leaf spot and stalk rot phases of the disease (Ou 1985; Sunder et al. 2014a).

Biological Control and Use of Botanicals  Strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens,

Bacillus megaterium, B. subtilis, Trichoderma viride, T. pseudokoningii, T. harzia-
num, T. reesei, Cladosporium spp., Penicillium spp. and Aspergillus flavus are
known to inhibit the growth of H. oryzae and to reduce the disease incidence in field
experiments (Sunder et  al. 2014a). Among various botanicals and biopesticides,
foliar application of neem cake extract, N. oleander leaf extract, T. viride, TriCure
(5 ml/l), Biotos (2.5 ml/l), Achook (5 ml/l), Neemazal (3 ml/l) and Wanis (5 ml/l) is
highly effective in reducing the brown spot severity (Harish et al. 2008; Kumar and
Rai 2008; Sunder et al. 2010). Besides, spraying with nonconventional chemicals
like ferric chloride, sodium selenate, nickel nitrate, benzoic acid and salicylic acid
can also induce resistance and reduce the disease severity significantly (Shabana
et al. 2008; de Vleesschauwer et al. 2010; Sunder et al. 2010).

13.3.6  Sheath Rot

13.3.6.1  History and Geographical Distribution

Sheath rot is prevalent in most of the rice-growing countries worldwide, particularly

in rain-fed rice ecosystems, and is more prevalent during wet than dry seasons. The
disease has been reported from different countries of Asia (Sri Lanka, Pakistan,
Nepal, China, Bangladesh, Japan, Korea, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines,
Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei), Africa (Kenya, Nigeria, Gambia, Cameroon,
Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Burundi, Tanzania and Madagascar), Americas (the United
States, Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil and Argentina) and
Australia (Suparyono 1990; Webster and Gunnell 1992; Gill et  al. 1993; www.
plantwise.org). The disease has also been described as ‘rice abortion disease’ in
Thailand, the name given by Thai farmers (Singh and Dodan 1995).

13.3.6.2  Economic Importance

Sheath rot is considered to be potential threat to rice cultivation in both temperate

and tropical regions due to severe damage and high yield losses. The extent of yield
loss ranged from 3 to 20 % in Taiwan, 53 % in the Philippines, 85 % to almost com-
plete loss in Thailand, 11 % in the United States and 3–90 % in India (Srinivasan
1980; Manibhushan Rao 1996). The losses in grain yield varied significantly among
the cultivars, but the average losses are estimated to be 15 %. The disease is also
334 G.S. Laha et al.

known to affect seed germination, seedling vigour, head rice recovery, protein con-
tent, total sugar, starch content and market value of the produce due to production
of discoloured and shrivelled seeds (Reddy et  al. 2000). Infection by rice tungro
virus enhanced yield losses due to sheath rot (Singh and Dodan 1995).

13.3.6.3  Symptoms

The pathogen infects the crop just after flowering stage and produces oblong or
somewhat irregular lesions, 0.5–1.5 cm long, with brown margins and grey cen-
tres on uppermost leaf sheath that covers the panicle. As the disease advances,
lesions enlarge and coalesce and may cover most part of leaf sheath, thereby
retarding or aborting the panicle emergence. In case of early and severe infection,
the panicles do not emerge and are compressed within the leaf sheath, a stage
called ‘choking’, or emerge partially bearing discoloured and chaffy grains (Fig.
13.11a, b). The disease is particularly devastating in CMS lines (A lines) in hybrid
seed production and in dwarf varieties because of shortened internodes and poor
panicle exertion. An abundant whitish powdery growth may be found inside the
affected sheaths. A diffuse reddish brown discolouration may also be seen in the
sheath (Fig. 13.11c).

13.3.6.4  Pathogen

Sheath rot is caused by several fungal and bacterial pathogens in different parts of
the world (Singh et  al. 2005). Two fungal pathogens, viz. Sarocladium oryzae
(Sawada) Gams and Hawksworth and Fusarium moniliforme Sheldon, can cause
sheath rot symptoms, Sarocladium oryzae being the most predominant. Sarocladium
oryzae produces verticillate conidiophores with one to two appressed whorls of

Fig. 13.11  Symptoms of sheath rot disease of rice: (a) sheath rot symptoms on panicles and
grains; (b) typical sheath rot on flag leaf sheath; (c) reddish brown discolouration in sheath
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 335

branches. Conidia are produced on phialides, cylindrical to slightly fusiform, often

somewhat curved, hyaline and single celled measuring 3.5–9 × 1–2.5 μm. The mor-
phological characteristics of F. moniliforme isolates causing sheath rot are similar to
those described under foot rot and bakanae. However, the strains of Fusarium
moniliforme causing bakanae do not induce sheath rot.

13.3.6.5  Disease Cycle and Epidemiology

S. oryzae survives as mycelium in the infected residue and on seeds (Singh and Raju
1981; Singh and Mathur 1993). It also infects several weeds and cultivated hosts,
viz. Eleusine indica, Monochoria vaginalis, Cyperus teneriffae, C. iria, C. diffor-
mis, Echinochloa crus-galli, E. colona, Oryza rufipogon, Bambusa balcooa, B. vul-
garis, Hymenachne spp., Leersia hexandra and Panicum walense (Singh and Dodan
1995). Isolates of the fungus from weeds and rice have been found to be cross infec-
tive. The pathogen infects rice through stomata or wounds and ramifies intercellu-
larly in the vascular bundles and mesophyll tissues of susceptible cultivars. The
severity of the disease is more on plants affected by various biotic and abiotic fac-
tors like infection by rice tungro virus, rice yellow dwarf virus, stem borer, mites,
water and nutrient stress. Generally, the disease intensity is more in late and densely
planted fields. The conditions like moderate temperature (20–30 °C), high humidity,
cloudy days during booting stage and occasional rainfall favoured the buildup of the
disease.

13.3.6.6  Disease Management

The disease can be managed effectively through integrated programme of seed

treatment, selection of resistant cultivars and foliar application of fungicides.
Host Plant Resistance  Although the spectrum of genetic resistance to this disease
is not very broad, many workers have reported sources of resistance to this disease.
Generally, the dwarf varieties are more susceptible (Raychoudhuri and Purkayastha
1980). Several workers have reported a number of rice varieties/cultures/wild rice
accessions to be resistant or tolerant to sheath rot under natural disease infection,
viz. ADT 36, ARC 7717, ASD 5, ASD 17, Intan, IR 26, IR 50, IR 54, IR 60, Sigadis,
Tadukan, Tetep, Basmati-370,TOX 3145-TOC 34-2-3, TOX 3344-TOC 3-4, Zenith
and japonica type varieties, Moroberekan, VS 99 and Oryza latifolia (Acc. 100963)
(Singh and Dodan 1995; Srinivasachary et  al. 2002; Vivekananthan et  al. 2006;
Sharma et al. 2013). Nine QTLs on seven different chromosomes, viz. Chr. # 1, 2,
4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, have been identified to impart resistance to sheath rot disease
(Srinivasachary et al. 2002).

Cultural and Biological Methods  Cultural practices like application of neem cake
(1 t/ha), avoiding excess N, application of potassic fertilizers and foliar application
336 G.S. Laha et al.

of zinc sulphate have been reported to reduce the disease intensity (Alagarsamy and
Bhaskaran 1986; Singh and Dodan 1995). Foliar spraying of 5 % neem seed kernel
extract (NSKE) twice, viz. during booting and 10 days later (Narasimhan et al. 1993),
and gypsum (calcium sulphate) applied at 500 kg/ha, 50 % as basal and 50 % at 35
DAT (Narasimhan et al. 1994), were also very promising in reducing the sheath rot
incidence and increasing the grain yield. Treating the seeds with salt solution has
been recommended to obtain clean seed and to minimize sheath rot incidence (Rajan
1981). Practices like use of healthy and treated seeds, wider spacing (20 cm × 15 cm),
adjustment of planting time and destruction of weeds, collateral hosts and crop resi-
dues can greatly reduce the terminal disease intensity (Singh and Dodan 1995; Dodan
et al. 1998). Several workers have reported effectiveness of different antagonists like
Pseudomonas fluorescens, Azospirillum lipoferum, Trichoderma viride and T. har-
zianum either singly or as consortium (Sakthivel and Gnanamanicham 1987;
Eswaramurthy et al. 1988; Sundaramoorthy et al. 2013).

Chemical Control  Chemical control has been practiced in many places and
has been found quite satisfactory. Several chemicals like carbendazim,
­tridemorph + carbendazim, benomyl, propiconazole, edifenphos, hexaconazole,
iprobenphos, mancozeb, tebuconazole and chlorothalonil have been found to be
promising against sheath rot (Singh and Dodan 1995; Lore et al. 2007; Sharma
et al. 2013). Seed treatment with carbendazim at 2 g/kg of seeds or mancozeb
75 WP at 2.5  g/kg can control the seed-borne inoculum. Spraying the fields
around flowering with carbendazim at 1  g/l or mancozeb 75 WP at 2.5  g/l or
propiconazole 25 EC at 1 ml/l or hexaconazole 5 EC at 2 ml/l or thiophanate-
methyl 70 WP at 1 g/l can substantially reduce the disease intensity (Singh and
Dodan 1995; Dodan et al. 1996b). Foliar application of growth hormone, gib-
berellic acid, has also been reported to reduce the disease intensity (Raychoudhuri
and Purkayastha 1980).

13.3.7  Stem Rot

13.3.7.1  History and Geographical Distribution

The disease was first reported from Italy by Cattaneo in 1876 (Ou 1985). Since then
it is known to occur in several countries in Asia (Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar,
Bangladesh, Burma, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Taiwan,
Thailand and the Philippines), Europe (Bulgaria, France, Portugal, Turkey and
Spain), Africa (Madagascar, Mozambique, Egypt, Somalia and Kenya), Americas
(the United States, Venezuela, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guyana, Panama,
Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Argentina) and Australia (Ahuja and Srivastava
1990; Garrido and Malaguti 1995; Cedeno et  al. 1997; Watson and Priest 1998;
Javan-Nikkhah et al. 1998; Aye et al. 2009).
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 337

13.3.7.2  Economic Importance

The disease is known to cause substantial quantitative and qualitative losses due to
increased lodging, smaller panicles, production of light chalky grains and poor mill-
ing quality particularly in waterlogged areas. Grain yield losses up to 50 %, 75 %
and 80 % have been reported from Vietnam, the United States and the Philippines,
respectively (Ou 1985). However, overall annual loss due to this disease has been
estimated at 5–10 % (Krause and Webster 1973). Other estimates of grain yield loss
include 27–30 % in Iraq (Al-Heeti and El-Bahadli 1982), 6–53 % in China (Li et al.
1984) and 10–30 % in Australia (Cother and Nicol 1999). In India, annual losses of
5–15 % have been estimated with a maximum of 80 % (Paracer and Luthra 1944).
Krause and Webster (1973) observed 12–22 % yield reduction by inoculating the
plants at different stages of crop growth.

13.3.7.3  Symptoms

The disease appears in the form of small irregular black lesions on the outer leaf
sheath near the water level at mid-tillering stage (Fig.13.12a). As the season
advances, the lesions enlarge and the fungus moves inward, producing lesions on
the inner leaf sheaths. Subsequently, the fungus infects the culms, resulting in par-
tial or complete rotting (Fig. 13.12b) and premature lodging of the crop. Severely
infected plants bear partially filled or unfilled grains. The infected plants can be
easily pulled out from the soil due to rotting of crown. Dark greyish mycelium may

Fig. 13.12  Symptoms of stem rot disease of rice: (a) lesions on outer leaf sheath; (b) lesions on
culm along with fungal mycelium and sclerotia
338 G.S. Laha et al.

be found within the sheath and culm, which is converted into numerous small, round
and black sclerotia near maturity.

13.3.7.4  Pathogen

Stem rot is caused by Magnaporthe salvinii (Catt.) Krause and Webster (conidial
state Nakataea sigmoidea (Cav.) Hara). The fungus most commonly occurs in its
sclerotial state, Sclerotium oryzae Catt. The perithecia of M. salvinii are dark, glo-
bose, 250–650 μm in diameter and found embedded in leaf sheaths. Asci are cylin-
drical, unitunicate, short stalked, 104–165 × 8.7–17.7 μm and contain eight fusiform,
somewhat curved, three septate ascospores, which measure 35–65  ×  8.7  μm.
Sclerotia are black, globose, smooth and 180–200 μm in diameter. Conidiophores
are dark, upright, septate, 100–175  ×  4–5  μm and bear fusiform, three septate,
curved conidia (29–40 × 10–14 μm) on pointed sterigmata. In addition to S. oryzae,
S. hydrophilum and S. oryzae var. irregulare have also been found to be associated
with this disease (Singh and Chand 1986).

13.3.7.5  Disease Cycle and Epidemiology

The sclerotia produced by the fungus play an important role in the initiation and
spread of the disease. The overwintering sclerotia float on the surface of water dur-
ing various tillage operations, come in contact with plants, germinate to form
appressoria/infection cushion and cause infection through leaf sheath, root and stem
base. The role of conidia and ascospores in the spread of stem rot is not thoroughly
understood. The fungus has also been found to infect certain grass weeds like
Echinochloa colona, Eleusine indica, Leptochloa chinensis, Setaria pallide-fusca,
Zizaniopsis miliacea and wild rice (Ou 1985). Disease incidence and severity have
been observed to be directly correlated with the number of sclerotia present in the
upper layer of the soil before planting (Krause and Webster 1973). The plants have
been found to be more susceptible at the internode elongation stage, and the disease
is favoured by high humidity and high temperature, nitrogenous fertilizer, dense
planting and attack of stem borer, node blast, brown planthopper and jassids.

13.3.7.6  Disease Management

Stem rot can be managed effectively through an integrated approach of residue

management, proper fertilization and cultivar selection.
Host Plant Resistance  Several workers have reported that resistance to stem rot is
either not available or rarely found. However, under natural conditions of disease
infection, some cultivars/cultures and wild rice accessions have shown tolerance to
stem rot, viz. Cherno Fingo, IRBB 60, ARC 12751, ARC 12753, Jalmagna, Latisail,
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 339

Pankaj, Rasi, Basmati-370, Taraori Basmati, Pakistani Basmati, O. rufipogon and

O. nivara, in different parts of the world (Singh et  al. 2010b; Sunder and Singh
2015). Resistance to stem rot in rice has been reported to be controlled by two loci
on chromosome 2 and chromosome 3 (Ni et al. 2001).

Cultural and Biological Control  One of the most effective means of managing
stem rot is by burning infested crop residue and stubble to minimize overwintering
inoculum though environmental pollution issues restrict the use of burning.
Harvesting at ground level and removing the straw from the field, management of
irrigation water by draining, allowing the soil to crack before irrigation and use of
sieving floatation technique were found effective (Singh et al. 2010b). Winter flood-
ing and incorporation of the residue in deeper layers are also helpful in reducing the
carry-over of sclerotia to the following season and proved to be the best alternative
to burning for stem rot management (Cintas and Webster 2001). Practices like
delayed planting, application of burnt rice husk and mustard cakes and crop rotation
like rice-lucerne-rice and rice-wheat-Vigna radiata-rice rotations have been found
to be beneficial in managing the disease (Chand and Singh 1985; Singh et al. 2002b).
Strains of the fungal antagonist like Gliocladium virens have been found to effec-
tively control stem rot by inhibiting sclerotia formation and reducing sclerotial
viability (Singh et al. 2002b; Nishant and Puri 2012).

Chemical Control  Though several chemicals have been found to be effective

against stem rot, chemical control is not widely practiced for managing this disease.
Application of chemicals like carbendazim, validamycin A, edifenphos, benomyl,
thiophanate-methyl, difenoconazole and tricyclazole followed by foliar spray with
antagonists like Penicillium glabrum and T. harzianum has been found to be effec-
tive (Singh et al. 2002b; Sumitra et al. 2011; Kumar and Sunder 2015).

13.4  Virus Diseases

More than 30 viruses are known to infect rice globally (Abo and Fadhila 2003).
However, yield loss could be substantial if virus infection takes place in early crop
growth stage. Some of the important viruses in Asia are rice stripe virus, rice dwarf
virus, rice gall dwarf virus, rice ragged stunt virus, rice grassy stunt virus, rice tran-
sitory yellowing virus, rice black streaked dwarf virus, southern rice black streaked
dwarf virus and rice tungro virus disease complex (RTV). Rice hoja blanca virus
(RHBV), a member of the genus Tenuivirus, is economically important in several
South American countries, while rice stripe necrosis virus, rice crinkle disease,
maize streak virus, African cereal streak virus and rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV)
are reported on rice in Africa. In this section, we will discuss about rice tungro virus
disease complex, rice yellow mottle and rice hoja blanca, which are important in
South and Southeast Asia, Africa and South America, respectively (Fig. 13.13).
340 G.S. Laha et al.

13.4.1  Rice Tungro Disease (RTD)

13.4.1.1  Distribution and Economic Importance

‘Tungro’, which means degenerated growth in Filipino language, was first recog-
nized to be caused by a leafhopper-transmitted virus in 1963 (Rivera and Ou
1965). However, the disease is believed to be present much earlier and was
known by different names like ‘accep na pula’ (red disease) and rice ‘cadang-
cadang’ (yellowing) in the Philippines, ‘penyakit merah’ (red disease) in
Malaysia, ‘mentek’ disease in Indonesia and ‘yellow orange’ disease in Thailand
(Ou 1985). The disease is widely distributed in South and Southeast Asia and has
been reported from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand,
Laos, Vietnam, China, Japan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and
Papua New Guinea. Widespread cultivation of different HYVs following intro-
duction of Taichung Native 1 during the 1960s was highly conducive for the
buildup of leafhopper population and spread of rice tungro virus. A series of
tungro outbreaks was recorded during 1980 to 2000  in India, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Bangladesh (Azzam and Chancellor 2002;
Bunawan et al. 2014). Muralidharan et al. (2003b) reported three epidemics of
RTD from 1984 to 1994 in India. The disease assumed a serious proportion dur-
ing 1981 in many parts of West Bengal (India) where an estimated 0.5 million
tons of rice production loss was reported (Krishnaveni et al. 2009). The disease
appeared in epidemic form in Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts of Punjab (India)
during 1998 affecting about 0.45 million ha of rice crop (Varma et al. 1999). Dai
and Beachy (2009) reported that RTD caused 5–10 % reduction in rice yields in
South and Southeast Asia.

Fig. 13.13  Global distribution of RTV, RYMV and RHBV

13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 341

13.4.1.2  Symptoms

The disease results in the discolouration of leaves, stunting of plants and reduced
tillering. The extent of stunting and discolouration depends on variety, nitrogen sta-
tus of the crop and age of plants. Initial symptoms appear as interveinal chlorosis,
and leaf discolouration may vary from greenish yellow to reddish brown or yellowish
brown (Fig. 13.14a). Often the young infected leaves are pale green to light yellow,
while the older leaves are reddish orange in colour. Generally, the infected leaves in
japonica cultivars show yellow shade, while indica cultivars show orange shade. The
leaf discolouration usually starts from the tip of the leaves and may extend to the
lower part of the leaf blade. Early infection results in non-emergence of panicles or
partial emergence bearing chaffy and shrivelled grains. Tungro infection generally
delays flowering and there is no uniformity in crop maturity (Fig. 13.14c).

13.4.1.3  Pathogen, Its Transmission and Virus-Vector Relationship

Rice tungro disease is a composite disease caused by two unrelated viruses, viz. rice
tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV– a member of the Caulimoviridae, dsDNA) and
rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV– a member of Secoviridae, positive-sense

Fig. 13.14  Symptoms of rice tungro disease: (a) interveinal chlorosis and leaf discolouration; (b)
Nephotettix virescens, vector of rice tungro virus; (c) field infected with rice tungro disease
342 G.S. Laha et al.

ssRNA). The plants infected by RTSV alone do not show any definite symptoms.
The plants infected by RTBV alone show moderate stunting and discolouration.
However, rice plants infected with both RTBV and RTSV generally express severe
stunting and yellowing. Rice tungro virus is exclusively transmitted (in a semiper-
sistent manner) by green leafhoppers (Azzam and Chancellor 2002), Nephotettix
virescens being the principal vector (Fig. 13.14b). The vector can acquire and trans-
mit both particles together. When the vector feeds on plants infected with RTSV
alone, it can pick up and transmit RTSV. But, when the leafhoppers are fed on rice
plants infected with RTBV alone, it cannot pick up RTBV and no transmission
occurs. However, when the leafhoppers first feed on RTSV-infected plants and pick
up RTSV particles and then feed on RTBV-infected plants, they can pick up RTBV
and transmit both the particles.

13.4.1.4  Disease Cycle and Epidemiology

The virus cannot survive in its vector or in seeds for a longer time. In areas with
continuous cropping, the virus might survive from one crop to another. Infected
ratoons and volunteer plants (seedlings and the plants that grow from seeds left in
the field after harvest) have been shown to be the reservoirs of tungro inoculum and
play an important role in its inter-seasonal carry-over. Several weeds, viz. Eleusine
indica, Echinochloa colona, E. crus-galli, Leersia hexandra, Sporobolus tremulus,
Pennisetum typhoides, Eragrostis tenella, Setaria glauca, Paspalum distichum,
Cynodon dactylon, Digitaria adscendens and Cyperus rotundus, and wild rice types
are reported to be infected by the virus which could be a potential source of primary
inoculum. The insect vectors, in addition to rice, feed on these weed hosts during off
season. The spread of RTD depends on the availability of viruliferous leafhoppers
and the susceptible hosts at the right stage. The transmission of virus under field
conditions depends on the cultivar, plant age, microclimatic conditions, wind speed,
meteorological conditions and lunar phases, and a single viruliferous vector can
infect up to 40 plants per day (Krishnaveni et al. 2009).

13.4.1.5  Disease Management

The management of rice tungro disease involves deployment of resistant or tolerant

varieties, elimination of primary sources of inoculum, vector management, seedbed
management and cultural practices.
Host Plant Resistance  The best way of managing the disease is through deploy-
ment of resistant/tolerant varieties. A variety may be resistant to virus and/or vector.
In India a number of high-yielding cultivars with resistance or tolerance to tungro
and/or green leafhoppers have been released for commercial cultivation in specific
rice-growing areas (Rani et al. 2008). Out of these, two varieties, viz. Vikramarya
(IET 7302) and Nidhi (IET 9994), showed very high level of resistance to the
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 343

d­ isease. Several traditional varieties/land races like Latisail, Kataribhog, Ambemohar

102, Pankhari 203, Utri Merah, Utri Rajapan and Tjina were found to be resistant to
both virus and the vector, though only a few of them were genetically characterized.
Resistance to RTSV in Utri Merah is governed by two recessive genes, viz. tsv1 and
tsv2. Gene tsv1 is also responsible for RTSV resistance in cultivars Utri Rajapan and
Pankhari 203 (Shahjahan et al. 1991; Ebron et al. 1994). Two lines derived from Utri
Merah, viz. IR 69705-1-1-3-2-1 and IR 69726-116-1-3, showed resistance to rice
tungro disease. Line IR 69726-116-1-3 was released for commercial cultivation
under the name ‘Tukad petanu’ and performed well in Bali, East Java and Lombok
(Azzam and Chancellor 2002). One mutant line of rice variety IR 64, called MD 83,
showed very high level of resistance to RTSV and its insect vector (Zenna et  al.
2008). Though transgenic plants expressing RTBV coat protein, polymerase, prote-
ase and antisense RNA did not give protection against the disease, plants expressing
coat protein genes and replicase genes of RTSV showed moderate to good level of
resistance (Azzam and Chancellor 2002; Krishnaveni et al. 2009). RNA interfer-
ence (RNAi) technology through the expression of DNA encoding ORF IV of
RTBV showed promise against rice tungro disease (Tyagi et al. 2008).

Cultural Control  Practices like adjustment of sowing time to avoid peak population
of vectors; inclusion of a non-host crop like legume, oilseed, fibre or tuber crop in
crop rotation to interrupt the disease perpetuation and vector buildup; periodic rogu-
ing; and removal of affected plants to reduce the inoculum source and removal of
ratoons and self-sown plants can reduce the primary source of inoculum and disease
spread (Krishnaveni et al. 2009).

Chemical Control  The spread of rice tungro disease can be checked indirectly by
controlling the vector by incorporating carbofuran 3 G at 30–35 kg/ha or phorate
10 G at 12–15 kg/ha in rice nursery bed in top 2–5 cm layer of the soil before sow-
ing sprouted seeds or broadcasting the recommended insecticides 4–5  days after
sowing in a thin film of water. Foliar application of imidacloprid 200 SL at 125 ml/
ha or etofenprox 10 EC at 750  ml/ha or thiamethoxam 25 WG at 100  g/ha or
acephate 50 WP at 1200 g/ha or monocrotophos 36 EC at 1500 ml/ha has been rec-
ommended for the protection of transplanted crop from RTD.

13.4.2  Rice Yellow Mottle

13.4.2.1  Distribution and Economic Importance

This disease was first recorded in Kenya in 1966 (Bakker 1970). Subsequently, it
was reported from most of the West, Central and East African countries, viz.
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo
Democratic Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-
Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria,
344 G.S. Laha et al.

Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Over the
last 20–25 years, the disease has become a major production constraint in the irri-
gated and lowland rice ecosystems of Africa, especially in Burkina Faso, Cote
d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone (Anonymous 2000; Sere et  al.
2013). In some areas of Madagascar and Cote d’Ivoire, several rice fields were
abandoned due to severe occurrence of this disease (Yoboue 1989; Reckhaus and
Randrianangaly 1990). The disease has also been reported from some upland rice
fields of Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau (Kouassi et al. 2005). Grain yield loss
due to RYMV has been reported to range from 10 to 100 % in different countries
depending on plant age at the time of infection, level of susceptibility of the variet-
ies and prevailing climatic conditions (Fomba 1986; Reckhaus and Adamou 1986;
Anonymous 2000; Kouassi et  al. 2005). Several African countries have faced
highly devastating epidemics of RYMV in the past (Konate and Fargette 2003).
Severe outbreaks of RYMV were reported from Kenya, Niger, Sierra Leone and
Liberia (http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/47658). The disease has been reported
to cause up to 60 % yield loss in Kenya (Okhoba 1989) and between 84 and 97 %
yield losses in Sierra Leone (Taylor 1989).

13.4.2.2  Symptoms

The disease results in yellow to orange discolouration of the leaves, stunting of the
plants, reduced tillering, nonsynchronous flowering, poor panicle exertion, spikelet
sterility, discolouration of grains and, in severe cases, even death of the plants. In the
field, diseased plants may be observed 3–4 weeks after transplanting and are easily
noticeable because of their yellowish appearance. The symptoms appear as small,
yellow-green, oblong to linear spots at the base of young systemically infected
leaves which enlarge along the veins as broken or continuous streaks. The leaves
developing later are mottled, often twisted and show difficulty in emerging. Young
leaves are more susceptible to infection, and if the plants are infected within 20 days
after planting, then the symptoms are very severe and plants may stop growing and
eventually die.

13.4.2.3  Virus and Its Transmission

RYMV belongs to Sobemovirus group which has isometric particles (ca 30 nm in
diameter) with single-stranded linear, positive-sense RNA.  Many insect vectors,
viz. Sesselia pusilla, Chaetocnema pulla, Trichispa sericea, Dicladispa viridicya-
nea and grasshopper Conocephalus merumontanus, are known to transmit the virus
(Kouassi et  al. 2005). The virus is also transmitted mechanically by farm imple-
ments, human and animal activities and plant-to-plant contact. Wind-mediated leaf-­
to-­leaf contact, guttation fluids and irrigation water can also spread the virus.
However, RYMV has not been demonstrated to be seed transmitted. The disease is
more serious in transplanted rice than direct seeded rice. Any injury to the rice
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 345

plants can increase the incidence of RYMV in the fields. Sarra (1998) reported that
infected rice straw left in the fields after harvest can be a potential source of RYMV.

13.4.2.4  Epidemiology

RYMV can infect different wild species of Oryza and several weed species, viz.
Eleusine indica, Eragrostis tenuifolia, E. ciliaris, Echinochloa crus-galli, Panicum
repens, Cyperus rotundus and Imperata cylindrica. Initial infection takes place by
the insect vectors which feed on infected wild rice, weed hosts or self-grown or
inter-season rice plants (in lowlands), and the secondary spread takes place by
wind-mediated leaf-to-leaf contact, mechanically or through insect vectors.

13.4.2.5  Disease Management

The genetic resistance to RYMV has been found to be governed by a recessive gene
rymv1. Four alleles of this resistance locus have been identified, viz. rymv1-2 (in an
indica variety Gigante originating from Mozambique) and rymv1-3, rymv1-4 and
rymv1-5, from different Oryza glaberrima accessions, viz. TOG 5681, TOG 5672
and TOG 5674, respectively (Sere et al. 2013). The alleles from O. glaberrima have
been incorporated in several lowland NERICA (New Rice for Africa) varieties.
Subsequently, another recessive resistance gene, rymv2, has been identified from O.
glaberrima (Sere et al. 2013). Recurrent backcrossing has been done to introgress
these genes in the elite backgrounds. However, because of the appearance of
resistance-­breaking strains, efforts are being made to combine two resistance genes
in varieties for release and cultivation in hotspot areas. In addition, QTLs conferring
partial resistance have been identified in chromosome 7 and 12 (Sere et al. 2013).
Controlling the insect vectors is an important aspect of managing this disease as
vectors play an important role in transmitting RYMV from surrounding infected
rice or weed plants. The destruction of virus reservoirs by burning during the dry
season, removal of rice regrowths and the use of chemical treatment against insect
vectors can dramatically reduce primary and secondary infections.

13.4.3  Rice Hoja Blanca

13.4.3.1  Distribution and Economic Importance

Rice hoja blanca virus (white leaf, RHBV) is the most important viral disease of
rice in Latin America. Though the disease gained importance only since 1957
when it broke out in threatening form in Florida in Southeastern United States
(Atkins and Adair 1957), it was first recorded in Colombia as early as 1935
(Garces-Orejuela et  al. 1958). Gradually the disease was spread to different
346 G.S. Laha et al.

countries in Central America, the Caribbean region and South America. Presently,
the disease is widely distributed throughout tropical and subtropical America, viz.
Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname
in South America; Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras and Belize in Central America; and the United States, Mexico, Puerto
Rico, Cuba and Dominican Republic in North America (Morales and Jennings
2010). The disease can cause a significant yield loss ranging from 25 to 75 % in
susceptible cultivars due to seedling death, reduced photosynthesis, growth retar-
dation and panicle sterility (Jennings 1963; Morales and Jennings 2010).

13.4.3.2  Symptoms

The disease appears as chlorotic streaks on the leaves which coalesce turning the leaves
yellow or whitish. The succeeding leaves are either almost entirely white or mottled. If
the infection takes place in early growth stages, then the plants become stunted, and in
severe cases, the leaves turn necrotic and plants die. The disease affects the growth and
emergence of the panicles and results in poor or partial filling and discolouration of the
grains. Infection by this virus also predisposes the plants to brown spot.

13.4.3.3  Virus and Its Transmission

RHBV is a member of the genus Tenuivirus and is closely related to other tenuivi-
ruses found in America like Echinochloa hoja blanca virus and Urochloa hoja
blanca virus. The ssRNA genome of Tenuivirus consists of four or more segments.
The RHBV genome has four visible ssRNA species. The RNA-1 is generally of
negative polarity, whereas others (RNAs 2–4) have ambisense translation strategy.
RHBV is transmitted by leafhopper Tagosodes orizicolus which is the main vector
and also by T. cubanus which is a minor vector. The vector acquires the virus while
feeding on the infected plants, and there is a period of 17–22 days of viral propaga-
tion before the planthoppers become viruliferous (Galvez 1968; Webber et al. 1971).
There is a high rate of transovarian transmission to the progeny, and the nymphs can
transmit the virus soon after they emerge. The virus however cannot be transmitted
mechanically. Many cultivated crops like wheat, barley, oats and rye and weeds
such as Echinochloa colona are susceptible to RHBV both naturally and under arti-
ficial inoculation (Morales and Jennings 2010).

13.4.3.4  Epidemiology

The disease epidemics show cyclic and erratic pattern. The disease caused signifi-
cant loss (25–50 %) during 1957–1964, 1981–1984 and 1996–1999 in Colombia
(Morales and Jennings 2010). Genetic resistance of the vectors to the virus, low
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 347

proportion of the viruliferous insect population (15–25 %) and low fecundity of the
RHBV-infected planthoppers are the probable factors for cyclic and erratic nature of
the RHBV epidemics (Zeigler and Morales 1990).

13.4.3.5  Disease Management

Initial works using japonicas from Taiwan and other sources resulted in the develop-
ment of several RHBV-resistant lines like Napal, CICA7 and Colombia 1.
Subsequently, two varieties, viz. Oryzica-1 and Metica-1, possessing tolerance to
RHBV were developed using Colombia 1 (Munoz and Garcia 1983). The cultivars
like Lacrose, Gulfrose l, Tainan-iku No. 487, Pandhori No. 4 and others have been
used in resistance breeding programme (Morales and Jennings 2010). Work at
CIAT, Colombia and IRD, Montpellier, France, revealed a high-level resistance in
two indica varieties Fedearroz 2000 (Fd 2000) and Fedearroz 50 (Fd 50) to RHBV
and its vector T. orizicolus. Further genetic analysis revealed a major QTL on chro-
mosome 4 in both the varieties explaining about 50 % resistance against RHBV. In
addition, one QTL in Fd 2000 on chromosome 5 and another QTL in Fd 50 on
chromosome 7 were identified conferring resistance to vector T. orizicolus (Romero
et al. 2014). The resistance QTL has been mapped and is being introgressed in elite
rice varieties.
Removal of volunteer or ratoon rice plants in fields prior to sowing or transplant-
ing of the rice crop can reduce the intensity of the disease in the fields. Crop rotation
involving a nonhost crop can reduce the initial inocula and the disease severity. The
disease can also be significantly managed by controlling the vectors. However,
chemical sprayings for insect vector control led to the resurgence of the vector and
high incidence of the disease in Ecuador and Colombia (Buddenhagen 1983).

13.5  Conclusion

There is no silver bullet for management of all the rice diseases in the field. An
integrated management approach has a fair chance of success in the field as
effectiveness of most of the components of such a method has been identified
individually. It would specifically revolve around the use of an appropriate resis-
tant or tolerant variety and a few simple practices for which there are experimen-
tal evidences that they can reduce the disease severity individually. These include
use of healthy seeds, seed treatment, removal of primary inoculum, avoiding
flooding of the fields, avoiding excess nitrogen and applying nitrogen fertilizer
in splits and need-based application of chemicals. Regular surveillance of the
fields and adoption of the available control measures will certainly help in keep-
ing the diseases below their economic threshold level and in enhancing the rice
production.
348 G.S. Laha et al.

References

Abbas HK, Sciumbato G, Keeling B (2002) First report of false smut of corn (Zea mays) in the
Mississippi Delta. Plant Disease 86:1179
Abo ME, Fadhila HA (2003) Epidemiology and management of rice viruses and virus diseases.
p. 112–127. In: Hughes JA, Odu BO (eds) Plant virology in Sub-Saharan Africa: proceedings
of a conference organized by IITA, 4–8 June 2001, International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria, 589 pp
Acharya S, Basu A, Sarkar MK, Sengupta PK (2004) Seed-borne infection in sheath blight of rice
and its effect on seedling health. Indian Phytopathology 57:82–83
Adhikari TB, Mew TW (1991) Effect of bacterial blight on growth and yield of rice. J Inst Agri
Anim Sci 12:29–40
Ahonsi MO, Adeoti AYA (2002) False smut on upland rice in eight rice producing locations of Edo
state, Nigeria. J Sustain Agri 20:81–94
Ahuja SC, Srivastava MP (1990) Stem rot of paddy: a review. Agri Rev 11(2):61–78
Akhtar MA, Zakria M, Abbassi FM, Masod MA (2003) Incidence of bacterial blight of rice in
Pakistan during 2002. Pakistan J Botany 35:993–997
Alagarsamy G, Bhaskaran R (1986) Effect of foliar spray of macro and micro nutrients on sheath
rot incidence and rice grain yield. Int Rice Res Newsletter 11(4):27–28
Al-Heeti MB, El-Bahadli AH (1982) Estimation of yield losses caused by Sclerotium oryzae Catt.
on rice in Iraq. College of Agriculture, University Baghdad, Abu Gharib, pp. 113–114
Annou MM, Wailes EJ, Thomsen MR (2005) A dynamic decision model of technology adoption
under uncertainty: case of herbicide-resistant rice. J Agri Appl Econ 37:161–172
Anonymous (1976) Annual report for 1975. Internatinal Rice Research Institute, Manila,
pp. 208–209
Anonymous (2000) Rice yellow mottle virus. WARDA Annual Report Features, pp.  27–37,
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) online. Online
publication.
Atia MMM (2004) Rice false smut (Ustilaginoidea virens) in Egypt. J  Plant Dis Protect
111:71–82
Atkins JG, Adair CR (1957) Recent discovery of hoja blanca, a new rice disease in Florida, and
varietal resistance tests in Cuba and Venezuela. Plant Dis Reporter 41:911–915
Aye SS, Myint YY, Lwin T, Matsumoto M (2009) Stem rot of rice caused by Sclerotium hydrophi-
lum isolated in Myanmar. New Dis Reporter 18:48
Azzam O, Chancellor TCB (2002) The biology, epidemiology and management of tungro disease
in Asia. Plant Dis 86(2):88–100
Baby UI (1992) Studies on the control of rice sheath blight disease with organic soil amendments.
Ph.D. thesis, University of Madras, Madras, 128 pp
Bagga PS, Sharma VK (2006) Evaluation of fungicides as seedling treatment for controlling
bakanae/foot rot (Fusarium moniliforme) disease in Basmati rice. Indian Phytopathol
59:305–308
Baker B, Zambryski P, Staskawicz B, Dinesh-Kumar SP (1997) Signaling in plant-microbe inter-
actions. Science 276(5313):726–733
Bakker W (1970) Rice yellow mottle, a mechanically transmissible virus disease of rice in Kenya.
Netherlands J Plant Pathol 76:53–63
Balachiranjeevi CV, Bhaskar NS, Abhilash V, Akanksha S, Viraktamath BC, Madhav MS,
Hariprasad AS, Laha GS, Prasad MS, Balachandran SM, Neerja CN, Satendra Kumar M,
Senguttuvel P, Kemparaju KB, Bhadana VP, Ram T, Harika G, Mahadev Swamy HK, Hajira
SK, Yugander A, Pranathi K, Anila M, Rekha G, Kousik MBVN, Dilip Kumar T, Swapnil RK,
Giri A, Sundaram RM (2015) Marker-assisted introgression of bacterial blight and blast resis-
tance into DRR17B, an elite, fine-grain type maintainer line of rice. Mol Breeding 35:151.
doi:10.1007/s11032-015-0348-8
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 349

Banito A, Kadai EA, Sere Y (2012) Screening of rice varieties for resistance to bacterial leaf blight.
J Appl Biosci 53:3742–3748
Barnwal MK, Kotasthane A, Magculia N, Mukherjee PK, Savary S, Sharma AK, Singh HB, Singh
US, Sparks AH, Variar M, Zaidi N (2013) A review on crop losses, epidemiology and disease
management of rice brown spot to identify research priorities and knowledge gaps. Eur J Plant
Pathol 136:443–457
Basso A, Onasanya A, Issaka S, Sido AY, Haougui A, Adam T, Sere Y, Saadou M (2011) Bacterial
leaf blight of rice in Niger: pathological diversity of isolates collected on irrigated lands. J Appl
Biosci 38:2551–2563
Biswas A (2001) False smut disease of rice: a review. Environ Biol 19:67–83
Biswas A, Roychoudhury UK (2003) Relative efficacy of some botanicals against sheath blight
disease of rice. J Mycopathol Res 41:163–165
Brooks SA, Anders MM, Yeater KM (2010) Effect of furrow irrigation on the severity of false smut
in susceptible rice varieties. Plant Dis 94:570–574
Buddenhagen IW (1983) Disease resistance in rice. In: Lamberti F, Waller JM, Van der Graff N
(eds) Durable resistance in crops . Plenum Publishing Corporation, New York, pp. 401–428
Buddenhagen IW, Vuong HH, Ba DD (1979) Bacterial blight found in Africa. Int Rice Res
Newsletter 4(1):11
Bunawan H, Dusik L, Bunawan SN, Amin NM (2014) Rice Tungro disease: from identification to
disease control. World Appl Sci J 31(6):1221–1226
Candole BL, Siebenmorgen TJ, Lee FN, Cartwrigh RD (2000) Effect of rice blast and sheath blight
on physical properties of selected rice cultivars. Cereal Chem 77(5):535–540
Cedeno L, Nass H, Carrero C, Cardona R, Rodriguez H, Aleman L (1997) Sclerotium hydrophilum
on rice in Venezuela. Fitopatologia Venezolana 10(1):9–12
Chan ZL, Ding KJ, Tan GJ, Zhu SJ, Chen Q, Su XY, Ma K, Wang AE (2004) Epidemic regularity
of rice bakanae disease. J Anhui Agri Univ 31(2):139–142
Chand H, Singh R (1985) Effect of planting time on stem rot incidence. Int Rice Res Newsletter
10(6):18–19
Chatterjee A, Valasubramanian R, Vachani A, Mau WL, Gnanamanickam SS, Chatterjee AK
(1996) Biological control of rice diseases with Pseudomonas fluorescens 7-14: Isolation of ant
mutants altered in antibiotic production, cloning of ant+ DNA and an evaluation of a role for
antibiotic production in the control of blast and sheath blight. Biol Control 7:185–195
Chauhan BS, Kaur P, Mahajan G, Randhawa RK, Singh H, Kang MS (2014) Global warming and
its possible impact on agriculture in India. In: Sparks DL (ed) Advances in agronomy, vol. 123.
Burlington Academic Press, pp. 65–121
Chen S, Lin XH, Xu CG, Zhang Q (2000) Improvement of bacterial blight resistance of Minghui
63, an elite restorer line of hybrid rice, by molecular marker-assisted selection. Crop Sci
40:239–244
Chen Y, Yao J, Yang X, Zhang AF, Gao TC (2014) Sensitivity of Rhizoctonia solani causing rice
sheath blight. Eur J Plant Pathol 140:419–428
Chen ZY, Lu G, Zhao TJ, Yan DF, Wan HZ (1998) Effect of fungicides on antagonistic bacteria
from rice seed surface. Chin J Biol Control 14(2):72–74
Cintas NA, Webster RK (2001) Effects of rice straw management on Sclerotium oryzae inoculum,
stem rot severity and yield of rice in California. Plant Dis 85:1140–1144
Corral R, Leach JE, Verdier V, Vera Cruz CM (2013) Recovery plan for Xanthomonas oryzae caus-
ing bacterial blight and bacterial leaf streak of rice. Bulletin, NPDRS, 22
Cother E, Nicol H (1999) Susceptibility of Australian rice cultivars to stem rot fungus Sclerotium
oryzae. Australasian Plant Pathol 28:85–91
Dai S, Beachy RN (2009) Genetic engineering of rice to resist rice tungro disease. In Vitro Cell
Deve Biol-Plant 45:517–524
Dantre RK, Rathi YPS (2007) Combined effect of non-conventional chemicals and salicylic acid,
GABA and IAA as systemic resistance on sheath blight of rice. Ann Plant Prot Sci
15(2):506–507
350 G.S. Laha et al.

Dasgupta MK (1992) Rice Sheath Blight: The challenge continues. In: Singh US, Mukhopadhayay
AN, Kumar J, Chaube HS (eds) Plant diseases of international importance: diseases of cereals
and pulses, vol I. Prentice Hall, Englewood Chiffs, pp. 130–157
Dath AP (1990) Sheath blight disease of rice and its management. Associated Publishing Company,
New Delhi, 129
Datnoff LE, Snyder GH, Deren CW (1992) Influence of silicon fertilizer grades on blast and brown
spot development and on rice yields. Plant Dis 76:1011–1013
Datta SK, Datta K (2009) Biotechnological approaches to disease resistance in rice. In: Datta SK
(ed) Rice improvement in the genomics era. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 179–205
de Vleesschauwer D, Yang Y, Vera Cruz C, Monica H (2010) Abscisic acid induced resistance
against brown spot pathogen Cochliobolus miyabeanus in rice involves MAP kinase-mediated
regression of ethylene signaling. Plant Physiol 152:2036–2052
Dean R, Van Kan JAL, Pretorius ZA, Hammond-Kosack KE, DiPietro A, Spanu PD, Rudd JJ,
Dickman M, Kahmann R, Ellis J, Foster GD (2012) The top 10 fungal pathogens in molecular
plant pathology. Mol Plant Pathol 13(4):414–430
Dehkaei FP, Jajaei SM, Rouhani H (2004) Effects of paddy soil antagonistic micro-organisms of
Guilan on the causal agent of rice bakanae disease. J  Sci Technol Agri Natural Res
8(1):213–222
Devadath S (1992) Bacterial blight of paddy. In: Singh US, Mukhopadhaya AN, Kumar J, Chaube
HS (eds) Plant diseases of international importance: diseases of cereals and pulses. Prentice
Hall, Englewood Clifffs, pp. 158–185
Djedatin G, Ndjiondjop MN, Mathieu T, Vera Cruz CM, Sanni A, Ghesquière A, Verdier V (2011)
Evaluation of African cultivated rice Oryza glaberrima for resistance to bacterial blight. Plant
Dis 95:441–447
Dodan DS, Singh R (1995) Effect of planting time on the incidence of blast and false smut of rice
in Haryana. Indian Phytopathol 48:185–186
Dodan DS, Singh R (1996) False smut of rice: present status. Agri Rev 17:227–240
Dodan DS, Singh R, Sunder S (1996) Efficacy of fungitoxicants against sheath rot of rice. Indian
J Mycol Plant Pathol 26:283–284
Dodan DS, Sunder S, Singh R (1998) Effect of planting time on the incidence of sheath rot and
kernel smut of paddy. Plant Dis Res 13:94–95
Dodan DS, Sunder S, Singh R (2007) Management of neck blast of scented rice through non-­
conventional methods. J Mycol Plant Pathol 37:31–32
Dodan DS, Sunder S, Singh R (2013) Comparison of two scoring systems for evaluating false smut
resistance in rice and a new proposed rating scale. Plant Dis Res 28:197–199
DRR (1975–2014) Annual progress report, crop protection (entomology and pathology), vol. 2.
Production Oriented Survey, All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project (ICAR),
Directorate of RiceResearch, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad
Ebron LA, Yumol RR, Ikeda R, Imbe T (1994) Inheritance of resistance to rice tungro spherical
virus in some rice cultivars. Int Rice Res Notes 19(4):10–11
Elazegui FA, Castilla NP, Nieva LP, Vera Cruz CM (2009) Notes on rice diseases. http://www.
knowledgebank.irri.org/IPM/index.php/false-smut/economic-importance
Eswaramurthy S, Muthusamy M, Muthusamy S, Mariappan V, Kumar K, Jayasekhar M, Natarajan
S (1988) Management of rice brown spot, sheath rot and bacterial leaf blight with Azospirillum
lipoferum application. Abstracts of the papers presented to the National Seminar on Management
of Crop Diseases with Plant Products/Biological Agents, p. 8
Evenson RE (1998) The economic value of genetic improvement in rice. In: Dowling NG,
Greenfield SM, Fisher KS (eds) Sustainability of rice in the global food system. International
Rice Research Institute, Manila, pp. 303–320
Ezuka A, Kaku H (2000) A historical review of bacterial blight of rice. Bulletin of the National
Institute of Agrobiological Resources (Japan), No 15 (March), 207 pp
Fomba SN (1986) Crop losses and other effects of attack caused by the rice yellow mottle virus on
the rice varieties ROK5 and Ankatta at Rokup. West Africa Devel Newsletter 6:24–28
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 351

Fomba SN, Taylor DR (1994) Rice blast in West Africa: its nature and control. In: Zeigler RS,
Leong SA, Teng PS (eds) Rice blast disease. CAB International, Wallingford/International
Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 343–356
Galvez GE (1968) Transmission studies of the hoja blanca virus with highly active, virus-free colo-
nies of Sogatodes oryzicola. Phytopathology 58:818–821
Gangopadhyay S (1983) Current concepts on fungal diseases of rice. Today and Tomorrow’s
Printers & Publishers, New Delhi, 349 pp
Gangopadhyay S, Chakrabarti N (1982) Sheath blight of rice. Rev Plant Pathol 61:451–460
Garces-Orejuela C, Jennings PR, Skiles RL (1958) Hoja blanca of rice and the history of the dis-
ease in Colombia. Plant Dis Rep 42:750–751
Garrido MJ, Malaguti G (1995) Occurrence of Sclerotium oryzae in rice in Calabozo, Venezuela.
Fitopatologia Venezolana 8(1):19
Ghazanfar MU, Javed N, Wakil W, Iqbal M (2013) Screening of some fine and coarse rice varieties
against bakanae disease. J Agric Res 51(1):41–49
Gill MA, Yasin SI, Khan TZ, Ullah QA, Bhatt MA (1993) Sheath rot disease of rice in Punjab,
Pakistan. Int Rice Res Notes 18(2):23
Gnanamanickam SS, Mew TW (1992) Biological control of blast disease of rice (Oryza sativa L.)
with antagonistic bacteria and its mediation by a Pseudomonas antibiotic. Ann Phytopathol Soc
Japan 58:380–385
Gohel NM, Patil RK, Pandey RN, Prajapati HN (2014) A new report on occurrence of false head
smut (Ustilaginoidea virens (Cooke) Takahashi) of maize (Zea mays L.) from Gujarat, India.
Bioscan (Suppl Plant Pathol) 9(3):1147–1149
Gopalakrishnan S, Sharma RK, Rajkumar KA, Joseph M, Singh VP, Singh AK, Bhat KV, Singh
NK, Mohapatra T (2008) Integrating marker assisted background analysis with foreground
selection for identification of superior bacterial blight resistant recombinants in Basmati rice.
Plant Breeding 127:131–139
Goto M (1965) Resistance of rice varieties and species of wild rice to bacterial leaf blight and
bacterial leaf streak diseases. Philippine Agri 48:329–338
Groth DE, Bond JA (2007) Effects of cultivars and fungicides on rice sheath blight, yield, and
quality. Plant Dis 91:1647–1650
Haiyong H, Wongkaew S, Jie Y, Xuehui Y, Xiaojun C, Shiping W, Qigqun T, Lishuang W, Sompong
M, Buensanteai N (2015) Biology and artificial inoculation of Ustilaginoidea virens (Cooke)
Takahashi in rice. Afr J Microbiol Res 9:821–830
Hari Y, Srinivasarao K, Viraktamath BC, Hari Prasad AS, Laha GS, Ahmed MI, Natarajkumar P,
Sujatha K, Prasad MS, Pandey M, Ramesha MS, Neeraja CN, Balachandran SM, Rani NS,
Kemparaju B, Mohan KM, Sama VSAK, Shaik H, Balachiranjeevi C, Pranathi K, Ashok Reddy
G, Madhav MS, Sundaram RM (2013) Marker-assisted introgression of bacterial blight and
blast resistance into IR 58025B, an elite maintainer line of rice. Plant Breeding 132:586–594
Harish S, Duraiswamy S, Ramalingam R, Ebenezar EG, Seetharaman K (2008) Use of plant
extracts and biocontrol agents for the management of brown spot disease in rice. Biocontrol
53:555–567
Hashioka Y (1971) Rice diseases in the world. Il Riso 20:235–358
Heong KL, Escalada MM (1997) A comparative analysis of pest management practices of rice
farmers in Asia. In: Heong KL, Escalada MM (eds) Pest management of rice farmers in Asia.
International Rice Research Institute, pp. 227–245
Hittalmani S, Parco A, Mew TV, Zeigler RS, Huang N (2000) Fine mapping and DNA marker-­
assisted pyramiding of the three major genes for blast resistance in rice. Theorat Appl Genet
100:1121–1128
Hollier CA, Rush Milton C, Groth DE (2009) Louisiana plant pathology: sheath blight of rice,
2009. Publication No. 3123
Hori M, Anraku M (1971) Studies on the forecasting techniques of sheath blight of rice plant.
Appointed Experiment (Plant Diseases and insect pests). Yamaguchi Agricultural Research
Station Special Bulletin No. 24, pp. 1–85
352 G.S. Laha et al.

Javan-Nikkhah M, Hedjaroude GA, Sharifi-Tehrani A, Elahinia SA (1998) Rice stem rot in Gilan,
Iran. Iranian J Plant Pathol 34(1/2):76–83
Jennings PR (1963) Estimating yield loss in rice caused by hoja blanca. Phytopathology 53:492
Jones RK, Barnes LW, Gonzalez CF, Leach JE, Alvarez AM, Benedict AA (1989) Identification of
low virulence strains of Xanthomonas campestris pv. oryzae from rice in the United States.
Phytopathology 79:984–990
Kandhari J (2007) Management of sheath blight of rice through fungicides and botanicals. Indian
Phytopathol 60:214–217
Kang S, Mullins E, Dezwaan TM, Orbach MJ (2000) Pathogenesis and genome organization of the
rice blast fungus. In: Kronstad JW (eds) Fungal pathology. Kluwer Academic Publisher,
pp. 195–235.
Kannaiyan S, Prasad NN (1978a) Estimation of yield losses due to sheath blight disease of rice.
Aduthurai Rep 2:137–138
Kannaiyan S, Prasad NN (1978b) Seed borne nature of sheath blight pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani
in rice. Int Rice Res Newsletter 3(2):10
Kapoor AS (2010) Slow blasting resistance and rice cultivar heterogeneity in the management of
blast (Pyricularia grisea). Plant Dis Res 25:1–5
Katara JL, Sonha H, Deshmukh RK, Chaurasia R, Kotasthane AS (2010) Molecular analysis of
QTSs associated with resistance to brown spot in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Indian J Genet Plant
Breeding 70:17–21
Kato H (2001) Rice blast disease. Pesticide Outlook 12:23–25
Kavitha S, Senthilkumar S, Gnanamanickam SS, Inayathulla M, Jayakumar R (2005) Isolation and
partial characterization of an antifungal protein from Bacillus polymyxa strain VLB16. Process
Biochem 40:3236–3243
Keneni G, Bekele E, Imtiaz M, Dagne K (2012) Genetic vulnerability of modern crop cultivars:
causes, mechanism and remedies. Int J Plant Res 2(3):69–79
Khalili E, Sadravi M, Naeimi S, Khosravi V (2012) Biological control of rice brown spot with
native isolates of three Trichoderma species. Braz J Microbiol 43:297–305
Khan MAI, Bhuiyan MR, Hossain MS, Sen PP, Ara A, Siddique MA, Ali MA (2014) Neck blast
disease influences grain yield and quality traits of aromatic rice. C R Biol 337:635–641
Khan TZ, Gill MA, Khan MG (2000) Screening of rice varieties/lines for resistance to bacterial
leaf blight. Pakistan J Phytopathol 12:71–72
Khokhar LK (1990) Bakanae and foot rot of rice in Punjab, Pakistan. Int Rice Res Newsletter
15(3):30–31
Khush GS, Bacalangco E, Ogawa T (1990) A new gene for resistance to bacterial blight from O.
longistaminata. Rice Genet Newsletter 7:121–122
Khush GS, Mackill DJ, Sidhu GS (1989) Breeding rice for resistance to bacterial leaf blight. In:
IRRI (ed) Bacterial blight of rice. IRRI, Manila, pp. 207–217
Kim SM, Suh JP, Qin Y, Noh TH, Reinke RF, Jena KK (2015) Identification and fine mapping of a
new resistance gene, Xa40, conferring resistance to bacterial blight races in rice (Oryza sativa
L.). Theorat Appl Genet. doi:10.1007/s00122-015-2557-2
Kiyosawa S (1967) Genetic studies on host-pathogen relationship in the rice blast disease. In:
Ogura T (ed) Rice diseases and their control by growing resistant varieties and other measures.
Proceedings of the symposium of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council, 1967,
Tokyo
Kobayashi T, Ishiguro K, Nakajima T, Kim H, Okada M, Kobayashi K (2006) Effects of elevated
atmospheric CO2 concentration on the infection of rice blast and sheath blight. Phytopathology
96:425–431
Koide Y, Kawasaki A, Telebanco-Yanorial MJ, Hairmansis A, Nguyet NTM, Bigirimana J, Fujita
D, Kobayashi N, Fukuta Y (2010) Development of pyramided lines with two resistance genes,
Pish and Pib, for blast disease (Magnaporthe oryzae B. Couch) in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Plant
Breeding 129:670–675
Koide Y, Kobayashi N, Xu D, Fukuta Y (2009) Resistance genes and selection of DNA markers for
blast disease in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Japan Agri Res Q 43(4):255–280
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 353

Koiso Y, Li Y, Iwasaki S, Hanaoka K, Kobayashi T, Sonoda R, Fujita Y, Yaegashi H, Sato Z (1994)

Ustiloxins, antimiotitic cyclic peptides from false smut balls on rice panicles caused by
Ustilaginoidea virens. J Antibiot 47:765–772
Koiso Y, Morisaki N, Yamashita Y, Mitsui Y, Shirai R, Hashimoto Y, Iwasaki S (1998) Isolation and
structure of an antimitotic cyclic peptide, ustiloxin F: Chemical interrelation with a homolo-
gous peptide, ustiloxin B. J Antibiot 51:418–422
Konate G, Fargette D (2003) Overview of rice yellow mottle virus. In: Hughes JA, Odu BO (eds)
Plant virology in Sub-Saharan Africa: proceedings of a conference organized by IITA, 4–8
June 2001, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, pp. 1–17
Kouassi N, N’Guessan P, Albar L, Fauquet C, Brugidou C (2005) Distribution and characterization
of rice yellow mottle virus: a threat to African farmers. Plant Dis 89:124–133
Kozaka T (1970) Pellicularia sheath blight of rice plants and its control. Japan Agri Res Q
5:12–16
Kozaka T (1975) Sheath blight of rice plants and its control. Rev Plant Protect Res 8:69–80
Krause RA, Webster RK (1973) Stem rot of rice in California. Phytopathology 63:518–523
Krishnamurthy K, Gnanamanickam SS (1997) Biological control of sheath blight of rice: Induction
of systemic resistance by plant-associated Pseudomonas spp. Curr Sci 72:331–334
Krishnaveni D, Reddy CS, Laha GS, Neeraja CN, Prasad GSV, Srinivas Prasad M, Mangrauthia
SK, Muralidharan K, Viraktamath BC (2009) Rice tungro virus disease in India. Technical
Bulletin No. 43, Directorate of Rice Research (ICAR), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, 26 pp
Kumar J, Nelson RJ, Zeigler RS (1999) Population structure and dynamics of Magnaporthe grisea
in the Indian Himalayas. Genetics 152:971–984
Kumar P, Sunder S (2015) Longevity of Fusarium moniliformae in different parts of rice grains.
Abstracts of national symposium on understanding host-pathogen interaction through science
of omics, ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode , 16–17 Mar 2015, p 65
Kumar P, Singh R, Sunder S (2014) Variability in and management of Fusarium fujikuroi causing
foot rot and bakanae of rice. J Mycol Plant Pathol 44:227–236
Kumar S, Rai B (2008) Evaluation of new fungicides and biopesticides against brown spot of rice.
Indian Agri 52:117–119
Ladhalakshmi D, Laha GS, Singh R, Karthikeyan A, Mangrauthia SK, Sundaram RM,
Thukkaiyannan P, Viraktamath BC (2012a) Isolation and characterization of Ustilaginoidea
virens and survey of false smut disease of rice in India. Phytoparasitica 40(2):171–176
Ladhalakshmi D, Laha GS, Singh R, Krishnaveni D, Srinivas Prasad M, Mangrauthia SK, Prakasam
V, Yugander A, Viraktamath BC (2012b) False smut  – a threatening disease of rice. Technical
Bulletin No. 63, Indian Institute of Rice Research (ICAR), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, 32 pp
Laha GS, Venkataraman S (2001) Sheath blight management in rice with biocontrol agents. Indian
Phytopathol 54:461–464
Laha GS, Reddy CS, Krishnaveni D, Sundaram RM, Srinivas Prasad M, Ram T, Muralidharan K,
Viraktamath BC (2009) Bacterial blight of rice and its management. Technical Bulletin No. 41,
Directorate of Rice Research (ICAR), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, 37 pp
Laha GS, Venkataraman S, Reddy APK (1997) Alternative approaches in the management of
sheath blight disease of rice. Proceedings of international conference on integrated plant dis-
ease management for sustainable agriculture, 1997, pp.  225–226. Indian Phytopathological
Society, Malhotra Publishing House, New Delhi
Lee FN (1994) Rice breeding programs, blast epidemics and blast management in the United
States. In: Zeigler RS, Leong SA, Teng P (eds) Rice blast disease. CAB International,
Willingford in Association with International Rice Research Institute, Manila, pp. 489–500
Lee FN, Rush MC (1983) Rice sheath blight: a major rice disease. Plant Dis 67:829–832
Leung H, Zhu Y, Revilla I, Fan JX, Chen H, Pangga I, Vera Cruz CM, Mew TW (2003) Using
genetic diversity to achieve sustainable rice disease management. Plant Dis 87:1156–1169
Leung H, Wu J, Liu B, Bustaman M, Sridhar R, Singh K, Redona Ed, Quang VD, Zheng K,
Bernardo M, Wang G, Leach J, Choi R, Vera Cruz CM (2004) Sustainable disease resistance in
rice: current and future strategies. In: New directions for a diverse planet. Proceedings of the
4th international crop science congress, 26 Sept–1 Oct 2004, Brisbane
354 G.S. Laha et al.

Li YG, Kang BJ, Feng YX, Huang DJ, Wu DB, Li TF (1984) A brief report on the studies of rice
stem rot. Guangdong Agri Sci 5:35–37
Liu H, Tian W, Li B, Wu G, Ibrahim M, Tao Z, Wang Y, Xie G, Li H, Sun G (2012) Antifungal
effect and mechanism of chitosan against the rice sheath blight pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani.
Biotechnol Lett 34:2291–2298
Lore JS, Pannu PPS, Jain J, Hunjan MS, Kaur R, Mangat GS (2013) Susceptibility of rice hybrids
and inbred cultivars to false smut under field conditions. Indian Phytopathol 64:397–399
Lore JS, Thind TS, Hunjan MS, Goel RK (2007) Performance of different fungicides against mul-
tiple diseases of rice. Indian Phytopathol 60:296–301
Lozano JC (1977) Identification of bacterial leaf blight in rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae in
America. Plant Dis Rep 61:644–648
Lu B (1994) Preliminary report on evaluation of resistance to rice bakanae disease in rice germ-
plasm. Plant Protect 20(3):20–21
Ma LY, Ji ZJ, Bao JS, Zhu XD, Li XM, Zhuang JY, Yang CD, Xia YW (2008) Responses of rice
genotypes carrying different dwarf genes to Fusarium moniliforme and gibberellic acid. Plant
Prod Sci 11(1):134–138
Manandhar J  (1999) Fusarium moniliforme in rice seeds: its infection, isolation and longevity.
Zeitschriftfur Pflenzenkrankheiten Pflenzenschutz 106:598–607
Manibhushan Rao K (1996) Sheath rot disease of rice. Daya Publishing House, Delhi, 71 pp
Manibhushan Rao K, Joe Y, Madathiammal P (1990) Elicitation of resistance in rice to sheath
blight disease. Int J Trop Plant Dis 8:193–197
Marchetti MA (1983) Potential impact of sheath blight on yield and milling quality of short stat-
ured rice lines in the southern United States. Plant Dis 67:162–165
Mew TW, Alvarez AM, Leach JE, Swings J (1993) Focus on bacterial blight of rice. Plant Dis
77:5–12
Mew TW, Rosales AM (1992) Control of Rhizoctonia sheath blight and other diseases by rice seed
bacterization. In: Tjamos ES, Papavizas GC, Cook RJ (eds) Biological control of plant dis-
eases. Plenum Press, New York, pp. 113–123
Mew TW, Leung H, Savary S, Vera Cruz CM, Leach J  (2004) Looking ahead in rice disease
research and management. Crit Rev Plant Sci 23(2):103–127
Miah G, Rafii MY, Ismail MR, Puteh AB, Rahim HA, Asfaliza R, Latif MA (2013) Blast resistance
in rice: a review of conventional breeding to molecular approaches. Mol Biol Rep
40:2369–2388
Miyake I (1910) Studien uber dieP ihe der Reispflanze in Japan. J Coll Agri Imperial Univ Tokyo
2:237–276
Moldenhauer KAK, Lee FN, Norman RJ, Helms RS, Wells BR, Dilday RH, Rohman PL, Marchetti
MA (1990) Registration of ‘Katy’ rice. Crop Sci 30:747–748
Molla KA, Karmakar S, Chanda PK, Ghosh S, Sarkar SN, Datta SK, Datta K (2013) Rice oxalate
oxidase gene driven by green tissue-specific promoter increases tolerance to sheath blight
pathogen (Rhizoctonia solani) in transgenic rice. Mol Plant Pathol 14(9):910–922
Morales FJ, Jennings PR (2010) Rice hoja blanca: a complex plant-virus-vector pathosystem.
CAB Reviews: Perspectives in Agriculture, Veterinary Science, Nutrition and Natural
Resources, No. 043
Motomura M, Suwa S, Hirooka EY (1997) Biological control: microbial versus chemical fungi-
cides on growth of rice infected with Fusarium moniliforme. Rev Microbiol 28(1):11–16
(Brazil)
Munoz D, Garcia E (1983) Oryzica-1 and Metica-1, new resistant varieties to hoja blanca virus. Int
Rice Comm Newsletter 32:28–30
Muralidharan K, Reddy CS, Krishnaveni D, Laha GS (2003a) Evaluation of plant derived com-
mercial products for blast and sheath blight control in rice. Indian Phytopathol 56:151–155
Muralidharan K, Krishnaveni D, Rajarajeswari NVL, Prasad R (2003b) Tungro epidemics and
yield losses in paddy fields in India. Curr Sci 85:1143–1147
Nandakumar R, Babu S, Viswanathan R, Sheela J, Raguchander T, Samiyappan R (2001) A new
bio-formulation containing plant growth promoting rhizobacterial mixture for the management
of sheath blight and enhanced grain yield in rice. Biocontrol 46(4):493–510
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 355

Narasimhan V, Ramadoss N, Sridhar VV, Abdul Kareem A (1994) Using gypsum to manage sheath
rot in rice. Int Rice Res Newsletter 19(2):27–28
Narasimhan V, Sridhar VV, Abdul Kareem A (1993) Efficacy of botanicals in managing sheath rot
of rice. Int Rice Res Newsletter 18(3):33
Ni J, Colowit PM, Oster JJ, Xu K, Mackill DJ (2001) Molecular markers linked to stem rot resis-
tance in rice. Theorat Appl Genet 102:511–516
Nino-Liu DO, Ronald PC, Bogdanove AJ (2006) Xanthomonas oryzae pathovars: model patho-
gens of a model crop. Mol Plant Pathol 7:303–324
Nishant P, Puri S (2012) Evaluation of fluorescent Pseudomonad against Sclerotium oryzae, the
causal agent of stem rot of rice. J Mycol Plant Pathol 42:260–262
Notteghem JL, Silue D (1992) Distribution of mating type alleles in Magnaporthe grisea popula-
tions pathogenic on rice. Phytopathology 82:421–424
OEPP/EPPO (2007) Diagnostic: Xanthomonas oryzae. Bulletin 37:543–553
Okhoba MM (1989) RYMV in Kenya. In: Report on monitoring tours to West African countries
1988 and 1989. International Rice Testing Programme, Africa, pp. 51–52
Omar RA, Balal MS, El-Kazzaz MK, Aidy IR (1979) Reaction of rice varieties to the brown spot
disease of rice, Cochliobolus miyabeanus, at different stages of growth. Agri Res Rev
57:103–118
Opina OS, Exconde OR (1971) Assessment of yield loss due to bacterial leaf streak of rice.
Philippine Phytopathol 7:35–39
Ou SH (1985) Rice diseases, 2nd edn. Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew, Surrey, 380 pp
Pan XB, Rush MC, Sha XY, Xie QJ, Linscombe SD, Stetina SR, Oard JH (1999) Major gene, non-­
allelic sheath blight resistance from the rice cultivars Jasmine 85 and Teqing. Crop Sci
39:338–346
Paracer CS, Chahal DS (1963) Sheath blight of rice caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kunn. A new
record of India. Curr Sci 32:328–329
Paracer CS, Luthra JC (1944) Further studies on the stem rot disease of rice caused by Sclerotium
oryzae Catt. in Punjab. Indian J Agri Sci 14:48–58
Prabhu AS, Filippi MC, Silva GB, Lobo VLS, Moraes OP (2009) An unprecedented outbreak of
rice blast on a newly released cultivar BRS Colosso in Brazil. In: Wang GL, Valent B (eds)
Advances in genetics, genomics and control of rice blast disease. Springer, New  York,
pp. 257–266
Prasad B, Eizenga GC (2008) Rice sheath blight disease resistance identified in Oryza spp. acces-
sions. Plant Dis 92:1503–1509
Prasad MS, Seshu Madhav M, Laha GS, Ladhalakshmi D, Krishnaveni D, Mangrauthia SK,
Balachandran SM, Sundaram RM, Aruna Kumari B, Madan Mohan K, Ratna Madhavi K,
Kumar V, Virakatmath BC (2010) Rice blast disease and its management. Directorate of Rice
Research (ICAR), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, 52 pp
Priyadarisini VB, Viji G, Gnanamanickam SS (1999) Mating type distribution, fertility and patho-
genicity of rice isolates of Magnaporthe grisea in four rice growing regions of India. Indian
Phytopathol 52:28–34
Qi Z (2009) Genetics and improvement of bacterial blight resistance of hybrid rice in China. Rice
Sci 16(2):83–92
Rajan CPD (1987) Estimation of yield loss due to sheath blight of rice. Indian Phytopathol
40:174–177
Rajan KM (1981) Mechanical separation of paddy seeds as applied to plant pathology. Int Rice Res
Newsletter 6(2):10
Ram T, Majumder ND, Laha GS, Ansari MM, Kar CS, Mishra B (2008) Identification of donors
for sheath blight resistance in wild species of rice. Indian J Genet Plant Breeding 68:317–319
Rani NS, Prasad GSV, Rao LVS,Sudharshan I, Pandey MK, Babu VR, Ram T, Padmavathi G,
Muralidharan K, Pacalu IC, Viraktamath BC (2008) High yielding rice varieties of India,
Technical Bulletin No. 33, Directorate of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, 188 pp
Rao Y, Li Y, Qian Q (2014) Recent progress on molecular breeding of rice in China. Plant Cell Rep
33:551–564
356 G.S. Laha et al.

Raychoudhuri S, Purkayastha RP (1980) Plant hormone affecting susceptibility of dwarf cultivars

of rice to sheath rot disease. Indian Phytopathol 33:77–82
Raza T, Ahmed MI, Nasir MA (1993) Extent of infection of Fusarium moniliforme Sheld. in dif-
ferent rice seed samples and in vitro effect of certain fungicides on the fungus. Sarhad J Agri
9:231–233
Reckhaus PM, Adamou I (1986) Rice diseases and their economic importance in the Niger. FAO
Plant Prot Bull 34(2):77–82
Reckhaus PM, Randrianangaly S (1990) Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) on rice in Madagascar.
Int Rice Res Newsletter 15(1):30
Reddy APK (1989) Bacterial blight: crop loss assessment and disease management. In: IRRI (ed)
Bacterial blight of rice. IRRI, Manila, pp. 79–88
Reddy MM, Reddy CS, Gopal Singh B (2000) Effect of sheath rot disease on qualitative characters
of rice grain. J Mycol Plant Pathol 30:68–72
Reinking OA (1918) Philippine economic plant diseases. Philippine J Sci A13:165–274
Ren SJ (2007) Studies on occurrence rule of sheath blight of rice and pesticides screening. North
Rice 6:50–51
Rivera CT, Ou SH (1965) Leafhopper transmission of ‘tungro’ disease of rice. Plant Dis Rep
49:127–131
Rodrigues FA, Vale FXR, Datnoff LE, Prabhu AS, Korndorfer GH (2003) Effect of rice growth
stages and silicon on sheath blight development. Phytopathology 93:256–261
Romero LE, Lozano I, Garavito A, Carabali SJ, Triana M, Villareal N, Reyes L, Duque MC,
Martinez CP, Calvert L, Lorieux M (2014) Major QTLs control resistance to rice hoja blanca
virus and its vector Tagosodes oryzicolus. G3 Genes Genom Genet 4:133–142
Sah DN, Bonman JM (2008) Effect of seed bed management on blast development in susceptible
and partially resistant rice cultivars. J Phytopathol 136:73–81
Saksena HK, Chaubey RD (1972) Banded blight disease of paddy. All India Coordinated Rice
Improvement Project (AICRIP) Workshop, Hyderabad (Mimeographed)
Sakthivel N, Gnanamanicham SS (1987) Evaluation of Pseudomonas fluorescens for suppressing
sheath rot disease and for enhancement of grain yield in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Appl Environ
Microbiol 53(9):2056–2059
Sanghera GS, Ahanger MA, Kashyap SC, Bhat ZA, Rather AG, Parray GA (2012) False smut of
rice (Ustilaginoidea virens) under temperate agro-climatic conditions of Kashmir, India. Elixir
Bio Technol 49:9827–9831
Sarra S (1998) Quelques aspects écologiques du virus de la panachure jaune du riz (RYMV) en
zone soudano-sahélienne. Mémoire de Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies (DEA),
Universitéd’Ouagadougou, 54 pp
Sato H, Ando I, Hirabayashi H, Takeuchi Y, Arase S, Kihara J, Kato H, Imbe T, Nemoto H (2008)
QTL analysis of brown spot resistance in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Breeding Sci 58:93–96
Savary S, Castilla NP, Elazegui FA, Teng PS (2005) Multiple effects of two drivers of agricultural
change, labour shortage and water scarcity, on rice pest profiles in tropical Asia. Field Crop Res
91:263–271
Savary S, Horgan F, Willocquet L, Heong KL (2012) A review of principles for sustainable pest
management in rice. Crop Prot 32:54–63
Sere Y, Fargette D, Abo ME, Wydra K, Bimerew M, Onasanya A, Akator SK (2013) Managing the
major diseases of rice in Africa. In: Wopereis MCS, Johnson DE, Ahmadi N, Tollens E, Jalloh
A (eds) Realizing Africa’s rice promise. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International,
pp. 213–228
Sere Y, Onasanya A, Verdier V, Akator K, Ouédraogo LS, Segda Z, Coulibaly MM, Sido AY, Basso
A (2005) Rice bacterial leaf blight in West Africa: preliminary studies on disease in farmers’
fields and screening released varieties for resistance to the bacteria. Asian J  Plant Sci
4(6):577–579
Shabana YM, Abdel-Fattah GM, Ismail AE, Rashad YM (2008) Control of brown spot pathogen on
rice (Bipolaris oryzae) using some phenolic antioxidants. Braz J Microbiol 39:438–444
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 357

Shahjahan M, Imbe T, Jalani BS, Zakri AH, Othman O (1991) Inheritance of resistance to rice
tungro spherical virus in rice (Oryza sativa L.). In: Proceedings of international rice genetics
symposium, 2nd edn, Los Baños, 14–18 May 1990. International Rice Research Institute, Los
Baños, pp. 247–254
Sharma L, Nagrale DT, Singh SK, Sharma KK, Sinha AP (2013) A study on fungicides potential
and incidence of sheath rot of rice caused by Sarocladium oryzae (Sawada). J Appl Natural Sci
5(1):24–29
Sharma TR, Rai AK, Gupta SK, Vijayan J, Devanna BN, Ray S (2012) Rice blast management
through host-plant resistance: retrospect and prospects. Agri Res 1(1):37–52
Sharma VK, Thind TS, Singh PP, Mohan C, Arora JK, Raj P (2007) Disease weather relationships
and forecasting of bacterial leaf blight of rice. Plant Dis Res 22:52–56
Shekhawat GS, Rao YP (1972) Bacterial leaf streak of rice. In: Patel PN (eds) Plant bacteriology
(volume 1): bacterial diseases of plants in India. Summer Institute of Plant Bacteriology,
Division of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, ICAR,
pp. 13–21
Shekhawat GS, Srivastava DN (1971) Control of bacterial leaf streak of rice. Indian J Agri Sci
41:1098–1101
Shekhawat GS, Srivastava DN (1972) Epidemiology of bacterial leaf streak of rice. Ann
Phytopathol Soc Japan 38:4–6
Shukla VD, Chauhan JS, Variar M, Maiti D, Chauhan VS, Tomar JB (1995) Research of traditional
rainfed rice associations to brown spot, blast and sheath rot diseases. Indian Phytopathol
48:433–435
Singh A, Singh VK, Singh SP, Pandian RTP, Ellur RK, Singh D, Bhowmick PK, Gopala Krishnan
S, Nagarajan M, Vinod KK, Singh UD, Prabhu KV, Sharma TR, Mohapatra T, Singh AK.
(2012a) Molecular breeding for the development of multiple disease resistance in Basmati rice.
AoB PLANTS, pls029. doi:10.1093/aobpla/pls029
Singh AK, Gopalakrishnan S, Singh VP, Prabhu KV, Mohapatra T, Singh NK, Sharma TR, Nagarajan
M, Vinod KK, Singh D, Singh UD, Chander S, Atwal SS, Seth R, Singh VK, Ranjith KE, Singh
A, Deepti A, Apurva K, Sheel Y, Nitika G, Singh A, Shikari AB, Singh A, Marathi B (2011)
Marker assisted selection: a paradigm shift in Basmati breeding. Indian J Genet 71:1–9
Singh K, Mathur SB (1993) Further evidence of transmission of Sarocladium oryzae through rice
seeds and its quarantine significance. Indian Phytopathol 45:454–456
Singh RA, Raju CA (1981) Studies on sheath rot of rice. Int Rice Res Newsletter 6(2):11–12
Singh RA, Das B, Ahmed KM, Pal V (1980) Chemical control of bacterial leaf blight of rice. Trop
Pest Manag 26:21–25
Singh R, Chand H (1986) Reaction of rice genotypes to stem rot and bacterial blight pathogen. Int
Rice Res Newsletter 11(4):15
Singh R, Dodan DS (1995) Sheath rot of rice. Int J Trop Plant Dis 13:139–152
Singh R, Sunder S (1997) Foot rot and bakanae of rice: retrospect and prospect. Int J Trop Plant
Dis 15:153–176
Singh R, Sunder S (2012) Foot rot and bakanae of rice: an overview. Rev Plant Pathol 5:565–604
Singh R, Sunder S (2015) Identification of sources of resistance to blast and false smut of rice and
their management with fungicides. J Mycol Plant Pathol 45:55–59
Singh R, Sunder S, Nandal DP, Ram M (1999) Management of paddy blast through cultural prac-
tices, host resistance and fungicides. Haryana Agri Univ J Res 29:109–114
Singh R, Dodan DS, Sunder S, Sharma SK (2002a) Efficacy of fungitoxicants against false smut
of paddy. Haryana Agri Univ J Res 32:89–90
Singh R, Kumar A, Jalali BL (2002b) Variability, predisposing factors and management of stem rot
of rice caused by Sclerotium oryzae Catt: an overview. Ann Rev Plant Pathol 1:275–289
Singh R, Sunder S, Dodan DS, Ram L (2005) Etiology, inoculation methods and evaluation of
botanicals against sheath rot complex of rice. Haryana Agri Univ J Res 35:93–97
Singh R, Sunder S, Dodan DS, Ram L, Singh R (2010a) Evaluation of scented rice genotypes and
fungicides against blast and compatibility of pesticides used against neck blast, stem borer and
leaf folder. Indian Phytopathol 63:212–215
358 G.S. Laha et al.

Singh R, Sunder S, Reddy CS, Dodan DS (2010b) Disease resistance in rice: progress and perspec-
tives. In: Sardana HR, Bambawale OM, Prasad D (eds) Sustainable crop protection strategies,
vol 1. Daya Publishers, Delhi, pp. 30–69
Singh R, Sunder S, Dodan DS (2010c) Standardization of inoculation method in nursery beds and
management of sheath blight of rice through host resistance, chemicals and botanicals. Indian
Phytopathol 63:286–291
Singh R, Sunder S, Dodan DS (2012b) Sources of resistance, effectiveness of Xa/xa genes and
evaluation of botanicals and non-conventional chemicals against bacterial blight of rice. Plant
Dis Res 27:200–208
Singh R, Sunder S, Dodan DS (2012c) Status and weed hosts of Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn incitant
of sheath blight of rice in Haryana. Plant Dis Res 27:225–228
Singh R, Sunder S, Dodan DS (2013) Estimation of losses in grain yield due to bacterial blight and
neck blast of rice in Haryana. Indian Phytopathol 66:249–251
Sivalingam PN, Vishwakarma SN, Singh US (2006) Role of seed-borne inoculum of Rhizoctonia
solani in sheath blight of rice. Indian Phytopathol 59:445–452
Srinivasachary, Hittalmani S, Girish Kumar K, Shashidhar HE, Vaishali MG (2002) Identification
of quantitative trait loci associated with sheath rot resistance (Sarocladium oryzae) and panicle
exertion in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Curr Sci 82:133–135
Srinivasachary L, Willocquet L, Savary S (2011) Resistance to rice sheath blight (Rhizoctonia
solani Kuhn) [(teleomorph: Thanatephorus cucumeris (A.B. Frank) Donk.)] disease: current
status and perspectives. Euphytica 178:1–22
Srinivasan MC, Thirumalachar MJ, Patel MK (1959) Bacterial blight disease of rice. Curr Sci
28:469–470
Srinivasan S (1980) Yield losses caused by sheath rot. Int Rice Res Newsletter 5(2):4
Srivastava DN (1972) Bacterial blight of rice. Indian Phytopathol 26:1–16
Strange RN, Scott PR (2005) Plant disease: a threat to global food security. Annu Rev Phytopathol
43:83–116
Sumitra P, Iboton N, Tombisana RK (2011) Biocontrol and fungicidal management of stem rot of
rice. Plant Dis Res 26:194
Sun SK, Snyder WD (1978) The bakanae disease of rice plant. Sci Bull Taiwan 10(7):2
Sundaram RM, Vishnupriya MR, Biradar SK, Laha GS, Reddy AG, Rani NS, Sarma NP, Sonti RV
(2008) Marker assisted introgression of bacterial blight resistance in Samba Mahsuri, an elite
indica rice variety. Euphytica 160:411–422
Sundaram RM, Madhav MS, Balachandran SM, Neeraja CN, Mangrauthia SK, Padmavathi G,
Bhadana VP, Laha GS, Prasad MS, Krishnaveni D, Bentur JS, Padmakumari AP, Katti G,
Jhansi Lakshmi V, Shobha Rani N, Viraktamath BC (2014) Marker-assisted selection for biotic
stress resistance in rice. Technical Bulletin No. 79/2014, Directorate of Rice Research,
Rajendraganar, Hyderabad, 79 pp
Sundaramoorthy S, Karthiba L, Raguchander T, Samiyappan R (2013) Ecofriendly approaches of
potential microbial bioagents in management of sheath rot disease in rice caused by Sarocladium
oryzae (Sawada). Plant Pathol J 12(2):98–103
Sunder S, Singh R (2015) Sources of multiple resistance to bacterial blight, stem rot and sheath
blight of rice. Plant Dis Res 30:106–107
Sunder S, Singh R, Agarwal R (2014a) Brown spot of rice: an overview. Indian Phytopathol
67:201–215
Sunder S, Singh R, Dodan DS (2014b) Management of bakanae disease of rice caused by Fusarium
moniliforme. Indian J Agri Sci 84:224–228
Sunder S, Singh R, Dodan DS (2010) Evaluation of fungicides, botanicals and non-conventional
chemicals against brown spot of rice. Indian Phytopathol 63:192–194
Sunder S, Singh R, Dodan DS, Mehla DS (2005) Effect of different nitrogen levels on brown spot
(Drechslera oryzae) of rice and its management through host resistance and fungicides. Plant
Dis Res 20:111–114
Suparyono (1990) The potentials of biological control for fungal diseases of rice in Indonesia.
Indonesian Agri Res Dev J 12:1–5
13  Importance and Management of Rice Diseases 359

Suzuki M, Hamamura H, Iwamori M (1994) Relationship between formulations of triflumizole

and their efficacy to bakanae disease in rice seed treatment. J Pestic Sci 19(4):251–256
Tanaka E, Ashizawa T, Sonoda R, Tanaka C (2008) Villosiclava virens gen. nov., comb. nov., teleo-
morph of Ustilaginoidea virens, the casual agent of rice false smut. Mycotaxon 106:491–501
Tang D, Wu W, Li W, Lu H, Worland AJ (2000) Mapping of QTLs conferring resistance to BLS in
rice. Theorat Appl Genet 101:286–291
Taylor DR (1989) Resistance of upland rice varieties to pale yellow mottle virus (PYMV) disease
in Sierra Leone. Int Rice Res Newsletter 14(1):11
Tsuda M, Sasahara M, Ohara T, Kato S (2006) Optimal application timing of simeconazole gran-
ules for control of rice kernel smut and false smut. J Gen Plant Pathol 72:301–304
Tyagi H, Rajasubramaniam S, Rajam MV, Dasgupta I (2008) RNA-interference in rice against rice
tungro bacilliform virus results in its decreased accumulation in inoculated rice plants.
Transgenic Res 17:897–904
Varma A, Niazi FR, Dasgupta I, Singh J, Cheema SS, Sokhi SS (1999) Alarming epidemic of rice
tungro disease in North-West India. Indian Phytopathol 52:71–74
Verdier V, Vera Cruz C, Leach JE (2012) Controlling rice bacterial blight in Africa: needs and
prospects. J Biotechnol 159:320–328
Vivekananthan R, Sudhagar R, Ravi M, Ganapathy T, Thiyagarajan K (2006) Status and source of
resistance of sheath rot of rice. Ann Plant Protect Sci 14(2):424–427
Wang X, Lee S Wang J, Ma J, Bianco T, Jia Y (2014) Current advances on genetic resistance to rice
blast disease. In: Yan W, Bao J  (eds) Rice-germplasm, genetics and improvement. InTech,
pp. 195–217
Watson A, Priest MJ (1998) Stem rot of rice in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation area of New South
Wales. Australasian Plant Pathol 27(2):80–83
Webb KM, Ona I, Bai J, Garret KA, Mew TW, Vera Cruz CM, Leach JE (2010) A benefit of high
temperature: increased effectiveness of a rice bacterial blight disease resistance gene. New
Phytolog 185:568–576
Webber AJ, Damsteeg VD, Graban CL (1971) Studies on the relationship of the hoja blanca virus
to the planthopper vector, Sogatodes oryzicola. Phytopathology 61:916
Webster RK, Gunnell PS (1992) Compendium of rice diseases. APS Press, 62 pp
Win KM, Korinsak S, Sirithunya P, Lanceras-Siangliw J, Jamboonsri W, Da T, Patarapuwadol S,
Toojinda T (2013) Marker assisted introgression of multiple genes for bacterial blight resis-
tance into aromatic Myanmar rice MK-75. Field Crop Res 154:164–171
Xie QJ, Linscombe SD, Rush MC, Jodarikarimi F (1992) Registration of LSBR-33 and LSBR-5
sheath blight resistant germplasm lines of rice. Crop Sci 32:507
Yasin SI, Khan TZ, Akhtar KM, Muhammad A, Mushtaq A (2003) Economic evaluation of
bakanae disease of rice. Mycopathology 1(2):115–117
Yoboue WN (1989) Screening for resistance to RYMV in Cote d’Ivoire. In: Report on monitoring
tours to West African countries 1988 and 1989. International Rice Testing Programme, Africa,
pp. 50–51
Yoder OC, Valent B, Chumley F (1986) Genetic nomenclature and practice for plant pathogenic
fungi. Phytopathology 76:383–385
Yoshihiriro T, Mitsuo H, Hayato H, Futoshi K (2003) Biological control of rice blast disease by
Bacillus subtilis IK-1080. Ann Phytopathol Soc Japan 69:85–93
Yugander A, Sundaram RM, Ladhalakshmi D, Shaik H, Sheshu Madhav M, Srinivas Prasad M,
Viraktamath BC, Laha GS (2014) Pathogenic and genetic profile of Xanthomonas oryzae pv.
oryzae isolates from Andhra Pradesh. Indian J Plant Protect 42:149–155
Zadoks JC, Schein RD (1979) Epidemiology and plant disease management. Oxford University
Press, New York, 427 pp
Zeigler RS, Morales FJ (1990) Genetic determination of replication of rice hoja blanca virus
within its planthopper vector, Sogatodes oryzicola. Phytopathology 80:559–566
Zeigler RS, Leong SA, Teng P (1994) Rice blast disease. Commonwealth Agricultural Bereau
International, Willingford in Association with International Rice Research Institute, Manila,
626 pp
360 G.S. Laha et al.

Zenna NS, Cabauatan PQ, Baraodan H, Leung H, Choi IR (2008) Characterization of a putative
rice mutant for reaction to rice tungro disease. Crop Sci 48:480–486
Zhang J, Li X, Jiang G, Xuz Y, He Y (2006) Pyramiding of Xa7 and Xa21 for the improvement of
disease resistance to bacterial blight in hybrid rice. Plant Breeding 125:600–605
Zhao B, Lin X, Poland J, Trick H, Leach J, Hulbert S (2005) A maize resistance gene functions
against bacterial streak disease in rice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102:15383–15388
Zhou YL, Xie XW, Zhang F, Wang S, Liu XZ, Zhu LH, Xu JL, Gao YM, Li ZK (2013) Detection
of quantitative resistance loci associated with resistance to rice false smut (Ustilaginoidea
virens) using introgression lines. Plant Pathol 63:365–372
Zuo S, Zhang Y, Chen Z, Jiang W, Feng M, Pan X (2014) Improvement of rice resistance to sheath
blight by pyramiding QTLs conditioning disease resistance and tiller angle. Rice Sci
21(6):318–326
Zuo SM, Wang ZB, Chen XJ, Gu F, Zhang YF, Chen ZX, Pan XB, Pan CH (2009) Evaluation of
resistance of a novel rice line YSBR1 to sheath blight. Acta Agronomica. Sinica
35(4):608–614
Chapter 14
Rice Weeds and Their Management

Vivek Kumar, Gulshan Mahajan, and Bhagirath S. Chauhan

14.1  Introduction

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a major staple food not only for the people of Asia but for
the whole world. In the economic and social stability of the world, rice plays an
important role as more than 50 % population of the world consider it as a major
staple food. Weeds are the most important biological constraints in the way to attain
the potential rice yield because of their ability to compete for resources and their
impact on rice quality. Heavy rice yield losses can be expected from weeds, and in
the extreme conditions there can be complete crop loss (Ni et al. 2000; Rao et al.
2007; Jabran et al. 2012a, b; Jabran and Chauhan 2015). Losses caused by weeds
further depend upon the method of rice establishment. In the absence of effective
weed control options, yield losses are greater in direct-seeded rice (DSR) than in
transplanted rice (Mahajan et  al. 2009). In transplanted rice, the initial flush of
weeds is controlled by flooding. Besides this, in the DSR method, the emerging rice
seedlings are less competitive with concurrently emerging weeds (Kumar et  al.
2008; Rao et  al. 2007). It is imperative that investment in weed management
­practices be made to reduce yield losses caused by weeds. Total losses caused by

V. Kumar
Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab 141004, India
G. Mahajan (*)
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana, Punjab 141004, India
e-mail: [email protected]
B.S. Chauhan (*)
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of
Queensland, Gatton/Toowoomba 4343/4350, QLD, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 361

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_14
362 V. Kumar et al.

weeds are tied up with cultural practices pertaining to weed control, land ­preparation,
weed control expenses, and reduction in yield quantity and quality.

14.2  Important Rice Weeds

There are different ecosystems in which rice is cultivated, i.e., irrigated, shallow
lowlands, mid-deep lands, deep water, and uplands. In these different ecosys-
tems, different types of weed species are found (Singh and Singh 2008). With the
change in the surface hydrology and rice establishment method, changes in weed
flora have been reported. Ho (1991) observed the changes in the weed flora with
the use of the direct-seeding method of rice. By the adoption of dry and wet
direct sowing methods of rice, the floristic diversity increased and a change in the
relative dominance of the major weed species occurred in comparison with the
transplanting method. The dominating weed species of transplanted rice are
Monochoria vaginalis (Burm. f.) C.  Presl., Ludwigia hyssopifolia (G.  Don)
Exell, Fimbristylis miliacea (L.) Vahl, Cyperus difformis L., and Limnocharis
flava (L.) Buch. However, in dry-seeded rice, Echinochloa colona (L.) Link.,
Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv., Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Nees, Scirpus
grossus L.f., and F. miliacea are dominating weeds, while in wet-seeded rice, E.
crus-galli, L. chinensis, F. miliacea, Marsilea crenata C. Presl, and Monochoria
vaginalis are the dominating weeds. Information regarding the weed flora in rice
has been presented in Table 14.1.

14.3  Yield Losses by Weeds in Rice

Yield losses by weeds are largely dependent on the season, weed species, weed
density, rice cultivar, growth rate, management practice, and rice ecosystem. The
extent of losses caused by weeds can be ascertained with the following examples.
Globally, actual yield losses due to pests have been estimated to be ~40 %, and
the highest share of this loss (32 %) is caused by weeds only (Rao et al. 2007).
Rao and Moody (1994) found that in uncontrolled conditions, weeds caused rice
grain yield losses ranging from 36 to 56 % in the Philippines. Similarly, yield
losses by weeds in uncontrolled conditions were recorded from 40 to 100 % in
South Korea (Kim and Ha 2005). In India, rice yield losses caused by weeds were
observed at about 33  % by Mukherjee (2004) and 32–83  % by Savary et  al.
(1997), while in Sri Lanka, weeds accounted for 30–40  % of yield losses
(Abeysekera 2001). Zhang (2005) found that rice yield reduction caused by
weeds is 10–20 % in China, while Azmi (1992) estimated the average rice yield
losses due to weeds between 10 and 35 % in Malaysia. More than 70 % reduction
in rice grain yield was noted to be caused by uncontrolled weeds in Pakistan
(Jabran et  al. 2012a). In Bangladesh, rice yield losses due to weeds were
Table 14.1  A comprehensive list of weeds reported in rice fields throughout the world
Yield
losses
Mode of in rice
Weeds Family Type propagation (%) Habitat Height (cm)
Grasses
Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. Poaceae Creeping Mainly by stolons 55 Upland weed; adapted to dry or moist 40
perennial and rhizomes, and well drained soils
also by seeds
Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Poaceae Annual Seeds 70 Upland weed; grows in moist to wet 70
Scop. soils
Echinochloa colona (L.) Link Poaceae Annual Seeds 85 Upland weed; adapted to dryland 90
conditions
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management

Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Poaceae Annual Seeds 100 Lowland weed; adapted to wet soils 150
P. Beauv.
Echinochloa glabrescens Poaceae Annual Seeds 7–87 Lowland weed; adapted to wet soils 50–100
Munro ex Hook.f.
Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. Poaceae Annual Seeds 80 Upland weed; grows in moist to wet 60
soils
Imperata cylindrica (L.) Poaceae Perennial Seeds and creeping – Upland weed; adapted to dry and 120
Raeuschel rhizomes moist soil
Ischaemum rugosum Salisb. Poaceae Annual Seeds 15–82 Lowland weed; prefer wet soils and 120
swampy areas
Leersia hexandra Sw. Poaceae Aquatic Seeds, rhizomes 60 Lowland weed; grows in constantly 100
perennial and stolons flooded or marshy habitat
Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Poaceae Annual or Seeds and cuttings 40 Lowland weed; grow well in marshy 120
Nees perennial of culm or fields but cannot survive in
rootstocks continuous flooding
Oryza sativa f. spontanea Poaceae Annual Seeds Lowland weed; prefer moist to 100
flooded conditions
363

(continued)
Table 14.1 (continued)
364

Yield
losses
Mode of in rice
Weeds Family Type propagation (%) Habitat Height (cm)
Paspalum distichum L. Poaceae Perennial Mainly by 85 Lowland weed; grows in moist to wet 30–60
creeping stolons soils
and, to some
extent, by seeds
Rottboellia cochinchinensis Poaceae Annual Seeds 100 Upland weed; prefer well drained 300
(Lour.) W.D. Clayton soils
Broad leaf weeds
Ageratum conyzoides L. Asteraceae Annual Seeds 40 Upland weed; grows in dry to moist 120
soils
Amaranthus spinosus L. Amaranthaceae Annual Seeds 80 Upland weed; grows in soil with no 120
stagnant water
Commelina benghalensis L. Commelinaceae Creeping annual Seeds and stolons 50 Upland weed; grows in wet soils 40
or perennial
Eclipta prostrata L. Asteraceae Annual or Seeds 25 Lowland weed; thrives in 90
perennial continuously wet soils but can grow
at dry sites
Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Pontederiaceae Perennial, Vegetative 100 Deep-water weed; found in rivers, 30
Solms aquatic offshoots and canals and reservoirs
seeds
Euphorbia hirta L. Euphorbiaceae Annual Seeds 30 Upland weed; grows in dry or moist 30
soils
Ipomoea aquatica Forssk. Convolvulaceae Perennial vine Seeds and stem 30 Deep-water weed; requires aquatic or –
cuttings wet conditions
Ludwigia octovalvis (Jacq.) Onagraceae Annual aquatic Seeds 50–80 Lowland weed; adapted to wet and 100
Raven aquatic conditions
V. Kumar et al.
Marsilea minuta L. Marsileaceae Aquatic fern Rhizomes and 70 Lowland weed; grows in lowland
spores fields and along irrigation canals
Monochoria vaginalis Pontederiaceae Perennial Seeds 85 Lowland weed; grows in subaquatic 50
(Burm.f.) C. Presl. aquatic to aquatic conditions
Portulaca oleracea L. Portulacaceae Annual Seeds and stem 30 Upland weed; grow in dry to moist 50
cuttings soils
Sphenoclea zeylanica Gaertn. Sphenocleaceae Annual Seeds 45 Lowland weed; grows in wet soils 150
with stagnant water
Trianthema portulacastrum L. Aizoaceae Annual Seeds 30 Upland weed; grows in dry to moist 40
soils
Sedges
Cyperus difformis L. Cyperaceae Annual sedge Seeds 12–50 Lowland weed; adapted to moist soils 75
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management

or flooded areas
Cyperus iria L. Cyperaceae Annual sedge Seeds 40 Lowland weed; grows in moist to wet 60
soils
Cyperus rotundus L. Cyperaceae Perennial sedge Mainly by tubers, 50 Upland weed; grows in moist soils 75
but produce few
seeds
Fimbristylis miliacea (L.) Cyperaceae Annual sedge Seeds 50 Lowland weed; adapted to moist soils 60
Vahl and areas of occasional flooding
Scirpus maritimus L. Cyperaceae Perennial sedge Tubers 60–80 Lowland weed; grows in wet and –
flooded soils
Source: Ampong-Nyarko and De Datta (1991)
365
366 V. Kumar et al.

estimated at 70–80 % in Aus rice (early summer), 30–40 % in transplanted Aman

rice (late summer), and 22–36 % in Boro rice (winter rice) (BRRI 2006). Oerke
and Dehne (2004) reported 10 % total yield losses due to weeds in world rice
production. Similarly, Oerke (2006) reported that 10 and 37 % actual and poten-
tial yield losses, respectively, are caused by weeds in rice all across the world. In
Sub-Saharan Africa, weeds inflicted yield losses in rice, despite control, in the
range of 15–23 % and are conservatively estimated to add up to 2.2 million tons
per year, equating to approximately half the current total imports of rice to this
region (Rodenburg and Johnson 2009).
Yield losses caused by grasses (mainly E. crus-galli), broadleaved weeds, and sedges
were 41, 28, and 10 %, respectively (Azmi and Baki 1995). Azmi and Rezaul (2008)
found that weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea) is difficult to harvest and it reduces
yield as it matures earlier than cultivated rice, and it shatters and lodges easily. Azmi and
Abdullah (1998) estimated that weedy rice at 35 % infestation can cause yield losses of
about 60 %, and under serious infestation, yield losses can be as high as 74 % in DSR.
Yield losses in rice due to weeds are presented in Table 14.2. Yield reduction due
to weeds is more critical in DSR than in transplanted rice (Karim et al. 2004). If
weeds were not controlled, the yield reduction in transplanted rice was found to be
13–63 %, while in DSR, it was recorded as 50–91 % (Singh et al. 2005a; Rao et al.
2007; Azmi 1992).

Table 14.2  Yield losses caused by weeds in aerobic rice systems

Yield losses
(%) (weedy
check vs.
Weeds weed free) References
C. iria, C. rotundus, E. colona, E. prostrata, E. indica, M. 40a Chauhan and
nudiflora, T. Portulacastrum Opeña (2013a)
E. cruss-galli, D. aegyptium, E. colona, C. rotundus, E. alba, 47 Mohtisham et al.
E. granulata, T. Portulacastrum (2013)
T. portulacastrum, D. aegyptium, C. rotundus, E. crus-galli, 75 Jabran et al.
E. prostrata (2012a)
E. crus-galli, E. colona, D. aegyptium, L. chinensis, E. indica, 82–86 Khaliq et al.
C. rotundus, C. iria, T. portulacastrum, Ipomoea aquatica, P. (2012)
oleracea
E. crus-galli, E. colona, C. iria, C. difformis, I. 85–98 Singh et al.
rugosum,Commelina spp., F. miliacea, C. axillaris (2011)
D. sanguinalis, E. colona, E. crus-galli, C. iria, C. rotundus, 77–82 Mahajan et al.
Sphenoclea spp., E. hirta, E. prostrata, T. portulacastrum, (2009)
Ammannia spp. Ludwigia spp., E. alba
C. rotundus, C. difformis, C. iria, S. zeylanica, E. colona, E. 80 Hussain et al.
crus-galli (2008)
D. aegyptium, E. crus-galli, E. colona, L. chinensis, C. 73 Singh et al.
benghalensis, Caesulia axillaris Roxb., E. prostrata, E. hirta, (2007)
P. oleracea, T. portulacastrum, Lindernia spp.
Adapted from: Jabran and Chauhan (2015)
Weed-free vs. one hand weeding
a
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 367

14.4  Herbicide Resistance in Weeds

In the modern agriculture, herbicides have a vital role in weed management. The role
of herbicides is even more determined in case of aerobic rice system as other methods
become less effective and weed infestation is increased in this method. However, with
the recurrent use of herbicides, selection and infestation of herbicide-­resistant weeds
has become a very serious problem. With the continuous selection pressure, many her-
bicide-resistant weed species have been evolved in rice systems (Fischer et al. 2000).
The mechanisms of herbicide resistance are grouped into two types: target site-based
resistance and nontarget site-based resistance. Target site-­based resistance is caused by
the alteration of herbicide target sites. While nontarget site-based resistance includes
other resistance mechanisms such as enhanced herbicide metabolism, enhanced herbi-
cide sequestration, and reduced herbicide uptake (Powles and Yu 2010).
A recent report indicated that 48 weed species occurring in the rice crop have evolved
resistance against various herbicides (Heap 2016). Acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibi-
tor resistance has been the most prevalent form of resistance in rice weeds. Major rice
weeds that have developed ALS inhibitor resistance against different herbicides are S.
montevidensis, Alisma plantago-aquatica L., E. crus-galli, and C. difformis (Heap
2016). After a few years of overuse and misuse of phenoxy (2,4-D) and sulfonylurea
herbicides in aerobic rice systems, several weed species such as S. zeylanica, M. minuta,
and F. miliacea have evolved resistance against these herbicides in Thailand, Malaysia,
and Vietnam (Azmi et al. 2005). Similarly, Echinochloa oryzoides (Ard.) Fritsch and
Echinochloa phyllopogon (Stapf) Vasc. have evolved resistance against bispyribac-
sodium, molinate, fenoxaprop-ethyl, and thiobencarb in California (Fischer et al. 2000)
and E. crus-galli against propanil, quinclorac, and clomazone in the state of Arkansas in
Southern United States (Bagavathiannan et al. 2011; Talbert and Burgos 2007).
These herbicide-resistant weeds pose a major challenge to the rice growers by reduc-
ing yields and increasing production costs (Fischer et al. 2000; Fischer and Hill 2004).
So, in the situation of increasing herbicide resistance cases, there is a need to adopt
integrated weed management strategies for managing these herbicide-­resistant weeds. It
may help to avoid or delay the evolution of resistance in weeds against herbicides.

14.5  Control Methods

Weed control methods can be grouped into preventive, cultural, physical, chemical,
and biological techniques.

14.5.1  Preventive Measures

Prevention of weed introduction and spread is the most important strategy in man-
aging weeds (Buhler 2002) regardless of crop, establishment method, and ecosys-
tem. There are many sources like crop seed, irrigation channels, machinery, etc.,
368 V. Kumar et al.

which cause the introduction and spread of weeds from one area to another.
Preventive measures should be adopted including the use of weed-free seeds, main-
taining clean fields, borders, and irrigation canals, and cleaning farm equipment
before moving them from one field to another (De Datta and Baltazar 1996). Thus,
prevention involves all those measures that restrict the entry and establishment of
weeds in an area. There are many examples of introduction of obnoxious weeds in
the lack of preventive measures. Weedy rice is such an example, which has spread
in many Asian countries through contaminated rice seeds (Chauhan 2013b) and
now it has become a major issue because there is no such selective herbicide that
can control weedy rice in conventional rice cultivars.
In recent years, preventive measures have been de-emphasized due to herbicide
availability. However, in situations like presence of herbicide-resistant weed bio-
types and difficult-to-control weeds, preventive measures become important and
play an effective role in weed control (Buhler 2002). Prevention implemented at the
community level by enforcement of laws and regulation provides reasonable weed
control.

14.5.2  Cultural Measures

14.5.2.1  Stale Seedbed Technique

Stale or false seedbed technique is an effective weed management technique where a

crop faces heavy weed infestation in initial stages of growth. In this technique, soil
preparation is done a few weeks before the actual sowing of crop to promote the
germination of weeds. This causes the depletion of seed bank in the surface layer of
soil and thus reduction of subsequent emergence of weeds (Rao et al. 2007). After the
emergence of weeds, these are killed either by chemical methods (nonselective her-
bicide) or by mechanical methods (like shallow tillage) before the sowing of rice.
Under this technique, emerging weed seedlings are killed mostly with herbicides
(Oliver et al. 1993). However, stale seedbed can also be implemented by submerg-
ing the weed seedlings under water for 10 days, after the stale seedbed period of 7
and 14 days of weed emergence (Sindhu et al. 2010). Singh et al. (2009) reported
that after stale seedbed practices in DSR, a 53  % lower weed population was
observed. Delouche et al. (2007) and Rao et al. (2007) also recommended the stale
seedbed technique to control weedy rice in zero-till DSR where there are limited
options available to manage this weed.

14.5.2.2  Land Preparation/Tillage Systems

Land preparation or tillage systems play an important role in rice cultivation, especially
in DSR and can be used as an effective way of controlling weeds, thereby decreasing
cost and increasing profit. Tillage practices mainly have two objectives: one is to uproot
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 369

the weeds growing in the field and second is to prepare the land to create favorable
conditions for the crop seed to germinate. Vertical weed seed distribution in the soil is
influenced differently by different tillage systems and the relative abundance of differ-
ent weed species in the field is the result of this distribution of weed seed in the soil
(Chauhan and Johnson 2009). For instance, most of the weed seeds are left near the soil
surface after planting in zero-tillage systems. This provides favorable conditions for
germination of weed seeds present on the soil surface. On the other hand, in conven-
tional tillage systems, weed seeds present on the soil surface are buried too deep that
may not be able to emerge. However, it is also a fact that weed seeds are more prone to
rapid desiccation and predation in case of zero tillage as compared to conventional
systems.
It has reported in several studies that weed biomass and weed density were
higher in zero tillage system as compared to conventional tillage system, which
caused higher grain yield in conventional tillage plots as compared to zero tillage
(Fig. 14.1) (Chauhan 2013a, b; Singh et al. 2015). Tillage practices affect the weed
abundance not only in the present crop but also in the succeeding crop. Singh et al.
(2005a, b) have shown that different tillage practices in wheat selectively alter the
relative abundance of grass and sedge weeds in succeeding rice crops.
There is no doubt that tillage practices can be used as an important tool of weed
management and any reduction in tillage practices can cause the increase in weed
problems (Shrestha et al. 2005). However, tillage cannot be used as an ultimate tool
for weed management. It can serve only as a temporary means of weed control
because on one hand it buries the weed seed in the deep layers which cannot emerge
but on the other hand it bring the buried seeds to the surface layer also, thus provide
a favorable environment for their germination (Chauhan and Johnson 2010a, b).

Convetional tillage
400 379
Zero tillage
350
304
300
Weed biomass (g/m2)

257
250
214
200

150

100
63
50 34
8.1 11.9
0
Sedges Grasses Broadleaf Total
Weeds

Fig. 14.1  Biomass of different weeds at harvest as influenced by different tillage practices
(Source: Singh et al. (2015))
370 V. Kumar et al.

14.5.2.3  Crop Establishment Method

Different crop establishment methods have been introduced for rice cultivation like
transplanting, dry direct seeding, wet direct seeding, and water seeding. These
methods cause the differences in weed flora of the fields. As compared to the con-
ventional transplanting method, weed control is particularly challenging in DSR
systems because of the diversity and severity of weed infestation, and the absence
of standing water layer to suppress weeds at the time of rice emergence. Besides
this, in DSR, plants cannot take seedling size advantage over the weed seedlings as
in the transplanting system, because both rice and weeds emerge simultaneously in
DSR systems. Weed seed distribution in the soil profile is influenced by land prepa-
ration practices in DSR systems, thus there is abundance of weed species compared
to the transplanted method (Chauhan and Opeña 2012).
In conventional-till DSR systems, a large number of perennial species (P. disti-
chum, C. dactylon, and C. rotundus) and annual grasses (I. rugosum) and annual
sedges (C. difformis and F. miliacea) dominate (Timsina et al. 2010). However, in
the zero-till DSR system, less growth of perennial weeds (C. dactylon, P. distichum,
and C. rotundus) and annual weeds (I. rugosum and F. miliacea) was observed com-
pared with the conventional-till DSR system. Therefore, crop establishment meth-
ods can be used as an effective tool in weed management in rice. Chauhan et al.
(2015) reported that grass weeds were higher in dry-seeded rice compared to pud-
dled transplanted rice (PTR) and nonpuddled transplanted rice. The highest total
weed density (225–256 plants m−2) and total weed biomass (315–501 g m−2) were
recorded in dry-seeded rice, while the lowest (102–129 plants m−2 and 75–387 g m−2)
in PTR. Chhokar et al. (2014) also found the highest yield and least weed abundance
in the PTR. Compared to the transplanting rice, severe weed infestation was found
in the dry and wet DSR and thus lesser yield was found in DSR compared to trans-
planting rice both in the presence and absence of weeds. The yield losses due to
weeds in the DSR treatments ranged from 91.4 to 99.0 %, compared to 16.0 and
42.0 % in the transplanting treatments. Weeds, including C. rotundus, D. aegyptium,
Digera arvensis Forsk., Phyllanthus niruri L., and T. portulacastrum, which were
present in the unpuddled DSR treatments, were not found in the puddled plots, par-
ticularly the puddled transplanting treatments.
In a rice–chickpea system, the density of E. colona was reported higher, while
that of C. iria was lower under puddled broadcast compared to transplanted rice,
DSR, and zero till-DSR. Due to higher plant population of rice and better weeds
suppression, the lowest weed dry weight was observed in puddled broadcast rice
(Mishra et al. 2012). Thus, the choice of appropriate crop establishment technique
is an important step toward integrated weed management in rice culture.

14.5.2.4  Seeding Rate and Planting Geometry

Cultural weed management approaches mainly focus on the reduction of the effects
of weeds on the crop either by making weeds less competitive or by making the crop
more competitive (Gibson et al. 2002). Increased seeding rates and altered planting
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 371

geometry can be used to improve crop competitiveness and thus can be proved an
effective component of weed management strategies. In cereals, altered planting
density and geometry have been proposed and tested as a component of weed man-
agement strategies (Kristensen et al. 2008). Crop competitiveness against weeds is
increased by increasing the crop density through narrowing row spacing (Chauhan
and Johnson 2010a). Solar radiation interception, canopy coverage, and biomass
accumulation are determined by the planting density of a crop, which have cumula-
tive effect on its weed suppressive ability (Anwar et al. 2011).
Weed suppressing ability of a crop is increased by increasing planting density of
the crop that develops canopy rapidly and consequently suppresses weeds more
effectively (Guillermo et al. 2009). However, widely spaced plants encourage weed
growth. Ni et al. (2004) and Phuong et al. (2005) reported that in the presence of
weeds, the highest yields in DSR could be expected where crop plant densities and
spatial uniformity were greater. Narrow plant-to-plant spacing (10 cm) significantly
reduced weed biomass compared with the wider plant-to-plant spacing (20  cm)
(Chauhan and Opeña 2013a, b). Compared with the 20 cm spacing, the plots with
10 cm spacing had 27–37 % lower weed biomass. Zhao et al. (2007) reported that
weed biomass was decreased and yield of aerobic rice increased with increasing the
seed rate from 100 to 300 viable seeds m−2. Reduction in weed biomass by 40 and
58 % in two consecutive years has been reported with increased seeding rate from
25 to 100 kg ha−1 (Chauhan et al. 2011). Gaanie et al. (2014) also found that the
increase in seed rate resulted in a significant decrease in the total weed density and
total weed biomass at all the stages of crop growth. With increase in seed rate, the
number of crop plants per unit area was higher, giving them competitive advantage
over existing weeds. Increase in rice seed rate from 10 to 32.5 kg ha−1 resulted in
decrease in weed density and weed biomass but the rice yield increase beyond
17.5 kg ha−1 seed rate was nonsignificant.
Chauhan and Abugho (2013) also found in a pot experiment that growth and
reproduction of E. crus-galli was reduced with increasing the seeding rate. Thus it
was suggested that increasing seeding rates can be used as a weed management tool
in both low- and high-input farming systems. However, complete weed control can-
not be achieved by crop interference alone. So, it should not be considered as a
stand-alone strategy to manage weeds in rice. However, it can be used as an integral
part of different weed management strategies to achieve complete control of weeds
in rice.

14.5.2.5  Weed Competitive Cultivars

Generally, rice is considered a weak competitor against weeds compared to taller

crops such as maize (Saito et al. 2010a). However, variation among cultivars in their
ability to suppress weeds has been documented for rice (Gibson and Fischer 2004;
Zhao 2006). Besides, superior weed competitive rice varieties can be developed.
Development of such cultivars with enhanced competitiveness against weeds could
be more acceptable by rice farmers and could help to reduce dependency on
herbicides.
372 V. Kumar et al.

There are two main components of crop–weed competitiveness. These are weed
tolerance and weed-suppressive ability (Jannink et al. 2000). Weed tolerance is the
ability of a crop to maintain high yield despite weed competition, whereas weed-­
suppressive ability is the ability of the plant to suppress weed growth and reduce
weed seed production, thus improving weed management in both the current and
the subsequent growing seasons. Because yield stability and the prevention of weed
seed production and subsequent seed bank build-up are desirable in crops growing
in association with weeds, so both the components are important while considering
crop–weed competitiveness (Jordan 1993).
Ideal weed competitive rice varieties should have strong weed-suppressive abil-
ity and high yielding under both weed-free and weedy conditions. Weed biomass is
assessed under weedy conditions to determine the weed suppressing ability of a
crop (Saito et al. 2010b). This approach of weed management that utilizes the sup-
pressing ability of cultivars to control weeds is referred to as the genetic approach
of weed management. The role of competitive cultivars can be exploited further
with the manipulations in the agronomic practices such as altered planting geometry
and sowing time that can be proved helpful in providing supplemental weed control
in case of no or less use of herbicides (Mahajan and Chauhan 2011).
Several traits confer weed competitiveness in rice (Mahajan and Chauhan 2013a).
These are plant height (Mennan et  al. 2012), tiller number (Harding and Jalloh
2011; Mennan et  al. 2012), biomass at tillering (Ni et  al. 2000), leaf area index
(Moukoumbi et al. 2011; Harding and Jalloh 2011), canopy cover (Lotz et al. 1995),
specific leaf area (Moukoumbi et al. 2011), root growth (Gibson et al. 1999; Fofana
and Rauber 2000), early seedling vigor (Zhao et al. 2006), and seedling leaf area
and biomass (Namuco et al. 2009). Fischer et al. (1997) observed that the competi-
tive ability of rice against E. colona was correlated more with rice tillering and leaf
area than with plant height.
Previous studies have shown significant differences in competitiveness among
rice genotypes. Mennan et al. (2012) reported that among different rice cultivars (viz.
Osmancık, Kızılırmak, Karadeniz, Koral, and Neĝis), Koral produced significantly
more tillers than the other cultivars irrespective of E. crus-galli densities and reduced
E. crus-galli tiller production by about 30 and 16 % at two locations. This cultivar
showed the highest competitiveness because of its high biomass accumulation in
early growth stages and smaller reductions in plant height in the presence of E. crus-
galli, compared to the other cultivars. Among different rice varieties, NERICA L19,
NERICA L20, and WAS 57-B-B-17-3-3-6-TGR 20 showed encouraging responses
and appeared competitive enough against weeds with better growth, yield, and yield
components (Harding and Jalloh 2013). The range of weed biomass production was
12.3 g m−2 in NERICA L19 to 44.7 g m−2 in ROK 10. Yield advantages have been
shown by cultivars of the African rice species Oryza glaberrima over the Asian O.
sativa varieties under weedy conditions (Johnson et al. 1998). In other regions also,
varieties with superior levels of weed competitiveness have been confirmed, such as
Apo and UPLRi-7  in Asia (Zhao et  al. 2006, 2007), Oryzica Sabana 6  in Latin
America (Fischer et al. 2001), and M-202 in North America (Gibson et al. 2001).
Some O. sativa, O. glaberrima, and interspecific rice varieties that have shown to be
weed competitiveness type in Africa, have been listed in Table 14.3.
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 373

Table 14.3  Rice varieties with proved superior level of weed competitiveness in Africa
Ecosystem Variety Species Major superior traits References
Lowland Jaya O. sativa Ability to give good Haefele et al.
yield under weedy and (2004), Rodenburg
weed free conditions; et al. (2009)
Weed suppression
ability
TOG5681 O. glaberrima Weed suppression Rodenburg et al.
ability (2009)
NERICA-L -6, interspecific Ability to give good Rodenburg et al.
−32, −35, −37, yield under weedy and (2009)
−42, −53, −55, weed free conditions
−58, and −60
Upland WAB96–1-1 O. sativa Height; Weed Jones et al. (1996)
suppression ability
SP4 O. sativa Height; Weed Jones et al. (1996)
suppression ability
IG10 O. glaberrima Biomass; Tiller Johnson et al.
number; LAI; SLA; (1998), Fofana and
Early vigor; Ability to Rauber (2000)
give good yield under
weedy conditions;
Root length density
CG14 O. glaberrima SLA; Tillering; Early Asch et al. (1999)
vigor; Weed
suppression ability
CG20 O. glaberrima SLA; Tillering; Early Jones et al. (1996)
vigor; Weed
suppression ability
ACC102257 O. glaberrima Root length density Fofana and Rauber
(2000)
Adapted from: Rodenburg and Johnson (2009)

Weed-suppressive allelopathic cultivars can also be used to reduce weed infesta-

tion without incurring any extra cost. This method of weed control neither harms the
environment nor increase weed management costs. Allelopathic weed control may be
applied as a single strategy in certain cropping systems (Farooq et al. 2011). Further,
it can also be integrated with other methods to achieve effective control. Under allelo-
pathic weed control strategies, the allelopathic potential of crops is manipulated in
such a way that the allelochemicals from these crops reduce weed competition (Jabran
et al. 2015). Many authors have studied the status of allelopathic cultivars of rice and
the weeds suppressed by them in various parts of the world (Table 14.4).

14.5.2.6  Crop Rotation and Cropping System

Every crop allows specific weeds to grow in their association. These specific weeds
are recognized in different rotations, and thus are controlled by rotating crops hav-
ing different life cycle and cultural habits. For instance, different planting and
374 V. Kumar et al.

Table 14.4  The allelopathic rice cultivars and their weed suppression
Weed
Weed/test species suppression
Allelopathic cultivars suppressed (%) Country References
Agudo E. crus-galli 54 Korea Ahn et al. (2005)
Baekjicheongbyeo E. crus-galli 43 Korea Ahn et al. (2005)
BR17 E. crus-galli 45 Bangladesh Salam et al. (2009)
Buldo E. crus-galli 56 Korea Ahn et al. (2005)
Dabaegjo E. crus-galli 47 Korea Ahn et al. (2005)
Dinorado E. crus-galli 60 Iran Berendji et al.
(2008)
Geumjeom do E. crus-galli 47 Korea Ahn et al. (2005)
Hinohikari Lactuca sativa L. 75 Japan Kato-­Noguchi
et al. (2010)
Jaeraejongna E. crus-galli 47 Korea Ahn et al. (2005)
Janganbyeo E. crus-galli 79–94 Korea Chung et al.
(2002)
Noindari, Baekna, E. crus-galli, >50 Korea Chung et al.
Baekgwangok Monochoria (2006)
vaginalis,
Scirpus juncoides,
Eleocharis
Kuroguwai
OM 5930 Lepidium sativum – USA– Le Thi et al.
L., Leptochloa Vietnam (2014)
chinensis,
E. crus-galli
Super Basmati Triticum aestivum – Pakistan Farooq et al.
L., Trifolium (2008)
alexanderum L.,
Hordeum vulgare
L., Avena sativa L.
Adapted from: Jabran et al. (2015)

harvest dates of rotating crops prevent weed establishment and seed production, and
thus provide more opportunities for farmers to control weeds (Rao 2011).
There are three main mechanisms under which rotations cause the alteration of
selection pressures. These are (i) altering management practices (timing of field
activities, herbicides, etc.), (ii) varying patterns of resource competition, and (iii)
allelopathy. However, all the three mechanisms are not utilized by all the rotations.
So, it should be considered while looking at the effects of a particular rotation on
weed dynamics that which mechanism is being utilized by a particular crop rotation
(Nichols et al. 2015). Development of cropping systems such as appropriate spatial
arrangement and efficient tillage can be helpful for crops themselves to compete
with weeds (Avola et al. 2008). However, good understanding of weed dynamics
and influences of crop- and soil-related factors on weed life cycles is required if we
want to use the cropping system manipulation as a component of integrated weed
management (Davis and Liebman 2003).
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 375

Intensification of rice-based cropping sequence caused reduction in weed density

as well as weed dry matter production. The rice–wheat–green gram sequence
recorded lowest population of all the three groups of weeds. So, crop rotation along
with other control methods can be considered as an effective tool of Integrated
Weed Management (IWM) that affects the soil seed bank and weed flora.

14.5.3  Physical Control Methods

Physical control of weeds can be done by manual or mechanical methods. Hand

weeding is the most widely applied intervention against weeds across rice sys-
tems. Although it is effective in reducing direct competition from weeds and in
preventing weeds from producing and shedding seeds, it is extremely labor
demanding, requiring 250–780 work h ha−1 (Rodenburg and Johnson 2009).
Roder (2001) found that 150–200 labor-day ha−1 are required for manual weed-
ing to keep rice crop free of weeds. Besides this, hand weeding becomes diffi-
cult at early stages of growth because of the morphological similarity between
grassy weeds and rice seedlings. Damage to the rice seedlings by weeding
(Moody and Cordova 1985) and delay in weed control due to unavailability or
high wages of labor (Johnson 1996) or due to poor weather conditions are other
problems with manual weeding. Singh et  al. (2007) also found that manual
weeding required 100–120 person-days ha−1 to keep fields of DSR weed-free for
the whole season. In these situations, mechanical weeding using different tools
such as hand hoe/blade hoe/wheel hoe is helpful. In line-­sown crops, rotary
weeders or cono weeders are also effective in controlling weeds. Different types
of weeders or hoes are used either in combination with other methods or
independently.
Akbar et al. (2011) found that both hand pulling and mechanical hoeing were
better than herbicides in suppression of weeds and increasing yield. Mechanical
hoeing caused a 72 % reduction in total weed density and a 25 % increase in grain
yield of rice compared to the control. Hasanuzzaman et al. (2007) found that weed
density and weed dry matter were effectively reduced by the mechanical and man-
ual weed control methods, and also with the combination of chemical and physical
methods. Weed control efficiency was found highest with combinations of chemical
and physical control methods.
No doubt, mechanical weed control has been proved very useful. But because of
their limited scope to row-seeded crops only, this is not a very common method.
Besides this, an optimum soil–water condition is required for mechanical weeders
to work efficiently and effectively. However, combinations of mechanical weeding
with preemergence herbicide applications can be used as an effective tool in inte-
grated weed management in DSR (Matloob et al. 2015). Moreover, in some situa-
tions, where chemical or other methods fail to control weeds (i.e., continuous rains
or dry spells), mechanical weeding could be more effective. Mechanical weeders
can also help to reduce overall herbicide use.
376 V. Kumar et al.

14.5.4  Chemical Control

The traditional methods of weed control practices include preparatory land tillage,
hand weeding by hoe, and hand pulling. Depending on the nature of the weeds, their
intensity of infestation and the crop grown, usually two or three hand weedings are
normally done for effective control. But, weed control in transplanted rice by
mechanical and cultural means is expensive, especially at periods of labor crisis.
Besides the high labor costs as well as labor scarcity, unfavorable weather condi-
tions and morphological similarity of some weeds (E. colona and E. crus-galli) to
rice have made chemical methods more popular than traditional methods.
In the recent years, rice growers in many Asian countries are shifting from trans-
planting to dry seeding systems. Weeds have become the major constraint for farm-
ers practicing direct seeding (Rao et  al. 2007). In the traditional transplanting
method, weeds are suppressed by standing water, but in DSR systems, the inherent
weed control from standing water at rice establishment is lost and weeds emerge
concurrently with rice thereby competing with rice for resources. In DSR systems
also, various cultural, mechanical, manual, and chemical weed management strate-
gies can be practiced to control weeds. However, among the different weed control
strategies, chemical weed control is considered the most efficient and economical
(Suria et al. 2011; Khaliq et al. 2012). The use of herbicides reduces the weed con-
trol time by 100 h ha−1 compared with hand weeding in DSR. Therefore, most rice
farmers who practice DSR adopt herbicides (Mazid et al. 2003).
Among herbicides, sulfonylurea and phenoxy compounds are the widely used
chemicals for controlling sedges and broadleaved weeds in DSR (Mahajan and
Chauhan 2013b). Rao et  al. (2007) reported an extensive use of propanil, pendi-
methalin, fenoxaprop, molinate, thiobencarb, quinclorac, butachlor, and acetochlor
for controlling grass weeds. For controlling annual grasses, annual sedges, and
broad leaved weeds, oxadiazon herbicide has been found to be effective (Dickmann
et al. 1997). Similarly, the application of bispyribac-sodium as postemergence has
been found to be very effective against grasses and broadleaved weeds (Jabran et al.
2012a; Khaliq et al. 2012). Pre-emergence herbicides (oxadiazon, pendimethalin,
etc.) are applied within three DAS of rice, preferably immediately after planting and
before the emergence of weeds and crops (Jabran et al. 2012a,b). Early postemer-
gence herbicides (butachlor, propanil, thiobencarb, etc.) are applied at the two to
four leaf stages. Late postemergence herbicides (e.g., bispyribac-sodium, azimsul-
furon, fenoxaprop, ethoxysulfuron, 2,4-D) are usually applied on leaves and the
application time ranges from 14 to 28 DAS (Awan et al. 2015). Singh et al. (2007)
reported that pre-emergence application of pretilachlor + safener at 500 g ha−1 or
pendimethalin at 1.0 kg ha−1 followed by one hand weeding effectively controlled
weeds and proved effective in increasing yields of DSR, resulting in higher net
income.
When the crop is infested with complex and diverse weed species, a single her-
bicide cannot control all weed species. In such situations, effective weed control can
be achieved by a combination of herbicides (sequential applications or tank
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 377

­ ixtures) or a broad-spectrum herbicide along with other cultural practices. This

m
practice can ensure effective control of all groups of weeds such as sedges, broad-
leaves, and grasses (Awan et al. 2015). Singh et al. (2006) found that both grass and
broadleaf weeds were effectively controlled when tank mixture of fenoxaprop-ethyl
plus ethoxysulfuronat 50 + 18  g  ha−1 was applied as postemergence at 18–21
DAS. When different herbicides are used in combination, care should be taken that
different herbicides should be compatible with one another and they should not have
antagonistic effect. Zhang et al. (2005) also found that there is an antagonistic effect
of fenoxaprop activity on Echinochloa spp. when applied in combination with ben-
sulfuron, carfentrazone, halosulfuron, and triclopyr. Similarly, a tank-mix applica-
tion of fenoxaprop-ethyl or cyhalofop-butyl with chlorimuron plus metsulfuron or
2,4-D also showed an antagonistic effect. Awan et al. (2015) found that oxadiazon
as the best broad-spectrum herbicide when applied alone or in combinations with
other postemergence herbicides in effectively controlling all dominant weed species
present at the site (Table 14.5).
Herbicides have been proved very important weed management tool in rice cul-
tivation. However, for effective and safe herbicide use, the appropriate product,
application equipment, and application rates are important (Zimdahl 2007).
Moreover, herbicide application requires good timing with respect to crop and the
growth stage of weeds (King and Oliver 1992), weather conditions (Hammerton
1967), and flooding. For example, foliar active herbicides such as bentazon, 2,4-D,
and triclopyr should be applied after draining of water for better contact of the her-
bicide with leaves (Singh et al. 2009). However, some herbicides such as molinate
need to be applied in water as an application on drained fields would result in its loss
by volatility. Sulfonylureas should be applied in water, as flood water acts as a car-
rier for their even distribution. Different herbicides that have been reported to be
effective against different types of weeds in DSR are listed in Table 14.6 (Singh
et al. 2009).

14.5.5  Biological Control

Biological weed control is the technique in which natural enemies (biological con-
trol agents) of weeds are employed to control weeds in crop without significantly
affecting the desirable plants. These biological agents include insects, animals,
fishes (e.g., Chinese carp), snails, birds (e.g., duck), microbes (fungi, bacteria,
viruses, nematodes, etc.), their toxic products, and plants (parasite plants and com-
peting plants) or their products. This approach can be proved even more helpful
when there is a need to develop new weed management strategies because of the
development of some herbicide-resistant weeds.
Biological control can be classified into two approaches, viz. the classical and
the bioherbicide approaches (Hallett 2005). The classical approach that involves
the use of exotic predators or pathogens has not been implemented in rice.
However, there has been great research interest in the development of bioherbi-
378 V. Kumar et al.

Table 14.5  Effect of herbicide treatments on weed density and weed biomass at 20 days after
sowing
Weed control
treatments Weed density (no. m−2) Weed biomass (g m−2)
G S BL Total G S BL Total
Oxadiazon 3.12 1.04 3.12 7.28 0.02 0.00 0.02 0.04
Pendimethalin 22.92 45.83 0.00 68.75 0.52 0.91 0.00 1.43
Bispyribac-­ 905.21 8.33 1.04 914.58 13.94 0.10 0.00 14.04
sodium
Bispyribac-­ 942.71 13.54 0.00 956.25 7.11 0.23 0.00 7.33
sodium fb
bispyribac-­
sodium
Fenoxaprop plus 972.92 192.71 0.00 1165.63 12.18 3.37 0.00 15.55
ethoxysulfuron
Oxadiazon fb 10.42 3.12 0.00 13.54 0.35 0.58 0.00 0.94
bispyribac-­
sodium
Oxadiazon fb 2.08 0.00 1.04 3.12 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.02
fenoxaprop plus
ethoxysulfuron
Pendimethalin fb 25.00 59.38 0.00 84.38 0.25 0.82 0.00 1.08
bispyribac-­
sodium
Pendimethalin fb 332.29 107.29 1.04 440.62 4.29 1.81 0.001 6.09
fenoxaprop plus
ethoxysulfuron
Butachlor plus 67.71 5.21 2.08 75.00 0.28 0.04 0.11 0.43
propanil fb
fenoxaprop plus
ethoxysulfuron
Thiobencarb plus 139.58 21.88 1.04 162.50 1.87 0.39 0.04 2.31
2,4-D fb
fenoxaprop plus
ethoxysulfuron
Nontreated 1300.25 198.16 1.04 1499.45 11.38 6.36 0.01 17.75
(weedy)
Weed-free 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
S.E.D. 389.21 57.44 0.96 415.89 3.90 1.320 NS 4.86
P values <0.001 0.006 0.011 <0.001 0.003 0.002 0.55 0.003
Source: Awan et al. (2015)
fb followed by, G grasses, S sedges, BL broadleaf weeds, no number

cides. The bioherbicide approach is based on the natural enemies that have an
ability to reduce the adverse effects of weeds on crop yield by causing damage to
them. A number of authors have reviewed the status of bioherbicides (Charudattan
2001; Hallett 2005; Li et al. 2003), and some effective biocontrol agents are listed
in Table 14.7.
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 379

Table 14.6  Effective herbicides against different types of weeds in direct-seeded rice
Dose Time of
Herbicide (g ha−1) application Class of weed controlled
Grasses Sedges Broadleaf
2,4-D 500 Post Noneffective Effective Effective
Azimsulfuron 25–30 Post Noneffective Effective Effective
Bensulfuron 60 Post Noneffective Effective Effective
methyl
Bispyribac 25–30 Post Effective Effective Effective
sodium
Carfentrazone 20–25 Post Noneffective Noneffective Effective
Clomazone 300– Post Effective Noneffective Effective
600
Cyhalofop-butyl 120 Post Effective Noneffective Noneffective
Ethoxysulfuron 18 Post Noneffective Effective Effective
Fenoxaprop-ethyl 50–60 Post Effective Noneffective Noneffective
+ safener
Glyphosate 0.5–1 % PS Effective Effective Effective
Halosulfuron 30–40 Post Noneffective Effective Effective
Metsulfuron + 4 Post Noneffective Effective Effective
chlorimuron
Molinate 3000– PE Effective Noneffective Effective
4000
Paraquat 0.5 % PS Effective Effective Effective
Pendimethalin in 1000 PE Effective Noneffective Effective
dry-DSR
Penoxsulam 30–35 Post Effective Effective Effective
Pretilachlor + 500 PE Effective Noneffective Effective
safener in
wet-DSR
Propanil 2250– Post Effective Effective Noneffective
3000
Quinclorac 250– Post Effective Noneffective Effective
350
Triclopyr 500 Post Noneffective Effective Effective
Adapted from: Singh et al. (2009)
PE, pre-emergence; Post, postemergence; PS, preseeding

Fungal pathogens can be exploited as biological agents for the management of

weeds (Motlagh 2011). The fungus Trichoderma viride Pers. and Gliocladium
virens have been found to control Echinochloa spp. in rice under laboratory condi-
tions without any adverse effect on the crop (ICAR 2007). Similarly, fungus
Fusarium equiseti has been found to infect Echinochloa crus-galli in a higher rate
compared to rice cultivar (Motlagh 2011). Hence, Fusarium equiseti can be consid-
ered as a probable bioherbicide for controlling of E. crus-galli at the two to three
leaf stage of growth of weed. Charudattan (1991) and Smith (1991) reported that an
endemic fungal pathogen, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Sacc f. sp.
380 V. Kumar et al.

Table 14.7  Effective biocontrol agents associated with rice used in weed management
Weed species Biocontrol agent Country References
Alternanthera Fusarium sp. China Tan et al. (2002)
philoxeroides (Mart.)
Griseb.
Echinochloa spp. Alternaria alternate Iran Motlagh (2012)
E. crus-galli Fusarium equiseti Iran Motlagh (2011)
E. crus-galli Cochliobolus lunatus Nelson Netherlands Smith (1991)
and Haasis
E. crus-galli Exserohilum monoceras China Huang et al. (2001)
E. crus-galli Exserohilum monoceras Vietnam Chin (2001)
E. crus-galli Exserohilum monoceras Philippines Zhang and Watson
(1997)
Brachiaria platyphylla Bipolaris setariae (Saw.) North Carolina Smith (1991)
(Griseb.) Nash Shoem.
Sagittaria trifolia L. Plectosporium tabacinum Korea Chung et al. (1998)
S. zeylanica Colletotrichum Philippines Bayot et al. (1994)
Gleosporiodes
F. miliacea Curvularia tuberculate Philippines Luna et al. (2002a,
b)
F. miliacea Curvularia oryzae Philippines Luna et al. (2002a,
b)
Eichhornia crassipes Fusarium pallidoroseum India Praveena and
(Mart.) Solms Naseema (2003)
E. crassipes Myrothecium advena India Praveena and
Naseema (2003)
C. rotundus Dactylaria higginsii USA Kadir and
Charudattan (2000)
Aeschynomene Colletotrichum USA Smith (1991)
virginica (L.) B.S.P. gloeosporioides (Penz.) Sacc
f. sp. aeschynomene (C.g.a.)
L. chinensis Setosphaeria rostrate Vietnam Chin et al. (2003)
C. difformis Curvularia tuberculate Philippines Luna et al. (2002a,
b)
C. difformis Curvularia oryzae Philippines Luna et al. (2002a,
b)
Hydrilla verticillata Plectosporium tabacinum USA Smither-Kopperl
(L.f.) Royle et al. (1998)
Ludwigia decurrens Colletotrichum USA Boyette et al.
Walt. gloeosporioides f. sp. (1979)
jussiaeae (C.g.j.)
C. esculentus Puccinia canaliculata USA Phatak et al. (1987)
(Schw.) Lagerh.
C. esculentus Dactylaria higginsii USA Kadir and
Charudattan (2000)
C. iria Dactylaria higginsii USA Kadir and
Charudattan (2000)
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 381

aeschynomene (C.g.a.), has been registered in the United States for control of
Aeschynomene virginica (L.) B.S.P. in rice (COLLEGO3,4). Puccinia canaliculata
(Biosedget) was reported to control C. esculentus and inhibited new tuber formation
by 66  % (Boyetchko 1997). Similarly, Rhynchosporium alismatis (Oudem.) J.  J.
Davis has been reported to control Damasonium minus (R. Br.) Buch, an important
native plant species considered to be the most important weed in rice growing areas
of Australia (Jahromi et al. 2004). Biological strategies of weed control in rice also
include wild ducks (Smith and Sullivan 1980) and insects (Oraze and Grigarick
1992). Farmers in Arkansas, USA, attract the ducks by flooding the rice fields dur-
ing the winter, which control the weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea) by feeding
on their seeds. From the 9 consecutive years’ field experiments in China, it was
reported that under rice–duck farming, the number of weed species in the weed seed
bank declined from 38 to 21 and the density of both the weed seed bank and the
above-ground weed decreased by more than 90 % (Li et al. 2012). Rice–duck farm-
ing resulted in a more uniform vertical distribution of the weed seed bank both
quantitatively and qualitatively. Thus, subsequent rice crops are benefited with this
strategy. Similarly, aphids are used as controlling agents of some aquatic weeds of
rice in California.
The biological control methods can be proved a very helpful tool in weed man-
agement of rice. However, integration of biological methods with other control
methods is essential in weed management programs in rice production systems
(Smith 1991). It is because of the narrow range of the biological control methods.
Biological strategies control a comparatively narrow spectrum of weed species
compared to chemical or other methods. For example, to control the complex of
weed species in the rice field, sole biological method cannot be relied upon.

14.5.6  Integrated Weed Management

As discussed earlier, weeds are a major constraint in rice cultivation, especially in

DSR and the success of rice cultivation can be ensured by the proper control of
weeds. Until 1940s, physical, cultural, and biological means were the main weed
management tools (Juraimi et al. 2013). Since the introduction of herbicides in late
1940s, it has been believed that herbicides can solve the weed problem for long
run. But, after over 50 years of extensive use of herbicides, now it is evident that
sole reliance on herbicides is not a long lasting strategy (Juraimi et  al. 2013).
Intensive use of herbicides can cause environmental contamination, the evolution
of herbicide resistance in weeds (Heap 2016), and the impoverishment of the natu-
ral flora and fauna. Over reliance on herbicides also can cause the shift in weed
species dominance (Azmi and Baki 2002). Besides this, presence of intensive and
complex weed flora implies that relying on a single practice would not only result
in failed weed control, but can also lead to resistance evolution in weeds and devel-
opment of problematic weed flora (Jabran and Chauhan 2015). Because of all these
382 V. Kumar et al.

problems, there is a need to find ways on how to reduce the unwarranted environ-
mental hazards posed by the use of herbicides and how to eliminate labor-intensive
manual weeding in rice. So, there is a need to reevaluate the physical, cultural, and
biological weed management strategies as integrated with chemical weed control
methods judiciously. This system of combining different weed management meth-
ods is known as integrated weed management. It involves the selection, integration,
and implementation of effective weed control means with due consideration of
economics, environmental, and sociological consequences. The integrated weed
management better utilizes resources and offers a wider range of management
options (Buhler et al. 2000).
Integration of improved agronomic practices, timeliness of operations, optimum
fertilization and water management, and incorporation of crop residues in the soil
can be helpful to increase the efficiency of applied herbicides and to improve the
crop competitiveness against weeds (Chauhan et al. 2012). Subramanian and Martin
(2006) reported that effective weed control was achieved by pretilachlor with
safener at 400 g ha−1 combined with sesbania intercropping and azolla dual crop-
ping. Pretilachlor with safener + daincha intercropping + azolla dual cropping
maintained its superiority by registering higher grain yield (57.4 q ha−1), which was
60 and 10 % higher than the weedy check and recommended practice of two hand
weedings, respectively. As compared to the sole application of butachlor, pre-­
emergence application of butachlor + intercrop with sesbania incorporation and
mechanical weeding at 35 days after transplanting recorded lower weed density at
all the stages of crop growth, lower weed seed count, and higher crop yield
(Govindan and Chinnusamy 2014). Among different weed control treatments, inte-
grated weed management including criss-cross sowing plus one hand weeding plus
herbicide provided better results than those obtained from only one weed control
method, that is, two hand weedings and no weeding (Sharma and Singh 2008).
Many researchers have advocated adoption of integrated weed management
approach for sustainable rice production (Bhurer et al. 2013; Azmi and Baki 2002;
Sunil et al. 2010; Jayadeva et al. 2011). Some possible integrated weed management
practices in aerobic rice have been elaborated in Table 14.8. Therefore, integrated
weed management is the most feasible and practical option to achieve sustainable
weed control in rice systems. It provides not only economical weed control but also
helps to tackle problems like herbicide resistance, environment degradation, etc.
Some of the outstanding examples of integrated weed management in DSR that
proved effective in South Asia, for example, increasing N application rate up to
150 kg ha−1 caused significant improvement in grain yield when the weeds were
well controlled either by pendimethalin followed by (fb) bispyribac-sodium or by
pendimethalin fb bispyribac– sodium fb 1 hand weeding (HW), respectively; how-
ever, under poor weed control condition (pendimethalin fb 1 HW), it resulted in a
drastic reduction in yield (Mahajan and Timsina 2011). Higher seed rates in DSR
caused significant reductions in weed dry matter, whereas higher than optimum
seed rate (15–30 kg ha−1) caused reduction in yield (Mahajan et al. 2010). Genotype
for instance Punjab Mehak 1 produced similar grain yields in paired and uniform
planting patterns (Mahajan and Chauhan 2011); whereas PR 115 had higher grain
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 383

Table 14.8  Integrated weed management practices in aerobic rice system

Increase
in rice
grain
yield
over
Dose Weed weedy-­
Weed management (g a.i. Weed species suppression check
practices ha−1) suppressed (%) (%) Reference
Penoxulam (pre) + 15 T. portulacastrum, D. 93 70 Mubeen
one HW (30 DAS) aegyptium, E. indica, et al. (2014)
Cyperus spp.
Pendimethalin (pre) 1000 Echinochloa spp., D. 85–91 60 Mahajan and
+ bispyribac-­ and sanguinalis, E. Timsina
sodium (Post) + one 30 indica, C. iria, E. (2011)
HW (45 DAS) alba
Pendimethalin (pre) 750 Grasses, broadleaved 60–87 136 Mahajan
+ HW (4 WAS) and sedges et al. (2009)
Pretilachlor with 500 Grasses and 48–96 196 Singh et al.
safener + HW (6–7 broadleaved (2007)
WAS)
Pendimethalin (pre) 1000 Grasses and 40–82 193 Singh et al.
+ HW (6–7 WAS) broadleaved (2007)
Adapted from: Jabran and Chauhan (2015)
Pre, preemergence; Post, postemergence, HW, hand weeding; WAS, weeks after sowing; DAS, days
after sowing

yield in paired rows (5.6 t ha−1) than in uniform rows (4.9 t ha−1). Genotype IET-­
21214 with the sole application of bispyribac sodium produced grain yield similar
to the sequential application of pendimethalin and bispyribac sodium (Mahajan
et al. 2014). Plasticity in some genotypes in response to water stress improved their
ability to have rapid early growth and smother the weed flora in DSR (Mahajan
et al. 2015).

14.5.7  Herbicide-Tolerant Rice

Several selective herbicides have been introduced that affect the weeds adversely,
yet do not harm rice. But, herbicide-resistant weeds and weedy or wild rice are
becoming more challenging problems for the rice farmers in the world. In both the
cases (i.e. herbicide-resistant weeds and weedy or wild rice), the adoption of
herbicide-­tolerant rice can prove a very useful tool for weed control. When a rice
plant is tolerant to a particular herbicide or herbicides that can otherwise damage the
plant, this rice is referred to as herbicide-tolerant rice (IRRI 2015). In rice, three
herbicide-tolerant rice systems have been developed. These are imidazolinone-, glu-
fosinate-, and glyphosate-tolerant cultivars (Gealy et al. 2003). For glufosinate- and
384 V. Kumar et al.

glyphosate-tolerant rice cultivars, transgenic technologies were used. While,

imidazolinone-­tolerant rice was developed by chemically induced seed mutagenesis
and conventional breeding. Herbicide-tolerant rice cultivars provide a classical,
safe, and yet novel and effective way of weed management through the application
of new generation’s highly effective, nontoxic, and rapidly biodegradable herbi-
cides (Mahajan and Chauhan 2013a). Kumar et al. (2008) and Chauhan et al. (2014)
also suggested that adoption of herbicide-tolerant rice can solve the problem of
weeds, especially herbicide-resistant weeds and weedy rice in DSR.
First, herbicide-tolerant rice (Clearfield® rice) was developed in the USA to
deal with weedy rice commonly known as red rice in the USA. Up to 2012, it was
the only herbicide-tolerant rice available for farmers in some countries to grow.
The herbicide-tolerant Clearfield rice technology provides an option to control
weedy rice in rice using imidazolinone herbicides, particularly the imazethapyr
(Croughan 2003). Besides the Clearfield rice, some other herbicide-tolerant rice
including Liberty Link® and Roundup Ready® rice also have been developed
(IRRI 2015).
No doubt, herbicide-tolerant rice can help to improve weed control, including
weedy and wild rices, and to reduce weed control costs and the labor associated
with manual removal of weeds. However, if this weed management tool, i.e.,
herbicide-­tolerant rice is not managed properly, weed problems are very likely to
become more serious, especially in rice monoculture systems. By mismanagement
of herbicide-tolerant rice, herbicide resistance can spread to weedy and wild rice via
cross-pollination and their control can become more difficult. Besides this, resis-
tance to similar herbicides in a range of weeds can be developed by the increased
use of one herbicide type. Thus, the effectiveness of current herbicides could be
reduced. Herbicide-tolerant rice can become a problem when the seeds of herbicide-­
tolerant rice in the soil turn into weeds in subsequent years when different rice
varieties are grown. There is a long list of rice weeds globally, which have devel-
oped resistance to herbicides (Heap 2016).

14.6  Conclusions

Weeds are the key biological constraints that obstruct the growth and productivity
of rice systems. Weed flora is being changed quickly in response to changing agro-
nomic management. Therefore, appropriate weed management strategies and tech-
nologies are needed to maintain yield stability and reduce the cost of production.
There are several weed management strategies for rice systems in combination with
agronomic tools like seed rate, row spacing, planting pattern, planting density,
exploiting weed competitive cultivars. The use of any single strategy cannot provide
effective, season-long, and sustainable weed control as different weeds have differ-
ent growth habits. The complex and diverse weed flora along with the risk of
herbicide-­resistance evolution emphasize the need for integrated weed management
strategies, especially in aerobic rice systems. The integrated implementation of
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 385

weed control practices not only effectively control weeds in rice systems but also
improve the quality of the produce.

References

Abeysekera SK (2001) Management of Echinochloa spp. in rice in Sri Lanka. Paper presented at
the FAO workshop on Echinochloa spp. control, Beijing, p. 3
Ahn J, Hahn S, Kim J, Khanh T, Chung I (2005) Evaluation of allelopathic potential among rice
(Oryza sativa L.) germplasm for control of Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv. in the field.
Crop Prot 24:413–419
Akbar N, Ehsanullah, Jabran K, Ali MA (2011) Weed management improves yield and quality of
direct seeded rice. Aus J Crop Sci 5:688–694
Ampong-Nyarko K, De Datta SK (1991) A handbook for weed control in rice. International Rice
Research Institute, Manila, pp. 9–38
Anwar MP, Juraimi AS, Puteh A, Selamat A, Man A, Hakim MA (2011) Seeding method and rate
influence on weed suppression in aerobic rice. Afr J Biotechnol 10:15259–15271
Asch F, Sow A, Dingkuhn M (1999) Reserve mobilization, dry matter partitioning and specific leaf
area in seedlings of African rice cultivars differing in early vigor. Field Crop Res 62:191–202
Avola G, Tuttobene R, Gresta F, Abbate V (2008) Weed control strategies for grain legumes. Agron
Sustain Dev 28:389–395
Awan TH, Cruz PCS, Chauhan BS (2015) Agronomic indices, growth, yield-contributing traits,
and yield of dry-seeded rice under varying herbicides. Field Crop Res 177:15–25
Azmi M (1992) Competitive ability of barnyard grass in direct seeded rice. Teknologi Padi
8:19–25
Azmi M, Abdullah MZ (1998) A manual for the identification and control of padi angin (weedy
rice) in Malaysia. MARDI Publication, Serdang, p. 18
Azmi M, Baki BB (1995) The succession of noxious weeds in tropical Asian rice fields with
emphasis on Malaysian rice ecosystem. Proceedings of 15th Asian Pacific Weed Science soci-
ety Conference, Tsukuba, pp. 51–67
Azmi M, Baki BB (2002) Impact of continuous direct seeding rice culture on weed species diver-
sity in the Malaysian rice ecosystem. In: Proceedings of the regional symposium on environ-
ment and natural resources. 10–11 April, 2002. Hotel Renaissance, Kuala Lumpur, 1, pp. 61–67
Azmi M, Rezaul MR (2008) Weedy rice- biology, ecology and management. MARDI Publication,
Kuala Lumpur, p. 56
Azmi M, Chin D, Vongsaroj P, Johnson D (2005) Emerging issues in weed management of direct-­
seeded rice in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand. In: Toriyama K, Heong KL, Hardy B (eds)
Rice is life: scientific perspectives for the 21st century. International Rice Research Institute,
Philippines Proceedings world rice research conference, Tokyo and Tsukuba, November, 4–7,
2004, Japan, pp. 196–198
Bagavathiannan MV, Norsworthy JK, Jha P, Smith K (2011) Does resistance to propanil or cloma-
zone alter the growth and competitive abilities of barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli)?
Weed Sci 59:353–358
Bayot RG, Watson AK, Moody K (1994) Control of paddy weeds by plant pathogens in the
Philippines. In: Shibayama H, Kiritani K, Bay Petersen J  (eds) Integrated management of
paddy and aquatic weeds in Asia, FFTC book series, vol 45. Food and Fertilizer Technology
Center for the Asian and Pacific Region, Taipei, pp. 139–143
Berendji S, Asghari JB, Matin AA (2008) Allelopathic potential of rice (Oryza sativa) varieties on
seedling growth of barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli). J Plant Interact 3:175–180
Bhurer KP, Yadav DN, Ladha JK, Thapa RB, Pandey K (2013) Effect of integrated weed manage-
ment practices on performance of dry direct seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.). Agron J  Nepal
3:53–63
386 V. Kumar et al.

Boyetchko SM (1997) Principles of biological weed control with microorganisms. Hortic Sci
32:201–210
Boyette CD, Templeton GE, Smith RJ Jr (1979) Control of winged waterprimerose (Jussiaea
decurrens) and northern jointvetch (Aeschynomene virginica) with fungal pathogens. Weed Sci
27:497–501
BRRI (2006) Bangladesh rice knowledge bank. Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. http://
riceknowledgebank.brri.org
Buhler DD (2002) Challenges and opportunities for integrated weed management. Weed Sci
50:273–280
Buhler DD, Liebman M, Obrycki JJ (2000) Theoretical and practical challenges to an IPM
approach to weed management. Weed Sci 48:274–280
Charudattan R (1991) The mycoherbicide approach with plant pathogens. In: TeBeest DO (ed)
Microbial control of weeds. Chapman and Hall, New York, pp. 24–57
Charudattan R (2001) Biological control of weeds by means of plant pathogens: significance for
integrated weed management in modern agroecology. BioControl 46:229–260
Chauhan BS (2013a) Effect of tillage systems, seeding rates, and herbicides on weed growth and
grain yield in dry-seeded rice systems in the Philippines. Crop Prot 54:244–250
Chauhan BS (2013b) Strategies to manage weedy rice in Asia. Crop Prot 48:51–56
Chauhan BS, Abugho SB (2013) Effects of water regime, nitrogen fertilization, and rice plant
density on growth and reproduction of lowland weed Echinochloa crus-galli. Crop Prot
54:142–147
Chauhan BS, Johnson DE (2009) Influence of tillage systems on weed seedling emergence pattern
in rainfed rice. Soil Tillage Res 106:15–21
Chauhan BS, Johnson DE (2010a) The role of seed ecology in improving weed management strat-
egies in the tropics. Adv Agron 105:221–262
Chauhan BS, Johnson DE (2010b) Implications of narrow crop row spacing and delayed
Echinochloa colona and Echinochloa crus-galli emergence for weed growth and crop yield
loss in aerobic rice. Field Crop Res 117:177–182
Chauhan BS, Opeña J (2012) Effect of tillage systems and herbicides on weed emergence, weed
growth, and grain yield in dry-seeded rice systems. Field Crop Res 137:56–69
Chauhan BS, Opeña J (2013a) Implications of plant geometry and weed control options in design-
ing a low-seeding seed-drill for dry-seeded rice systems. Field Crop Res 144:225–231
Chauhan BS, Opeña J (2013b) Weed management and grain yield of rice sown at low seeding rates
in mechanized dry-seeded systems. Field Crop Res 141:9–15
Chauhan BS, Singh VP, Kumar A, Johnson DE (2011) Relations of rice seeding rates to crop and
weed growth in aerobic rice. Field Crop Res 121:105–115
Chauhan BS, Mahajan G, Sardana V, Timsina J, Jat ML (2012) Productivity and sustainability of
the rice-wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of the Indian subcontinent: prob-
lems, opportunities, and strategies. Adv Agron 117:315–369
Chauhan BS, Kumar V, Mahajan G (2014) Research needs for improving weed management in
rice. Indian J Weed Sci 46:1–13
Chauhan BS, Awanb TH, Abughoc SB, Evengelistab G, Yadav S (2015) Effect of crop establish-
ment methods and weed control treatments on weed management, and rice yield. Field Crop
Res 172:72–84
Chhokar RS, Sharma RK, Gathala MK, Pundir AK (2014) Effects of crop establishment tech-
niques on weeds and rice yield. Crop Prot 64:7–12
Chin DV (2001) Biology and management of barnyardgrass, red sprangletop and weedy rice.
Weed Biol Manage 1:37–41
Chin DV, Mai TN, Thi HL (2003) Biological control of Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Nees. by using
fungus Setosphaeria rostrata. In: Annual Workshop of JIRCAS Mekong delta project. Cantho
University, Cantho, pp. 39–43
Chung YR, Ku SJ, Kim HT, Cho KY (1998) Potential of an indigenous fungus, Plectosporium
tabacinum, as a mycoherbicide for control of arrowhead (Sagittaria trifolia). Plant Dis
82:657–660
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 387

Chung I, Kim K, Ahn J, Chun S, Kim C, Kim J, Kim S (2002) Screening of allelochemicals on
barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) and identification of potentially allelopathic com-
pounds from rice (Oryza sativa) variety hull extracts. Crop Prot 21:913–920
Chung IM, Kim JT, Kim SH (2006) Evaluation of allelopathic potential and quantification of
momilactone A, B from rice hull extracts and assessment of inhibitory bioactivity on paddy
field weeds. J Agric Food Chem 54:2527–2536
Croughan TP (2003) Clearfield rice: it’s not a GMO. Louisiana Agric 46:24–26
Davis AS, Liebman M (2003) Cropping system effects on giant foxtail (Setaria faberi) demogra-
phy: I. Green manure and tillage timing. Weed Sci 51:919–929
De Datta SK, Baltazar AM (1996) Weed control technology as a component of rice production
systems. In: Auld BA, Kim KU (eds) Weed management in rice. FAO plant production and
protection paper 139, Rome, pp. 27–52
Delouche JC, Burgos NR, Gealy DR, Zorilla-San Martin G, Labrada R, Larinde N (2007) Weedy
rices: origin, biology, ecology and control. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, Rome
Dickmann R, Melgarelo J, Loubiere P, Montagnon M (1997) Oxadiargyl: a novel herbicide for rice
and sugarcane. In: Proceedings of the 1997 British Crop Protection Conference-Weeds,
Brighton, pp. 51–57
Farooq M, Jabran K, Rehman H, Hussain M (2008) Allelopathic effects of rice on seedling devel-
opment in wheat, oat, barley and berseem. Allelopath J 22:385–390
Farooq M, Jabran K, Cheema ZA, Wahid A, Siddique KH. (2011) The role of allelopathy in agri-
cultural pest management. Pest Manag Sci 67:493–506
Fischer AJ, Ateh CM, Bayer DE, Hill JE (2000) Herbicide-resistant Echinochloa oryzoides and E.
phyllopogon in California Oryza sativa fields. Weed Sci 48:225–230
Fischer AJ, Ramirez HV, Lozano J (1997) Suppression of jungle rice [Echinochloa colona (L.)
Link] by irrigated rice cultivars in Latin America. Agron J 89:516–552
Fischer AJ, Comfort MA, Bayer DE, Hill JE (2000) Herbicide-resistant Echinochloa oryzoides and
E. phyllopogon in California Oryza sativa fields. Weed Sci 48:225–230
Fischer AJ, Ramirez HV, Gibson KD, Da Silveira Pinheiro B (2001) Competitiveness of semi
dwarf upland rice cultivars against Palisadegrass (Brachiaria brizantha) and Signalgrass (B.
decumbens). Agron J 93:967–973
Fischer AJ, Hill JE (2004) Weed control programs. In: University of California Cooperative
Extension and California Rice Research Board (ed) Rice production workshop. University of
California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Oakland, pp. 9.1–9.10
Fofana B, Rauber R (2000) Weed suppression ability of upland rice under low-input conditions in
West Africa. Weed Res 40:271–280
Gaanie ZA, Singh S, Singh S (2014) Integrated weed management in dry-seeded rice. Indian
J Weed Sci 46:172–173
Gealy DR, Mitten DH, Rutger JN (2003) Gene flow between red rice (Oryza sativa) and herbicide-­
resistant rice (O. sativa): implications for weed management. Weed Technol 17:627–645
Gibson KD, Fischer AJ (2004) Competitiveness of rice cultivars as a tool for crop based weed
management. In: Inderjit (ed) Weed biology and management. Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Dordrecht, pp. 517–537
Gibson KD, Foin TC, Hill JE (1999) The relative importance of root and shoot competition
between water-seeded rice and water grass. Weed Res 39:181–190
Gibson KD, Hill JE, Foin TC, Caton BP, Fischer AJ (2001) Water seeded rice cultivars differ in
ability to interfere with watergrass. Agron J 93:326–332
Gibson KD, Fischer AJ, Foin TC, Hill JE (2002) Implications of delayed Echinochloa spp. germi-
nation and duration of competition for integrated weed management in water-seeded rice.
Weed Res 42:351–358
Govindan R, Chinnusamy C (2014) Tillage, crop establishment and weed management in rice
under conservation agriculture system. Indian J Weed Sci 46:117–122
Guillermo DA, Pedersen P, Hartzler RG (2009) Soybean seeding rate effects on weed manage-
ment. Weed Technol 23:17–22
388 V. Kumar et al.

Haefele SM, Johnson DE, M’ Bodj D, Wopereis MCS, Miézan KM (2004) Field screening of
diverse rice genotypes for weed competitiveness in irrigated lowland ecosystems. Field Crop
Res 88:39–56
Hallett SC (2005) Where are the bioherbicides? Weed Sci 53:404–415
Hammerton JL (1967) Environmental factors and susceptibility to herbicides. Weeds 15:330–336
Harding SS, Jalloh AB (2011) Evaluation of the relative weed competitiveness of upland rice vari-
eties in Sierra Leone. African J Plant Sci 5:396–400
Harding SS, Jalloh AB (2013) Evaluation of the relative weed competitiveness of some lowland
rice varieties in Sierra Leone. Am J Exp Agric 3:252–261
Hasanuzzaman M, Nahar K, Karim R (2007) Effectiveness of different weed control methods on
the performance of transplanted rice. Pak J Weed Sci Res 13:17–25
Heap I (2016) The international survey of herbicide resistant weeds. www.weedscience.org
Ho NK (1991) Comparative ecological studies of weed flora in irrigated rice fields in the Muda
area. Muda Agricultural Development Authority, Telok Chenga, Alor Setar Kedah, p. 97
Huang SW, Watson AK, Duan GF, Yu LQ (2001) Preliminary evaluation of potential pathogenic
fungi as bioherbicides of barnyardgrass ( Echinochloa crus-galli) in China. Int Rice Res Notes
26:35–36
Hussain S, Ramzan M, Akhter M, Aslam M (2008) Weed management in direct seeded rice.
J Anim Plant Sci 18:2–3
ICAR (2007) Vision 2025. NRCWS perspective plan. Indian Council of Agriculture Research,
New Delhi
IRRI (2015) Herbicide-resistant rice. http://irri.org/news/hot-topics/herbicide-resistant-rice
Jabran K, Chauhan BS (2015) Weed management in aerobic rice systems. Crop Prot 78:151–163
Jabran K, Ehsanullah E, Hussain M, Farooq M, Babar M, Dogan MN, Lee DJ (2012a) Application
of bispyribac-sodium provides effective weed control in direct-planted rice on a sandy loam
soil. Weed Biol Manag 12:136–145
Jabran K, Farooq M, Hussain M, Ehsanullah, Khan MB, Shahid M, Lee DJ (2012b) Efficient
weeds control with penoxsulam application ensures higher productivity and economic returns
of direct seeded rice. Int J Agric Biol 14:901–907
Jabran K, Mahajan G, Sardana V, Chauhan BS (2015) Allelopathy for weed control in agricultural
systems. Crop Prot 72:57–65
Jahromi FG, Ash GJ, Cother EJ (2004) Factors affecting disease development by Rhynchosporium
alismatis in starfruit (Damasonium minus), a weed of rice. Biocontrol Sci Tech 14:281–290
Jannink JL, Orf JH, Jordan NR, Shaw RG (2000) Index selection for weed suppressive ability in
soybean. Crop Sci 40:1087–1094
Jayadeva HM, Bhairappanavar ST, Hugar AY, Rangaswamy BR, Mallikarjun GB, Malleshappa C,
Channa ND (2011) Integrated weed management in aerobic rice (Oryza sativa L.). Agric Sci
Digest 31:58–61
Johnson DE (1996) Weed management in small holder rice production in the tropics. http://ipm-
world.umn.edu/chapters/johnson.htm
Johnson DE, Dingkuhn M, Jones MP, Mahamane MC (1998) The influence of rice plant type on
the effect of weed competition on Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima. Weed Res 38:207–216
Jones MP, Johnson D, Fofana B, Koupeur T (1996) Selection for weed competitiveness in upland
rice. Int Rice Res Notes 21:32–33
Jordan N (1993) Prospects for weed control through crop interference. Ecol Appl 3:84–91
Juraimi AS, Uddin Md K, Anwar Md P, Mohamed MTM, Ismail Mohd R, Azmi M (2013)
Sustainable weed management in direct seeded rice culture: a review. Aust J  Crop Sci
7:989–1002
Kadir J, Charudattan R (2000) Dactylaria higginsii, a fungal bioherbicide agent for purplenut-
sedge (Cyperus rotundus). Biol Control 17:113–124
Karim SMR, Man AB, Sahid IB (2004) Weed problems and their management in rice fields of
Malaysia: an overview. Weed Biol Manage 4:177–186
Kato-Noguchi H, Ino T, Kujime H (2010) The relation between growth inhibition and secretion
level of momilactone B from rice root. J Plant Interact 5:87–90
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 389

Khaliq A, Matloob A, Ahmad N, Rasul F, Awan I (2012) Post emergence chemical weed control in
direct seeded fine rice. J Anim Plant Sci 22:1101–1106
Kim SC, Ha WG (2005) Direct seeding and weed management in Korea. In: Toriyama K, Heong
KL, Hardy B (eds) Rice is life: scientific perspectives for the 21st century. International Rice
Research Institute/Japan International Rice Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, Los
Baños/Tsukuba, pp. 181–184
King CA, Oliver LR (1992) Application rate and timing of acifluorfen, bentazon, chlorimuron, and
imazaquin. Weed Technol 6:526–534
Kristensen L, Olsen J, Weiner J  (2008) Crop density, sowing pattern, and nitrogen fertilization
effects on weed suppression and yield in spring wheat. Weed Sci 56:97–102
Kumar V, Bellinder RR, Gupta RK, Malik RK, Brainard DC (2008) Role of herbicide-resistant rice
in promoting resource conservation technologies in rice–wheat cropping systems of India: a
review. Crop Prot 27:290–301
Le Thi H, Lin CH, Smeda RJ, Leigh ND, Wycoff WG, Fritschi FB (2014) Isolation and identifica-
tion of an allelopathic phenylethylamine in rice. Phytochemistry 108:109–121
Li Y, Sun Z, Zhuang X, Xu L, Chen S, Li M (2003) Research progress on microbial herbicides.
Crop Prot 22:247–252
Li SS, Wei SH, Zuo RL, Wei JG, Qiang S (2012) Changes in the weed seed bank over 9 consecu-
tive years of rice-duck farming. Crop Prot 37:42–50
Lotz LAP, Wallinga J, Kropff MJ (1995) Crop-weed interactions: quantification and prediction. In:
Glen DM, Greaves MP, Anderson HM (eds) Ecology and integrated farming systems. Wiley
and Sons, Chichester, pp. 31–47
Luna LZ, Watson AK, Paulitz TC (2002a) Seedling blights of Cyperaceae weeds caused by
Curvularia tuberculata and C. oryzae. Biocontrol Sci Tech 12:165–172
Luna LZ, Watson AK, Paulitz TC (2002b) Reaction of rice (Oryza sativa) cultivars to penetration
and infection of Curvularia tuberculata and C. oryzae. Plant Dis 86:470–476
Mahajan G, Chauhan BS (2011) Effects of planting pattern and cultivar on weed and crop growth
in aerobic rice system. Weed Technol 25:521–525
Mahajan G, Chauhan BS (2013a) The role of cultivars in managing weeds in dry-seeded rice pro-
duction systems. Crop Prot 49:52–57
Mahajan G, Chauhan BS (2013b) Herbicide options for weed control in dry-seeded aromatic rice
in India. Weed Technol 27:682–689
Mahajan G, Timsina J (2011) Effect of nitrogen rates and weed control methods on weeds abun-
dance and yield of direct-seeded rice. Arch Agron Soil Sci 57:239–250
Mahajan G, Chauhan B, Johnson D (2009) Weed management in aerobic rice in Northwestern
Indo-Gangetic Plains. J Crop Improv 23:366–382
Mahajan G, Gill MS, Singh K (2010) Optimizing seed rate for weed suppression and higher yield
in aerobic direct seeded rice in north western Indo-Gangetic Plains. J New Seeds 11:225–238
Mahajan G, Poonia V, Chauhan BS (2014) Integrated weed management using planting pattern,
cultivar, and herbicide in dry-seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.) in northwest India. Weed Sci
62:350–359
Mahajan G, Ramesha MS, Chauhan BS (2015) Genotypic differences for water-use efficiency and
weed competitiveness in dry direct-seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.). Agron J 107:1573–1583
Matloob A, Khaliq A, Chauhan BS (2015) Weeds of direct-seeded rice in Asia: problems and
opportunities. Adv Agron 130:291–336
Mazid MA, Jabber MA, Mortimer M, Wade LJ, Riches CR, Orr AW (2003) Improving rice-based
cropping systems in north-west Bangladesh: diversification and weed management. In: The
BCPC International Congress, Crop Prod Prot, Hampshere, UK, BCPC publisher, pp. 1029–1034
Mennan H, Ngouajio M, Sahin M, Isik D, Altop EK (2012) Competitiveness of rice (Oryza sativa
L.) cultivars against Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) Beauv. in water-seeded production systems.
Crop Prot 41:1–9
Mishra JS, Singh VP, Bhanu C, Subrahmanyam D (2012) Crop establishment, tillage and weed
management techniques on weed dynamics and productivity of rice (Oryza sativa)–chickpea
(Cicer arietinum) cropping system. Indian J Agric Sci 82:15–20
390 V. Kumar et al.

Mohtisham A, Ahmad R, Ahmad Z, Aslam MR (2013) Effect of different mulches techniques on

weed infestation in aerobic rice (Oryza sativa L.). Am Eurasian J  Agric Environ Sci
13:153–157
Moody K, Cordova VG (1985) Wet-seeded rice. In: Women in rice farming. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 467–480
Motlagh MRS (2011) Fusarium Equiseti (corda) Saccardo as biological control agent of barnyard-
grass (Echinochloa crus-galli L.) in rice fields. J Food Agric Environ 9:310–313
Motlagh MRS (2012) Evaluation of Alternaria alternata causing leaf spot of barnyardgrass grown
in rice fields. Afr J Microbiol Res 6:4481–4488
Moukoumbi YD, Sie M, Vodouhe R, Bonou W, Toulou B, Ahanchede A (2011) Screening of rice
varieties for their weed competitiveness. Afr J Agric Res 6:5446–5456
Mubeen K, Nadeem M, Tanveer A, Jhala A (2014) Effects of seeding time and weed control meth-
ods in direct seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.). J Anim Plant Sci 24:534–542
Mukherjee D (2004) Weed management in rice. Agric Today 11:26–27
Namuco OS, Cairns JE, Johnson DE (2009) Investigating early vigour in upland rice (Oryza sativa
L.): part I.  Seedling growth and grain yield in competition with weeds. Field Crop Res
113:197–206
Ni H, Moody K, Robles RP, Paller EC, Lales JS (2000) Oryza sativa plant traits conferring com-
petitive ability against weeds. Weed Sci 48:200–204
Ni HW, Moody K, Robles RP (2004) Analysis of competition between wet-seeded rice and barn-
yard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli) using a response-surface model. Weed Sci 52:142–146
Nichols V, Verhulstb N, Coxb R, Govaerts B (2015) Weed dynamics and conservation agriculture
principles: a review. Field Crop Res 183:56–68
Oerke EC (2006) Crop losses to pests. J Agric Sci 144(01):31–43
Oerke EC, Dehne HW (2004) Safeguarding production losses in major crops and the role of crop
protection. Crop Prot 23:275–285
Oliver LR, Klingaman TE, McClelland M, Bozsa RC (1993) Herbicide systems in stale seedbed
soybean (Glycine max) production. Weed Technol 7:816–823
Oraze MJ, Grigarick AA (1992) Biological control of ducksalad (Heteranthera limosa) by water-
lily aphid (Rhopalosiphum nymphaeae) in rice (Oryza sativa). Weed Sci 40:333–336
Phatak SC, Callaway MB, Vavrina CS (1987) Biological control and its integration in weed man-
agement systems for purple and yellow nutsedge (Cyprus rotundus and C. esculentus). Weed
Technol 1:84–91
Phuong LT, Denich M, Vlek PLG, Balasubramanian V (2005) Suppressing weeds in direct seeded
lowland rice: effects of methods and rates of seeding. J Agron Crop Sci 191:185–194
Powles SB, Yu Q (2010) Evolution in action: plants resistant to herbicides. Annu Rev Plant Biol
61:317–347
Praveena R, Naseema A (2003) Effects of two potent biocontrol agents on water hyacinth. Int Rice
Res Notes 28:40
Rao AN (2011) Integrated weed management in rice in India. In: Rice Knowledge Management
Portal (RKMP). Directorate of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, pp. 1–35
Rao AN, Moody K (1994) Ecology and management of weeds in farmers’ direct seeded rice
(Oryza sativa L.) fields. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños
Rao AN, Johnson DE, Sivaprasad B, Ladha JK, Mortimer AM (2007) Weed management in direct-­
seeded rice. Adv Agron 93:153–255
Rodenburg J, Johnson DE (2009) Weed management in rice-based cropping systems in Africa.
Adv Agron 103:149–218
Rodenburg J, Saito K, Glele R, Touré A, Mariko M, Kiepe P (2009) Weed competitiveness of the
lowland rice varieties of NERICA in southern Guinea Savana. Field Crop Res 114:411–418
Roder W (2001) Slash-and-burn rice systems in the hills of northern Lao PDR. In: Description,
challenges, and opportunities. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, p. 201
Saito K, Phanthaboon K, Shiraiwa T, Horie T, Futakuchi K (2010a) Genotypic variation in ability
to recover from weed competition at early vegetative stage in upland rice. Plant Prod Sci
13:116–120
14  Rice Weeds and Their Management 391

Saito K, Azoma K, Rodenburg J (2010b) Plant characteristics associated with weed competitive-
ness of rice under upland and lowland conditions in West Africa. Field Crop Res
116:308–317
Salam MA, Morokuma M, Teruya T, Suenaga K, Kato-Noguchi H (2009) Isolation and identifica-
tion of a potent allelopathic substance in Bangladesh rice. Plant Growth Regul 58:137–140
Savary S, Srivastave RK, Singh HM, Elazegui FA (1997) A characterization of rice pests and
quantification of yield losses in the rice-wheat system of India. Crop Prot 16:387–398
Sharma SK, Singh KK (2008) Production potential of the direct-seeded rice-wheat cropping sys-
tem. In: Singh Y, Singh VP, Chauhan B, Orr A, Mortimer AM, Johnson DE, Hardy B (eds)
Direct seeding of rice and weed management in irrigated rice wheat cropping system of the
Indo Gangetic Plains. International Rice Research Institute and Pantnagar (India): Directorate
of Experiment Station, G.  B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Los Baños,
pp. 61–73
Shrestha A, Lanini T, Mitchell J, Wright S, Vargas R, Tulare UCCE, County M (2005) An update
of weed management issues in conservation tillage systems. California Weed Science Society
Proceedings, Monterey, CA, pp. 58–63
Sindhu PV, Thomas CG, Abraham CT (2010) Seed bed manipulations for weed management in
wet seeded rice. Indian J Weed Sci 42:173–179
Singh Y, Singh G (2008) Cropping systems and weed flora of rice and wheat in the Indo Gangetic
plains. In: Singh Y, Singh VP, Chauhan B, Orr A, Mortimer AM, Johnson DE, Hardy B (eds)
Direct seeding of rice and weed management in irrigated rice wheat cropping system of the
Indo Gangetic Plains. Los Banos, International Rice Research Institute and Pantnagar:
Directorate of Experiment Station, G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,
pp. 33–43
Singh G, Singh Y, Singh VP, Johnson DE, Mortimer M (2005a) System level effects in weed man-
agement in rice-wheat cropping in India. BCPC International Congress on Crop Science and
Technology-2005. SECC, Glasgow
Singh S, Singh G, Singh VP, Singh AP (2005b) Effect of establishment methods and weed man-
agement practices on weeds and rice in rice-wheat cropping system. Indian J  Weed Sci
37:51–57
Singh S, Bhushan L, Ladha JK, Gupta RK, Rao AN, Shivaprasad B (2006) Weed management in
dry-seeded rice (Oryza sativa) cultivated on furrow irrigated raised bed planting system. Crop
Prot 25:487–495
Singh S, Ladha J, Gupta R, Bhushan L, Rao A, Sivaprasad B, Singh P (2007) Evaluation of mulch-
ing, intercropping with Sesbania and herbicide use for weed management in dry-seeded rice
(Oryza sativa L.). Crop Prot 26:518–524
Singh S, Chhokar RS, Gopal R, Ladha JK, Gupta RK, Kumar V, Singh M (2009) Integrated
weed management: a key to success for direct–seeded rice in the Indo-Genetic Plains. In:
Ladha JK, Singh Y, Errenstein O, Hardy B (eds) Integrated crop and resource management
in the rice – wheat system of South Asia. International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos,
pp. 261–278
Singh Y, Singh V, Singh G, Yadav D, Sinha R, Johnson D, Mortimer A (2011) The implications of
land preparation, crop establishment method and weed management on rice yield variation in
the rice-wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Field Crop Res 121:64–74
Singh M, Bhullar MS, Chauhan BS (2015) Influence of tillage, cover cropping, and herbicides on
weeds and productivity of dry direct-seeded rice. Soil Tillage Res 147:39–49
Smith RJ Jr (1991) Integration of biological control agents with chemical pesticides. In: TeBeest
DO (ed) Microbial control of weeds. Chapman and Hall, New York, pp. 189–208
Smith RJ Jr, Sullivan JD (1980) Reduction of red rice grain in rice fields by winter feeding of
ducks. Arkansas Farm Res 29:3
Smither-Kopperl ML, Charudattan R, Berger RD (1998) Plectosporium tabacinum, a pathogen of
the invasive aquatic weed Hydrilla verticillata in Florida. Plant Dis 83:24–28
Subramanian E, Martin GJ (2006) Effect of chemical, cultural and mechanical methods of weed
control on wet seeded rice. Indian J Weed Sci 38:218–220
392 V. Kumar et al.

Sunil CM, Shekara BG, Kalyanmurthy KN, Shankaralingapa BC (2010) Growth and yield
of a­ erobic rice as influenced by integrated weed management practices. Indian J  Weed Sci
42:180–183
Suria ASMJ, Juraimi AS, Rahman MM, Man AB, Selamat A (2011) Efficacy and economics of
different herbicides in aerobic rice system. Afr J Biotechnol 10:8007–8022
Talbert RE, Burgos NR (2007) History and management of herbicide-resistant barnyardgrass
(Echinochloa crus-galli) in Arkansas rice. Weed Technol 21:324–331
Tan WZ, Li QJ, Qing L (2002) Biological control of alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides)
with a Fusarium sp. Biol Control 47:463–479
Timsina J, Haque, Chauhan BS, Johnson DE (2010) Impact of tillage and rice establishment meth-
ods on rice and weed growth in the rice-maize-mungbean rotation in northern Bangladesh.
Presented at the 28th International Rice Research Conference, 8–12 November 2010. Hanoi,
Vietnam OP09: Pest, Disease, and Weed Management
Zhang ZP (2005) Weed management on rice, wheat, soybeans and cotton in China. In proceedings
of the 20th Asian Pacific Weed Science Society Conference, Vietnam, pp. 601–605
Zhang WM, Watson AK (1997) Effect of dew period and temperature on the ability of Exserohilum
monoceras to cause seedling mortality of Echinochloa sp. Plant Dis 81:629–634
Zhang W, Webster EP, Blouin DC, Leon CT (2005) Fenoxaprop interactions for barnyard grass
(Echinochloa crus-galli) control in rice. Weed Technol 19:293–297
Zhao D (2006) Weed competitiveness and yielding ability of aerobic rice genotypes. PhD thesis,
Wageningen University, Wageningen
Zhao DL, Atlin GN, Bastiaans L, Spiertz JHJ (2006) Cultivar-weed competitiveness in aerobic rice:
heritability, correlated traits, and the potential for indirect selection in weed-free e­ nvironment.
Crop Sci 46:372–380
Zhao DL, Bastiaans L, Atlin GN, Spiertz JHJ (2007) Interaction of genotype × management on
vegetative growth and weed suppression of aerobic rice. Field Crop Res 100:327–340
Zimdahl RL (2007) Fundamentals of weed science. Academic, London
Chapter 15
Ecology and Management of Apple Snails
in Rice

Finbarr G. Horgan

15.1  Summary

Apple snails (Ampulariidae) occur throughout tropical and subtropical rice-­growing

regions. Native apple snails rarely damage rice; however, in hot and humid tropical
regions, some native species will damage wet-direct-seeded rice (i.e., Pomacea spp.
in Suriname and Brazil). Similarly, exotic apple snails in wet, temperate regions can
damage direct-seeded rice (i.e., Pomacea canaliculata in Japan). However, if left
unmanaged, exotic apple snails in warm tropical regions (i.e., P. canaliculata and
P. maculata in South East Asia) can cause significant economic losses even to trans-
planted rice (which is more robust that direct-seeded rice). The negative impact of
apple snails on rice yield can be reduced by reducing seedling vulnerability or con-
trolling snail population densities. Reducing vulnerability is a more sustainable
solution to apple snails but requires new methods such as seedling broadcasting and
machine transplanting to decrease labor costs. To avoid further spread of apple
snails, the implementation of effective quarantine directives is recommended for
tropical countries that are vulnerable to exotic apple snails.

15.2  Introduction

Apple snails (Ampullariidae) are regarded among the most destructive invasive spe-
cies globally. Several species of apple snail—originally from eastern South
America—have been introduced and established in the Pacific regions of South
America (west of the Andes), in North America, in South East Asia, and in southern

F.G. Horgan
Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology Sydney,
15 Broadway, Ultimo, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 393

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_15
394 F.G. Horgan

Europe (Horgan et  al. 2014a) (Fig. 15.1). Many of these regions are major rice
(Oryza sativa L.) producing areas and some (particularly in Asia) are important rice
“bowls” for developing nations. Apple snails were introduced into South East Asia
between the 1980s and 2000s with devastating consequences for the rice sector.
However, it is worrisome, that despite the damage caused by these introductions,
apple snails continue to be deliberately introduced to rice-growing regions, e.g.,
Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck) was introduced to Ecuador about 2005 (Horgan
et al. 2014b); Pomacea maculata Perry (synonym of Pomacea insularus) was intro-
duced to the Ebro region of Spain about 2009 (European Food Safety Authority
2012); P. canaliculata was introduced to Haleji Lake, near a major rice-growing
region of Pakistan about 2012 (Baloch et al. 2012); and Pomacea spp. were intro-
duced to the Ayeyarwady region of Myanmar about 2012 (communications with the
Plant Protection Division of the Myanmar Government) (Fig. 15.2).
Apple snails will damage most aquatic crops including taro (Colocasia esculenta
[L.] Schott), water chestnut (Trapa bicornis Osbeck), and water cress (Rorippa sco-
poli spp.) as well as functionally important plants such as Azolla (Azolla spp.) and
lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertner) (Cowie 2002). However, the damage to rice by
apple snails has attracted considerable research attention because of the extent of
rice-growing activities globally and the importance of rice in human nutrition
(Cowie 2002; Global Rice Science Partnership 2013). Apple snails damage rice by
rasping the tender rice stems of newly sown and young transplanted rice plants, and
by consuming leaves during crop establishment; this often kills the developing seed-
lings and results in patches of “missing hills” or bare-ground where the plants have
failed to develop (Litsinger and Estano 1993). Few studies have estimated the eco-
nomic impact of rice damage from apple snails or the costs (monitory or ecological)

5
5 4
5 1
2
3
2 1 1 2

1 1
5

Fig. 15.1  Rice producing regions of the world (light gray shading) indicating regions with reports
of damage to rice from apple snails. Snail–rice crop interactions are divided into five categories:
(1) Rice, mainly direct seeded, damaged by native snail species; (2) newly invaded regions with
some key native predators; (3) invaded tropical regions in Asia; (4) cool temperate regions where
snails mainly damage direct seeded rice; (5) newly invaded regions with mild Mediterranean cli-
mates. Shading indicates the spread of Pomacea canaliculata and P. maculata between
1980–2012
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice 395

of the massive increases in molluscicide use that follow invasion (Wada 2004;
Adalla and Magsino 2006; Horgan et al. 2014b). However, there is ample evidence
to suggest that invasive apple snails severely impact wetland ecosystems in general
(Horgan et al. 2014a) and are currently a nuisance to producers over much of the
world’s rice-growing regions (Joshi and Sebastian 2006). This chapter examines the
nature and management of the apple snail species that damage rice crops, focusing
on how snail biology and ecology determine their pest status and ultimately dictate
optimal, regionally specific strategies for their management.

15.3  Species and Records of Damage to Rice

Apple snails are freshwater snails that naturally occur throughout the humid tropics
and subtropics. The genus Pomacea and Marisa are mainly of South and Central
American origin. The genus Pila occurs naturally throughout South and South East
Asia, and in some parts of Africa (Cowie 2002; Hayes et al. 2008) (Fig. 15.1). There
are over 100 species of apple snail; however, research attention has focused on about
14 species (mainly Pomacea spp.) that have invaded new regions since the 1960s
mainly through the pet trade (Horgan et al. 2014a). The most rapid and extensive

Fig. 15.2  Farmers collect apple snails from rice fields in the Ayeyarwady region of Myanmar dur-
ing 2014, 2 years after exotic apple snails were first noted in the region (Photo: U Khun Maung
Maung, Plant Protection leader, Kayin State, Myanmar)
396 F.G. Horgan

expansion in apple snail distribution occurred during the 1980s and 1990s when
several species (P. canaliculata, Pomacea diffusa Blume, P. maculata, and Pomacea
scalaris d’Orbigny) became established in South East Asia (Hayes et  al. 2008;
Horgan et al. 2014a). Over their native ranges, most apple snails (i.e., Pila conica
Wood in the Philippines and Pila polita [Deshayes] in Thailand) do not significantly
affect rice production and are often beneficial sources of supplementary foods or
medicine (Bombeo-Tubaran et al. 1995; Thaewnon-ngiw et al. 2003). In Asia, the
native species Pila polita (Deshayes), Pila pilosa (possibly a misidentification), and
Pila globosa (Swainson) have been associated with only minor levels of damage to
rice (Cowie 2002). Most records of damage from native apple snails (Lanistes spp.)
in Africa are now over 40 years old, without any further reports of damage or any
recent research attention. Lanistes carinatus Olivier and Lanistes ovum Peters were
reported to damage rice in the Nile region and in Sierra Leone (Cowie 2002) and a
report from Swaziland in the 1960s indicated that L. ovum caused severe damage to
rice in an irrigation project (Crossland 1965) possibly due to poor drainage at the
site (Tyler 2008). Under certain crop establishment systems, particularly direct
seeding (see below), even native apple snails might pose a risk to rice production.
In the Americas, Marisa cornuarietis (L.) (a species introduced for biological
control purposes) occasionally causes damage to young rice seedlings in the
Caribbean (Ortíz-Torres 1962; Donnay and Beissinger 1993; Cowie 2002).
Similarly, Pomacea glauca (L.) and Pomacea lineata (Spix) have been associated
with damage to rice in Suriname and Venezuela (Wiryareja and Tjoe-Awie 2006).
However, it is likely that some records of these latter two species represent misiden-
tifications of Pomacea dolioides (Reeve) (Hayes et  al. 2012). In recent years,
P. canaliculata in its native range in southern Brazil and P. dolioides in its native
range in Suriname and northern Brazil have become serious pests of w ­ et-direct-seeded
rice (also known as pregerminated rice). Whereas damage due to P. canaliculata
and P. maculata has been limited to wet-direct-seeded rice in the Americas, these
two species have been associated with severe damage to transplanted rice in South
East Asia (Joshi and Sebastian 2006). It is noteworthy that P. canaliculata and
P. maculata in South East Asia were recorded together as a single species (P. cana-
liculata) during the 1980s and 1990s. Therefore, the impact that each of these spe-
cies (and particularly P. maculata) has had on rice production in Asia is still largely
unknown. The impact of P. maculata on rice in North America seems to be low:
Cold winter temperatures in temperate regions may limit snail activity, recruitment,
and consequent damage to rice (Burlakova et al. 2010).

15.4  B
 road Effects of Climate and Rice Production Systems
on Snail Damage Potential

Because of the wide geographical distribution of both rice production landscapes

and apple snails (native and invasive), the relative impact of apple snails on different
rice ecosystems varies considerably. Understanding the underlying ecology of such
variations can be useful to assess crop vulnerability and to choose medium- to
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice 397

long-­term strategies for snail management. Figure 15.1 indicates five main catego-
ries of interaction scenario under which apple snails encounter rice crops. These can
be explained as follows:
Category 1: Regions where management of native apple snails is not required in
transplanted and dry seeded crops (i.e., P. canaliculata in Argentina (Cazzaniga
2006)) but where potential for damage is high (up to 100  % losses) in
­wet-direct-­seeded crops (i.e., P. dolioides in Suriname (Wiryareja and Tjoe-Awie
2006); P. canaliculata in Southern Brazil (Sociedade Sul-Brasileira de Arroz
Irrigado 2010); and L. ovum in Swaziland (Crossland 1965)). Rice pasture rota-
tions, late flooding, and efficient regulation by natural enemies reduce the dam-
age potential of apple snails in most native regions (Cazzaniga 2006).
Category 2: Regions invaded by apple snails that are close to their original distribu-
tion range and where natural enemies (e.g., predatory birds and diseases) can
expand their distribution range with the snails (i.e., M. cornuarietis in the
Caribbean (Cowie 2002); P. canaliculata in the Dominican Republic (Rosario
and Moquete 2006) and in Ecuador (Horgan et al. 2014b); P. globosa in south
India (Thomas 1975); Pomacea lattrei (Reeve) in Panama (Angehr 1999)). In
such regions, regulation by natural enemies may be expected to reduce damage
after a short time during which natural enemies adapt and accumulate. However,
the impact of the snails on rice production in these regions is often similar to
category 3 (below).
Category 3: Tropical regions invaded by apple snails that have adequate climatic
conditions for maximum snail survival and fitness and few natural enemies (Fig.
15.2). For example, throughout tropical and subtropical Asia, P. canaliculata and
P. maculata cause severe damage to rice under all types of establishment meth-
ods and are a major concern for rice farmers (Halwart 1994; Naylor 1996).
Heavy damage (50–100 % of seedlings destroyed) has been reported in Taiwan
(Yang et  al. 2006), the Philippines (Litsinger and Estano 1993; Sanico et  al.
2002), and South China (Wu and Xie 2006); however, there is still a paucity of
data on damage levels from most regions where the snails have established. A
high cropping intensity (≥2 crops per year) and continuous flooding throughout
the year contribute to the high snail densities, a high potential for damage to rice,
and enormous labor and management costs following invasion (Litsinger and
Estano 1993; Halwart 1994; Naylor 1996; Adalla and Magsino 2006).
Category 4: Wet temperate regions where apple snails may cause relatively little
damage to transplanted rice, but high damage (>30 % of seedlings destroyed) to
direct-seeded rice (Wada 2004). Several detailed studies have been conducted in
Japan where the distribution range of P. canaliculata approaches its northern
limits. Rice in Japan is predominantly transplanted, either mechanically or man-
ually, and crop rotation (mainly with soybean, Glycine max [L.] Merr.) is increas-
ingly practiced due to government efforts to reduce rice overproduction (Wada
2004). Winter mortality is a major constraint for the snails and populations must
build up from low numbers of overwintering adults at the beginning of the crop-
ping season (Syobu et  al. 2001). However, the recovery is often rapid during
warm spring and summer months (Wada 2004).
398 F.G. Horgan

Category 5: Dry temperate and Mediterranean regions recently invaded by apple

snails where snail dispersal is likely to be slow due to dry conditions, but where
recruitment and population growth are fast due to mild winter temperatures (i.e.,
Texas (Burlakova et  al. 2010); California (United States Geological Survey
2012); Cataluña, Spain (European Food Safety Authority 2012); Chile (Jackson
and Jackson 2009)). Damage to rice is often low (<5  %); however, some rice
ecosystems in these regions are high value amenity areas that are vulnerable to
perturbations; once apple snails have established in these habitats, they become
difficult to manage because of continuously favorable conditions for snail sur-
vival. Such vulnerable habitats include the winter flooded rice fields of California,
USA (Elphick and Oring 1998) and the Ebro Delta of Cataluña (European Food
Safety Authority 2012).
Management practices against apple snails in rice can be selected based on the
biology of the snails and the effects of local climatic and geographical conditions
on their population dynamics, particularly their reproduction and time to sexual
maturity. Management approaches can be divided into two groups. The first
includes a suite of cultural control methods aimed at reducing snail damage to the
rice crop, but without attempting to reduce snail population densities. These meth-
ods reduce rice crop vulnerability by restricting snail movements or avoiding vul-
nerable seedling stages. The second group of management approaches aims at
reducing snail population densities through poisoning, mechanically crushing the
snails, or using biological control and manual collections. The later methods are
often nonselective and also affect beneficial aquatic organisms; they exert selection
pressures on the snails toward avoidance and adaptation to management; and they
are often short-term solutions, because apple snails, particularly without natural
enemies, can rapidly build up numbers. The best approaches to management will
often combine several management techniques (Litsinger and Estano 1993; Yanes
Figueroa et al. 2014). These management approaches are discussed in the sections
that follow.

15.5  R
 educing Rice Crop Vulnerability to Apple Snails
(Crop Establishment Methods)

In rice paddies, apple snails feed on a range of macrophytes including both the rice
plants and their associated weeds (Litsinger and Estano 1993; Sanico et  al. 2002;
Joshi and Sebastian 2006). The higher nutrient levels of crop plants result in marked
feeding preferences by apple snails for some crops over macrophyte weeds (Qiu and
Kwong 2009); however, leaf and stem dry matter content ultimately determine mac-
rophyte palatability and hence the vulnerability of plants to snail damage (Wong et al.
2010; Yanes Figueroa et al. 2014). Dry matter content increases with an increase in
plants age: Seedling stages of both rice and weeds are most vulnerable to snail attack
but resistance to snails increases as plants grow older (Yanes Figueroa et al. 2014).
Table 15.1  Management practices to reduce the vulnerability of rice seedlings to apple snails during crop establishment
Management method Mode of action Advantages Disadvantages References
Transplant seedlings or sow Resistant seedlings are Safe, no adverse effects Little information available to Horgan et al. 2017
seed with known resistance or nonpalatable whereas tolerant support decisions; Resistance
tolerance to snails seedling are palatable but and tolerance both vary
recover quickly from damage; according to field conditions
some rice varieties have noted
tolerance (i.e., some hybrid
varieties) but seedling
resistance to snails is unknown
Transplant seedlings at Older seedlings have thicker Safe, no adverse effects; Late transplanting requires Litsinger and Estano
>28 days after sowing stems that resist snail damage may also result in larger seedbeds and for some (1993), Yanes Figueroa
reduced production varieties may be associated et al. (2014), Horgan et al.
costs due to a shorter with transplanting shock (2014c)
time for the crop in the
field
Transplant at >1 seedling per Unclear, possibly due to Safe, no adverse effects Increases input costs Sanico et al. (2002), Yanes
hill feeding capacity of snails Figueroa et al. (2014)
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice

Sow seeds at ≤100 g m−2on Seedlings produced on Robust rice seedlings Requires larger seedbeds Yanes Figueroa et al.
wet or dry seedbeds low-density seedbeds are also have advantages (2014)
larger and have thicker, against insect pests and
resistant stems compared to diseases
seedlings from high density
seedbeds
Parachute (seedling broadcast) Decreased transplanting shock Labor and cost effective Can produce plastic waste; Horgan et al. (2014c)
or transplant seedlings with and faster growth rates broadcasting of older
intact roots and soil plugs increase seedling tolerance seedlings is difficult; not
widely accepted by farmers in
vulnerable areas because of
displacement of seedlings
during flooding
399

(continued)
Table 15.1 (continued)
400

Management method Mode of action Advantages Disadvantages References

Treat paddy field or seedbed Silicon is taken up by the Safe, no adverse effects Costly; no proven effects – Horgan et al. 2017
soils with silicon developing rice plant and may decrease growth rates of
increases seedling resistance some varieties
against herbivores
Reduce water depth during Water is lowered such that Easy to implement Longer drainage periods are Litsinger and Estano
vulnerable seedling stages snails are immobilized and better, but result in greater (1993), Wada (2004)
cannot feed on young rice weed problems, also heavy
plants rains can produce standing
pools; leveling of the field is
important for efficient
drainage
F.G. Horgan
Table 15.2  Management practices to reduce apple snail densities in rice fields during crop growth
Management method Mode of action Advantages Disadvantages References
Application of chemical or Toxic substances act as Easily applied, rapid Prohibits collection of snails Horgan et al. (2014b),
biological molluscicides neurotoxins or stomach response method for food; can kill nontarget Cowie (2002), Joshi et al.
during seedling poisons to kill snails organisms including fish and (2004), San (2006), Li and
establishment frogs; damaging for human Xu (2012), Chen et al.
health; variable results often (2012), Cagauan and Joshi
due to pest adaptation; (2002)
products may be phytotoxic;
alters size distribution of
snails to promote larger
individuals
Application of calcium Originally used as a fertilizer Reduces need for fertilizers, Phytotoxic and should be Wada (2004), Zhao et al.
cyanamide after harvest containing nitrogen and 250 kg ha−1 corresponds to applied 7–10 days before (2011)
calcium, calcium cyanamide is 50 kg of nitrogen ha−1 seedlings are transplanted or
toxic to apple snails before seeding - oxygen
supplier seed-coating
(Calper) can reduce toxicity
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice

Use of higher fertilizer Snail mortality increases at Easy to implement Can be phytotoxic; higher Stuart et al. (2014)
concentrations at basal higher fertilizer concentrations fertilizer leads to greater
applications and with run-off; affects beneficial
delayed flooding organisms also; leads to
higher plant growth rates and
more algae which increases
snail recruitment
Application of mixed Apparent higher toxicity of Easy to implement Conflicting results from De la Cruz et al. (2001)
chemical fertilizers chemical fertilizer over organic research Stuart et al. (2014)
and mixed over single type

(continued)
401
Table 15.2 (continued)
402

Management method Mode of action Advantages Disadvantages References

Application of chemical Increased mortality in plots No change in normal crop May also harm beneficial Stuart et al. (2014)
fertilizers with delayed treated with chemical management practice organisms in the rice field
flooding fertilizers possibly due to toxic
(poisoning) effects; effects of
delayed flooding are unclear,
possibly delay the dilution of
toxic fertilizers
Intensified tillage Snails are crushed Represents a slight Will kill other beneficial Wada (2004), Wada et al.
adaptation to regular land organisms too, including (2004)
preparation turtles and native snails
Rotation of rice with a dry Snails can aestivate for several Sometimes required by Can reduce mortality from Wada et al. (2004)
crop months depending on markets or governments, mechanical control, if soils
temperature and humidity; also controls other pests and remain friable
however, mortality increases diseases
over time
Blocking of water inlets Reduces snail dispersion from Often simple to install Can affect dispersal of Integrated ‘golden’ kuhol
with wire, plastic, or canals to rice fields beneficial organisms management (1989)
bamboo screens
Use of baited traps Snails are captured in baited Simple inverted-funnel traps Time consuming; not tested Integrated ‘golden’ kuhol
traps and are removed from the can be constructed from for efficacy at field scales management (1989)
field or killed plastic bottles, some
companies manufacture
traps
Hand picking or collection Removal of largest snails to Snails can be used as human Labor intensive Yanes Figueroa et al.
using a long-handle sieve. reduce population densities or animal feed depending (2014), Integrated ‘golden’
Placing baits overnight in on water quality kuhol management (1989)
the field can facilitate
hand-picking
F.G. Horgan
Hand picking of egg Reduces population densities; Egg clusters are highly Labor intensive Integrated ‘golden’ kuhol
masses, particularly after stakes placed in the rice field visible and allow management (1989)
nights of heavy rain can facilitate egg collection as destruction of several
snails deposit eggs on the individuals at the same time
stakes
Herding of ducks and geese Direct predation of snails May also control other pests Requires infrastructure and Naylor (1996), Integrated
to forage in flooded rice and weeds experience in duck rearing; ‘golden’ kuhol management
paddies ducks can introduce (1989), Teo (2001),
allergens to the rice fields; Cagauan and Joshi (2002)
often there is only a limited
market for ducks or duck
eggs
Rice–fish farming with Direct predation by fish of May also control other pests Some infrastructure, i.e., Halwart (1994), Teo (2001),
efficient predatory fish such hatchling and small juvenile and weeds pond refuges and Teo (2006); Wong et al.
as common carp snails antipredator netting, and (2009), Ichinose et al.
experience required; often (2010)
not compatible with modern
agricultural practices; fish
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice

may sometimes damage

seedlings
Installation of perches for Enhances natural predation of May also control other pests Some infrastructure and Horgan et al. (2014b),
predatory birds such as snail snails and weeds; promotes set-aside land required Sociedade Sul-Brasileira de
kites, and setting-aside biodiversity and ecosystem Arroz Irrigado (2010),
natural areas for predators functioning Dong et al. (2012)
such as turtles and fish
403
404 F.G. Horgan

There is also a direct relationship between snail size and the maximum age of seed-
lings that may be consumed: Large snails can feed on rice seedlings across a greater
age range, whereas small snails can feed only on young seedlings (Litsinger and
Estano 1993; Teo 2003; Wada 2004; Yanes Figueroa et al. 2014). Furthermore, feed-
ing by snails is limited to water that is deep enough to allow snail movement—this is
often considered as roughly equal to the height of the snail shell (Litsinger and Estano
1993; Teo 2003). Since smaller snails are less damaging, a depth of 3–5 cm is consid-
ered by many researchers as sufficient to limit the movement of larger snails and
inhibit feeding damage (Litsinger and Estano 1993; Teo 2003; Wada 2004). Water
depths of below 1 cm can eliminate damage entirely (Teo 2003). Therefore, the choice
of rice crop establishment method is a key determinant of vulnerability to apple snails
because crop establishment is largely defined by rice age at transplanting or broad-
casting and by water depth. Rice crop establishment methods can be grouped into six
main categories (see below). These methods are adopted by farmers based on labor
costs, irrigation costs, and issues of weed management (De Datta 1981). Farmers
rarely consider risks from apple snails when choosing a crop establishment method
(Horgan et al. 2014b) despite the impacts of apple snails at this vulnerable crop stage.
Table 15.1 indicates methods to reduce rice vulnerability to apple snails.

15.5.1  Transplanting

Seedling transplanting consists of sowing rice to wet or dry seed beds and, when the
seedlings reach a certain age (usually >20 days), the rice is transplanted by hand or
machine to puddled rice paddies. Snail damage to transplanted rice varies consider-
ably depending on snail density, seedling age, the number of seedlings per hill, and
water depth. Where snail densities are high (>5 snails m−2), damage to 15-day-old
seedlings can reach 100 % (Sanico et al. 2002), and damage to 20-day-old seedlings
is between 80 % and 90 % (Litsinger and Estano 1993; Sanico et al. 2002; Teo 2003).

15.5.1.1  Delayed Transplanting

Damage can be avoided by planting older seedlings, for example, delaying trans-
planting by 7–10 days (28- to 30-day-old seedlings) can reduce seedling mortality
by 30–60  % and delaying by 14–20  days (35- to 40-day-old seedlings) reduces
seedling mortality by 50–75 % (Litsinger and Estano 1993; Sanico et al. 2002; Teo
2003; Yanes Figueroa et al. 2014). Some rice varieties experience yield-­reducing
transplanting shock if seedlings are too old at the time of transplanting; this limits
the age of transplanting to below 40 days for most varieties. The intensity of trans-
planting shock may be more severe for younger seedlings; however, older seedlings
are thought to recover more slowly from shock (De Datta 1981). For example, Teo
(2003) estimated that transplanting of seedlings at 40 days after sowing resulted in
significant yield declines (19–22 % reduction) in the variety TR7 despite reducing
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice 405

snail damage to zero. However, Sanico et al. (Sanico et al. 2002) found no effect of
transplanting age (up to 35 days) on yield in IR72 under snail-free conditions, but,
where snails were present, transplanting older seedlings increased yields by up to
60 % compared to transplanting young seedlings (21 days old).
Despite the improvements gained from transplanting older seedlings, under high
snail densities, yield reductions in the wet season can be as high as 20 % when seed-
lings are transplanted even as late as 35  days—with over 40  % of hills missing
(Sanico et al. 2002). Clearly the transplanting of older seedlings will not eliminate
significant yield losses due to snails. Planting of more resistant or tolerant varieties
could potentially reduce damage, but there is little concrete evidence to indicate vari-
etal differences in seedling resistance or tolerance to snails. Therefore, delayed trans-
planting must normally be combined with some other damage reduction method.

15.5.1.2  Increasing Seeding Rates and the Number of Seedlings per Hill

Increasing the number of seedlings per hill has been shown to reduce damage (miss-
ing hills) and yield losses: For example, in an experiment by Yanes Figueroa et al.
(2014) increasing seedlings from one to three per hill increased hill survival of
18-day-old seedlings by up to 25 %. Sanico et al. (2002) found that increasing plant-
ing from one to two seedlings per hill reduced damage to 35-day-old seedlings by
about 75 % and increased yields by 16 %. Nevertheless, this still represented a loss
in yield of nearly 15  % compared to optimal snail-free conditions (Sanico et  al.
2002). Improved seedbed management can further reduce losses to apple snails. For
example, Yanes Figueroa et  al. (2014) suggested that low-density seeding
(≤100  g  m−2) on raised seedbeds can reduce damage by up to 25  % because the
developing seedlings, under conditions of low intraspecific competition will have
thicker stems that are difficult for the snails to feed on. By delaying transplanting,
planting more than one seedling per hill, and using low sowing densities, damage in
snail-infested ponds was reduced to <10 % (Yanes Figueroa et al. 2014).

15.5.1.3  Field Draining

In order to reduce snail damage further, transplanting of older seedlings is generally

combined with some period of short-term field draining. Draining paddy fields
reduces water levels to below 1–2 cm (although 0 cm is optimal for reducing snail
damage, particularly in direct-seeded rice) (Teo 2003). Even under high snail densi-
ties (5–6 snails m−2), draining fields for up to 10 days after transplanting can reduce
damage to 21-day-old seedlings by 44 % (Teo 2003) to 69 % (Litsinger and Estano
1993). For the best results, the soil should be level to reduce puddles where seed-
lings can be damaged. There are two important constraints to drainage for snail
management—first, rice seedlings may become stressed under dry conditions:
Despite reports of drainage for up to 3 weeks reducing snail damage to direct-seeded
rice by over 99 % (Japan: Wada 2004), draining for as little as 10 days can cause
406 F.G. Horgan

seedling stress and plant mortality (tropical South East Asia: Litsinger and Estano
1993; Teo 2003); second, during periods where the field is drained of standing
water, weeds will germinate and compete with the delicate rice seedlings.

15.5.2  Machine Transplanting

Several mechanical (automated or semiautomated) transplanters are available for

rice farmers. Machine transplanting reduces the labor costs of crop establishment
and are particularly popular among rice farmers in Korea and Japan; however,
mechanical transplanters are often limited in developing countries because of high
costs associated with purchasing the machinery (Horgan et al. 2014c). Rice seed-
lings are specially prepared for machine transplanting by sowing in mat-bed trays.
The seedlings are usually sown at high density without soil, making them akin to
dapog seedlings (see below). The seedlings are usually transplanted as small clumps
at <15 days old (Ghafoor et al. 2008; Horgan et al. 2014c). The restrictions on seed-
ling ages that are suitable for most machines, as well as their production as mats in
plastic trays, suggest that machine transplanted seedlings will be vulnerable to apple
snails. For example, machine transplanting of 15-day-old rice seedlings from mat
beds resulted in 70  % missing hills during a field experiment in the Philippines
(Horgan, unpublished). Machine transplanting of older seedlings would be advanta-
geous for snail-infested regions.

15.5.3  Dapog Method for Transplanting

The dapog method is sometimes employed by farmers to reduce time involved in

pulling seedlings from seedbeds. In the dapog method, the seedbed is sown on
banana leaves or plastic sheets and seedlings are transplanted at 9–14 days after
sowing. Litsinger and Estano (1993) found higher damage (about 30 % higher under
flooded conditions) from apple snails to dapog-transplanted seedlings compared to
using 20-day-old wet bed seedlings in fields in the Philippines. In a study by Horgan
et al. (2014c), 100 % of 21-day-old dapog seedlings were damaged after transplant-
ing to snail-infested ponds. Dapog transplanting is now rarely practiced in the
Philippines possibly due to nonviability of the system in snail-infested regions.

15.5.4  Seedling Broadcasting

The broadcasting of rice seedlings is now gaining popularity as a rice crop estab-
lishment method in China (Tang 2002). There are four principal forms of seedling
broadcasting. In the most popular form, seedlings are produced on dry beds with
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice 407

soft plastic trays. The seedlings (usually 2–4 per hill) with some soil are broadcast
from about 2 m to puddled soil so that the roots sink by 1–1.5 cm into the mud due
to gravity and the weight of the attached soil. Other forms of seedling broadcasting
rely on the same broadcasting technique but with seedlings produced on either wet
or dry beds, or using machine broadcasting of seedlings produced on dry beds in
plastic trays. Seedling broadcasting is designed to reduce labor costs, reduce the
land area dedicated to seed beds, and reduce the turnaround time in rice–rice and
rice–wheat cropping systems (Tang 2002). In a recent study by Horgan et al. (2014c)
broadcasting of 21-day-old seedlings resulted in 80  % better survival and 62  %
higher yields than transplanting of seedlings of the same age from a dry bed nursery.
The authors suggest that a lower level of transplanting shock likely contributed to
the success of the method. Seedling broadcasting is gaining popularity in Asia;
however, broadcasting is often carried out with seedlings of <15  days (personal
observation). Further research is required to optimize seedling broadcasting for
snail-infested regions.

15.5.5  Direct Seeding

In Europe, the United States, Australia, and much of Latin America, rice is gener-
ally direct seeded (Farooq et al. 2011). Direct-seeded rice can be sown under wet or
dry soil conditions. In dry direct seeding, dry seed is sown to dry or moist soil, often
with a slight soil covering. The seed germinates in response to flush irrigation or
high rainfall. Throughout much of East Asia, conditions are too wet for successful
dry direct seeding. However, in regions with marked dry seasons, direct seeding can
significantly reduce the costs of labor and irrigation (De Datta 1981; Sociedade Sul-
Brasileira de Arroz Irrigado 2010; Farooq et al. 2011). A long period without stand-
ing water after sowing can reduce the vulnerability of dry-seeded rice to apple
snails. In an experiment by Teo (2003), dry direct seeding resulted in zero seedling
damage from apple snails compared to 11 % in wet-direct-seeded rice and 7 % in
transplanted rice.
During wet-direct seeding, the rice seed is pregerminated by soaking in water for
24–36 h and is then left in shade for the same period of time until the coleoptiles are
about 2 mm long before it is broadcast or mechanically seeded to flooded rice fields
(Sociedade Sul-Brasileira de Arroz Irrigado 2010). On large rice plantations (as in
Suriname and Brazil) pregerminated seed is sometimes broadcast using light air-
craft (Wiryareja and Tjoe-Awie 2006). Wet seeding is preferred in some regions
because it produces dense competitive rice stands that reduce weed problems
(Sociedade Sul-Brasileira de Arroz Irrigado 2010); however, because the develop-
ing seeds and seedlings are highly vulnerable to snail damage, even the smallest
snails (hatchlings and juveniles) can cause serious damage to the rice stand (Wada
2004; Yanes Figueroa et al. 2014). In a study by Horgan et al. (2014c) wet-direct-­
seeded rice failed to yield any grain in snail-infested ponds and seedling survival
was close to 0 %.
408 F.G. Horgan

15.5.6  Water Seeding

Water seeding is similar to wet-direct seeding except that the depth of standing
water is over 5  cm and the seed is sown dry (not pregerminated) to the water
(Sociedade Sul-Brasileira de Arroz Irrigado 2010). The method is likely to be the
most vulnerable to snail damage because very few (low densities) and small snails
can cause high levels of damage to developing cotyledons in a short time.

15.6  Reducing Apple Snail Densities in Rice Fields

Apple snails have a high reproductive output, producing clutches that range from
maximum egg numbers of between 50 (P. glauca) and 4700 (P. maculata) (Horgan
et al. 2014a). Furthermore, depending on climate, body size, and population density,
a female snail may lay several clutches during her lifetime (Horgan et al. 2014a).
Growth rates are fast and the snails may reach sexual maturity after about 60 days
under conditions of high food availability and adequate water temperatures (Lach
et al. 2000). In temperate regions, snails such as P. canaliculata are semelparous
(one reproduction event per lifetime), whereas, in tropical regions, they are iteropar-
ous (more than one reproductive event per lifetime) (Estebenet and Martin 2002;
Seuffert et al. 2012). Growth rates and population density are linked: snails at high
densities tend to remain relatively small (Tanaka et al. 1999) either due to direct
intraspecific competition or regulating pheromones in the water body. Furthermore,
apple snails can adapt quickly to ambient conditions (Seuffert et al. 2012), threats
from predators, and other mortality factors (Reed and Janzen 1999; Aizaki and Yusa
2010). Plasticity in the apple snail life cycle, together with high reproductive output
and adaptability, allows apple snail populations to quickly bounce back from pertur-
bations and hampers management practices aimed at decreasing snail populations in
rice paddies (Table 15.2).

15.6.1  Molluscicides

The most popular approach to snail control among rice farmers is the use of
­chemical molluscicides such as methaldehyde and niclosamide (Schnorbach et al.
2006; Horgan et  al. 2014b; Khodabaks and Tjoe Awie 2014), and insecticides
(Horgan et al. 2014b). Molluscicides are formulated poisons that directly kill snails
either through direct contact or after ingestion. Molluscicides can be very effective
and result in >90 % snail mortality within days of application (Litsinger and Estano
1993). However, molluscicides have several associated risks: They are toxic to ben-
eficial organisms including fish and birds (Calumpang et al. 1995; Baumart et al.
2011), they are harmful to human health (Anderson 1993), and some are
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice 409

phytotoxic and can damage young rice seedlings (Joshi et al. 2004). Furthermore,
apple snails in molluscicide-treated fields are often notably larger that in nontreated
fields because survivors after application have faster growth rates at lower popula-
tion densities (personal observation). Because apple snails are a perpetual problem
in invaded regions and because they are aquatic in nature, the continuous applica-
tion of molluscicides must be avoided. Several researchers have attempted to
develop more environmentally friendly molluscicides to replace damaging
chemicals.
A range of plant extracts with molluscicidal properties have been identified to
replace toxic chemical products (San 2006; Yang et al. 2006; Chen et al. 2012; Li
and Xu 2012). Among these, tea tree meal, a byproduct of oil extraction from seeds
of the tea plant (Camellia sasanqua Thunb.) has become popular in some countries
and is noted to give good snail control with up to 95 % mortality (Yang et al. 2006).
Extracts of several other plant species have also been developed to control apple
snails: These include quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.), Solanum spp.,
Eucalyptus spp., and others (San 2006; Li and Xu 2012). Many of these products are
still restricted for use in some countries because of difficulties in registration for
agricultural use and because their risks to the environment and human health have
not been evaluated. The products have variable success in reducing snail damage:
Their efficiency may depend on the conditions of the water, including water tem-
perature and dissolved oxygen. Furthermore, some botanical extracts may have
lethal effects on beneficial aquatic organisms, including fish and decomposer inver-
tebrates (i.e., tea saponins: Yang et al. 2006; Chen et al. 2012); however, several
botanical products, e.g., quinoa saponins, appear considerably less toxic than chem-
ical molluscicides and represent a step toward improving the sustainable manage-
ment of apple snails (San 2006).

15.6.2  Fertilizers

Fertilizers, including urea, complete fertilizer and calcium cyanamide have been
noted to kill apple snails under laboratory and field conditions (Wada 2004; De la
Cruz et al. 2001; Zhao et al. 2011; Stuart et al. 2014). Calcium cyanamide is pro-
posed as a relatively environment friendly approach to snail management that is
potentially highly effective, e.g., 100  % mortality at 3gL−1 (Zhao et al. 2011).
Applications of nitrogenous fertilizers have also been noted to cause snail mortality,
possibly due to toxic effects after ingestion. Under certain conditions, mortality due
to nitrogenous fertilizers can be as high as 60–80 % (De la Cruz et al. 2001; Stuart
et al. 2014). To help control apple snails, farmers can increase the concentrations of
fertilizer products during basal applications, select the most toxic fertilizers such as
complete fertilizer, urea or mixed products, and reduce flooding of the rice fields
during application (De la Cruz et al. 2001; Stuart et al. 2014). However, such prac-
tices are likely to affect beneficial organisms in the water, alter the structures of
animal and plant communities (Vitousek 1994), and must be carefully balanced to
410 F.G. Horgan

avoid run-off and eutrophication. Furthermore, snail population recovery may be

accelerated by high plant biomass, including the biomass of periphyton and algae
that develops after fertilizer use (Stuart et al. 2014).

15.6.3  Crop Rotation and Fallow Periods

A range of cropping practices has been examined to potentially reduce apple snail
densities. Among these are crop rotations and extended, dry fallow periods (Wada
2004; Wada et al. 2004). Apple snails have evolved to inhabit ephemeral water bod-
ies and therefore have a high capacity to survive dry conditions. The snails normally
burrow a few centimeters into the mud where they enter aestivation. Aestivation can
last for several months; however, mortality increases over time (Yusa et al. 2006a).
To cause any appreciable mortality of apple snails, dry fallows should be longer
than about 4 months. This can result in >90 % and 50 % mortality of small and large
snails, respectively (Yusa et al. 2006a). Long-term drainage will be most effective
under hot dry conditions (Yusa et al. 2006a) but can have variable impact on snail
populations because of microclimates in the rice fields and the rapid recovery of
snail populations after flooding. Land preparation between crops can also cause
considerable snail mortality. For example, using an adapted rotary cultivator, 90 %
mortality of large P. canaliculata and 25  % mortality of smaller individuals has
been achieved in Japanese rice fields (Wada 2004). The success of mechanical
crushing depends on the soil type and soil conditions, for example, mortality from
mechanical crushing can be 14–20 % higher in fields that are compacted after rice
harvest (Wada 2004).

15.6.4  Hand Collecting

Manual collection of apple snails is often conducted among small-holder farmers

prior to transplanting. During collection, farmers and farm laborers will walk
through the fields collecting any snails that they see. These are generally the largest
snails with the greatest potential to cause damage. Picking can increase seedling
survival by 20–50 % even for singly planted, 18-day-old seedlings (Yanes Figueroa
et al. 2014). However, picking is labor intensive, conducted with variable intensity,
and is not suitable for large farms. Hand picking is also best conducted during cooler
and cloudy conditions because the snails burrow in mud during high temperatures
(Wada and Yoshida 2000). There is also some evidence that continuous picking may
lead to the selection for cryptic shell colors in snail populations (M Türke 2014,
personal communication). Picking can be improved by using baits such as the leaves
of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.]) or other plants that attract the snails to one
place, or by using drainage canals (Wada 2004). Furthermore, in some regions,
farmers use rakes and baskets to facilitate snail ­collection (Fig. 15.3).
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice 411

Fig. 15.3  A farmer in Bali

(Indonesia) uses a sieve to
collect apple snails during
land preparation for rice
transplanting (Photo:
Artzai Jauregi)

The collection and destruction of egg masses may be a more effective way of
reducing densities but the success of the method has not been evaluated. The brightly
colored eggs of apple snails are easy to find and, by placing wooden stakes in the
fields for snails to deposit their eggs, they can be collected quickly. Collection of
apple snails and their eggs would benefit from further economic incentives, e.g.,
selling snail meat as a protein source for farmed fish or poultry (Cagauan and Doria
1989; Bombeo-Tubaran et al. 1995).

15.6.5  Biological Control on Integrated Farms

Several biological control methods have been proposed to reduce apple snail densi-
ties in rice fields (Joshi and Sebastian 2006). Integrated farms often produce ducks
or fish together with rice in flooded paddies. Ducks can be herded through rice fields
to feed on snails, other invertebrates, and weeds (Teo 2001). Duck herding is
412 F.G. Horgan

common in many South and East Asian countries with farmers often inviting duck
herders to visit their fields. The effectiveness of the method in reducing snail densi-
ties is difficult to determine and may depend on the breed of duck (Teo 2001). Hirai
(Naylor 1996) claims that ducks consume up to 89 % of apple snails on passing
through rice fields; however, this likely refers only to their effects on larger snails.
Rice–fish culture is practiced in many lowland rice-growing regions, particu-
larly in Asia. Rice–fish cultures require deep reservoirs to be constructed in the
fields as refuges, allowing the fish to forage among the rice plants only during
periods of flooding. The effectiveness of fish predation depends on the species of
fish and the size (or gape) of the mouth (Ichinose et al. 2010). A number of studies
have found common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) to reduce snail densities (Teo 2006;
Wong et al. 2009; Ichinose et al. 2010); however, the common carp is also an inva-
sive species and can significantly alter freshwater habitats by reducing macrophyte
density and the abundance of native benthic organisms (Wong et  al. 2009). The
success of several other fish species in reducing snail densities or protecting devel-
oping rice seedlings has been generally low (Halwart 1994; Teo 2001; Ichinose
et al. 2010). It is possible that the rice–fish systems need to be established for rela-
tively long periods (several cropping seasons) before snail populations are effec-
tively regulated by the fish.
Dong et al. (2012) report that farmers in Zheizhang China have adopted a system
of turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis [Weigmann])-zazania (Zizania latifolia [Griseb]
Turcz) culture that reduces apple snail densities. Zezania is a high-value “wild rice”
and the turtles can also be sold for meat in local markets. The turtles were noted to
reduce snail densities and the system was sufficiently lucrative for farmers to
­establish large enclosures for the turtles. Biological control using ducks, fish, or
turtles has potential, but is limited by marketability of ducks, eggs, or fish meat and
is likely to remain small scale.

15.6.6  Classical and New Association Biological Control

Classical biological control of apple snails has received little research attention.
There have been a few studies on the potential for using predatory flies (Fu and
Meyer-Rochow 2012) and pathogenic bacteria (Chobchuenchom and Bhumiratana
2003) to control snails; however, these ideas have not been implemented among
farmers. There is good potential to enhance biological control through new associa-
tions between native diseases or predators and exotic apple snails. Predation and
regulation of apple snails by native species has been examined in detail in Japan.
Several wild animals including crayfish (Procambarus clarkia [Girard]), crabs
(Eriocheir japonicas [de Haan] and Gerthelphusa dehaani [White]), turtles
(P. sinensis, Trachemys scripta [Schoepff], Mauremys reevesii [Gray] and Mauremys
japonica [Temminck and Schlegel]), and rats (Rattus norvegicus [Berkenhout]) will
feed on snails and may play a role in reducing snail densities in natural areas (Yusa
et al. 2006b; Yamanishi et al. 2012). Furthermore, it appears that over time, apple
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice 413

snails have accumulated natural enemies in Japan as local wildlife have adapted to
feed on and consume the snails. Snail kites, Rostrhamus sociabilis Vieillot, in
Ecuador and open bill storks, Anastomus oscitans (Boddaert), in Thailand have built
up populations in response to the invasion of rice fields by apple snails (Sawangproh
et al. 2012; Horgan et al. 2014b). Predation is highest in natural habitats including
ponds and rivers, but can be low in rice paddies because farming activities will kill
or displace natural enemies, particularly at the time of land preparation (Burlakova
et al. 2010; Yamanishi et al. 2012).

15.7  Concluding Remarks

Despite widespread knowledge of the risks associated with apple snails, several spe-
cies, including species known to damage rice, continue to be imported into rice-­
producing countries, mainly for the pet trade (Coelho et  al. 2012). Strict and
effective quarantine of apple snails should be a priority in major rice-growing areas
that are vulnerable to apple snails, including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Peru,
and Colombia. Furthermore, the feasibility of wet-­direct seeding should be reexam-
ined. While crop establishment methods that are suitable for snail-infested or native
regions exist, it will be hard to justify continuing research and extension aimed at
promoting direct-seeding methods that rely heavily on molluscicides. Research into
alternatives to, or adaptations of direct seeding, could greatly improve country and
regional preparedness for apple snails.

References

Adalla CB, Magsino EA (2006) Understanding the golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata):
biology and early initiatives to control the pest in the Philippines. In: Joshi RC, Sebastian LS
(eds) Global advances in ecology and management of golden apple snails. Philippine Rice
Research Institute, Nueva Ecija, pp. 199–214
Aizaki K, Yusa Y (2010) Learned predator recognition in a freshwater snail, Pomacea canaliculata.
Malacologia 52:21–29
Anderson B (1993) The Philippine snail disaster. Ecologist 23:70–73
Angehr GR (1999) Rapid log-distance colonization of Lake Gatun, Panama, by snail kites. Wilson
Bull 111:265–268
Anon. (1989) Integrated ‘golden’ kuhol management. Philippine Department of Agriculture and
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Manila
Baloch WA, Memon UN, Burdi GH, Soomro AN, Tunio GR, Khatian AA (2012) Invasion of chan-
neled apple snail Pomacea canaliculata, Lamarck (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae) in Haleji Lake.
Pak Sindh Uni Res J 44:263–266
Baumart J, Dalosto M, Santos S (2011) Effects of carbofuran and metsulfuron-methyl on the ben-
thic macroinvertebrate community in flooded ricefields. Acta Limnologica Brasiliensia
23:138–144
Bombeo-Tubaran I, Fukumoto S, Rodrigues EM (1995) Use of the golden apple snail, cassava, and
maize as feeds for the tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon, in ponds. Aquaculture 131:91–100
414 F.G. Horgan

Burlakova LE, Padilla DK, Karatayev AY, Hollas DN, Cartwright LD, Nichols KD (2010)
Differences in population dynamics and potential impacts of a freshwater invader driven by
habitat stability. Biol Invasions 12:927–941
Cagauan AG, Doria LS (1989) ‘Golden’ snail Pomacea insularus - canaliculata meal as feed for
Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus fingerlings in aquaria. CLSU Sci J 9:24–29
Cagauan AG, Joshi RC (2002) Freshwater fishes as biological control for golden apple snail
Pomacea canaliculata Lam. in rice fields. Philippine Rice Research Institute and Freshwater
Aquaculture Center and College of Fisheries, Nueva Ecija
Calumpang SMF, Medina MJB, Tejada AW, Medina JR (1995) Environmental impact of two mol-
luscicides: Niclosamide and metaldehyde in a rice paddy ecosystem. Bull Environ Contam
Toxicol 55:494–501
Cazzaniga NJ (2006) Pomacea canaliculata: harmless and useless in its natural realm (Argentina).
In: Joshi RC, Sebastian LS (eds) Global advances in ecology and management of golden apple
snails. Philippine Rice Research Institute, Nueva Ecija, pp. 37–60
Chen RS, Wang KL, Wu CY (2012) Assessment of the camellia seed meal impact on loaches in
paddy fields. Paddy Water Environ 10:291–300
Chobchuenchom W, Bhumiratana A (2003) Isolation and characterization of pathogens attacking
Pomacea canaliculata. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 19:903–906
Coelho ARA, Calado GJP, Dinis MT (2012) Freshwater snail Pomacea bridgesii (Gastropoda:
Ampullariidae), life history traits and aquaculture potential. AACL Biofluz 5:168–180
Cowie RH (2002) Apple snails (Ampullariidae) as agricultural pests: their biology, impacts and
management. In: Barker GM (ed) Molluscs as crop pests. CAB International, Wallingford,
pp. 145–189
Crossland NO (1965) The pest status and control of the tadpole shrimp, Triops granaries, and of
the snail, Lanistes ovum, in Swaziland rice fields. J Appl Ecol 2:115–120
De Datta SK (1981) Principles and practices of rice production. Wiley, New York
De la Cruz MS, Joshi RC, Martin AR (2001) Basal application of fertilizer reduces golden apple
snail population. Int Rice Res N 26:20–21
Dong S, Zheng G, Yu X, Fu C (2012) Biological control of golden apple snail, Pomacea canalicu-
lata, by Chinese soft-shelled turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis in the wild rice, Zizania latifolia field.
Sci Agric 69:142–146
Donnay TJ, Beissinger SR (1993) Apple snail (Pomacea dolioides) and fresh-water crab
(Dilocarcinus dentatus) population fluctuations in the llanos of Venezuela. Biotropica
25:206–214
Elphick CS, Oring LW (1998) Winter management of California rice fields for waterbirds. J Appl
Ecol 35:95–108
Estebenet AL, Martin PR (2002) Pomacea canaliculata (gastropoda: Ampullariidae): life-history
traits and their plasticity. Biocell 26:83–89
European Food Safety Authority (2012) Scientific opinion on the evaluation of the pest risk analy-
sis of Pomacea insularum, the island apple snail, prepared by the Spanish Ministry of
Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs. EFSA J 10:2552
Farooq M, Siddique KHM, Rehman H, Aziz T, Lee DJ, Wahid A (2011) Rice direct seeding: expe-
riences, challenges and opportunities. Soil Tillage Res 111:87–98
Fu X, Meyer-Rochow B (2012) An investigation into the morphological and behavioral adapta-
tions of the aquatic larvae of Aquatica leii (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) to prey upon freshwater
snails that serve as intermediate hosts for the liver fluke. Biol Control 62:127–134
Ghafoor A, Ali MA, Rehman RU, Razzaq A (2008) Factors responsible for poor mechanization of
rice transplanting in Pakistan. Pak J Sci 60:43–47
Global Rice Science Partnership (2013) Rice Almanac, 4th edn. International Rice Research
Institute, Los Baños
Halwart M (1994) The golden apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata, in Asian rice farming systems:
present impact and future threat. Int J Pest Manage 40:199–206
Hayes KA, Joshi RC, Thiengo SC, Cowie RH (2008) Out of South America: multiple origins of
non-native apple snails in Asia. Divers Distrib 14:701–712
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice 415

Hayes KA, Cowie RH, Thiengo SC, Strong EE (2012) Comparing apples to apples: clarifying the
identities of two highly invasive Neotropical Ampullariidae (Caenogastropoda). Zool J Linnean
Soc 166:723–753
Horgan FG, Stuart AM, Kudavidanage EP (2014a) Impact of invasive apple snails on the function-
ing and services of natural and managed wetlands. Acta Oecol 54:90–100
Horgan FG, Felix MI, Portalanza DE, Sánchez L, Moya Rios WM, Farah SE et  al (2014b)
Responses by farmers to the apple snail invasion of Ecuador’s rice fields and attitudes toward
predatory snail kites. Crop Prot 62:135–143
Horgan FG, Yanes Figueroa J, Almazan MLP (2014c) Seedling broadcasting as a potential method
to reduce apple snail damage to rice. Crop Prot 64:168–174
Horgan FG, Nogues Palenzuela A, Stuart AM, Naredo AI, Ramal AF, Bernal CC et al (2017)
Effects of silicon soil amendments and nitrogen fertilizer on Apple snail (Ampullariidae) dam-
age to rice seedlings. Crop Prot 91:123–131
Ichinose K, Tochihara M, Wada T, Suguiura N, Yusa Y (2010) Influence of common carp on apple
snail in a rice field evaluated by a predator-prey logistic model. Int J  Pest Manage
48:133–138
Jackson D, Jackson D (2009) Registro de Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1822) (Ampullariidae),
molusco exótico para el norte de Chile. Gayana 73:40–44
Joshi RC, Sebastian LS (2006) Global advances in ecology and management of golden apple
snails. Philippine Rice Research Institute, Nueva Ecija
Joshi RC, Desmito MS, Martin AR, Sebastian LS, Coupland JB (2004) Detrimental effects of
niclosamide 250EC at preseeding in direct-seeded rice culture. Int Rice Res N 29:36–37
Khodabaks MR, Tjoe Awie JR (2014) Caragoal 400SC gives good control against apple snails
(Pomacea spp.). Rep Anne van Dijk Rijst Onderzoekscentrum Nickerie 13:1–5
Lach L, Britton DK, Rundell RJ, Cowie RH (2000) Food preference and reproductive plasticity in
an invasive freshwater snails. Biol Invasions 2:279–288
Li J, Xu H (2012) Bioactive compounds from the bark of Eucalyptus exserta F. Muell. Ind Crop
Prod 40:302–306
Litsinger JA, Estano DB (1993) Management of the golden apple snail Pomacea canaliculata
(Lamarck) in rice. Crop Prot 2:363–370
Naylor R (1996) Invasions in agriculture: assessing the cost of the golden apple snail in Asia.
Ambio 25:443–448
Ortíz-Torres E (1962) Damage caused by the snail, Marisa cornuarietis, to young rice seedlings in
Puerto Rico. J Agric Univ PR 16:241–242
Qiu JW, Kwong KL (2009) Effects of macrophytes on feeding and life-history traits of the invasive
apple snail Pomacea canaliculata. Freshw Biol 54:1720–1730
Reed WL, Janzen FJ (1999) Natural selection by avian predators on size and colour of a freshwater
snail (Pomacea flagellata). Biol J Linnean Soc 67:331–342
Rosario J, Moquete C (2006) The aquatic snails Ampullaria canaliculata L. – plague of irrigated
lowland rice in the Dominican Republic. In: Joshi RC, Sebastian LS (eds) Global advances in
ecology and management of golden apple snails. Philippine Rice Research Institute, Nueva
Ecija, pp. 514–515
San MR (2006) Recent developments in the use of botanical molluscicides against golden apple
snails (Pomacea canaliculata). In: Joshi RC, Sebastian LS (eds) Global advances in ecology
and management of golden apple snails. Philippine Rice Research Institute, Nueva Ecija,
pp. 393–404
Sanico AL, Peng S, Laza RC, Visperas RM (2002) Effect of seedling age and seedling number per
hill on snail damage in irrigated rice. Crop Prot 21:137–143
Sawangproh W, Round PD, Poonswad P (2012) Asian openbill stork Anastomus oscitans as a
predator of the invasive alien gastropod Pomacea canaliculata in Thailand. Iberus
30:111–117
Schnorbach H-J, Rauen H-W, Bieri M (2006) Chemical control of the golden apple snail, Pomacea
canaliculata. In: Joshi RC, Sebastian LS (eds) Global advances in ecology and management of
golden apple snails. Philippine Rice Research Institute, Nueva Ecija, pp. 419–438
416 F.G. Horgan

Seuffert ME, Saveanu L, Martin PR (2012) Threshold temperatures and degree-day estimates for
embryonic development of the invasive apple snail Pomacea canaliculata (Caenogastropoda:
Ampullariidae). Malacologia 55:209–217
Sociedade Sul-Brasileira de Arroz Irrigado. Arroz irrigado: Recomendações técnicas da pesquisa
para o Sul do Brasil. Proceedings XXVII Reunião técnica da cultura do arroz irrigado. Bento
Goncalves. 2010.
Stuart AM, Nogues Palenzuela A, Bernal CC, Ramal AF, Horgan FG (2014) Effects of fertiliser
applications on survival and recruitment of the apple snails, Pomacea canaliculata. Crop Prot
64:78–87
Syobu S, Mikuriya H, Yamaguchi J, Matsuzuki M, Zen S, Wada T (2001) Estimating the overwin-
tering mortality of the apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck) (Gastropoda:
Ampullariidae) in a paddy field of southern Japan using temperature data. Jpn J Appl Entomol
Zool 45:203–207 Japanese
Tanaka K, Watanabe H, Higuchi H, Mihamoto K, Yusa Y, Kiyonaga T et  al (1999) Density-­
dependent growth and reproduction of the apple snails, Pomacea canaliculata: a density
manipulation study in a paddy field. Res Popul Ecol 41:253–262
Tang S (2002) Seedling broadcasting in China: an overview. In: Pandey S, Mortimer M, Wade L,
TP T, Lopez K, Hardy B (eds) Direct seeding: research strategies and opportunities. Proceedings
of the international workshop on direct seeding in Asian rice systems: strategies, research
issues and opportunities. International Rice Research Institute, Bangkok/Los Baños,
pp. 177–184
Teo SS (2001) Evaluation of different duck varieties for control of the golden apple snail (Pomacea
canaliculata) in transplanted and direct seeded rice. Crop Prot 20:599–604
Teo SS (2003) Damage potential of the golden apple snail Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck) in
irrigated rice and its control by cultural approaches. Int J Pest Manage 49:49–55
Teo SS (2006) Evaluation of different species of fish for biological control of golden apple snail
Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck) in rice. Crop Prot 25:1004–1012
Thaewnon-ngiw B, Lauhachinda N, Sri-Aroon P, Lohachit C (2003) Distribution of Pila polita in
a southern province of Thailand. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 34:128–130
Thomas KJ (1975) Biological control of Salvinia by the snail Pila globosa Swainson. Biol
J Linnean Soc 7:243–247
Tyler G (2008) All-Africa review of experiences with commercial agriculture: the fall and rice of
the Colonial Development Corporation. Background paper for the Competitive Commercial
Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa (CCAA) Study, World Bank, Washington, DC
United States Geological Survey. Nonindigenous aquatic species database. (cited 2012).Available
from: http://nas.es.usgs.gov/taxgroup/molluskc/default.aspx
Vitousek PM (1994) Beyond global warming: ecology and global change. Ecology
75:1861–1876
Wada T (2004) Strategies for controlling the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck)
(Gastropoda: Ampullariidae) in Japanese direct-sown paddy fields. Jpn Agric Res Q JARQ
38:75–80
Wada T, Yoshida K (2000) Burrowing by the apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck): daily
periodicity and factors affecting burrowing. Kyushu Plant Prot Res 46:88–93
Wada T, Ichinose K, Yusa Y, Sugiura N (2004) Decrease in density of the apple snail Pomacea
canaliculata (Lamarck) (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae) in paddy fields after crop rotation with
soyabean, and its population growth during the crop season. Appl Entomol Zool 39:376–372
Wiryareja S, Tjoe-Awie JR (2006) Golden apple snail: its occurrence and importance in Suriname’s
rice ecosystem. In: Joshi RC, Sebastian LS (eds) Global advances in ecology and management
of golden apple snails. Philippine Rice Research Institute, Nueva Ecija, pp. 337–342
Wong PK, Kwong KL, Qiu J-W (2009) Complex interactions among fish, snails and marcophytes:
implications for biological control of an invasive snail. Biol Invasions 11:2223–2232
Wong PK, Liang Y, Liu NY, Qiu JW (2010) Palatability of macrophytes to the invasive freshwater
snail Pomacea canaliculata: differential effects of multiple plant traits. Freshw Biol
55:2023–2031
15  Ecology and Management of Apple Snails in Rice 417

Wu M, Xie Y (2006) The golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata) in China. In: Joshi RC,
Sebastian LS (eds) Global advances in ecology and management of golden apple snails.
Philippine Rice Research Institute, Nueva Ecija, pp. 285–299
Yamanishi Y, Yoshida K, Fujimori N, Yusa Y (2012) Predator-driven biotic resistance and propa-
gule pressure regulate the invasive apple snail Pomacea canaliculata in Japan. Biol Invasions
14:1343–1352
Yanes Figueroa J, Almazan MLP, Horgan FG (2014) Reducing seed-densities in rice seedbeds
improves the cultural control of apple snail damage. Crop Prot 62:23–31
Yang P-S, Chen Y-H, Lee W-C, Chen Y-H (2006) Golden apple snail management and prevention
in Taiwan. In: Joshi RC, Sebastian LS (eds) Global advances in ecology and management of
golden apple snails. Philippine Rice Research Institute, Nueva Ecija, pp. 169–180
Yusa Y, Wada T, Takahashi S (2006a) Effects of dormant duration, body size, self burial and water
condition on the long-term survival of the apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata (Gastropoda:
Ampullariidae). Appl Entomol Zool 41:627–632
Yusa Y, Sugiura N, Wada T (2006b) Predatory potential of freshwater animals on an invasive agri-
cultural pest, the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae) in southern
Japan. Biol Invasions 8:137–147
Zhao B, Zhang J, Dai W, Luo M, Song C (2011) Acute toxic effect of calcium cyanamide on
golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata). Chin J Ecol 30:1147–1152
Chapter 16
Harvesting, Threshing, Processing,
and Products of Rice

Muhammad Riaz, Tariq Ismail, and Saeed Akhtar

16.1  Introduction

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important food items consumed by more
than half of the world population as staple diet. Globally, the rough rice (paddy)
stands at position second with a total production of 740.9 metric tons from 154 mil-
lion hectare, almost 90  % of which is grown in developing countries (FAOSTAT
2013), while it stands first at human consumption scale with 85 % utilization com-
pared to wheat (72 %) and maize (19 %). Rice provides 21 % and 19 % of the global
human per capita energy and protein, respectively (FAO 2012). It is estimated that 10
billion people will depend on rice as a major source of their meal increasing the
demand up to 880 metric tons by 2050 (FAO 2015). In order to cope with the situa-
tion, multiple strategies have been adopted to increase the production of rice by
developing high yielding, drought, insect, and disease resistance varieties. The
increase in rice production due to crop management is hardly compensating in yield
reduction on account of urbanization and industrialization persuaded decline in the
size of productive agricultural land. Globally, the rate of growth in yields of major
cereal crops has been steadily declined from 3.2 % per year in 1960 to 1.5 % in 2000
(FAO 2015). Moreover, postharvest losses of crops range from 10 to 20 % in devel-
oped, while 25 to 40 % in developing countries. These losses in rice are particularly

M. Riaz (*)
Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Life Sciences, Sejong University,
Gunja-dong 98, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea
Institute of Food Science & Nutrition, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology,
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
e-mail: [email protected]
T. Ismail • S. Akhtar
Institute of Food Science & Nutrition, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology,
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 419

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_16
420 M. Riaz et al.

associated with socioeconomic development of farmers, awareness, and adoption of

the latest and improved methods of production, harvesting, milling, and storage.
Lack of awareness among farmers on weather forecast, latest methods of harvesting,
time of harvesting, milling, and storage conditions due to illiteracy are the major
contributors for too high losses of crops in developing countries. Policy makers, sci-
entists, and stake holders associated with production and management have focused
on the quantitative losses of rice since the last quarter of the twentieth century giving
meager consideration to the qualitative losses of the crops. It is among the reasons
that the qualitative losses of rice crop are getting more attention in the most recent
era. Many of the research organizations, policy makers, and financial support agen-
cies have already set their targets to achieve the milestone of better production by
developing high yielding rice cultivars, improved methods of harvesting, threshing,
milling, and storage to curtail postharvest losses. The developed countries although
have attained maximum production of rice with the development of high yielding
varieties, best agronomic practices, and adoption of good agricultural, harvesting,
transportation, and storage practices. However, the developing countries could con-
tribute to significant rise in rice production by improving cropping intensity and
expansion of arable land in addition to reduce postharvest losses. Rice production in
proper moisture conditions and nutrient availability, harvesting fully matured grains
at moisture levels below 26 % and subsequent mechanical drying upto15% moisture
level, milling through pneumatic rubber rolls, storage under controlled environmen-
tal conditions, and integrated insect and pest management programs are the factors
that can reduce quantitative and qualitative losses in rice crop (Bell et  al. 2000).
Increasing production of rice by putting lot of capital and investment on research is
a good sign but a little effort to curtail the postharvest losses of rice can save cost and
energy and might further increase the total turnout from the crop. The applications
for advanced and latest techniques of rice harvesting, milling, transportation, and
storage can reduce the losses up to a compromising level. The current chapter has
been written with the objective to discuss the various techniques universally adopted
for harvesting, drying, milling, and storage. This chapter discusses methods of mill-
ing in detail with a focus to improve the understanding of both the farmer and the rice
processor to adopt best crop management practices. Moreover, various factors con-
tributing toward quality of rice are also enlightened in a way that the reader with a
little background knowledge may understand how to prepare a better quality of rice
and how milling recovery is to be increased.

16.2  Harvesting and Threshing

Rice harvesting is a process of whole grain recovery utilizing a chain of mechanized

operations from crop cutting up to threshing. The process involves recovery of
matured rice from the field and generally comprises operations like stalk cutting,
stacking, handling, and transportation on threshing blades. Threshing of rice
involves separating grains from panicles without removing husk. Such methods of
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 421

harvesting and threshing are adopted universally, which maximize grain recovery,
minimize harvesting losses, and improve the straw yield. The straw serves as dry
forage for milking and meat animals. The crop harvesting time and procedures are
reportedly associated with certain important qualitative attributes of rice.
Mechanized harvesting at an appropriate time ensures improved paddy quality and
grain yield by avoiding lodging, over drying of grains, shattering, rodent and bird
attack, and soil contamination (Van den Berg et al. 2007). Indicators showing the
correct timing of rice harvesting include yellowing of panicles, 20–26 % moisture
contents of grains, and recovery of at least 80 % matured grains from the panicles
(Almera 1997). The method of rice harvesting depends upon many factors such as
ecology, size of the field and cultivated area, cultural practices, social and economic
status of the farmers, climatic conditions at the time of harvesting, availability of
labor, access to the market, market demand, and usage of the straw.
Rice Variety  Some varieties are prone to lodging hence their panicles are bowed to
ground and cannot be picked up by combine or machine harvesters. Hence to avoid
harvesting losses, manual harvesting is preferred over mechanized harvesting for
cultivars with poor field standing capability.

Timeliness of harvesting  It is the time for which the variety can stay unharvested
after ripening. On account of low cost labor availability and higher timeline of the
variety, manual rice crop harvesting is preferred over mechanized harvesting.

Environmental conditions  If environmental conditions worsen, then quick and

mechanized harvesting is preferred over manual harvesting.

Availability of labor  In regions with higher availability of cheaper labor, manual

harvesting is preferred over mechanical to curtail harvesting expenditures of the crop.

Access to the field or farm  If the farm has no access for combined or machine
harvesting, then manual method of harvesting is preferred.

Market demand  The paddy harvested through manual harvesting is usually

cleaner than that mechanically harvested, having less moisture and higher percent-
age of matured grains. There are reports that higher demands are raised by industry
for manually harvested paddy for the sake of better milling and cooking quality
attributes; however, highly trained labor is required for manual harvesting to mini-
mize the losses (Khan and Salim 2005).

Demand of straw  In developing countries, paddy straw is usually used as fodder

and to make silage for animal feed. The waste fraction is also used for making fire
in the pottery, brick, and tile industry and as raw material for mats manufacturing.
Hence, paddy is harvested manually if there are higher demands to save the straw in
its original form.
Following methods are globally used for harvesting and threshing of rice crop.
422 M. Riaz et al.

16.3  Manual Methods

This is an oldest and the primitive method of rice harvesting that involves intensive
human resources. Manual harvesting is laborious, very slow, and time consuming;
however, it is very cheap compared to the other available harvesting techniques, par-
ticularly where cheaper labor is available. The rice crop is manually harvested usu-
ally in uplands, small farms, and under developed areas where access to the harvesters
is poor. In the manual harvesting, knives, sickles, or cutlasses are used for cutting the
crop (Bora and Hansen 2007). In knife cutting, the harvesting is done panicle by
panicle that makes harvesting much more laborious and time consuming. Sickle or
cutlasses method involves the cutting of whole plant and hence less labor is required
in this method than the former one. The paddy harvested manually or with reaper is
usually spread on dry earth floor for field drying that have higher risks of contamina-
tion with mud, mold, dust, dirt, and stones. In order to avoid postharvest losses and
damages to the field crop quality, plastic sheets, tarpaulins, or traditional sheets may
be used. The semidried panicles are tied into bundles of around 10 inch diameter by
a crew of two to three persons. The bundles are stacked into small piles and collected
at a central point of the field where it is threshed by any means. Multiple threshing
techniques are deployed for the purpose and the most primitive among these is manu-
ally beating freshly cut or semidried panicles onto the solid surface either made of
mud, wood or iron (Fig. 16.1). Another manual method of threshing of rice is to beat
bundles of rice with a device generally called as flail. In some very under developed
regions, rice grains are also been separated by forcing animals to walk on the heaps
of semidried harvested panicles. The same technique had also been adopted by the
farmers by replacing animals with tractors having rubber tires.

16.4  Mechanical Methods

Mechanical harvesting and threshing has many benefits over manual harvesting on
account of managing the crops in a very short period of time, harvesting the crop even
at more than 20 % moisture contents, reduced labor involvement, appreciable reduction
in spoilage, and higher grain yield or output. However, the crop has to be dried as early
as possible after harvesting to avoid losses incurred due to higher rate of respiration of
the harvested grains. Following mechanical methods are commonly used globally.

16.5  Harvesting with Reapers

Reapers are an intermediate technology between manual and combine harvesting and
are deployed to facilitate crop harvesting. Reapers are of two types including reaper-
cutter and reaper-binder. Reaper-cutter is a tractor front driven machine that reaps and
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 423

Fig. 16.1  Various stages of manual harvesting and threshing

makes windrows of the harvested crop. The machine comprises a cutting bench, tra-
versing conveyor, reel, reciprocating cutter, crop-lifter, and divider board. The crop
passes the divider board and the reel, while reciprocating cutters cut it above the ground
level. Traversing conveyor moves it to one side of the reaper in the form of row. The
harvested paddy crop is tied into bundles manually after it is dried in the field, provided
that the reaper is not combined with binder. The machine is compact and easy to oper-
ate and maintain. A single machine can harvest 0.3–0.4 hectare standing crop per hour.
The reaper–binder is similar to reaper cutter with the addition of a binder in which the
harvested paddy crop is tied into bundles mechanically. The machine has a working
capacity of 0.5–20 h per hectare (Khan and Salim 2005). Paddy from the harvested rice
stalks is further separated either by manual or mechanical threshing.
424 M. Riaz et al.

16.6  Rice Threshers

Two types of threshers are available on the globe including whole feed and half feed
for separating paddy from the panicles. In the whole feed thresher, paddy with straw
is fed through the hopper or feed table. The drum containing teeth is rotated through
an engine via a V-belt pulley. The spike teeth cylinder and the concave sieve are the
main sections of thresher that take part in threshing. The grains passing through
concave sieve are collected in the grain collector and are propelled to the outlet
elbow by grain propeller. The reflecting plate throws the straw from the rotating
cylinder in a tangential direction. In half feed thresher the paddy straw is fed in such
a way that only panicle part strikes with the rotating cylinder while keeping the
paddy stalks in hand. The grain free stalks are heaped separately. The efficiency of
half feed thresher is very low compared to the full feed threshers; however, they
consume less power for their working.

16.7  Combine Harvester

Combine harvester is a multipurpose machine that carries all necessary makeup to

execute crop harvesting and threshing operations including cutting, conveying,
threshing, separation, and cleaning processes spontaneously (Fig. 16.2). Combine
harvesters have higher working efficiency and are less laborious. However, it is
quite complicated and expensive technique for illiterate and small farmers having
meager resources to manage harvesting operations and poor access to on field
equipment services. Combine harvester operates mainly on hydraulic system and
some controllers and, regulators. It is classified into wheel and claw combine har-
vesters depending on the type of mechanism for its mobility while straight-through
and head-feed combines on the basis of feeding pattern. In the straight-through
machine, the cut crop with stem is fed into the cylinder for threshing, cleaning, and

Fig. 16.2  A typical

combine harvester for
harvesting and threshing
of rice crop
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 425

separation. While in head-feed combine, the cut straw is held by a clamping mecha-
nism and only the panicle part is fed into the thresher for threshing. The former has
a higher efficiency, while the latter can generate whole straw that may be utilized as
farm feed or industrial raw material for multiple purposes. Straight-through har-
vester is commonly used in developing countries and its working may be divided
into following six sections.
Cutting Section  This unit cuts the crop and delivers it to the feeding section
through a conveyor system. The section comprises of a reel for supporting the grain
part of the rice stalk against the cutter bar. The cutter bar cuts the crop just below the
grain part, i.e., heads; hence, this section is also called as head section. The dividers
separate the standing crop and bind the swath to be cut by the cutter bar.

Feeding Section  This part comprises of a conveyor system that carries the har-
vested crop from the cutter bar to the threshing cylinder.

Threshing Section  This section comprises of a cylinder, concaves, and grates. The
grains are separated from the straw while passing in between the cylinder and con-
caves. The concaves are the stationary bars and are extended across the full width and
surrounded about one-quarter of the cylinder. The grates are the openings or perfora-
tions in between the concaves to separate the threshed grains. The threshed grains are
collected in the grain pan beneath the basement of threshing section, while the straw
traveling to full length of rack is discharged at rear end of the machine.

Separating Section  Small pieces of straw are mixed with grains and pass through
the grates particularly at the rear end of the threshing section. The mass of straw is
separated from the grains by the straw-rack, which tosses and tumbles straw and
propels it to the rear end.

Cleaning Section  This section removes chaff and fine residues from the threshed
grains collected at the end of the concave and the straw walker by the combined
action of the sieve installed above the grain pan and the blower.

Grain Collecting Section  This section conveys the grain to the point from where it is
taken out for packing at the grain tank. A clean grain auger is the extended part of the
grain pan at the bottom of the threshing section that conveys the grains to auger elevator.
The auger elevator elevates the cleaned grains and throws into the grain tank. The grain
tank is then emptied and the grains are packed in the desired packaging material.

16.8  Rice Processing

Rice processing includes a series of operations from crop harvesting to the finished
rice product ready for onward marketing or consumption (Fig. 16.3). Rice process-
ing generally involves paddy drying, dehusking, milling, and packaging. However,
426 M. Riaz et al.

Rice Paddy
Husking Rice Milling
Drying

Paddy Procurement Paddy Procurement Procurement of brown rice

Cleaning
Coarse sieving Cleaning
De-stoning
Cleaning Husking Paddy separation

Width grading
Drying Paddy separation
Whitening
Tempering Rice grading
Polishing
Rotary grading
Storage Brown rice filling
Length grading

Stacking and storage Aspiration

Color sorting

Packaging

Storage

Distribution
Note: For Parboiled milling, paddy is soaked before drying while all other steps remain unchanged

Fig. 16.3  Flow diagrams of paddy drying, husking and rice milling

a high degree of variability exists in rice processing depending upon type of the
product developed from paddy. Rice milling and cooking qualities are primarily
dependent upon a rapid and efficient method of drying.
Paddy Drying  Rice grains at harvesting may have a moisture content ranging from
20 to 26 % (Siebenmorgen et al. 2007). Harvesting at high moisture levels is aimed
at avoiding grain shattering and crop loss. Delay in harvesting results in field drying
of standing crop generating cracks in the grains that further results in a higher bro-
ken kernel output. Process of paddy drying preserves innate quality attributes of
rice. It is therefore recommended that the rice crop after harvesting and threshing
may be dried up to the safe moisture contents. Paddy having moisture contents up
to 15–16 % may be stored for 3–6 months while for longer period of storage, mois-
ture contents can further be lowered to 12 % (Genkawa et al. 2008). Paddy having
12–13 % moisture contents is considered to be the best for milling and head rice
recovery, while moisture contents beyond this limit may cause high breakage and
low yield consequently a significant economic loss to the miller (Ali et al. 1990;
Siebenmorgen et al. 1998; Surek and Beser 1998; Hossain et al. 2009).
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 427

Quantity of the stock, initial moisture contents, storage temperature, relative

humidity, speed and volume of the air passing thorough the paddy, drying method,
type of the drier, and drying efficiency of the driers are the major factors that can
affect paddy drying process. Paddy being hygroscopic in nature may gain and loose
moisture; therefore, tempering of paddy is required to equilibrate the moisture con-
tents of the grain. Tempering is the process in which the paddy grains are collected
together to equalize the moisture contents between the grains. Various methods have
been employed to dry the paddy including sun drying and mechanical drying. The
most common, cheaper and primitive method for paddy drying particularly
employed in temperate and tropical areas is sun drying. Freshly threshed paddy is
spread over the water proof floor in thin layers early in the morning and collected on
sunset each day and the process is continued until moisture contents reduce to the
desired level. It is better to spread the paddy in thin layers of 6  cm. One acre
(4000 m2) dry insulated field can handle 60 ton of paddy for drying at one time, and
drying may be completed in 2–3 days depending upon the initial and desired final
moisture contents, exposure hours, intensity of heat, and humidity in air. In the
developing countries, roofs of the houses are used for the purpose at home scale,
while leveled and mud-varnished dried fields are used for drying at the industrial
scale. The cost of the method is dependent on the availability of the labor, socioeco-
nomic conditions, and climatic conditions of the region. Sun drying is advantageous
on account of initial and operational cost.
Adverse climatic conditions are barrier to the sun drying process; hence,
mechanical drying is employed as alternate to sun drying and, for holding the
paddy, heating and blowing the dried air through the mass of moistened grains. A
range of mechanical dryers are used for the purpose. These may be divided into
three groups including batch-in-bin, recirculating batch, and continuous flow
dryers.
Batch-in-bin is the simplest small-scale mechanical drying technique applicable
at village or farm level as well as at large scale for industrial paddy drying. Paddy
drying in this technique is carried out in a bin equipped with perforated base that
allows dried air to pass from the bottom through the entire stored stock. The bin is
emptied for refilling with fresh stock when desired level of moisture of paddy is
gained. The recirculating batch is like the batch-in-bin type dryer with the exception
that it has a system for circulating the paddy in the bin. Recirculating batch drying
is more efficient on account of better milling quality of paddy.
In the continuous flow type dryer, the paddy is dropped from the top of the dryer
column, while hot air enters at the bottom of the drying chamber. Baffles in continu-
ous flow type dryers are constructed in such a way that they create hurdle in free fall
of the paddy in drying chamber. The speed of the paddy falling through the dryer
chamber may be controlled by tilting the baffles up to the desired angle. The dryer
is designed in such a way that paddy takes around 15–30 minutes to reach from top
to the bottom. The paddy after drying is sent to a temporary storage bin for 48–72 h
for tempering (Taechapairoj et al. 2007). Continuous flow dryers have a holding bin
at the top of the drying chamber, a flow control system to control the passage of
paddy, and systems for heating and blowing the dried air. This method is employed
428 M. Riaz et al.

when a large volume of wet paddy is to be dried. The initial cost for installation of
continuous flow dryers is too high but working efficiency compensates its cost.

16.9  Paddy Cleaning

Foreign matters like sand, stones, straw, mud, weed seeds, iron particles, and stitch-
ing ropes may become part of paddy during harvesting, threshing, and transporta-
tion. Removal of such material is called paddy cleaning. Paddy is passed through
precleaner and destoner for the purpose of removal of such foreign debris. The
process of precleaning not only cleans rice but also reduces the risk of wear and tear
of the milling machinery. There are various types of globally used precleaners that
work on the basic principle of aspiration for the removal of lighter particles from the
paddy, sieving for separation on the basis of size and shape and gravity separation.
Impurities like sand, dust, small stones, soil particles, and weed seeds are separated
by aspiration. Larger and smaller particles than paddy grains may be separated by
sieves having grooves of various sizes. Particles having same size but heavier than
paddy grains can be separated by gravity separation. Iron particles are separated by
gravity separation, by sieving or by permanent or electromagnets (Dhankhar 2014).
Three major types of precleaners used in industry include open double-sieve pre-
cleaner, single-action aspirator-precleaner, and single-drum precleaner.
Open double-sieve precleaner  Paddy is inserted from the top of the machine on
the upper sieve having larger perforations than paddy size. Paddy along with small
foreign particles is dropped on the lower screen having perforations smaller than the
paddy grains. This action removes straw and chaff fractions from the paddy; how-
ever, particles smaller than paddy are further separated and dropped through the
lower screen. Open double screen precleaner is too simple to be handled but still
there exists risk of clogging of perforations with dust that is needed to be monitored
adequately for higher throughput of the cleaner.

Single-action aspirator precleaner  It comprises of a stationary section, oscillating

section, and a suction fan connected to a cyclone. The stationary section is fixed in
wooden or iron frame housing with a suction fan connected to a cyclone. Paddy is
inserted from the top near the housing and dust is removed by suction fan. The flow
of the grain in aspirator cleaner and speed of suction air are adjusted to their maxi-
mum efficiency for removal of dust and lighter particles. The remaining two sieves
of aspirator cleaner have the same function as of open double sieve precleaner. This
is a closed type precleaner having minimum risks of clogging of sieves.

Single-drum precleaner  It consists of a vibrating inclined screen, a horizontal rotat-

ing cylinder covered with a wire screen of larger mesh size, air suction fan connected
to cyclone, and double oscillating sieves fixed in iron or wood frame. Paddy is inserted
via vibrating inclined screen into the rotating cylinder from the top to remove larger
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 429

impurities. Paddy along with smaller impurities passes through upper sieve in the
form of a film. The suction fan removes the dust from the film and delivers it to the
cyclone. The upper screen removes larger impurities, while paddy grains along with
smaller impurities are dropped to bottom screen. The smaller impurities are dropped
to the bottom screen while overflowing the cleaned paddy to the destoner. Magnets are
installed to remove iron particles at the inlet or outlet housing of the precleaner.

Destoner  Stones similar in size to paddy grains are difficult to remove through
paddy cleaners; hence destoners having a perforated deck mounted with an angle
and aspiration facility are used. The air stratifies the particles while the reciprocat-
ing motion of the deck removes the stones at lifted back end and cleaned paddy is
separated at the lower end of destoner.

16.10  Dehulling

The process of removal of paddy husk is called dehulling or dehusking. Various types
of hullers or huskers are used with the objective to remove husk from paddy. The most
common types are steel huller, under-run disc huller, and rubber rollers. The steel
huller is the first mechanical type of huller having disadvantages like higher percent-
age of breakage, lower head rice recovery, and requirement of high electric power.
Under-run disc huller also called as disk huller is made of two horizontal iron
discs. One of the disc housing of dehuller is fixed in iron case, while the second one
rotates. The paddy grains are dropped from the hopper to the center of hullers under
gravitational force and husk is removed from the surface of paddy while passing
between the two roller under the centrifugal pressure and friction of the discs. The
space between the two discs can be adjusted by the rotating disc according to the
moisture contents, type, size, and condition of the paddy with the objective of
­minimum breakage and maximum recovery. The disc shellers although have many
advantages over steel hullers including low operational cost, cheaper maintenance,
and operational simplicity. However, due to high breakage rate, requirement of high
electric power, lower capacities of hulling, excessive removal of germ, damage to
the bran layer, and, requirement of an extra step of sieving make them rather less
economical compared to the rubber rollers.
Rubbers rollers are widely used in the rice industry now-a-days. The rubber roll
paddy husker comprises of two rolls rotating in opposite directions but with differ-
ential speed. The husk from the paddy grains is easily removed by shearing action
of the rolls. The speed and space between the two rolls are adjustable to get maxi-
mum recovery of the head rice. The rubber rolls have many advantages over all
other types of rollers including lower rate of breakage, lower rate of germ removal,
and minimum loss to the bran layer, improved hulling efficiency, and negligible
brew production that eliminates needs of sieving. Only disadvantage of rubber roll-
ers is the cost of their replacement on account of faster wear and tear of rubber
compared to steel or disc hullers.
430 M. Riaz et al.

16.11  Husk Separation

Huskers produce a mixture of brown rice, unhusked paddy grains, husk, brew, and
germ. Husk is separated by the process of aspiration. The dehusking process generates
broken kernels, brew, and germs from the paddy. If paddy is hulled through steel or
disk type hullers then these products are separated from each other in three different
steps. These fractions are passed through the plane sifter consisting of a set of two
screens and a blower at the bottom. The top screen separates the husk, unhulled paddy,
and head rice into a hopper at the bottom of the plane sifter. The aspirator at the bot-
tom pulls air through the mixture and throws husk outside the blower. The immature
and lighter grains while moving with the air are dropped into a hopper due to negative
air pressure. The broken kernels move through the upper screen, while the brews and
germs are separated by the bottom screen. The unhulled paddy and head rice are
passed onto the paddy separator. Since housing of rubber rollers carry blower, husk is
separated just after dehusking while the remaining products including unhulled paddy
grains, head, and broken rice are moved to the paddy separator (Tangpinijkul 2010).

16.12  Paddy Separation

The unhulled paddy grains are compulsory to be separated from the rice before milling.
Mixture of paddy grains, broken, and brown rice are sent to the paddy husker that sepa-
rates the paddy grains from the other fractions. Paddy grains having larger volume to
mass ratio possess less specific gravity compared to brown rice. Moreover, due to coarse
surface of husk, paddy grains have high resistance in mobility. Hence, the paddy grains
are separated from hulled rice by the to and fro motion in tilted position of paddy separa-
tors. Two types of paddy separators are being employed in rice processing industry.
Compartment type separator  These are prototype mechanical separators made
of steel or wood having 10–80 compartments housed in 2–4 decks. The mixture of
unhulled paddy and rice is fed on the top through the hopper to a channel that dis-
tributes it evenly in the compartments. Unhulled paddy as a result of oscillating
motion is separated and fed to the hullers for dehusking again while the rice along
with broken kernels is transferred to a width grader for the separation of head rice.
Efficiency comparison of different separators confirms the compartment-type sepa-
rators as the cheaper ones, requiring less energy and operating cost; however, they
need large space and strong foundation for installation.

Tray Separator  It consists of a set of trays housed one above the other, and all
fixed in a frame made of steel. The assembly is attached in a tilting position to a base
operated by an electric motor. The paddy grains are dropped onto the screens
through an inward hopper. The tray section moves up and forward making a slight
jumping movement. The brown rice having smooth surface and larger density
moves toward the upper and forward end while paddy to the lower forward end. The
brown rice separated is moved toward plane sifter for separation of broken rice,
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 431

brew, or germs. The head rice is separated while the mixture of broken and head rice
is sent to the length grader (Van Ruiten 1976).

16.13  Length Grading

Broken grains have smaller length as compared to whole grains or head rice and are
separated through length grader, also called as trieurs, rotating cylinders, and drum
graders. A length grader comprises of two half-circled indented screens fitted in such
a way as to make a cylinder, a catch trough having a screw conveyor, and a rotation
controller. The length grader is installed in an inclined position to add a slight push
to the head rice for easy removal from the grader. The broken kernel packed in
indents reach the top with the rotation of the cylinder, dropped in the trough, and
pushed out of the cylinder by screw conveyor. Length graders on the basis of number
of stages may be classified as single stage, two stage, and three stage length graders.
The broken percentage in the final rice may be reduced up to a desired level by con-
trolling the rotation speed of the cylinder and type of the length grader.

16.14  Width Grading

Width graders are the circulating cylinders made with a perforated iron or steel
sheet housed over a rotating shaft. These graders are used to separate rice on the
basis of width and are installed in slightly tilted position. Width graders are used for
separating rice grains and foreign particles having size greater than normal rice. The
oversized width graders have screens with perforations of size slightly more than
the normal rice width (Gariboldi 1974). Rice fed into the rotating cylinder while
passing through the perforations drops into a trough at the bottom. A screw con-
veyor in the trough pushes rice outside of the trough while oversized rice retained in
the cylinder is pushed outside due to tilted rotation of the cylinder. Undersized
width graders are used to remove thin and shriveled rice grains from the normal and
healthier grain. The perforation size of these cylinders is slightly less than the width
of the normal rice. The under sized rice is dropped in the trough at the bottom and
is carried away through the screw conveyor while normal sized rice retained in the
cylinder is pushed by tilted rotation of the cylinder.

16.15  Rice Whitening

Partial or complete removal of rice bran layer is carried out through a process
referred as rice whitening or polishing. In industrial rice processing, polishing is
considered as an essential segment of rice milling. The outer layer of rice comprises
of aleuron layers which do not allow the rice to expand during cooking. In most
432 M. Riaz et al.

parts of the word, polished rice is consumed for its better cooking properties, ease
in digestibility, better volume expansion ratio, and good aesthetic value. The bran
layers from rice are removed by abrasion or frictional force (Wimberly 1983).
Various types of rice whiteners are used for rice milling.
Single machine mills  Single machine mills are primarily used for small scale milled
rice production owing to their low milling capacity and greater susceptibility to dam-
age rice grains. Single machine mill is powered by electric motors and in some regions
via tractors, generators, or diesel engines. The machine comprises of steel or iron
made rotating cylinder covered with a perforated steel sheet, a motor to derive steel
cylinder, and a hopper. The paddy is fed from hopper to the space between rotating
cylinder by rotational direction of the flutes and perforated steel cover. Husk and
upper bran layer is removed and converted into powder-like small pieces by the fric-
tional force, and pushed out of the huller through the perforations of the outer cover-
ing. Some husk and bran part are included in whitened rice, which is further removed
by sieving. Single machine mill can also separate broken kernels up to a desired level
by sieving. Irrespective of its simplicity to handle paddy, steel-­based single milling
machine causes huge losses to the rice grains in the form of breakage. The modern
single mills having rubber rolls for improved husking and steel whiteners are available
now-a-days, which have higher raw material handling capacity with lower energy
requirement and reduced breakage risks (Singhagajen and Thongsawang 1982).

Multiple machine mills  Large capacity multiple machine mills are used at a com-
mercial scale. These mills comprise of a machine for each process like cleaning,
dehusking, destoning, paddy separation, whitening, polishing, color sorting, and
other necessary processing operations. They have varying milling capacities start-
ing from 1 to 10 or even more tons per hour. If the machines are installed at multiple
floors then conveyor or bucket elevators are used to transfer the product of one
machine as raw material to the other machine. If machines are installed on the same
floor then the difference between them is fixed in such a way that there should be no
resistance in the flow of the rice grains through the pipes to a machine. This machine
has higher milling capacity and operates more efficiently than single steel machine.

Vertical abrasive whitener  Vertical abrasive whitener consists of a cone made of

steel or stone directed by an electric motor from top or bottom. The cone is covered
with a perforated screen housed in a frame and fixed to a strong base. The screen is
divided into segments by adjustable 30–50  mm rubber brakes at regular intervals
around the cone. These brakes extend the full length of the cone with 2–3 mm clearance
from the cone. The hulled rice is fed from top through a hopper and is moved to the
clearance zone between screen and cone. The abrasive surface of the revolving cone
removes the bran layer of the hulled rice. The bran powder is pushed through screens
and is collected separately while white rice is collected at the bottom. The degree of
milling is directly linked with the milling and cooking quality of rice. Lesser the clear-
ance zone, the higher will be the degree of milling, keeping other factors including
revolutions per minute of cone and feed rate as constant. Intended increase in degree of
milling, however, may increase the breakage percentage. It is therefore advisable that
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 433

complete bran removal should be avoided and hulled rice should be passed through
multiple whiteners to reduce loss in the form of breakage. Any vibration in the cone
may cause a great loss due to uneven polishing and increases breakage. It is therefore
suggested that the whitening machines should be fixed on very solid and compact base.
Damage to the rice grains during milling may be due to very high heat of resistance that
may develop cracks in rice and increase the breakage percentage (Banaszek and
Siebenmorgen 1990). In order to avoid frequent losses from rice, air is continuously
passed through the whiteners to remove heat of resistance and dust fraction.

Horizontal abrasive whitener  The abrasive roll in horizontal abrasive whitener

consists of an emery stone attached to a steel shaft rotated by an electric motor, and
is covered with a metallic perforated cylindrical screen. The unhulled rice fed from
one side travels along abrasive roll and bran is removed through abrasive action and
is passed through the perforated sheet. The degree of milling is adjusted by the feed
rate controlled at the intake hopper and pressure developed on account of adjustable
weighted discharge gate. Breakage is increased if the feed rate is very low or the
discharge rate is very high or very low. Breakage percentage has been controlled in
horizontal abrasive whiteners by replacing the compact steel shaft with a hollow
shaft having many small openings to dissipate heat developed in abrasion. Air is
passed through these openings to rice and escapes through perforated screens.
Multiple advantages have been gained through this mechanism including heat con-
trol, removal of dust and powder, low breakage, and low perforation clogging risks.
The disadvantage of this machine is that clearance between the screen and emery is
not adjustable which is overcome by adjustable weighted discharge gate. Horizontal
abrasive whiteners are more beneficial in parboiled rice milling where higher risks
of screens clogging exist due to sticky and thick bran powder of parboiled rice.

Horizontal friction whitener  The horizontal friction whiteners consist of a steel

roller with a steel perforated sheet covering housed in casing. A feeding worm is
used to force the grains in the clearance zone between the roll and the screen. Bran
layer is removed by frictional force instead of abrasive action and is pushed out
through perforations with the air entered through very small openings of the revolv-
ing roll in the center. The pressure on the rice during whitening is controlled by a
weight adjustment valve at the outlet spout. Milling capacity and recovery is
­compromised when single pass horizontal frictional whitener is used. It is better to
use multistage frictional whiteners to get maximum recovery and minimize break-
age percentage. Power requirement of horizontal whitener is about the same as that
for vertical and horizontal abrasive polishers.

16.16  Rice Polishing

Rice polishing is the mechanism of making rice glossy or shiny. Physical appear-
ance of rice depends on the degree of milling and polishing. Polishing of rice is
characterized as single polished, double polished, touch silky, and silky polished.
434 M. Riaz et al.

Single and double polished rice is prepared on abrasive or friction whiteners dis-
cussed above, while polishers are used for silky or touch silky rice.
Polisher consists of a steel roller having very small holes mounted on a shaft that
is connected to an electric motor. The roller is encompassed in perforated screens and
the whole assembly is housed in a steel or iron casing. If the roller is covered with
leather, then it is called as leather polisher. The leather gives a smooth surface and
shine to the rice when grains pass through the clearance area between roller and
screens. The leather strips roll the whitened rice over and over against the screen. The
pressure on rice in the clearance area is controlled by the weight adjustment at the
outlet cover. The uniform removal of the bran layers from the rice surface makes it
shiner, brighter, and glossy. However, negative attributes like risks of off flavors
development and aflatoxins contamination during rest period make polishers as less
adoptable technique for rice polishing. Due to this reason the leather polishers have
been replaced with water polisher around the globe. Water polishers, like leather
polishers, have a steel roller or drum connected to a shaft operated by an electric
motor, water control system, and weight adjustment at outlet. The roller is encom-
passed in a perforated sieve and the entire assembly is housed in a steel cylinder. Rice
is fed into the clearance zone between rotating roller and sieve. Air passed through
the roller to the clearance area escapes through the perforated sheets along with the
fine powder of rice removed from rice surface during polishing. Air is used to dissi-
pate heat from milling system to avoid heat-associated quality losses in rice. A fine
mist of clean water is continuously sprayed on the rotor surface to make the rice
surface glossy and shiny. This also helps to lower down the temperature of milled
rice. Water polishers are very useful and widely used due to their high efficiency, less
breakage, and production of high quality rice. Degree of polishing is directly depen-
dent upon the retention time of rice in the clearance area, number of revolutions per
minute of the rotor, quantity of the water sprayed, and feed rate (Satake 1990).

16.17  Rice Grading

Milling and polishing under abrasive and frictional forces may produce breakage of
various sizes including broken, brews, germs, bran, and head rice. Separation of
these particles after polishing or whitening is called grading. The degree of grading
is dependent on the choice of the consumers or the rice market. Many markets do
not require grading, while others demand a sophisticated grading system to be
implemented in order to improve product quality. The demand of graded rice is
directly linked with the economic condition of the consumers. A large part of the
bran is removed from the screens of the whiteners or polishers and collected sepa-
rately. However, remaining bran is removed by the process of aspiration for which
the blowers are installed at length graders and before final packing. The mixture of
broken, brews, germs, and head rice is sent to the plane or rotary sifter. The rotary
sifter comprises of a set of two to three screens installed one above the other and
fixed in a frame. Screens of various mesh size are installed starting from lower to
higher mesh size from top to bottom. The head rice is separated by the top screen,
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 435

while the fine tips are separated by the bottom screen. Similarly, broken grains of
various sizes are separated by central screens (Kour and Singh 2013). In large indus-
tries, two to eight sets of these screens are installed one above the other to increase
the efficiency and production of more sophisticated product. The vibratory and
oscillatory movements of the screens do not efficiently separate broken having
length longer than the width of the rice. Hence, this head rice containing broken is
passed through the length graders, which have already been explained above.

16.18  Color Sorting

The head rice may have pecky, damaged, yellow, green, chalky, amber, or red-­colored
grains. The presence of these various colored or damaged grains in export grade rice
is considered to be a quality mark in international trade. It is, therefore, recommended
to remove these contaminants before the rice is sent to the market. Before 1980s, it
was considered very difficult to remove these grains from the head rice. The rice used
to pass on a conveyor belt in front of the workers who had to manually pick these
grains from the final marketable rice. However, now color sorters of various capacities
are available and widely used around the globe for sorting rice (Lisin et al. 2011).
A color sorter consists of a hopper for intake of rice connected with chutes in an
inclined position. Each chute is further divided into four channels. Rate of feed is
controlled by a feeder device installed at the top of the chutes. The rice in thin layers
falls through the channels by gravitational force. Colored grains while passing
through the reflector panel are assessed by a high-resolution charge couple device
(CCD) optical camera. A sensor connected with the camera passes a signal to the jet
valve or ejector to push the undesired grain by a blow of air. The disqualified grains
are separated, while qualified grains are collected in the packaging material or
stored temporarily in the final storage vessel.
Color sorters of various capacities and efficiencies are available in the market.
These have revolutionized the rice export industry since its invention in the second
last decade of the twentieth century. It has reduced substantial labor involvement for
color sorting. The installation cost of the machine is too high and requires a huge
capital but operational cost compromises its purchase. One of the biggest disadvan-
tages of the machine is that qualified grains are also rejected along with the disquali-
fied grains. However, color sorters advantages are beyond its disadvantages, as the
rejected grains may be recovered by a second pass through the machine. The
machine also requires a skillful person for its proper functioning and maintenance.

16.19  Parboiling

The word “parboiling” refers to partially boiled. Parboiling of rice means par-
tial boiling of rice in the form of paddy. Parboiling is a hydrothermal technique
for the treatment of rough rice (paddy) before drying and milling (Miah et al.
436 M. Riaz et al.

2002). Generally, rough rice is soaked in hot water or steamed before drying
and milling. Since how long the process of parboiling exists, nobody knows;
however, this process was recognized in the early nineteenth century to cope
with beri beri and vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency (Heinemann et al. 2005). A
group of researchers observed a direct linkage of beri beri with the consump-
tion of raw milled rice, and parboiled rice was reported to be a remedial tech-
nique in beri beri.

16.20  P
 arboiled Rice Has Many Advantages
and Disadvantages as Follows Over Raw Milled Rice

16.20.1  Advantages

Milling recovery of parboiled paddy is better compared to raw. During parboiling

the starch is partially gelatinized, becomes stiff, harder, and fishers or cracks in rice
are filled thus milling recovery and head rice yield is increased (Nguyen and Kunze
1984).
1 . The rice texture is improved and it becomes more translucent during milling.
2. Postharvest losses are reduced on account of inactivation of enzymes during
boiling or steaming.
3. Hull can be removed very easily compared to raw rice milling.
4. Expansion in volume mass ratio, hence less amount is required per serving.
5. Better cooking quality due to reduction in breakage, bursting, or curling during
cooking.
6. Nutritional quality is improved due to the transportation and fixation of vitamins
from bran layer to the starchy portion.
7. Inferior rice varieties come at par with superiors.
8. Simplicity of the process.

16.20.2  Disadvantages

1. The risk of development of off flavors in parboiled grains due to fermentation,

particularly in cold water.
2. Rice turns light yellow to black depending on the duration of soaking or

steaming.
3. Removal of bran layer is difficult and requires higher electric power; hence cost
of milling is higher compared to raw rice milling.
4. It requires high initial capital for installation of a parboiling plant.
5. Parboiled rice cannot be used in starch or brewing industry.
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 437

16.21  Parboiling Process

In addition to all other steps taken for rice milling, paddy is soaked in water until mois-
ture content reaches to 30 %. Heat treatment is applied to the paddy particularly by
steam for the development of some important physicochemical changes followed by
drying. Initial investment on paddy drying and rewetting can be saved by using fresh
paddy just after threshing and cleaning for parboiling. Usually, the rice crop is harvested
when the grain moisture contents are higher than 20 %; hence, high moisture contents
will require less energy and time to gain desired moisture level, i.e., ~30 %. Paddy grains
are passed through following steps for the manufacturing of parboiled rice.

16.21.1  Soaking

Freshly harvested, matured paddy grains are soaked in warm water to get water to
be absorbed until 30 % moisture content. Water absorption by paddy depends upon
the time of soaking, temperature, mineral contents, and pH of water. Cold water is
absorbed very slowly by the paddy and hence higher soaking time is required for
getting desired moisture level that may initiate fermentation. Prolonged fermenta-
tion may also lead to the growth of molds and development of aflatoxins on paddy.
It has been estimated that soaking is completed in just 2–4 h at a temperature of
60–65 °C compared to 36–48 h in a water having temperature of 30 °C. Similarly,
higher salt contents, minerals, and pH of water will slow down absorption of water
in paddy. Soaking under vacuum has been reported to reduce soaking time and
avoid problems like fermentation (Bello et al. 2008).

16.21.2  Steaming

Gelatinization of rice starch is one of the major objectives of parboiling that makes
the rice grains harder and stiffer compared to the raw rice grains thus causing less
breakage, improved milling recovery, fixation of biomolecules like vitamins, miner-
als, etc., and improvement in organoleptic properties of rice. Steaming of soaked
paddy is one of the improved methods available in the recent era for gelatinization
of rice. The condensed moisture contents of steam have higher capability to increase
the moisture contents of paddy up to 38  %. Starch at this high temperature and
moisture is gelatinized (Sareepuang et al. 2008). This method has many advantages
over primitive sun drying or dry heat:
1. Steam has higher capacity to carry excessive heat.
2. It carries moisture and increases the rate of condensation.
3. It has the capacity to increase the moisture contents of soaked paddy.
438 M. Riaz et al.

4. It improves the gelatinizing properties of starch.

5. It helps to minimize losses like burning or blackening of paddy grains as a
result of dry heat.
6. It helps to evaporate extra moisture from paddy leaving concentrated molecules
in the grain.
7. The excessive heat of steam helps to kill the microorganisms particularly patho-
gens and to some extent degradation of toxins.
8. Heating of soaked paddy with steam under pressure will help to open the husk
indicating the completion of the process consequently the dehulling of the
paddy will be easier.
9. Steaming retains better color and flavor of rice compared to dry heat.
10. It improves the cooking quality of rice, including separation of grains, volume
expansion, and decreased chances of bursting, curling, and breakage.
A range of utensils, structures, and equipment have been used for soaking and
steaming of paddy on pilot plant and commercial units.

16.21.3  Concrete Soaking Tanks

Fixed structures with all four walls and floor made of bricks, mortar, and/or cement
having no roof is used for soaking of paddy in hot or cold water. The size of the tank
is made according to the requirement and may be rectangular or square. A typical
soaking tank 2.4 m wide, 3 m long, and 2.1 m deep is considered to be suitable for
pilot plants. Paddy is filled up to 1.7 m depth in order to accommodate swelling dur-
ing soaking. Concrete soaking tank has less initial cost; however, it has many
disadvantages.
1. The tank cannot be inverted and paddy is removed from the tank manually and
labor faces problems in handling hot paddy.
2. Cleaning of the concrete soaking tank is difficult and extra water and labor are
required for the purpose.
3. Cracks may be developed in the concrete walls due to intensive use of water;
hence, continuous maintenance is required.
4. Greater chances of microbial, pest, and rodent attack; hence, a higher contamina-
tion rate.
5. Being open roof, its working depends upon environmental conditions.
6. More heat loss if soaking is in hot water.

16.21.4  Drying of Steamed Paddy

Handling of steamed paddy is more sensitive compared to rough rice. Steamed

paddy is dried by the same methods as discussed for rough rice paddy with the
exceptions that it requires higher initial temperature. Moreover, if the paddy is dried
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 439

in a single stage, chances of cracks and fishers in the grain are increased; hence less
recovery with more breakage and poor cooking quality has been observed
(Siebenmorgen and Meullenet 2004). It is advisable to dry the steamed paddy in two
to three stages on mechanical dryers and tempering duration of 12–36 h for each
stage. The tempering time facilitates aging and equalizes the moisture content uni-
formly among the paddy grains.

16.22  Postharvest Losses

Postharvest losses of cereal grains account for 10–40 % losses in grains quantity
and/or quality from farm to fork. Developing countries are particularly more sus-
ceptible to these losses on account of poor access to innovative harvesting, storage,
transportation, drying, and milling techniques. Being a major field crop, postharvest
losses of rice cannot be avoided but can be curtailed to an appreciable extent. Paddy,
like other crops respires and hence loss of energy in the form of heat dissipated to
the storage environment results in excessive loss of grain quality if not properly
managed (Tyler and Gilman 1979). Sizeable reduction in postharvest losses reduces
the cost of rice harvesting, drying, and milling. It helps to cut down the prices on
trade distribution, improves the livelihood of the farmer and increases the purchas-
ing power of the consumer as well (Panhwar 2006). Losses in rice can be curtailed
by the application of advanced postharvest techniques in entire rice production and
processing chain. Following parameters are helpful to cut down the postharvest
losses to their minimum.

1. Identification of maturity stage: Harvesting at maturity is necessary to avoid

losses from shattering and in the form of immature, slender, or chalky grains.
Over maturity leads to shattering of the grains in the field, while under ripening
results in slender and chalky grains.
2. Rapid harvesting: The use of combine harvesting is helpful to manage the crop
very rapidly. The losses due to rains, thunder storms, attack of fungus and pests,
and inclusion of mud, dirt, and dust can be avoided. The combine harvesting
should therefore be preferred over conventional methods of harvesting of rice
crop.
3. Timely threshing: The crop after harvesting should be threshed very rapidly.
Keeping crop untreated after harvesting increases the chances of fungus attack,
discoloration, yellowing, and shattering.
4. Quick drying: Quick drying after harvesting and threshing reduces the chances
of heat burn during fresh crop storage.
5. Mechanical drying—preferred drying technique: Mechanical drying compared
to sun drying is helpful to manage the crop produce rapidly. It reduces the
chances of inclusion of dockage, fungal, and pests attack. Wise mechanical dry-
ing avoids the development of cracks and fissures, hence curtailing the milling
and quality losses.
440 M. Riaz et al.

6. Adequate cleaning: Cleaning of paddy before drying and milling can avoid
losses induced in the form of wear and tear of machines. It also improves the
milling recovery. It is, therefore, advisable to use precleaners before drying and
milling.
7. Advanced rice milling: Advanced methods of rice milling can reduce the grain
losses to an appreciable extent. It has been estimated that head rice recovery at
village level husking-cum-milling machines is around 40 %, while it is 70–80 %
at advanced milling machines. It is, therefore, recommended to use pneumatic
huskers and rice polishers to avoid conventional methods of milling.
8. Milling moisture: Proper moisture contents of paddy grains before milling is
vital to avoid excessive losses. The moisture content between 13 and 14 % is
considered ideal for maximum recovery of head rice.
9. Storage: Storage of rice at 12 % moisture decreases the chances of mold attack.
Moreover, losses due to heat of evaporation are minimized if the paddy crop is
stored below 16 % moisture content. Proper aeration, control of pests, manage-
ment of relative humidity, and temperature are the key factors to avoid losses
during storage.
10. Insects, pest management: Storage losses due to insects can be reduced by the
application of spray of piperonyl butoxide, tetrachlorovinfos, fenithrothion,
etc., or a suitable fumigant like methyl bromide, phosgene, carbon tetrachlo-
ride, hydrogen cyanide, etc., after fixed intervals.
11. Packaging and transportation: Poor transportation and defective packaging can
lead to quantitative losses of the product (Kiaya 2014). It is, therefore,
­recommended to use packaging bags of various sizes and proper transportation
vehicles to avoid losses during traveling and storage.

16.23  Rice Storage

Paddy, if not immediately milled, is dried for storage. Likewise, milled rice needs to
be stored until it is delivered to the market for sale. Paddy and rice can be stored for
a few years if storage conditions are appropriate. Grain moisture is one of the impor-
tant factors to be considered critically while planning for short term or long term
storage. Higher the moisture of the commodity during storage, lesser will be the
storage stability. It has been estimated that at 12 % moisture contents and optimum
relative humidity, paddy, and rice can be stored for years (FAO 2008). Digital por-
table and desktop grain moisture meters are available in local markets with a knob
to put into heap or bag of rice or paddy grains. However, digital moisture meters are
necessary to be calibrated with hot air ovens; a most reliable method for the deter-
mination of moisture in any commodity. Insect infestation during paddy or rice
storage is a major concern that can be controlled by implementing an integrated pest
management program. Need-based storage facilities can be constructed to store
paddy and rice at industrial and home scale levels. Generally, at home scale levels,
paddy and rice are stored in bins made of mud, cement, and bamboo, or cement and
bricks, or iron and steel. However, extended facilities in the form of temperature and
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 441

atmosphere controlled large silos and or warehouses with stacked sacks and bags of
commodity are deployed at the industrial scale.

16.24  N
 utritional Composition and Significance of Rice
in Human Health

Globally, rice stands third in a list of 30 highly produced and consumed food crops
of the world with an estimated production of ~479 million metric tons of milled
rice (IGC.int 2015). In Asian perspectives, rice is a staple diet of 15 countries
where the crop provides around 715 kcal per capita daily. On energy and nutrient
scale, this much amount of rice consumption adds up ~27 % dietary energy and
20 % daily protein intake. It is likely that in countries like Bangladesh, Viet Nam,
Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar rice consumption is responsible for 50 % per cap-
ita dietary energy and protein requirements (FAOSTAT 2011). Before marketing,
rice grains are milled to produce brown rice, white rice, hull, and bran nutritional
composition of which varies with cultivars and milling extent. Despite the valuable
nutrition of brown rice, globally higher intake is recorded for white polished rice.
The milling and or polishing process destroys at least 50–90 % of rice B vitamins,
essential minerals, fatty acids, and fiber (Ensminger and Ensminger 1986).

16.25  Nutritional Composition of Rice

Milled rice is referred to be a good source of carbohydrates, predominately starch,

whereas appreciable amounts of macro and micronutrients that exists in bran fraction
are leached down with mill-fractions. B vitamins are concentrated to a greater extent
in bran layer and 65 % of thiamine, 39 % of riboflavin, and 54 % of niacin contents
are reported in the same. It is due to these reasons that brown rice is recommended
for consumption as edible grain as compared to milled rice that is devoid of pericarp,
testa, embryo, and aleurone layer. Distribution of energy yielding compounds, i.e.,
carbohydrates, protein, and fats varies with different rice fraction. Maximum protein
(7.1–8.3 %) and fat (1.6–2.8 %) contents are anticipated in the brown rice, whereas
maximum carbohydrates (77–89 %) are attributed to the milled rice. As far as some
fractions are concerned, maximum protein, fat, and fiber contents are found in rice
bran, i.e., 11.3–14.9 %, 15.0–19.7 %, and 7.0–11.4 %, respectively (Julino 1993).

16.26  Micronutrient and Phenolics Contents

Micro and macroelemental composition of rice varies with its various forms and
processing conditions, e.g., those of parboiled, milled, and brown rice. The studies
show higher ash contents (~18 %) in parboiled rice as compared to the milled rice
442 M. Riaz et al.

proclaiming higher contents of K and P (Heinemann et al. 2005). Nutritional assays

on various cultivars reveal more or less similar as proximate composition including
moisture, protein, fat, ash, and fiber; however, some minor differences exist for the
micronutrients particularly vitamin E, thiamine, and iron. These exist in higher
amounts in Chinese wild rice compared to the American wild rice (Zhai et  al.
2001). Well-versed genetic diversity exists in rice as far as nutritional composition
is concerned. A study carried out on unpolished rice reveals an intravarietal differ-
ence in proteins (9 g), zinc (3.34 mg), thiamine (1.6 mg), iron (5.65 mg), niacin
(7.2 mg), and riboflavin (0.39 mg) (Kennedy and Luo 2015). A recent update on
nutritional quality of commercial rice available in Malaysia proclaims nondetect-
able levels of cholesterol and very low level of trans fatty acid. The study estimates
appreciable levels of vitamin B1, A, C, and E to exist in all commercial rice brands
(Fairulnizal et al. 2015). Higher acceptability levels have been recorded for black
rice in Korean culture where rice is consumed as staple food. Black rice is a good
carrier of anthocyanin and associated antioxidant activity and hence have very
important role of not only providing dietary energy but also functional health fea-
tures to its ultimate consumers. Forty-two pigmented rice cultivars were analyzed
for their micronutrient contents and radical scavenging activity. The study identi-
fies iron to be the most prevalent mineral element as compared to Zn, Cu, and Mn.
Antioxidant activity associated with their good pool of polyphenols was reported
to be of 31.9–98.5 %, whereas tocotrienol contents were comparatively higher than
tocopherol (Ha and Lee 2015).

16.27  Rice Nutrition and Consumer’s Health

Rice is not a primary food crop among most of the children and adolescents of
America. Whereas, high and low rice consumers of non-Hispanic and Indo-Asian
mixed racial children and the adolescents are reported to meet maximum of their
caloric requirements from rice and hence have significantly higher body reserves
of certain micronutrients, e.g., iron, folates, copper, magnesium, vitamin B6, vita-
min C, thiamine, and niacin (Luo and Kennedy 2015). A significant difference
exists in dietary pattern and energy intake of rice and non rice consumers that
can be evaluated in the form of saturated fat consumption. Rice consumers are
generally referred to be good in micronutrient pool, low in saturated fats, and
physically possess lower waist circumference, skinfold, and body mass index,
i.e., less than 25 kg/m2 (Kennedy and Luo 2015). Higher household expenditure
on rice in countries where it is cultivated as staple food crop is highly associated
with multiple micronutrient deficiencies due to poor diet diversification and low
expenditure on non rice foods. Torlesse et al. (2003) suggested reduction in the
underweight children population of rice grown regions might be anticipated by
more expenditure on non rice foods.
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 443

16.28  R
 ecent Innovative Approaches to Improve Nutritional
Quality of Rice

A very significant role of nutritional genomics has been observed to cope with the
situation of multiple micronutrient deficiencies in health and economic status of
­
­malnourished populations. Staple crops including wheat, rice, and maize that are not
adequate or good source of vital nutrient like iron, vitamin A, iodine, and zinc were engi-
neered owing to their maximum acceptability as staple food grains by the undernourished
populations. In order to address ever increasing burden of anemic population from socio-
economically weaker communities, transgenic iron fortified rice has been introduced that
has been developed by adopting approaches like improving grain iron reserves, enhanc-
ing iron translocation, and improving its flux into the endosperm (Masuda et al. 2012).
The study referred further endorses multiple transgenic technologies to be the more effec-
tive approach in addressing micronutrient deficiencies compared to single gene manipu-
lation for some particular micronutrient. Genetically engineered rice cultivar ‘Golden
Rice’ was produced aimed at addressing vitamin A deficiency and associated disorders.
Genetic modifications were made to produce β-carotene—pro-vitamin A in the endo-
sperm, i.e., ~31 μg/g of 37 μg/g carotenoids. Despite more than normal reserves of vita-
min A as carotenoids, a debate still exists on golden rice incompetency to address severe
deficiencies of vitamin A in underprivileged populations (Dawe et al. 2002; Paine et al.
2005). Zinc biofortification of rice is in practice by its foliar spray irrespective of environ-
mental conditions, cultivars, and crop management practices. The biofortified rice crop is
reported to significantly affect zinc deficiencies and cut down burden of immune
­dysfunction, growth retardation, and cognitive losses (Bashir et al. 2013).

16.29  Rice Based Edible Products

Cooked rice is taken as a staple diet by more than 50 % of world population. The
major by-products during milling are rice bran, husk, brews, germ, and polish.
These by-products are primarily used in the feed industry. In addition, following
food products are manufactured for human use.

16.29.1  Rice Pudding

Rice pudding is usually prepared by addition of water or milk in the rice along with
other desired flavoring agents. Rice pudding makes delicious desserts for dinners
equally liked by people of all ages in different cultures. Rice puddings being pre-
pared as dessert are made with added sugar alongside cinnamon, ginger, flavor, and
444 M. Riaz et al.

egg. Variants of rice puddings are reported from various parts of the world depend-
ing on regional food habits and cultures. Rice puddings being consumed as desserts
in South Asian countries like India and Pakistan are known as Kheer and Firni.
Rice puddings are considered instant energizers as they contain high contents of
carbohydrates as rice starch and simpler sugar. The presence of milk in rice pud-
dings makes them rich in calcium and vitamin D that are beneficial for stronger
bones and healthy teeth. Moreover, the fibers in the rice pudding help in regulation
of bowel movement and relieve constipation. Rice puddings are also well known for
their usage in human experimental studies related to bowel movements and blood
glucose levels along with other ingredients (Hlebowicz et al. 2009; Pritchard et al.
2015). Rice pudding does not contain gluten, so people allergic to gluten may rely
on rice puddings for their energy requirements in addition to other gluten free diets.
Depending upon the type of ingredients used, a serving of 5–6 ounces may provide
130–230 kcal energy (Corleone 2015).

16.29.2  Rice Bread

Rice flour is used in some regions replacing wheat flour for the preparation of rice
bread. Rice bread being gluten free is suitable for individuals allergic to gluten. For
the preparation of gluten free breads, the rice flour may also be used in various propor-
tions with other gluten free starch sources that include corn and potato for better vol-
ume and crumb structure (Sanchez and Osella 2002). Rice flour supplementation has
shown better sensory performance in gluten free bread preparation compared to corn
and cassava flours (López et al. 2004). Rice flour is considered to be highly suitable
for production of gluten free breads as it is colorless, easily digestible and hypoaller-
genic with no off flavors. Other basic ingredients required for the production of rice
bread include yeast, sugar, oil, water, and salt (Kadan et al. 2001). Rice flour is also
low in sodium, fat, and fiber (Gujral and Rosell 2004a, b). Kadan at al. (2001) showed
stronger tendencies of rice starch to retrogradation compared to whole wheat bread.
However, due to lack of elasticity and plastic properties in rice proteins like those
attributed to wheat gluten, application of rice flour in baking is limited (Juliano 1985).
Gluten replacers such as hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose are used in addition to the
basic ingredients to enhance the rheological properties of bread dough to obtain the
bread with better crumb and textural properties (Sivaramakrishnan et al. 2004).

16.29.3  Rice Cakes

A rice cake is made from the rice, shaped, condensed, or combined into a single
object. Rice cakes are becoming popular as a snack food among people because of
their low caloric value and low fat contents. Rice cakes may be made from rice flour,
ground rice, or from whole grain rice compressed or combined together with some
binding substance. The preparation of rice cakes is based upon their popping
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 445

characteristic under heat and pressure. The balance between the ingredients, mois-
ture, time, and temperature is of foremost importance as their imbalance can result
in the breakage of rice cakes during production decreasing their value.
Rice cakes prepared from rice grains are prepared in popping machines in which
they are exposed to heat and high pressures. The rice should be subjected to ideal
temperature and time combinations for its desired expansion. The additives such as
flavors and sweeteners are sprayed onto the cakes after their preparation as early
addition of additives increases the risk of cake breakage. Sticky rice varieties are
preferred, while the long grain varieties do not expand much during cooking.
Stabilizers and to some extent emulsifiers are used in rice cake preparation to
improve viscosity and stability of batter. A study showed that the addition of xan-
than and xanthan-guar gum blends showed increased viscosity of the batter. The
addition of emulsifier blend resulted in softer and porous final product (Turabi et al.
2008). However, the baking methods also affect the microstructures of cake.
Conventional baking methods tend to deform the starch structure more as compared
to the cakes baked through combination of IR-MW (infrared-microwave) ovens
(Turabi et al. 2010).

16.29.4  Rice Noodles

Rice noodles are prepared using rice flour and water. Noodles from rice flour are
very popular traditional foods in the South China. The production processes used
for a particular type may differ from region to region to meet local demand; how-
ever, the basic production principles are usually the same. Rice noodles are classi-
fied on the basis of molding methods as well as the moisture contents. On the basis
of molding method, rice noodles are classified into cutting noodles (1 mm thick,
4–6 mm wide, and 200 mm long) and spreading noodles (rice noodle wrapper rolls
containing different fillings) (Li et al. 2015).
On the basis of moisture contents, rice noodles are further classified as dehy-
drated and fresh noodles. The amount of moisture in fresh rice noodles ranges
between 40 and 65  %, while that of dehydrated noodles ranges between 15 and
25 %. Moisture content plays an important role in flavor and texture of the noodles.
However, higher moisture contents compromise shelf-life of the finished product.
On the contrary, dehydration can improve shelf-life of the rice noodles for extended
period of time (Chen et al. 2012).

16.29.5  Rice Bran Oil

Rice bran oil (RBO) is extracted from the hard outer brown layer well known as
bran of the rice. Crude form of rice bran oil is obtained using solvent extraction fol-
lowed by distillation. RBO is considered to be very useful for salads and cooking
purposes due to high smoke point as compared to other oils along with slight flavor
446 M. Riaz et al.

(Ghosh 2007). The smoke point of RBO is up to 213 °C and its saponification value
ranges between 180 and 195 (Orthoefer 2005).
In its crude form, RBO comprises of 2–4 % free fatty acids (FFA) that can initi-
ate lipids hydrolysis if FFA are not extracted immediately. The FFA develops at a
rapid pace of ~5–7 % per day in the rice bran. Therefore, it is important to stabilize
the rice bran before extraction to obtain good quality rice bran oil (Saunders 1985).
During recent years, RBO has gained significant popularity on account of its
health benefits. RBO and its essential fatty acids composition have shown an ability
to improve plasma protein patterns of rodents, rabbits, and humans through reduc-
tion of plasma cholesterol and concentration of triglycerides along with an increase
in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels (Cicero and Gaddi 2001). A study revealed
that RBO exhibits cholesterol lowering ability in healthy and moderately
­hypercholesterolemic adults, decreasing LDL concentration ~7  %. This activity
may be attributed to unsaponifiable components of RBO (Most et al. 2005). Other
beneficial effects of RBO include anti-inflammatory properties (Nagasaka et  al.
2007). Other than consumption, researchers have been working on the utilization of
RBO as biodiesel fuel through transesterification for the production of RBO methyl
(Sinha et al. 2008).

16.29.6  Rice Vinegar

Rice vinegar has been in use with the Chinese people for almost 3000 years. Rice
vinegar is made by fermenting rice into alcohol and then further into acid. Sometimes
rice vinegar may be confused with rice wine. However, they both are different prod-
ucts. Rice wine is prepared through a fermentation process that involves yeast for
the transformation of sugars from rice into alcohol. While for the preparation of rice
vinegar, another step is required that involves the addition of bacteria for the conver-
sion of alcohol into acid (Xu et al. 2010). Rice vinegar is sodium free making it
beneficial for hypertension patients (Corleone 2015).

16.29.7  Edible Rice Films and Wrappers

Rice flour is usually prepared from broken rice that is not fit for further processing.
Therefore, in many cases it proves to be cheaper than other sources of starch. Use of
rice flour for the edible films and coatings is becoming popular. Different methods
are being developed to reduce its levels of permeability. A study revealed that the
rice flour or rice starch coating with sorbitol as a plasticizing agent decreased the
permeability of water and resulted in more rigid structure (Dias et al. 2010). Rice
protein concentrate was also used to prepare edible films with addition of polysac-
charides complex (pullulan) along with the incorporation of oils for enhanced resis-
tance against water vapors (Shih 1996). In another study, rice wax up to 46.4 % was
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 447

used in addition to pullulan to obtain compact film structures. Addition of rice wax
is also reported to improve moisture barrier properties (Shih et al. 2011).

16.29.8  Other Products

Other products of rice that are accepted by a large number of consumers include rice
cereals, rice fudge, rice cookies, and crackers. Some of the products like rice milk
are not very common among the people but are in use due to certain health compli-
cations in particular individuals. Most of the rice products are used as an alternative
due to shortage of other available raw material or by the individuals having certain
disorders related to consumption of some food stuff.

16.30  Rice Quality

Rice quality is a difficult term to define as it depends upon the acceptability of the
consumer to a greater extent. However, on broader term, rice quality may be divided
into two categories, i.e., milling and cooking. Milling quality of rice determines the
final yield during milling, while cooking quality determines the acceptability of the
consumer. Both cooking and milling quality of rice depend upon the type of the
variety, environmental factors involved during production and methods of harvest-
ing, drying, and milling of rice (Siebenmorgen and Meullenet 2004).

16.30.1  Milling Quality

Paddy having high head rice yield, low broken, bran, and polish is considered good
for milling. Milling quality of paddy is dependent on the following interrelated
factors:
Moisture content  Moisture contents at harvesting and subsequent storage before
or after drying of paddy are one of the most important factors contributing toward
the storage, milling, and cooking quality of rice. The optimum temperature at har-
vesting may reduce the losses due to shattering on account of less moisture contents
and unripened paddy grains due to high moisture contents. The ideal moisture con-
tents for harvesting are 20–26 %. Maximum milling yield of rice can be obtained at
13–14 % moisture contents of paddy. The broken percentage below and above this
optimum moisture contents may increase due to pulverization and stiffness of
grains. Control of moisture contents during drying is also a critical factor to ensure
the milling and cooking quality of rice, as cracks and fissures are the characteristics
attributed toward improper paddy drying.
448 M. Riaz et al.

Degree of purity  Purity is related to the presence of dockage, i.e., materials other
than paddy including hay, chaff, stones, seeds of weeds, soil, and mud, etc., included
from the field or drying floor. Impurities increase the cost of paddy cleaning or some
time wear and tear of the machines. Milling yield is also influenced by these
impurities.

Admixture  Seeds of contrasting varieties may be mixed during handling at farm or

may be added as adulterant during paddy drying. Grains of various sizes and shapes
make it difficult to adjust hullers, huskers, whiteners, and polishers to produce
whole grains; hence head rice yield is reduced. In addition to milling recovery,
cooking quality of rice and hence consumer’s acceptability is influenced.

Cracked grains  Exposure of paddy grains with shocks of high temperature and
moisture may result in the development of cracks and fissures in the rice. These fis-
sured and cracked grains cannot withstand high pressure of frictional forces of mill-
ing. Hence, broken percentage is increased with low head rice yield.

Immature grains  Immature grains that have not developed properly are thinner,
slender, chalky, and opaque on milling. The higher the percentage of these grains in
the paddy, the lower will be the milling recovery. After milling, these are converted
into broken, brew, and polish and ultimately reduce the head rice yield.

Damaged grains  High moisture, insect attack, and high temperature during stor-
age may cause physical and biochemical changes in the grains. The grains have less
tensile strength and cannot withstand milling resulting in increased broken percent-
age and reduced milling yield.

Discolored grains  The grains of various colors including yellow, amber, chalky, red,
and green may be present in the paddy that might come from the field due to environ-
mental factors or high moisture during temporary storage before drying. Various bio-
chemical reactions and microbiological activity may generate excessive heat during
temporary storage of the paddy and partly gelatinize the rice starch, hence changing
the color of rice from white to amber, yellow, brown, or black. This discoloration may
not influence the milling yield but influences the consumer acceptance.

16.30.2  Cooking Quality

Cooking quality of rice in addition to above factors is also dependent on the follow-
ing factors:
Variety of rice  Variety is one of the major factors of rice contributing toward its
cooking quality. Starch is 90 % of the dry matter content of rice. It is composed of
linear (amylose) and branched (amylopectin) polymers of glucose units. The amy-
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 449

lose has the lesser tendency to hold moisture. Rice having high amylose contents
dries at cooking, absorbs less water, and becomes hard upon cooling (Bhattacharya
2011). On the other hand varieties having higher contents of amylopectin absorb
more water, become sticky, and do not become dry on cooling. Rice having amylose
content 1–2 %, 3–9 %, 10–20 %, 21–25 %, 26–30 % is considered as waxy, very
low, low, intermediate, and high amylose content rice, respectively.

Degree of milling  Degree of milling is the measure of percentage of bran removed

from the brown rice. It is the degree of milling that determines the color of the rice,
milling yield, broken percentage, absorption of water, volume expansion of rice
grain during cooking, and consumer’s acceptance (Champagne 2004). The bran
layer on the surface of brown rice allows poor absorption of water hence does not
allow starch to expand properly. Moreover, complete removal of bran layer again
causes excessive absorption of water and its seepage in rice starch from the grains,
hence causing stickiness of rice. Proper degree of milling is compulsory for the rice
having good cooking and consumer’s acceptance qualities. It is considered that
75 % bran removal may result in rice of good cooking qualities (Rodriguez-Arzuaga
et al. 2014).

Gel consistency  It measures the tendency of cooked rice to harden on cooling. Rice
varieties having softer touch on cooling within the same amylose contents have
higher degree of tenderness, and are preferred around the globe. Rice varieties hav-
ing higher amylose contents are harder. Gel consistency is measured by heating rice
in small quantity of dilute alkali (Bergman et al. 2004).

Gelatinization temperature  The time required for cooking milled rice is called
gelatinization temperature. The gelatinization temperature is influenced by environ-
mental factors particularly temperature during rice production. Higher the tempera-
ture during rice production, greater is the gelatinization temperature of the rice
(Waters et al. 2006; Shu et al. 2006).

16.31  Conclusions

Mechanical methods of drying, improved versions of hullers, and advancement

in the milling machinery have resulted in high yield and better cooking quality of
rice. In addition, better storage techniques and advancement in the means of
transportation curtailed the postharvest losses to certain extent. However, socio-
economic limitations, lack of awareness, and poverty are the major hurdles to
adopt innovative techniques and machinery in the developing countries.
Research-based strategies to develop cost-effective techniques for harvesting,
drying, storage, hulling, and milling of rice are further required, particularly for
small farmers of the developing economies to curtail postharvest losses and to
impart better quality to rice.
450 M. Riaz et al.

References

Ali A, Majid A, Rehman H, Sagar MA (1990) Milling recovery of Basmati as affected by threshing
methods and crop harvesting time. Pak J Agric Res 11:7–12
Almera. Grain losses at different harvesting times based on crop maturity. In Lantin, R. Rice post-
harvest operation. 1997. Available online at www.fao.org/inpho/index-e.htm
Banaszek MM, Siebenmorgen TJ (1990) Head rice yield reduction rates by moisture adsorption.
Trans ASAE 33(4):1263–1269
Bashir K, Takahashi R, Nakanishi H, Nishizawa NK (2013) The road to micronutrient biofortifica-
tion of rice: progress and prospects. Front Plant Sci 4
Bell MA, Bakker RR, de Padua DB, Rickman J. Rice quality management-Principles and some
lessons. ACIAR proceedings. 2000; http://aciar.gov.au/files/node/2140/pr100chapter4.pdf.
[Accessed on 14 Apr 2016]
Bello MO, Tolaba MP, Suárez C (2008) Hydration kinetics of rice kernels under vacuum and pres-
sure. Int J Food Eng. doi:10.2202/1556-3758.1363
Bergman CJ, Bhattacharya KR, Ohtsubo K (2004) Rice end-use quality analysis. In: Rice chemis-
try and technology. American Association of Cereal Chemists, St. Paul, pp. 415–472
Bhattacharya KR (2011) Analysis of rice quality. In: Rice quality. Woodhead Publ, Cambridge/
Philadelphia, pp. 431–530
Bora GC, Hansen GK (2007) Low cost mechanical aid for rice harvesting. J  Appl Sci
7(23):3815–3818
Champagne ET. Rice: chemistry and technology. 3rd ed. American Association of Cereal Chemists,
Inc. 3340 Pilot Knob Road, St. Paul, Minnesota 55121–2097, U.S.A. 1–891127–34-9 2004. 2004
Chen ZY, Yu WH, Song XL, Yang HM, Zhao DD (2012) Moisture content effect on quality of fresh
rice noodles. J Cereals Oils 7:23
Cicero A, Gaddi A (2001) Rice bran oil and y—Oryzanol in the treatment of hyperlipoproteinae-
mias and other. Phytother Res 15(4):277–289
Corleone J.  Health benefits of rice vinegar | LIVESTRONG.COM [Internet]. LIVESTRONG.
COM. 2015; Available from: http://www.livestrong.com/article/246887-health-benefits-of-
rice-­vinegar/. [cited 23rd Nov 2015]
Dawe D, Robertson R, Unnevehr L (2002) Golden rice: what role could it play in alleviation of
vitamin A deficiency? Food Policy 27(5):541–560
Dhankhar P (2014) Rice milling. IOSR J Eng 4(5):34–42
Dias AB, Müller CM, Larotonda FD, Laurindo JB (2010) Biodegradable films based on rice starch
and rice flour. J Cereal Sci 51(2):213–219
Ensminger H, Ensminger MK (1986) Food for health: a nutrition encyclopedia. Pegus Press,
Clovis, pp. 106–108
Fairulnizal M, Norhayati M, Zaiton A, Norliza A, Rusidah S, Aswir A et al (2015) Nutrient content
in selected commercial rice in Malaysia: an update of Malaysian food composition database.
Int Food Res J 22(2):768–776
FAO (2008) Terminal report: action programme for the prevention of food losses. United Nations
and Agricultural Organisation. 17–72. [www.phlosses.net/index.php] [Accessed on 4 May
2010]
FAO (2012) FAOSTAT, Production. http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/DesktopDefault.
aspx?PageID=567#ancor. [Cited 12 Feb 2014]
FAO (2015) How to feed the world in 2050. http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/wsfs/docs/
expert_paper/How_to_Feed_the_World_in_2050.pdf. [Accessed on 13 Apr 2016]
FAOSTAT. (2011) http://faostat.fao.org/site/339/default.aspx. [Accessed on 23 Nov 2015]
FAOSTAT (2013) FAOSAT, Production. http://faostat.fao.org/site/339/default.aspx. [Accessed on
13 Apr 2016]
Gariboldi F (1974) Rice milling equipment operation and maintenance. Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nation, Rome
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 451

Genkawa T, Uchino T, Inoue A, Tanaka F, Hamanaka D (2008) Development of a low-moisture-­

content storage system for brown rice: storability at decreased moisture contents. Biosyst Eng
99(4):515–522
Ghosh M (2007) Review on recent trends in rice bran oil processing. J  Am Oil Chem Soc
84(4):315–324
Gujral HS, Rosell CM (2004a) Functionality of rice flour modified with a microbial transglutamin-
ase. J Cereal Sci 39(2):225–230
Gujral HS, Rosell CM (2004b) Improvement of the breadmaking quality of rice flour by glucose
oxidase. Food Res Int 37(1):75–81
Ha S, Lee H (2015) Intake status of white rice, brown rice and black rice in South Korea: Korea
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2010–2012. Proc Nutr Soc
74(OCE1):E133
Heinemann R, Fagundes P, Pinto E, Penteado M, Lanfer-Marquez U (2005) Comparative study of
nutrient composition of commercial brown, parboiled and milled rice from Brazil. J  Food
Compos Anal 18(4):287–296
Hlebowicz J, Hlebowicz A, Lindstedt S, Björgell O, Höglund P, Holst JJ et al (2009) Effects of 1
and 3  g cinnamon on gastric emptying, satiety, and postprandial blood glucose, insulin,
glucose-­dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, glucagon-like peptide 1, and ghrelin concentra-
tions in healthy subjects. Am J Clin Nutr 89(3):815–821
Hossain MF, Bhuiya MSU, Ahmed M, Mian MH (2009) Effect of harvesting time on the milling
and physiochemical properties of aromatic rice. Thai J Agric Sci 42(2):91–96
IGC.int. International Grains Council (2015) Available from: http://www.igc.int/en/grainsupdate/
sd.aspx?crop=Rice [Accessed on 23 Nov 2015]
Juliano BO (1985) Rice: chemistry and technology. American Association of Cereal Chemists, St
Paul
Julino BFAO (1993) Rice in human nutrition. FAO, Rome
Kadan R, Robinson M, Thibodeaux D, Pepperman A (2001) Texture and other physicochemical
properties of whole rice bread. J Food Sci Chic 66(7):940–944
Kennedy E, Luo H (2015) Association between rice consumption and selected indicators of dietary
and nutritional status using national health and nutrition examination survey 2007–2008. Ecol
Food Nutr 54(3):224–239
Khan AS, Salim M (2005) Rice harvesting and threshing. Pak J Food Sci 15(1–2):45–52
Kiaya V (2014) Post harvest losses and strategies to reduce them. ACF. http://www.actioncontrela-
faim.org/sites/default/files/publications/fichiers/technical_paper_phl__.pdf. [Accessed on 15
Apr 2016]
Kour H, Singh B (2013) Classification and grading rice using multi-class SVM. Int J Sci Res Publ
3(4):2250–3153
Li Y, Liang J, Yang M, Chen J, Han B (2015) Traditional Chinese rice noodles: history, classifica-
tion, and processing methods. Cereal Foods World 60:123–127
Lisin, Z, Kaiting, Z and Yuling, L (2011) A study on signal processing and control techniques in
CCD color sorting machine. Cereal and Feed Industry. http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/
CJFDTOTAL-LSYS201101004.htm. [Accessed on 14 Ap 2016]
López ACB, Pereira AJG, Junqueira RG (2004) Flour mixture of rice flour, corn and cassava starch
in the production of gluten-free white bread. Braz Arch Biol Technol 47(1):63–70
Luo H, Kennedy ET (2015) Rice consumption and selected indicators of dietary and nutritional
status among children and adolescents using National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey 2007–2008. Nutr Today 50(3):142–148
Masuda H, Ishimaru Y, Aung MS, Kobayashi T, Kakei Y, Takahashi M et al (2012) Iron biofortifi-
cation in rice by the introduction of multiple genes involved in iron nutrition. Sci Rep 2:543
Miah MAK, Haque A, Douglas MA, Clarke B (2002) Parbioling of rice: part 1: effect of hot soak-
ing time on quality of milled rice. Int J Food Sci Technol 37:527–537
Most MM, Tulley R, Morales S, Lefevre M (2005) Rice bran oil, not fiber, lowers cholesterol in
humans. Am J Clin Nutr 81(1):64–68
452 M. Riaz et al.

Nagasaka R, Chotimarkorn C, Shafiqul IM, Hori M, Ozaki H, Ushio H (2007) Anti-inflammatory

effects of hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 358(2):615–619
Nguyen CN, Kunze OR (1984) Fissures related to post-drying treatments in rough rice. Cereal
Chem 6(1):63–68
Orthoefer FT (2005) Rice bran oil. In: Bailey’s industrial oil and fat products. Wiley Interscience,
Hoboken
Paine J, Shipton C, Chaggar S, Howells R, Kennedy M, Vernon G et al (2005) A new version of
golden rice with increased pro-vitamin A content. Nat Biotechnol 23:482–487
Panhwar MH (2006) Post harvest problems of fruits and their supplies in Hyderabad, Pakistan.
[www.idosi.org/ajbas1(5–6)09/1pdf] [Accessed 18 Feb 2010]
Pritchard S, Garsed K, Hoad C, Lingaya M, Banwait R, Thongborisute W et al (2015) Effect of
experimental stress on the small bowel and colon in healthy humans. Neurogastroenterol Motil
27(4):542–549
Rodriguez-Arzuaga M, Cho S, Billiris MA, Siebernmorgen T, Seo H (2014) Impact of degree of
milling on the appearance and aroma characteristics of raw rice. J  Sci Agric. doi:10.1002/
jsfa.7471
Sanchez H, Osella C (2002) Torre Mdl. Optimization of gluten-free bread prepared from corn-
starch, rice flour, and cassava starch. J Food Sci 67(1):416–419
Sareepuang K, Siriamornpun S, Wiset L, Meeso N (2008) Effect of soaking temperature on physi-
cal, chemical and cooking properties of parboiled fragrant rice. World J Agric Sci 4:409–415
Satake T (1990) Modern rice-milling technology. University of Tokyo Press, Japan
Saunders R (1985) Rice bran: composition and potential food uses. Food Rev Int 1(3):465–495
Shih FF (1996) Edible films from rice protein concentrate and pullulan. Cereal Chem
73(3):406–409
Shih FF, Daigle KW, Champagne ET (2011) Effect of rice wax on water vapour permeability and
sorption properties of edible pullulan films. Food Chem 127(1):118–121
Shu X, Shen S, Bao J, Wu D, Nakamura Y, Shu Q (2006) Molecular and Biochemical analysis of
gelatinization temperature characteristics of rice (Oryza sativa L.) starch granules. J Cereal Sci
44(1):40–80
Siebenmorgen TJ, Meullenet J (2004) Impact of drying, storage, and milling on rice quality and
functionality. In: Rice chemistry and technology. American Association of Cereal Chemists, St.
Paul, pp. 301–328
Siebenmorgen TJ, Perdon AA, Chen X, Mauromous A (1998) Relating rice milling quality
changes during adsorption to individual kernel moisture content distribution. Cereal Chem
75(1):129–136
Siebenmorgen T, Bautista R, Counce P (2007) Optimal harvest moisture contents for maximizing
milling quality of long-and medium-grain rice cultivars. Appl Eng Agric 23(4):517–527
Singhagajen S, Thongsawang M (1982) The development of village type rice mills. Proceedings of
the 5th annual workshop on grains post-harvest technology, Chiangmai. pp 139–144
Sinha S, Agarwal AK, Garg S (2008) Biodiesel development from rice bran oil: transesterification
process optimization and fuel characterization. Energy Convers Manag 49(5):1248–1257
Sivaramakrishnan HP, Senge B, Chattopadhyay PK (2004) Rheological properties of rice dough
for making rice bread. J Food Eng 62(1):37–45
Surek H, Beser N (1998) A research to determine the suitable rice (Oryza sativa L.) harvesting
time. Trop J Agric Forestry 22:391–394
Taechapairoj C, Prachayawarakorn S, Soponronnarit S (2007) Characteristics of rice dried in
Superheated-steam fluidized bed. Drying Technol Int J 22(4):719–743
Tangpinijkul N. (2010) Rice milling system: proceedings of International training course on post
harvest technology and processing of agricultural crops November 14–December 4, 2010,
Manhattan Klongluang Hotel, Pathum Thani, Thiland. http://www.doa.go.th/aeri/files/pht2010/
documents_slide/training%20materials/6_rice_milling_system.pdf. [Accessed on 14 Apr
2014]
16  Harvesting, Threshing, Processing, and Products of Rice 453

Torlesse H, Kiess L, Bloem MW (2003) Association of household rice expenditure with child
nutritional status indicates a role for macroeconomic food policy in combating malnutrition.
J Nutr 133(5):1320–1325
Turabi E, Sumnu G, Sahin S (2008) Rheological properties and quality of rice cakes formulated
with different gums and an emulsifier blend. Food Hydrocoll 22(2):305–312
Turabi E, Sumnu G, Sahin S (2010) Quantitative analysis of macro and micro-structure of gluten-­
free rice cakes containing different types of gums baked in different ovens. Food Hydrocoll
24(8):755–762
Tyler, PS, Gilman, GA (1979) Evaluation of post-harvest losses, Bamako Seminar. pp 137–151.
Van den Berg MM, Hengsdijk H, Wolf J, Van Ittersum MK, Guanghuo W, Roetter RP (2007) The
impact of increasing farm size and mechanization on rural income and rice production in
Zhejiang province, China. Agric Syst 94(3):841–850
Van Ruiten H (1976) Milling. In: Rice postharvest technology. International Development
Research Centre, Ottawa
Waters DL, Nenry RJ, Reinke RF, Fitzgirald MA (2006) Gelatinization temperature of rice
explained by polymorphisms in starch synthase. Plant Biotechnol J 4(1):115–112
Wimberly JE (1983) Paddy rice postharvest industry in developing countries. International Rice
Research Institute, Los Banos, Laguna ISSN971–104–075-1
Xu Y, Wang D, Fan W, Mu X, Chen J  (2010) Traditional Chinese biotechnology. In: Tsao GT,
Ouyang P, Chen J (eds) Biotechnology in China II: chemicals, energy and environment, vol
122. Springer, Berlin
Zhai C, Lu C, Zhang X, Sun G, Lorenz K (2001) Comparative study on nutritional value of Chinese
and North American wild rice. J Food Compos Anal 14(4):371–382
Chapter 17
Rice Physiology

Ahmad Nawaz and Muhammad Farooq

17.1  Introduction

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food for millions across the globe. Major
­consumption of rice takes place in the tropical and subtropical Asia. Globally, rice
is grown either as upland and/or lowland crop. Although, the irrigated lowland rice
covers about 57 % of the land under rice cultivation but that contributes nearly 76 %
of the global rice production (Papademetriou 2000).
The rice growth cycle can be divided into three distinct growth stages, viz., (i)
germination and stand establishment, (ii) vegetative stage, and (iii) reproductive and
grain-filling/grain ripening stage (Fig. 17.1; Fageria et al. 2006). Rice plant enters
from one phase to the other one after a specific period of time (Tables 17.1 and
17.2). Tillering, root growth, stem growth, and leaf development are the major
events of vegetative growth phase. Booting, heading, flowering, and panicle devel-
opment (panicle size and spikelets per panicle) are the main events of reproductive
growth phase. During grain-/spikelet-filling stage, the grain weight/spikelet weight
is determined (Fageria et  al. 2006). In this chapter, the physiology of different
growth stages, aerenchyma formation, and stomatal development of rice is ­discussed.

A. Nawaz
Allelopathy and Eco-Physiology Lab, Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture,
Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
M. Farooq (*)
Allelopathy and Eco-Physiology Lab, Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture,
Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan
The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia,
Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics, University of Hohenheim,
70599 Stuttgart, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 455

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_17
456 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

Fig. 17.1 Growth Over ripe stage

stages of rice
Mature stage

Ripening phase Dough stage

(30 days)
Milk stage

Fertilization/onset of grain ripening

Onset of flowering
Reproductive phase
(40–45 days)
Onset of heading

Onset of booting

Panicle initiation

Vegetative phase Maximum tillering

(variable length)

Onset of tillering

Germination

Moreover, the impact of drought, heat, and salinity on growth, development and
yield formation, and resistance mechanisms are also described.

17.2  Rice Growth and Development

17.2.1  Germination and Stand Establishment

Seed germination is a crucial stage in rice life cycle which starts from the water
uptake by dry seeds and ends with radicle protrusion (Bewley 1997). For nutrient
storage, rice seed has dominant endosperm enriched with starch. The endosperm is
Table 17.1  Various developmental stages of rice
Seedling growth stage Code Vegetative development stage Code Reproductive development stage Code
Dry, imbibed seed S0 Collar formation on first complete V1 Panicle development has started R0
leaf on main stem
Emergence of coleoptile S1 Collar formation on leaf 2 on main V2 Panicle branches have formed R1
stem
17  Rice Physiology

Emergence of radical S2 Collar formation on leaf 3 on main V3 Flag leaf collar formation R2
stem
Emergence of prophyll from S3 Collar formation on leaf 4 on main V4 Panicle exertion from boot, tip of panicle is R3
coleoptiles stem above collar of flag leaf
Collar formation on leaf 5 on main V5 One or more florets on the main stem panicle R4
stem have reached anthesis
Collar formation on leaf 6 on main V6 At least one caryopsis on main stem panicle is R5
stem elongating to the end of hull
Collar formation on leaf 7 on main V7 At least one caryopsis on main stem panicle R6
stem has elongated to the end of hull
Collar formation on leaf 8 on main V8 At least one grain at the main stem panicle R7
stem has a yellow hull
Collar formation on leaf 9 on main V9 At least one grain at the main stem panicle R8
stem has a brown hull
Collar formation on leaf 10 on main V10 All grains which reached R6 have brown hull R9
stem
Collar formation on leaf 11 on main V11
stem
Collar formation on leaf 12 on main V12
stem
Collar formation on leaf 13 on main V13
stem
Source: Counce et al. (2000, 2003)
457
458 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

Table 17.2  Description of different growth stages of upland rice

Growth stage DAS Description
Germination 5 The stage at which coleoptile tip first became visible
Tillering initiation 19 The crop growth stage at which first tiller is visible from the
main shoot
Active tillering 45 Development stage when maximum tillering rate per unit time
occurs during crop growth
Panicle primordia 61 The stage at which panicle initiation starts
initiation
Booting 85 The development stage at which panicle is within uppermost
leaf sheath
Flowering 95 The development stage when flowers become visible on the
panicles
Physiological 120 The stage when grains become ripen and the panicles become
maturity ready to harvest
Source: Fageria (2007)
DAS days after sowing

surrounded by an embryo and aleurone layer. Scutellum, a metamorphous of coty-

ledon, lies between the endosperm and embryo. The endosperm and embryo have
differential role in seed germination in rice. Most of the genetic information is
encoded within the embryo. Seed germination takes place in three phases in rice
(Yang et al. 2007). In the first phase, rapid uptake of water occurs which initiates the
mRNA synthesis (Howell et al. 2009). Upon imbibition of water in the phase I, the
embryo produces various types of phytohormones [mainly gibberellic acid (GA)],
which initiates a signaling cascade after diffusing through the aleurone layer and
leads toward the synthesis of hydrolytic enzymes (α-amylase being the most impor-
tant). These enzymes are secreted in the ­endosperm, which initiates the hydrolysis
of food reserves for further development of rice seedlings (Jacobsen et  al. 1995;
Bethke et al. 1997). Phase II is vital for metabolism reactivation, reserve mobiliza-
tion, repair of cell structure, loosening of cell wall, and elongation of coleoptile.
During the phase III, rapid water uptake induces the aerobic respiration, initiates
cell division, and pushes the radicle protrusion – initiation of the seedling establish-
ment (Yang et al. 2007). This is followed by emergence of prophyll from the cole-
optile. Following this, the first complete leaf emerges. The seedling development
continuous and follows the order as (i) leaf initiation, (ii) leaf elongation, (iii) leaf
blade maturation, (iv) collar formation, (v) leaf sheath elongation, (vi) node forma-
tion, and (vii) internode elongation (Counce et  al. 2000). Internode elongation
occurs for the final five internodes of the rice main stem.
Various external and internal factors such as light, water, temperature, level of
phytohormones, and circadian rhythm regulate the rice seed germination (Penfield
et al. 2005; Holdsworth et al. 2008). Among these factors, water status is the most
important; its deficiency may affect the seed germination (Hundertmark et al. 2011).
Rice seed can also germinate under anaerobic conditions via rapid coleoptile elon-
gation (Menegus et al. 1991; Perata et al. 1997), and the radicle continues to e­ longate
when switched toward aerobic conditions. This suggests that availability of oxygen
17  Rice Physiology 459

is another factor controlling the true germination of rice seed (Howell et al. 2009).
Temperature has a strong impact on germination of rice seed. The imbibition in rice
seeds occurs at an adequate temperature in the presence of oxygen (Yoshida 1981).
The minimum, optimum, and maximum temperatures for rice seed germination are
6, 37, and 41 °C, respectively, while the minimum, optimum, and maximum tem-
peratures for seedling development are 8, 37, and 44 °C, respectively (Chaudhary
and Ghildyal 1969; Alocilja and Ritchic 1991).

17.2.2  Vegetative Stage

17.2.2.1  Tillering and Shoot/Root Growth

Tiller initiation in rice starts when rice seedlings are at 3–4 leaf stages. Tillers are
the secondary shoots which appear on the main shoot. The formation of tillers is
completed over a period of 2–3 weeks. In rice, tillering proceeds without any restric-
tion when the plant nitrogen contents are ≥3.5 % in the presence of sufficient light
energy (Murata and Matsushima 1975). Phosphorus (P) concentration in the rice
stem below than 0.25 % may restrict the tillering (Counce et al. 2003). For tiller
emergence, optimum water temperature during the day is 31 °C while that for night
is 16 °C. Water temperature above 31 °C affects the tiller emergence. The tillering
continues if the light reaches the base of the rice plant (Counce et al. 2003).
Some tillers may die during the rice growth cycle, and surplus amount of nutri-
ents in dying tillers may be translocated to other healthy tillers (Murata and
Matsushima 1975). Li et al. (2003) isolated and characterized a gene MONOCULM
1 (MOC1), which controls tillering in rice. This MOC1 gene encodes reputed GRAS
nuclear protein families, which are expressed in axillary buds, thus initiating the
formation of axillary buds and facilitates their outgrowth.
Various hormones are involved in tillering, e.g., cytokinins (CK), auxins, and
strigolactones (SL) which play the key role (Kebrom and Richards 2013). Auxins
suppress the outgrowth of the axillary bud. These auxins are produced in young
developing leaves and are transported actively but basipetally through the shoot
(Agusti and Greb 2013), and this is termed as polar auxin transport (PAT).
Zazímalová et al. (2010) reported that PAT relies on the PIN-FORMED (PIN) pro-
tein families and auxin efflux carriers of ATP-binding cassette B (ABCB). The aux-
ins travel through the outermost shoot apex epidermal layer and reach to plant organ
initiation sites. From here, auxins move toward the basipetal stream of the main
shoot via the developing primordia. The PIN1 proteins, which are present in paren-
chyma cells of xylem, sustain the supplementation of auxin toward the basipetal
stream of main shoot, thus playing key role in PAT (Petrásek and Friml 2009).
Underexpression of OsPIN1b (previously known as REH1) enhances tillering in
rice (Table 17.3; Xu et  al. 2005; Chen et  al. 2012). Overexpression of OsPIN2
enhances tillering but reduces the stature (Chen et al. 2012). Some members of the
miR393 miRNA family also impact tillering in rice by regulating the expression of
460 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

Table 17.3  Gene expression and mutants identified at various developmental stages of rice
Developmental
stage Genes expressed Reference Mutants Reference
Embryogenesis OSH1 Sato et al. gle1, gle2, Hong et al. (1995)
(1996) gle3, cle1
OsVP1, Miyoshi et al. shl1, shl2, Satoh et al. (1999)
OSEM (2002) shl4, shl3
RAB16A, Miyoshi et al. sho1, Itoh et al. (2000)
RAB16A, REG2 (1999) sho2
RAmy1A Itoh et al. riv1, riv2 Miyoshi et al. (2000)
(2005)
Inflorescence – – pla1 Itoh et al. (1998)
– – lax Komatsu et al. (2001)
– – Sp Iwata and Omura
(1971b)
– – ri, Dn1, Nagao and Takahashi
sp (1963)
– – Dn2, Dn1 Jones (1952)
– – Dn3, Dn2 Futsuhara et al.
(1979)
– – pap1, Dn3 Takahashi et al.
(1998)
Leaf OSH1, OsPNH1, Nishimura et al. sho1, Itoh et al. (2000)
(2002) sho2
OsSCR Kamiya et al. lsy Obara et al. (2004)
(2003a)
DL, Yamaguchi Lg Maekawa (1988)
et al. (2004)
Crown root QHB, OsSCR Kamiya et al. cr/1, crl2 Inukai et al. (2001)
(2003b)
Spikelet FZP Komatsu et al. fzp Komatsu et al. (2003)
(2003)
LHS Jeon et al. ur2 Iwata et al. (1983)
(2000)
RAP1, Kyozuka et al. lhs Jeon et al. (2000)
OsMADS2, (2000)
RAG,
bd1, bd2 Misro (1981)
SPW1 Nagasawa et al. An1, An2 Nagao and Takahashi
(2003) (1963)
OsMADS45 Greco et al. dp1 Iwata and Omura
(1997) (1971a)
DL Yamaguchi spw1, dl, Nonomura et al.
et al. (2004) msp1 (2003)
MSP1 Nonomura et al. dp2 Iwata and Omura
(2003) (1971b)
OsMADS13 Lopez-Dee et al.
(1999)
17  Rice Physiology 461

Table 17.3 (continued)
Developmental
stage Genes expressed Reference Mutants Reference
Ovule OsMADS13 Lopez-Dee et al.
(1999)
SPW1 Nagasawa et al.
(2003)
MSP1 Nonomura et al.
(2003)
Anther MSP1 Nonomura et al. msp1d Nonomura et al.
(2003) (2003)
Osc4, Osc6 Tsuchiya et al. aid1 Zhu et al. (2004)
(1994)
AID1 Zhu et al. oscp1 Lee et al. (2004)
(2004)
OsCP1 Lee et al. (2004) rf1 Kazama and
Toriyama (2003);
Komori et al. (2004)
Rf1 Kazama and
Toriyama
(2003)
Meiosis in rice PAIR1 Nonomura et al. pair1 Nonomura et al.
anther PAIR2 (2004a) (2004a)
pair2 Nonomura et al.
(2004b)
as Katayama (1963)
ds1 Chao and Hu (1960)
ds2~d, Kitada and Omura
s11 (1983)
Stomata OsSCR Itoh et al.
(2005)

auxin receptors. The plants which overexpress OsmiR393 show less expression of
both the auxin receptors (OsTIR1 and OsAFB2), successively repressing the expres-
sion of OsAUX1 (auxin transporter) (Xia et al. 2012). This results in the downregu-
lation of OsTB1 (a tillering repressor), thus explaining the improved tillering in
OsmiR393 overexpressing plants. Zhang et  al. (2009) reported another auxin-­
dependent pathway involving an indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)-amido synthetase (i.e.,
TLD1) which conjugates with amino acids to convert active form of auxin into
inactive, thus regulating tillering in rice.
The root system of rice is comprised of crown roots, lateral roots, and seminal
roots which corresponds to root-borne, stem-borne, and pole-borne roots, respec-
tively. Like other monocots, the rice is characterized with fibrous root system pos-
sessing many crown roots. The rice plant grown under field conditions may have
several hundred crown roots (Kawata et al. 1978; Kawashima 1988). The expres-
sion of QHB gene takes place in central cells of quiescent center within the apical
meristem of root, while the expression of OsSCR gene takes place in the root
462 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

­endodermis (Table 17.3; Kamiya et al. 2003a, b). The crown root primordium dur-
ing crown root development initiates from the innermost cells of ground meristem,
neighboring the peripheral cylinder of stem vascular bundles. These cells progres-
sively differentiate into several tissues, e.g., epidermis, cortex, endodermis, root
cap, and stele (central cylinder), in succession to form a full organization of the
apical meristem of the crown root. When the preclinical division of endodermal
cells forms the cortex, the expression of the OsSCR becomes downregulated within
the cells of daughter cortex (Kamiya et al. 2003a). At the next stage, regulated cell
division in each tissue enhances total cell number. Further, two periclinal divisions
of the innermost cell of ground meristem form few layers of initial crown root
­primordium cells. These initial crown root primordium cells and their nuclei
become enlarged, and a gradual increase in their protoplasm density takes place.
Later on, inner cell layers of the initial crown root primordium divide periclinally
and anticlinally to form a central cylinder initial and an epidermis–endodermis
initial. After that, the outer layer cells of the initial crown root primordium begin to
divide anticlinally to give rise to root cap initial. Specific cell layer divides peri-
clinally, and epidermis–endodermis initial is separated into epidermis and endo-
dermis, while root cap and central cylinder initials undergo anticlinal and periclinal
divisions to enhance their own size. The endodermal cells undergo various asym-
metrical periclinal divisions to form different layers of cortical cells (Kawata and
Lai 1965). Periclinal divisions in cells of root cap initial result in the formation of
columella. At this stage, a big metaxylem vessel is visible in center of stele. The
central cylinder initial cells ­(stelar initial) become dome-shaped after periclinal
and anticlinal divisions. During the same time course, cells constituting various
vascular bundle tissues are progressively differentiated. Later on, all tissue cells
turn out to be elongated and vacuolated simultaneously, and the crown root emerges
from the stem in the basal region of the primordium. Cells in cortex show vacuola-
tion, while those that are in the basal region of the stele show vacuolation as well
as elongation (Kawata and Harada 1975).
Abscisic acid (ABA) and auxin promote while cytokinin suppresses the lateral
development of roots. Ethylene also plays a role in lateral root development by
interacting with auxin through cortical cell breakdown. Gibberellic acid promotes
the growth of adventitious roots in flooded rice in combination with ethylene. High
concentration of zeatin in root exudates favors the stronger root activity within rice
hybrids, thus proposing that the cytokinin contents in roots could be considered as
an important trait of root physiology. In another study, the use of an antisense trans-
genic predicted that cytokinins play a crucial role in rice root development (Liu
et al. 2003). Besides improving the lateral development of roots, ABA promotes the
root hair formation, tip swelling, and root water permeability in rice (Chen et al.
2006). Ethylene mediates the formation of aerenchyma and growth of adventitious
roots in flooded rice (Rzewuski and Sauter 2008). Auxins modulate the gravitrop-
ism and the nodal and seminal root growth (Nakamura et al. 2006).
Cytokinins (CKs), the key regulators of several developmental processes of
plants (Mok 1994), are synthesized within roots and are transported in upward
direction with plants along the xylem (Wang and Li 2006). In the transgenic rice,
17  Rice Physiology 463

overexpression of the isopentenyl transferase (OsIPTs) enhances the axillary bud

activity and minimizes the root formation activity, and these are typical of CK over-
expression. Until now, eight OsIPT genes are identified in the rice genome
(Sakamoto et al. 2006). GAs also have strong influence on several developmental
processes, especially the root and stem development (Lo et al. 2008).

17.2.2.2  Leaf Development

Rice produces ≥ ten leaves prior to initiation of reproductive phase (Itoh et  al.
2005). The leaf development events occur in the following order for each rice node:
(i) leaf initiation, (ii) leaf elongation, (iii) leaf blade maturation, (iv) collar forma-
tion, (v) leaf sheath elongation, (vi) node formation, and (vii) internode elongation.
The intermodal elongation takes place for only five internodes of the main rice stem
(Counce et al. 2003). The leaves are formed continuously. Cell division/expansion,
tissue differentiation, axis determination, and tissue specification are the main
events taking place during the leaf development (Itoh et al. 2005). The mature leaf
of rice is strap-like, which can be easily distinguished into three regions along the
proximal–distal axis. Leaf blade is distal region and is the major photosynthetic site.
Leaf sheath is the proximal region and thus encloses the shoot apex while protecting
the younger from physical damage. The boundary of the leaf sheath and leaf blade
is comprised of three distinct parts, viz., ligule, auricle, and the lamina joint (collar)
(Itoh et al. 2005). The ligule is acuminate and membranous, which is usually divided
into two segments within the mature leaves. The collar or lamina joint is a whitish
region within the leaf blade base which assists leaf blade to bend toward the abaxial
side. The auricles (two in number) are the small appendages having long hairs and
are situated at the margins of rice leaves (Itoh et al. 2005).
Rice leaves are polarized along the adaxial–abaxial axis. Several papilla and two
different kinds of trichrome are present over the entire surface of leaf excluding the
leaf sheath adaxial surface. Bulliform cells, organized in vertical rows, stuck
between vascular bundles in the leaf blade adaxial epidermis. Both small and large
types of vascular bundles are present in leaves (Itoh et al. 2005). The xylem and
phloem are located at the adaxial and abaxial sides of vascular bundles, respectively.
These vascular bundles are enclosed by bundle sheath cells. The leaf blade vascular
bundles on adaxial/abaxial side possess the sclerenchymatous fiber cells. The leaf
sheath and leaf blade margins vary in shape, the margin of the leaf sheath being
pointed and membranous (Itoh et al. 2005).
Leaf primordium looks like a small bulge present at the edge of shoot apical
meristem. It grows toward opposite side of the shoot apical meristem and toward
apex and after protrusion; it forms a crescent-shaped primordium. Cell division in
leaf primordium is several times more than that take place in shoot apical meristem
(SAM), as confirmed by histone H4 expression (Itoh et al. 2000). Leaf founder cell
stage can be distinguished from leaf primordium stage through using several mark-
ers. The expression of OsSCR is initiated in the epidermal layer of the leaf primor-
dium which gradually becomes specific to several epidermis files (Kamiya et  al.
464 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

2003a). The DROOPING LEAF (DL) gene, which is a regulator of carpel specifica-
tion and formation of midrib, is firstly expressed within leaf primordium central
region (Table 17.3; Yamaguchi et al. 2004).
In apical and marginal regions, rapid cell division/elongation causes the leaf
­primordium to become hood shaped, and the commencing of procambial strand can
be seen at the center of leaf at this stage. Further, both leaf primordium margins
overlap with each other and surround the shoot apical meristem (Itoh et al. 2005).
At this stage, leaf primordium shape seems to be cone-like, and the boundary of
blade (lamina)–sheath becomes visible. At the boundary of adaxial surface of
blade–sheath, a protrusion of ligule primordium originates from epidermal cells
after periclinal divisions (Itoh et  al. 2005). Progressively, the commencement of
different plant tissues takes place at this stage. Cell file-specific expression of
OsSCR gene within epidermis can be found at ligule primordium (Table 17.3;
Kamiya et al. 2003a). The xylem/phloem is recognized in midvein, when the large
vascular bundles surround the whole leaf width. On the other hand, the formation of
small vascular bundles starts between large vascular bundles, and differentiation of
macro hairs takes place at leaf-tip epidermis at this stage. At the distal region, the
formation of stomata proceeds basipetally, while the epidermis proximal region
remains immature (Itoh et al. 2005).
After ligule primordium differentiation, the leaf blade extends very fast and
attains its maximum length, but elongation of leaf sheath remains inhibited. This
elongation of leaf blade is attributed to the enhanced activity of intercalary meri-
stems which are housed in leaf blade basal region (Kaufman 1959). At this stage,
the expression of genes (e.g., OsPNH1, OsSCR, and DL) associated with cell dif-
ferentiation becomes downregulated (Table 17.3; Nishimura et  al. 2002; Kamiya
et al. 2003a; Yamaguchi et al. 2004).
The leaf sheath elongation becomes rapid after the completion of elongation of
leaf blade. Epidermis-specific cells such as silica cells, bulliform cells, and stomata
cells from apex become visible. At this time, sclerenchymatous cell differentiation
occurs on the external side of vascular bundles. When leaf blade tip appears out of
the preceding leaf sheath, the leaf epidermal and internal structures are nearly
­complete excluding those which are found in the proximal region. Special air spaces
(the lacunas) are also formed in the inner tissue of midrib and leaf sheath, basipe-
tally. Unequal elongation, in the adaxial and abaxial cells, forces the leaf blade to
bend toward lamina joint (Maeda 1961).

17.2.2.3  Aerenchyma Formation

After flooding, within 24 h, the supply of oxygen (O2) becomes limited due to usage
by soil bacteria (Ponnamperuma 1972). The rice roots require oxygen to stay alive
and function properly. The roots become coated with ferrous iron in most of the
flooded mineral soils. This iron is associated with sideraphores and the conversion
of ferric form of iron to ferrous needs oxygen. The rice leaves may die within three
to six phyllochrones of their elongation, so they cannot provide conduit for oxygen.
17  Rice Physiology 465

The nodes and internodes persist and conduit oxygen from the above floodwater
into the roots. Aerenchyma, the tissue capable to conduit oxygen, is developed from
the orderly killing (programmed cell death) of several plant tissues to produce large
intercellular spaces (Counce et al. 2003). Three decades back, Kawai et al. (1998)
reported that acidification of cytoplasm and loss in the integrity of plasma mem-
brane are the preceeders of cell death in rice, with the gas space spreading radially.
The cell death in roots and coleoptiles is usually very rapid. Rupture of tonoplast is
the first step in the initiation of aerenchyma cells, which is followed by swelling of
cytoplasm, rupture of plasma membrane, degradation of walls, and damaging of
cellular contents (Inada et al. 2002). Aerenchyma in rice are well developed in leaf
sheath, internodes, roots, and in leaf midrib (Colmer and Pedersen 2008; Steffens
et al. 2011), which facilitates inner aeration among the roots and shoots (Colmer
and Pedersen 2008). Indeed, the submerged leaves have gas films, which facilitate
the exchange of carbon dioxide (CO2) and O2 between plant leaves and water, and
thus enhance the underwater net photosynthesis by improving the uptake of O2 for
respiration during night and supplying CO2 during the day (Raskin and Kende 1983;
Pedersen et  al. 2009). These leaf gas films thus help in sugar production within
leaves by promoting photosynthesis when underwater and thus encourage the shoots
and roots to work properly (Pedersen et al. 2009).
Aerenchyma formation is vital for the plants (e.g., rice) to survive and function
in submerged conditions. Aerenchyma cells not only supply O2 from shoots to roots
but also help in ventilation of various gases such as methane and CO2 from soil to
the aerial environment (Colmer 2003; Evans 2003). This ventilation is mainly
caused by diffusion of gases (Armstrong et al. 1996). In rice, the developed aeren-
chyma cells are called lysigenous aerenchyma (Jackson et al. 1985), which may be
developed in root cortex, pith cavity, and stem cortex (Armstrong 1979).
In rice, the formation of aerenchyma cells initiates at the root apical parts and
then expands gradually to the basal parts (Ranathunge et al. 2003). Fully developed
aerenchyma cells, present on basal parts of the roots, separate the outer cell layers
from the inner root stele (Armstrong and Armstrong 1994; Ranathunge et al. 2003).
The constituents of remaining cell walls and cells form the radial bridges thus dif-
ferentiating the gas spaces present in cortex. These gas spaces play important role in
maintaining the root structural integrity and nutrient transport (apoplastic and
assymplastic) (Drew and Fourcy 1986). During aerenchyma formation, cell death
within the rice roots begins in the mid-cortex and then spreads toward the n­ eighboring
cortical cells radially (Kawai et  al. 1998). The epidermis, endodermis, stele, and
exodermis remain unaffected (Yamauchi et al. 2011).
In roots, the lysigenous aerenchyma formation may be enhanced through ethyl-
ene application under aerated conditions and can be suppressed with silver ions
under stagnant (0.1 % agar) deoxygenated conditions (Wiengweera et al. 1997).
Cell wall degradation takes place during aerenchyma formation, and this process is
mediated by modification in the degradation of cell wall enzymes. Subsequently,
the further degradation of cell will take place through various enzymatic actions,
viz., xylanolytic, pectolytic, and cellulosolytic (Jackson and Armstrong 1999;
Evans 2003).
466 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

During, lysigenous aerenchyma formation, the death of root cell cortex takes
place in five major steps (Joshi and Kumar 2012). Firstly, the perception of hypoxia
and initiation of biosynthesis of ethylene takes place. Secondly, perception of ethyl-
ene signaling takes place by mid-cortex cells. Thirdly, the ions are loosed to the
neighboring environment, followed by invagination of plasma membrane, thus ini-
tiating cell death and small vesicle formation. Fourthly, the condensation of chro-
matin takes place which is followed by enhanced activity of hydrolytic enzymes of
cell wall, and cell organelles are enclosed by membranes. At final step, the final
degradation of cell wall takes place followed by cell lysis (Joshi and Kumar 2012).
The surrounding cells absorb the cell contents and water.

17.2.2.4  Stomatal Formation

Stomata are microscopic aperture structures present on epidermis of plant leaves. In

rice, the stomata are distributed on surface of leaf in vertical rows. The stomata pres-
ent on the leaf sheath adaxial surface are rudimentary. In rice leaf epidermis, the
distribution of cell rows of stomata is not random, and these cells are situated on
vascular bundle boundaries. These rows are further differentiated into two different
adjacent files (Itoh et al. 2005). In stomatal cell rows, uniform and specific expres-
sion of OsSCR gene is uniformly and specifically expressed in the stomatal cell
rows (Table 17.3). The rice stomata have two narrow and thick-walled guard cells,
having two subsidiary cells in neighborhood. During the formation of leaf ligule
primordium, on leaf epidermis, the formation of stomatal cells occurs basipetally.
Firstly, nonspecialized epidermal cells (NEC) and guard mother cells (GMCs) are
formed through asymmetric divisions within the stomata cells. The NEC is large
and weakly stained, while GMC is small, strongly stained cell (Itoh et al. 2005). In
GMC, the expression of OsSCR gene is retained. In other cells of epidermis of sto-
mata cell row, the expression of this gene is downregulated. At later stage, the polar-
ized expression of this gene (i.e., OsSCR) can be observed on subsidiary mother
cells (SMC) on GMC. The second asymmetric division takes place in the two lateral
epidermal cells (subsidiary mother cells), adjacent to the GMC, to form subsidiary
cells, which results in the formation of a three-cell complex (GMC + two subsidiary
cells) (Itoh et al. 2005). The expression of OsSCR takes place in GMC as well as
two subsidiary cells. Final symmetric transverse divisions in GMC form a pair of
guard cells. At this stage, expression of OsSCR becomes very low. The subsidiary
cells become ellipsoidal, while the guard cells enlarge and become dumbbell shaped
at maturity (Luo et al. 2012; Itoh et al. 2005).

17.2.3  Reproductive Development

The reproductive phase starts with panicle initiation during the development of inter-
nodes (Leonards 2010). Initially, the panicles are microscopic in size wrapped within
the stem. After the start of internode elongation, the buildup of chlorophyll takes
17  Rice Physiology 467

place between the nodes. This chlorophyll imparts green color and forms green ring/
band, which surrounds the developing internode. As panicle and internode formation
continues, the differentiation of panicle is started. The newly forming panicle
becomes visible at this stage, having an approximate length of 2  mm (Leonards
2010). The panicle growth and development continues inside the stem, and develop-
mental stage is called booting. This stage can be classified further on the basis of
panicle length. When panicle length is up to 2.5 cm, the growth stage is referred to as
early boot. When the panicle length is 5–12 cm and ≥12 cm, the growth stage is
called as middle boot and late boot, respectively. The identification of the rice devel-
opmental stages up to this point needs the dissection of the stem (split in half)
(Leonards 2010). The development of panicle is completed during the late boot
stage, and the panicle becomes visible outside the stem. The growth stage is referred
as heading stage when panicle becomes visible from the flag leaf. The heading stage
can also be classified further and is identified by percentages, e.g., the crop is said to
be at 50 % heading stage when panicle is visible on 50 % rice stems (Leonards 2010).
The flowering and grain-filling stages start within 1–5 days after heading stage.
The grain-filling stages can further be divided into milk stage (7–10 days after head-
ing), dough stage, and physiological maturity stage. At milk stage, the white sub-
stance starts to accumulate. One week after the start of milk stage, dough stage is
initiated where milky stuff becomes the texture of bread dough. At physiological
maturity stage, the grains achieve maximum dry matter accumulation and become
firm. The crop cannot be harvested at this stage as the grain moisture contents are
≥30 %. It may take two more weeks to drop the grain moisture contents to 20 %
(harvest maturity), depending on weather conditions (Leonards 2010). Physiology
of various reproductive and grain-filling processes has been discussed in the follow-
ing lines.

17.2.3.1  Spikelets

After producing two sterile glume pairs (i.e., empty and rudimentary glumes), the
floret meristem is formed from the spikelet meristem. The spikelets in rice consist
of a single floret. Rice florets are consisted of palea, lemma, six stamens, two lodi-
cules (known as petals), and one pistil. Only a single carpel constitutes this pistil.
After production of lateral branches, the spikelet meristem is formed from the
branch/inflorescence meristems. Later on, two sterile glumes are formed from the
spikelet meristem in 1/2 alternate arrangement. These glumes have rudimentary
shape with no axillary buds. In rice, two empty glumes are also formed in contrast
to other grasses. The expression of FZP gene, vital for the formation of floret meri-
stem, takes place at this stage (Table 17.3; Komatsu et al. 2003). Further, spikelet
meristem forms floret meristem with two kinds of glumes (palea and lemma) and
other floral organs. The palea and lemma identity is regulated by LHS genes (Jeon
et al. 2000). Expression of RAP1 genes also occurs in lemma and palea primordium
(Kyozuka et al. 2000).
The two empty glumes formed in rice are much smaller than lemma but larger
than rudimentary glumes. The six glumes (two empty and two rudimentary glumes,
468 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

palea and lemma) are organized in 1/2 alternate phyllotaxy. Three floral organs, viz.,
lodicules (two), stamens (six), and pistil (one), are shaped after the formation of palea
(Itoh et al. 2005). The lodicules oriented at lemma side are whitish and smaller in size
and are called petals. The expression of genes such as OsMADS45, OsMADS2, RAP1,
and SPW1 takes place in lodicules (Kyozuka et al. 2000, Nagasawa et al. 2003).
All the stamens in rice are formed in a whorl. The expression of genes such as
SPW1, OsMADS45, and RAG takes place in stamens (Table 17.3; Kyozuka et al.
2000, Nagasawa et al. 2003). From the lemma side of floral meristem, one carpel
primordium is differentiated, which afterward encloses this floral meristem. At this
stage, the stamen primordium is transformed into a filament and an anther (Itoh
et al. 2005). The expression of genes such as RAG, OsMADS45, and DL takes place
in carpel primordium (Kyozuka et al. 2000; Yamaguchi et al. 2004).
Sepals are lacking in rice flower as against the other monocot and dicot flowers.
Interestingly, only two lodicules biased to the lemma side are present in rice, which
suggests that one lodicule present on palea side has probably been lost in the past
during evolution (Itoh et al. 2005). The identity of carpel in rice is principally regu-
lated by the DL gene (Nagasawa et al. 2003).

17.2.3.2  Megasporogenesis and Megagametogenesis

Carpel primordium spreads toward palea side with the downregulation of OSH1
expression of floral meristem and thus is transformed into ovule primordium. The
carpel encloses the ovule at this stage. Later on, female gamete is formed in the
ovule, followed by production of pollen grains within anther. In the ovule, the
OsMADS13 and OsMADS45 genes are expressed (Lopez-Dee et  al. 1999). The
expression of MSP1 gene takes place in the surrounding tissues of female and male
sporocytes (Nonomura et  al. 2003). The proximal end of ovule primordium is
attached to the palea-side carpel.
Later on, the formation of integument primordium occurs from ovule primordium
base. The ovule is enclosed by carpel to form an ovary locule (Itoh et  al. 2005).
At this stage, AINTEGUMENTA gene expression starts in integument primordium.
The outer and inner integuments are formed from the single integument primor-
dium. The expression of SUPERWOMAN1/OsMADS16 genes take place (Nagasawa
et  al. 2003) on abaxial side of the outer integument. The expression of multiple
sporocyte1 (MSP1) gene takes place in the whole carpel and ovule (Nonomura et al.
2003). The archesporial cell enlarges and is then distinguished into the megaspore
mother cell (MMC). Although, the elongation is taking place in both inner as well
as outer integuments, however, it is significant in the inner integument and encloses
most of the nucleus excluding micropyle area near MMC (Itoh et al. 2005). After
that, the ovule ascents toward receptacle side, and embryo sac (polygonum type) is
formed in the nucleus. The meiotic division in MMC forms four different mega-
spores, which are arranged linearly in direction of micropyle–chalaza. Just chalazal
megaspore functions while other three degenerate (Itoh et al. 2005).
17  Rice Physiology 469

Following meiosis, the mitotic nuclear division in the functional megaspore

forms two nucleate cells, which gradually degenerate, and the enlargement of mega-
gametophyte occurs. Later on, this megagametophyte forms a large vacuole. Second
mitotic division occurs in each of the two nuclei. Sequentially, third mitotic division
in megagametophyte occurs and it becomes eight nucleated (Itoh et  al. 2005).
Cellularization occurs when each (out of eight) nuclei drifts toward its respective
positions. Thus, the completion of the hemianatropous ovule occurs consisting of an
embryo sac, which is composed of one egg cell, two synergids, one central cell
(formed from the fusion of two polar nuclei), and antipodal cells (Itoh et al. 2005).
In rice, the antipodal cells continue to divide at chalazal end by forming antipodal
cell cluster (Huang and Sheridan 1994).

17.2.3.3  Microsporogenesis and Microgametogenesis

The anther initial is ovoidal and takes place in transverse section, which successively
becomes four cornered in shape. In rice, the formation of stamens starts in the third
flower whorl. The anther primordium is composed of three distinct layers, viz., L1,
L2, and L3 (Satina et al. 1940; Goldberg et al. 1993). The L1 layer in rice anther pri-
mordium forms the stomium and epidermis, which have vital role in the dehiscence
of anthers. On the other hand, the L2 layer forms the primordial germ/archesporial
cells from which the microsporangium and pollen are developed. The L3 layer forms
vascular bundles, connective cells, and circular cell cluster, which are very near to the
stomium (Raghavan 1988; Nonomura et  al. 2003). The connective cells, present
between vascular bundles and microsporangia, degenerate during gametogenesis.
The hypodermal anther cells are equipped with cylindrical rows, which can segre-
gate into ACs. These ACs have slightly enlarged cytoplasm and nucleus, which distin-
guish them from other cells. After differentiation, continuous cell divisions in these
cells result in the formation of primary parietal cells (PPCs) and primary sporogenous
cells. Repeated periclinal divisions in PPCs form endothecium, a tapetum layer, and a
middle layer. Mitosis in PSCs forms the pollen mother cells (PMCs) (Itoh et al. 2005).
Anticlinal divisions cause the expansion of each four-walled layer. The tapetal
cells, being binucleated, provide materials for pollen wall and also the nutrition to
gametophytes (Scott et al. 2004), thus serving as a nurse tissue. With the completion
of anther wall, the PMCs undergo the premeiotic synthesis of DNA and enter meio-
sis (Nonomura et al. 2004b). In meiotic events, the spores are first developed into
haploid gametophytes, which form gametes (haploid). When the free microspores
are released from the tetrads, these become enlarged and spherical, but no mitotic
cell division has been observed at this stage. In most of flowers, male gametophyte
uninucleate status retains until heading. Although, the length of anther is highly cor-
related with the development of microsporangia, the most of the anthers attain elon-
gation when uninucleate stage is at the end. First mitosis inside the pollen forms two
types of nucleus, viz., vegetative and generative. Subsequently, the generative cells
are distinguished into two sperm cells.
470 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

17.2.3.4  Fertilization and Grain Development

Grain development, in rice, starts with double fertilization. After the pollination, pol-
len grain germinates to develop into pollen tube, which elongates to reach ovaries
(Fig. 17.2; Farooq et al. 2014). The pollen grain growth requires the energy, which
is provided by the acid invertase action in the developing pollen tube. Upon fertiliza-
tion, the endosperm and the developing embryo need nutrients primarily provided by
sucrose through assimilate transport in phloem. The cell expansion causes the cary-
opsis to elongate to the maximum space of lemma and palea (the “hull” for rice).
After the elongation of caryopsis, the process of grain filling starts. There is no
deposition of starch at the end of cell elongation. Most of the synthetic biochemistry
takes place in two cell organelles, viz., plastid and cytosol. The route of carbon in the
cytosol is from the imported sucrose. During grain filling, the sucrose is broken down
into UDP-glucose and UDP-fructose by the action of sucrose synthase. The primary
sucrolytic enzyme in the endosperm of rice is one or more of the isoforms of the
sucrose synthase (Avigad and Dey 1996). For rice, three sucrose synthase isogenes
have been identified, which code for various enzymes taking part in different tissues
and various development phases (Counce et al. 2003). In the next step, the U
­ DP-glucose

Starch

Amplification Amylopectin
Amylose Amylopectin

Cytosol Amyloplast

SS BE
DBE

GBSSI
SS BE
Initiation of Glucan

DBE

G-6-P G-6-P G-1-P

AGPase
AGPase

G-1-P
ADPG ADPG

Fig. 17.2  Starch biosynthesis in the developing rice grain. Biosynthesis of starch, in rice, starts
with the conversion of glucose-1-phosphate to glucosyl donor ADP-glucose (ADPG). The reaction
is catalyzed by AGPase (ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase). Synthesis of of α-1,4 linkages during
elongation of amylopectin is mediated by soluble starch synthase (SS). Starch-branching enzyme
(BE) catalyzes the formation of α-1,6 linkages in glucose polymer creating the branched amylo-
pectin. Starch debranching enzyme (DBE) isoamylase removes some of the α-1,6 linkages and
forms the crystalline shape of amylopectin. Filled circle indicates G-6-P transporter and open cir-
cle is ADPG transporter (Modified from Farooq et al. (2014))
17  Rice Physiology 471

is converted into glucose-1-phosphate. The enzyme involved is UDP-glucose pyro-

phosphorylase. The action of various enzymes may convert the fructose into glucose
phosphates and progressively into starch. In the next step, the G-1-P is either converted
into G-6-P via phosphoglucose isomerase or is transported into plastids. At this point,
the synthesis of starch starts either in cytosol or in amyloplast via the ADP-glucose
pyrophosphorylase. The production of starch in plastid is limited by AGP ­(situated in
cytosol) (Shannon et al. 1998; Farooq et al. 2014). ADP-glucose is the starting point of
synthesis of starch and the further synthesis of starch takes place in the plastid. Once
the starch synthesis has been started, the single glucosyl unit add to either straight or
branched chains accomplished with starch synthase. Starch-branching enzyme is also
involved in the branching of starch chains for further starch synthesis. Branching, resiz-
ing, and debranching of the starch are important for progressive shaping, assembly,
reassembly, and disassembly of the developing endosperm. The enzymes involved in
these events are starch-­branching enzyme, starch debranching enzyme, starch syn-
thase, and D-enzyme (Myers et al. 2000). These events form highly structured granules
in which the starch is packed in alternating zones of less and more branched amylopec-
tin (Myers et al. 2000). In rice and other cereals, the starch structure is highly variable
and may fluctuate greatly with temperature regimes. The starch granules of rice are
smaller than the other cereals. The most sensitive enzyme to temperature is starch syn-
thase as compared to other starch synthesis enzymes (Keeling et  al. 1994). During
grain filling, high temperature may cause chalkiness owing to decrease in the activity
of starch synthase (Chaudhary and Hara 1977). Potassium is also required by the starch
synthase for the proper activity (Marschner 1995). Thus the first step in grain develop-
ment is the formation of individual starch molecules. Later on, these starch molecules
assemble to form the starch granules (Myers et al. 2000).
After the filling of endosperm cells with starch, the cells of aleurone layer are
filled with protein and lipds. The sub-aleurone cells have lipid, protein, and starch.
The starchy endosperm cells not only contain starch but a little amount (6–7 %) of
protein (Juliano and Bechtel 1985). The genes involved in the grain filling in most
of cereals are common and well documented (Counce et al. 2003).

17.3  Resistance to Abiotic Stresses

Productivity of rice is constrained by several biotic and abiotic stresses. Among the
abiotic stresses, submergence, drought, salinity, and heat stress are more devastating.
In the following lines, mechanism of resistance to above stresses in rice is discussed.

17.3.1  Submergence

Several key physiological traits help rice plant to perform well under submergence
stress (Setter et al. 1997). These traits include the high carbohydrate concentration
before and during submergence, increase in alcoholic fermentation rate, and
472 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

conservation of energy by reduction in the elongation growth (Setter et al. 1997).

During submergence, the capacity of plants to produce carbohydrates depends on
several factors including the shading or dark treatments before/during submergence
(Palada and Vergara 1972), time of day during submergence (Setter et  al. 1997),
carbon dioxide supply and pH (floodwater) which impacts the underwater plant
photosynthesis (Setter et al. 1989), irradiance before plant submergence, seedling
age, and seed size (Ella and Setter 1996). Increase in the rate of alcoholic fermenta-
tion under submergence may be attributed to increase in the activity of alcoholic
fermentation enzymes, dying of mutants without alcohol dehydrogenase, and
increase in sugar (Waters et al. 1991). Thus resistance against submergence in rice
is a complex physiological adaptation. A single putative gene encodes a trans-act-
ing/transcription factor (i.e., RNA or a protein) (Ferl 1990; Ricard et  al. 1994),
which either binds to unique regulatory sequences of DNA (Singer and Berg 1991)
or impacts the pathway of transduction of signals (Dolferus et al. 1994). Submergence
may lead toward the induction of more than ten major anaerobic genes in rice
(Rivoal et al. 1989; Setter et al. 1997). Furthermore, aerenchyma formation in rice
facilitates the diffusion of oxygen from aerial to the submerged plant parts ­(discussed
above), thus helping for resistance against submergence. The resistance against sub-
mergence in completely submerged rice is also linked to the presence of a gene
Submergence1 (Sub1), which is located on chromosome 9 (Xu and Mackill 1996)
in rice. FR13A Sub1 region encodes three different transcription factors (Sub1A,
Sub1B, and Sub1C), which correspond to the B-2 subgroup of the ethylene response
factors (Xu et  al. 2006). The Sub1A/Sub1C transcription is strongly upregulated
while that of Sub1B is slightly upregulated upon submergence, however, downregu-
lated by de-­submergence (Xu et al. 2006).

17.3.2  Drought

Drought stress is very detrimental to rice as it affects the morphological, physiologi-

cal, and yield-related parameters of rice (Table 17.4). Several studies have identified
the physiological basis of drought resistance in rice. For instance, Ji et al. (2012)
reported that the activity of Rubisco activase, chloroplastic superoxide dismutase,
peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase, Cu-Zn, and dehydroascorbate reductase was
upregulated under drought stress. Rabello et al. (2008) identified genes, which were
related to maintenance of cell integrity and cell turgor during drought stress in rice.
They also identified L-ascorbate peroxidase 1, superoxide dismutase [Cu-Zn], cyto-
solic malate dehydrogenase, and ascorbate peroxidase as dominant protein confer-
ring drought tolerance in rice. Rice plants possessing the water-channel protein, i.e.,
RWC3, had better root hydraulic conductivity and leaf water potential (Lian et al.
2004). Accumulation of proline, polyamines (spermidine and spermine), soluble
sugars, sucrose, glycinebetaine, and other solutes also help in improving resistance
against drought (Pandey and Shukla 2015). Among these solutes, proline is of vital
importance. Besides acting as an excellent osmolyte, proline also acts as a metal
Table 17.4  Impact of different abiotic stresses on morphological, physiological, and yield-related parameters of rice
Decrease over
Stress type Stage of imposition Trait Cultivar control (%) Reference
Drought Reproductive, grain filling Photosynthetic rate Super Basmati 21.9 Akram et al. (2013)
Drought Reproductive, grain filling Photosynthetic rate Shaheen Basmati 15.0 Akram et al. (2013)
Drought Seedling stage Transpiration rate Mahsuri 173.3 Cabuslay et al. (2002)
17  Rice Physiology

Drought Reproductive, grain filling Transpiration rate Super Basmati 36.0 Akram et al. (2013)
Drought Reproductive, grain filling Transpiration rate Shaheen Basmati 30.3 Akram et al. (2013)
Drought Reproductive, grain filling Grains per panicle Super Basmati 3.3 Akram et al. (2013)
Drought Reproductive, grain filling Grains per panicle Shaheen Basmati 3.9 Akram et al. (2013)
Drought Seedling stage Chlorophyll contents IR-29 113.4 Basu et al. (2010)
Drought Seedling stage Chlorophyll contents Pokkali 33.1 Basu et al. (2010)
Drought Reproductive stage Chlorophyll contents KDML105 9.3 Cha-um et al. (2010b)
Drought Seedling stage Chlorophyll contents Pusa basmati 120.5 Basu et al. (2010)
Drought Seedling stage Shoot weight Mahsuri 33.9 Cabuslay et al. (2002)
Drought Seedling stage Leaf area Mahsuri 211.6 Cabuslay et al. (2002)
Drought Seedling stage Sugar in leaf blade Mahsuri 22.8 Cabuslay et al. (2002)
Drought Seedling stage Starch in leaf blade Mahsuri 125.6 Cabuslay et al. (2002)
Drought 20 d before heading Grain yield Gangyou 527 22.1 Wang et al. (2010)
Drought 20 d before heading Grain yield Yixiangyou 9 46.7 Wang et al. (2010)
Drought Whole cycle Grain yield Yangdao 6 3.14 Yang et al. (2001)
Drought 20 d before heading Grain yield Gangyou 188 31.0 Wang et al. (2010)
Heat – Grain weight L-204 92.8 Prasad et al. (2006)
Heat – Grain yield L-204 89.1 Prasad et al. (2006)
Heat Booting Grain yield Hovaze 18.3 Aghamolki et al. (2014)
Heat Booting Grain yield Fajr 37.5 Aghamolki et al. (2014)
Heat Booting Grain yield MR219 24.0 Aghamolki et al. (2014)
473

(continued)
Table 17.4 (continued)
474

Decrease over
Stress type Stage of imposition Trait Cultivar control (%) Reference
Heat Booting Grain yield Hashemi 30.4 Aghamolki et al. (2014)
Heat Post heading Grain yield S-NMLYtz 1.5 Shi et al. (2015)
Heat Post heading Grain yield S-SWP 6.2 Shi et al. (2015)
Heat Post heading Grain yield DE-SMLYtz 9.7 Shi et al. (2015)
Heat Post heading Grain yield DE-SC 4.6 Shi et al. (2015)
Salt – Root length SS 13.2 Cha-um et al. (2007)
Salt – Root length RD6 28.8 Cha-um et al. (2010a)
Salt – Leaf area SS 80.8 Cha-um et al. (2007)
Salt – Leaf area ST 43.4 Cha-um et al. (2007)
Salt – Leaf area RD6 494.9 Cha-um et al. (2010a)
Salt – Chlorophyll contents SS 237 Cha-um et al. (2007)
Salt – Chlorophyll contents ST 259.0 Cha-um et al. (2007)
Salt – Chlorophyll contents RD6 268.0 Cha-um et al. (2010a)
Salt – Photosynthetic rate RD6 40.7 Cha-um et al. (2010a)
Salt – Number of tillers BR-11 5.5 Gain et al. (2004)
Salt – Plant biomass BR-11 4.32 Gain et al. (2004)
Salt – Tiller per plant M-202 161.7 Zeng and Shannon (2000)
Salt – Plant height BR-11 11.6 Gain et al. (2004)
Salt – Plant height BBRI dhan44 16.7 Hasamuzzaman et al. (2009)
Salt – Relative water contents BBRI dhan44 28.8 Hasamuzzaman et al. (2009)
Salt – Panicle number BBRI dhan44 42.4 Hasamuzzaman et al. (2009)
Salt – 1000-grain weight BBRI dhan44 44.8 Hasamuzzaman et al. (2009)
Salt – 1000-kernel weight IR-28 25.2 Abdullah et al. (2001)
Salt – 1000-grain weight M-202 80.5 Zeng and Shannon (2000)
Salt – Grain yield BBRI dhan44 44.4 Hasamuzzaman et al. (2009)
A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

Salt – Seed per panicle IR-28 14.8 Abdullah et al. (2001)

17  Rice Physiology 475

chelator, a signaling molecule, and an antioxidative (Hayat et  al. 2012) and thus
imparts resistance against drought. Proline accumulation also enhances the antioxi-
dant activities. Exogenous application of polyamines improved water relations, net
photosynthesis, proline accumulation and anthocyanin and soluble phenolic accu-
mulation and helped alleviating the oxidative damage to cellular membranes
(Farooq et al. 2009a). Moreover, improvement in the antioxidant defense system of
plant may help to cope drought stress in rice (Pandey and Shukla 2015). With
increasing levels of drought stress in rice, the activities of ascorbate, glutathione,
ascorbate peroxidase (Selote and Khanna-Chopra 2004), superoxide dismutase,
monodehydroascorbate reductase, dehydroascorbate reductase, glutathione reduc-
tase (Sharma and Dubey 2005), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, and catalase (Shehab
et al. 2010) consistently increase which are very beneficial for drought resistance.
Abscisic acid can help in inducing resistance against drought in rice by improving
the status of antioxidant enzymes (Latif 2014; Li et al. 2014) and improving trans-
port of proteins and carbon metabolism and expression of stress proteins (Zhou
et al. 2014). Overexpression of C4 photosynthesis enzymes such as phosphoenol-
pyruvate carboxylase and pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (Zhou et al. 2011; Gu
et al. 2013) may also help rice plant to withstand with drought.
Drought stress in rice reduces grain size, grain weight (Venuprasad et al. 2011;
Mostajeran and Rahimi-Eichi 2009), and seed-setting rate (Ji et al. 2012), increases
the spikelet sterility (Kumar et al. 2014), and thus taxes the grain yield. This reduc-
tion in grain yield may also be attributed to shortening of grain-filling period, dis-
turbance of leaf gas exchange, reducing of source and sink size, and impaired
loading of phloem and assimilate translocation (Farooq et  al. 2009b, c), reduced
CO2 assimilation, decreased stomatal conductance/photosynthetic pigments, and
disturbed and reduced activities of sucrose and other starch synthesis enzymes
(Farooq et al. 2009b, 2014).

17.3.3  Salt Stress

Salt stress strongly affects the productivity of rice (Table 17.4). Resistance against
salt stress, in rice, may be attributed to various antioxidant enzymes such as peroxi-
dases (Mittal and Dubey 1991; Wu et al. 2005). Wu et al. (2005) also identified four
genes in rice conferring the resistance against salt stress. These genes include Asr1,
LIP9, salT, and GRP. In rice, Kawasaki et al. (2001) also reported the induction of
stress ribosomal proteins under salinity. Chen et al. (2007) also reported that resis-
tance against salinity, in rice, may be improved by increasing expression level of a
vacuolar Na+/H+ antiporter gene. Gong et al. (2006) reported that silicon deposition
in the roots of rice may help in decreasing the sodium uptake by reducing bypass
flow. In rice, OsHKT2 is rapidly downregulated to reduce the influx of potentially
toxic Na+ at higher external sodium concentrations. SKC1 gene, expressed in paren-
chyma cells, was related with salt resistance owing to its role in the K+/Na+ homeo-
stasis under salt stress (Ren et al. 2005). In a recent study, rice cultivars with better
476 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

resistance against salt stress had higher catalase activity and accumulation of pro-
line and hydrogen peroxide (Chunthaburee et al. 2016). In another study, Igarashi
et al. (1997) reported that the accumulation of proline helped the plants to produce
higher green leaf area under salt stress (Pongprayoon et  al. 2008). Roychoudury
et  al. (2008) further documented involvement of anthocyanin production in salt
resistance in rice. Indeed, anthocyanins under salt stress reduce the oxidative dam-
age (Hughes et al. 2005) and function as antioxidants by detoxifying the reactive
oxygen species (ROS) (Kytridis and Manetas 2006).

17.3.4  Heat Stress

Like drought, heat stress is also very detrimental to rice as it strongly affects the
morphological, physiological, and yield-related traits of rice (Table 17.4).
Antioxidant enzymes play important role in thermotolerance by scavenging the
ROS and protect the membranes from oxidative damages (Ali et al. 2013). Ye et al.
(2012) identified four different single-nucleotide polymorphisms in rice, which
were associated with resistance against heat stress. They used selective genotyping
as well as single marker analysis techniques to find these nucleotide polymorphs.
They also found four putative QTL, which were linked with resistance against heat
stress in rice F2 population. In another study, Cao et al. (2008) reported that resis-
tance against heat stress in rice was attributed to strong antioxidative defense sys-
tem, little ethylene synthesis, high RNA contents, and reduced malondialdehyde
content during meiosis.
The expression of various protective proteins (HSP90, Cpn60, HSP70) and
thiamine biosynthesis protein (THI1) was enhanced (Scafaro et  al. 2010).
Jagadish et al. (2010) also reported that accumulation of heat-shock protein in
rice may confer resistance against heat stress. Another NAC gene, viz., SNAC3
(ONAC003, LOC_Os01g09550), which is stress responsive, has been reported to
confer resistance against heat and drought stresses in rice by quenching the ROS
(Fang et al. 2015).

17.4  Conclusions

The growth cycle of rice can be divided into three distinct growth phases including
germination/seedling, vegetative, reproductive, and grain development. The repro-
ductive phase, in particular the grain development, is the most important stage,
which dictates its yield potential. Floral development, gametogenesis, and grain
development are regulated by expression of specific genes and homeostasis of plant
hormones. Understanding the plant physiology may help to improve the yield for-
mation and crop productivity. The differences within different species of rice for
gene expression during the reproductive phases need to be investigated. Moreover,
17  Rice Physiology 477

the expression of these genes under various growth environments may be a topic of
future scientific debates.
Rice may produce well in a variety of environments. However, several biotic and
abiotic stresses impede its productivity. Among the abiotic stresses, submergence,
drought, salinity, and heat stress are more devastating. Although physiological
mechanisms of resistance against abiotic stresses in rice are relatively well under-
stood, further studies to determine the physiological basis of assimilate partitioning
from source to sink; plant phenotypic flexibility, which leads to resistance against
abiotic stresses; and factors that modulate stress response in rice are needed. The
genomic resources combined with ecophysiological research may be helpful to
understand the genotypes and environment interactions and to develop rice geno-
types better able to produce well under less than optimum conditions.

References

Abdullah Z, Khan MA, Flowers TJ (2001) Causes of sterility in seed set of rice under salinity
stress. J Agron Crop Sci 167:25–32
Aghamolki MTK, Yusop MK, Oad FC, Zakikhani H, Jaafar HZ, Hanafi MM (2014) Response of
yield and morphological characteristic of rice cultivars to heat stress at different growth stages.
Int J Biol Vet Agric Food Engg 8:94–96
Agusti J, Greb T (2013) Going with the wind – adaptive dynamics of plant secondary meristems.
Mech Dev 130:34–44
Alocilja EC, Ritchic IT (1991) A model for the phenology of rice. In: Hodges T (ed) Predicting
crop phenology. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 181–189
Akram HM, Ali A, Sattar A, Rehman HSU, Bibi A (2013) Impact of water deficit stress on various
physiological and agronomic traits of three basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars. J Anim
Plant Sci 23:1415–1423
Ali KA, Azhar A, Galani S (2013) Response of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under elevated temperature
at early growth stage: physiological markers. Russ. J Agric Soc Econ Sci 8:11–19
Armstrong J, Armstrong W (1994) Chlorophyll development in mature lysigenous and schizoge-
nous root aerenchyma provides evidence of continuing cortical cell viability. New Phytol
5:493–497
Armstrong J, Armstrong W, Beckett PM, Halder JE, Lythe S, Holt R, Sinclair A (1996) Pathways
of aeration and the mechanisms and beneficial effects of humidity- and Venturi-induced con-
vections in Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin ex Steud. Aquat Bot 5:177–197
Armstrong W (1979) Aeration in higher plants. Adv Bot Res 5:236–332
Avigad G, Dey PM (1996) Carbohydrate metabolism: storage carbohydrates. In: PM D, Harbome
IB (eds) Plant biochemistry. Academic Press, New York, pp. 149–204
Basu S, Roychoudhury A, Saha PP, Sengupta D (2010) Differential antioxidative responses of
indica rice cultivars to drought stress. Plant Growth Regul 60:51–59
Bethke PC, Schuurink R, Jones RL (1997) Hormonal signaling in cereal aleurone. J  Exp Bot
48:1337–1356
Bewley JD (1997) Seed germination and dormancy. Plant Cell 9:1055–1066
Cabuslay GS, Ito O, Alejar AA (2002) Physiological evaluation of responses of rice (Oryza sativa L.)
to water deficit. Plant Sci 163:815–827
Cao YY, Duan H, Yang LN, Wang ZQ, Zhou SC, Yang JC (2008) Effect of heat stress during meio-
sis on grain yield of rice cultivars differing in heat tolerance and its physiological mechanism.
Acta Agron Sin 34:2134–2142
478 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

Chao CY, Hu WL (1960) The effect of temperature on a desynaptic mutant in rice. Bot Bull Acad
Sinica 2:87–100
Chaudhary TN, Ghildyal BP (1969) Germination response of rice seeds to constant and altering
temperature. Agron J 61:328–330
Cha-um S, Supaibulwatana K, Kirdmanee C (2007) Glycine betaine accumulation, physio-
logical characterizations and growth efficiency in salt tolerant and salt sensitive lines of
indica rice (Oryza sativa L. spp. indica) responses to salt stress. J Agron Crop Sci 193:
157–166
Cha-um S, Nhung NTH, Kirdmanee C (2010a) Effect of mannitol-and salt-induced iso-osmotic
stress on proline accumulation, photosynthetic abilities and growth characters of rice cultivars
(Oryza sativa L. spp. indica). Pak J Bot 42:927–941
Cha-um S, Yooyongwech S, Supaibulwatana K (2010b) Water deficit stress in the reproductive
stage of four indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes. Pak J Bot 42:3387–3398
Chen CW, Yang YW, Lur HS, Tsai YG, Chang MC (2006) A novel function of abscisic acid in the
regulation of rice (Oryza sativa L.) root growth and development. Plant Cell Physiol 47:1–13
Chen H, An R, Tang JH, Cui XH, Hao FS, Chen J, Wang XC (2007) Over-expression of a vacuolar
Na+/H- antiporter gene improves salt tolerance in an upland rice. Mol Breed 19:215–225
Chen Y, Fan X, Song W, Zhang Y, Xu G (2012) Over-expression of OsPIN2 leads to increased tiller
numbers, angle and shorter plant height through suppression of OsLAZY1. Plant Biotechnol
J 10:139–149
Chunthaburee S, Dongsansuk A, Sanitchon J, Pattanagul W, Theerakulpisut P (2016) Physiological
and biochemical parameters for evaluation and clustering of rice cultivars differing in salt toler-
ance at seedling stage. Saudi J Biol Sci 23:467–477
Colmer TD (2003) Long-distance transport of gases in plants: a perspective on internal aeration
and radial oxygen loss from roots. Plant Cell Environ 5:17–36
Colmer TD, Pedersen O (2008) Oxygen dynamics in submerged rice (Oryza sativa). New Phytol
5:326–334
Counce PA, Gealy DR, Sung SJS (2003) Rice physiology. In: Smith CW, Dilday RH (eds) Rice:
origin, history, technology and production. Wiley, Hoboken
Counce PA, Keisling TC, Mitchell AJ (2000) A uniform, objective, and adaptive system for
expressing rice development. Crop Sci 40:436–443
Dolferus R, de Bruxelles G, Dennis ES, Peacock WJ (1994) Regulation of the Arabadopsis Adh
gene by anaerobic and other environmental stresses. Ann Bot 74:301–308
Drew MC, Fourcy A (1986) Radial movement of cations across aerenchymatous roots of Zea mays
measured by electron probe X-ray microanalysis. J Exp Bot 5:823–831
Ella ES, Setter TL (1996) Importance of carbohydrates in rice (Oryza sativa L.) seeds exposed to
anoxia. 12th meeting of the Field Crops Science Society of the Philippines, Davao City
Evans DE (2003) Aerenchyma formation. New Phytol 5:35–49
Fageria NK (2007) Yield physiology of rice. J Plant Nutr 30:843–879
Fageria NK, Baligar VC, Clark RB (2006) Physiology of crop production. The Haworth Press,
New York
Fang Y, Liao K, Du H, Xu Y, Song H, Li X, Xiong L (2015) A stress-responsive NAC transcription
factor SNAC3 confers heat and drought tolerance through modulation of reactive oxygen spe-
cies in rice. J Exp Bot 66:6803–6817
Farooq M, Wahid A, Lee DJ (2009a) Exogenously applied polyamines increase drought tolerance
of rice by improving leaf water status, photosynthesis and membrane properties. Acta Physiol
Plant 31:937–945
Farooq M, Wahid A, Ito O, Lee DJ, Siddique KHM (2009b) Advances in drought resistance of rice.
Crit Rev Plant Sci 28:199–217
Farooq M, Wahid A, Kobayashi N, Fujita D, Basra SMA (2009c) Plant drought stress: effects,
mechanisms and management. Agron Sustain Dev 29:185–212
Farooq M, Wahid A, Siddique KHM (2014) Physiology of grain development in cereals. In:
Pessarakli M (ed) Handbook of plant and crop physiology, 3 edn. Taylor and Francis Group,
Boca Raton, pp. 301–311
17  Rice Physiology 479

Ferl RJ (1990) ARF-B2: a protein complex that specifically binds to part of the anaerobic response
element of maize Adhl. Plant Physiol 93:1094–1101
Futsuhara Y, Kondo S, Kitano H (1979) Ditto. II. Character expression and mode of inheritance of
dense panicle rice. Japan J Breed 29:239–247
Gain P, Mannan MA, Pal PS, Hossain MM, Parvin S (2004) Effect of salinity on some yield attri-
butes of rice. Effect of salinity on some yield attributes of rice. Pak J Biol Sci 7:760–762
Goldberg RB, Beals TP, Sanders PM (1993) Anther development: basic principles and practical
applications. Plant Cell 5:1217–1229
Gong HJ, Randall DP, Flowers TJ (2006) Silicon deposition in the root reduces sodium uptake in
rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings by reducing bypass flow. Plant Cell Environ 29:1970–1979
Greco R, Stagi L, Colombo L, Angenent GC, Sari-Goria M, Pè ME (1997) MADS box genes
expressed in developing inflorescences of rice and sorghum. Mol Gen Genet 253:
615–623
Gu JF, Qiu M, Yang JC (2013) Enhanced tolerance to drought in transgenic rice plants overexpress-
ing C4 photosynthesis enzymes. Crop J 1:105–114
Hasamuzzaman M, Fujita M, Islam MN, Ahamed KU, Nahar K (2009) Performance of four irri-
gated rice varieties under different levels of salinity stress. Int J Integr Biol 6:85–90
Hayat S, Hayat Q, Alyemeni MN, Wani AS, Pichtel J, Ahmad A (2012) Role of proline under
changing environments: a review. Plant Signal Behav 7:1456–1466
Holdsworth MJ, Finch-Savage WE, Grappin P, Job D (2008) Post-genomics dissection of seed
dormancy and germination. Trends Plant Sci 13:7–13
Hong SK, Aoki T, Kitano H, Satoh H, Nagato Y (1995) Phenotypic diversity of 188 rice embryo
mutants. Dev Genet 16:298–310
Howell KA, Narsai R, Carroll A, Ivanova A, Lohse M, Usadel B, Millar AH, Whelan J (2009)
Mapping metabolic and transcript temporal switches during germination in rice highlights spe-
cific transcription factors and the role of RNA instability in the germination process. Plant
Physiol 149:961–980
Huang BQ, Sheridan WF (1994) Female gametophyte development in maize: Microtubular orga-
nization and embryo sac polarity. Plant Cell 6:845–861
Hughes NM, Burkey KO, Neufeld HS (2005) Functional role of anthocyanins in high-light winter
leaves of the evergreen herb Galax urceolata. New Phytol 168:575–587
Hundertmark M, Buitink J, Leprince O, Hincha DK (2011) Reduction of seed-specific dehydrins
reduces seed longevity in Arabidopsis thaliana. Seed Sci Res 21:165–173
Igarashi Y, Yoshiba Y, Sanada Y, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K, Wada K, Shinozaki K (1997)
Characterization of the gene for Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase and correlation
between the expression of the gene and the salt tolerance in Oryza sativa L. Plant Mol Biol
33:857–865
Inada N, Sakai A, Kuroiwa H, Kuroiwa T (2002) Three-dimensionalprogression of programmed
death in the rice coleoptile. Int Rev Cytol Sur Cell Biol 218:221–258
Inukai Y, Miwa M, Nagato Y, Kitano H, Yamauchi A (2001) Characterization of rice mutants defi-
cient in the formation of crown roots. Breed Sci 51:123–129
Itoh JI, Hasegawa A, Kitano H, Nagato Y (1998) A recessive heterochronic mutation, plastochron 1,
shortens the plastochron and elongates the vegetative phase in rice. Plant Cell 10:
1511–1521
Itoh J, Nonomura KI, Ikeda K, Yamaki S, Inukai Y, Yamagishi H, Kitano H, Nagato Y (2005) Rice
plant development: from zygote to spikelet. Plant Cell Physiol 46:23–47
Itoh JI, Kitano H, Matsuoka M, Nagato Y (2000) Shoot organization genes regulate shoot apical
meristem organization and the pattern of leaf primordium initiation in rice. Plant Cell
12:2161–2174
Iwata N, Omura T (1971a) Linkage analysis by reciprocal translocation method in rice plants
(Oryza sativa L.). II. Linkage groups corresponding to the chromosomes 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11.
Sci Bull Fac Agric Kyushu Univ 25:137–153
Iwata N, Omura T (1971b) Studies on the trisomics in rice plants (Oryza sativa L.). VI. An accom-
plishment of a trisomic series in japonica rice plants. Japan J Breed 21:19–28
480 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

Iwata N, Satoh H, Omura T (1983) Linkage studies in rice. On some marker genes locating on
chromosome. Japan J Breed 33:114–115
Jackson MB, Armstrong W (1999) Formation of aerenchyma and the processes of plant ventilation
in relation to soil flooding and submergence. Plant Biol 5:274–287
Jackson MB, Fenning TM, Jenkins W (1985) Aerenchyma (gas-space) formation in adventitious
roots of rice (Oryza sativa L.) is not controlled by ethylene or small partial pressures of oxygen.
J Exp Bot 5:1566–1572
Jacobsen JV, Gubler F, Chandler PM (1995) Gibberellin and abscisic acid in germinating cereals.
In: Davies PJ (ed) Plant hormones: physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology. Kluwer,
Boston, pp. 246–271
Jagadish SV, Muthurajan R, Oane R, Wheeler TR, Heuer S, Bennett J, Craufurd PQ (2010)
Physiological and proteomic approaches to address heat tolerance during anthesis in rice
(Oryza sativa L.). J Exp Bot 61:143–156
Jeon JS, Jang S, Lee S, Nam J, Kim C, Lee SH, Chung YY, Kim SR, Lee YH, Cho YG, An G (2000)
Leafy hull sterile1 is a homeotic mutation in a rice MADS box gene affecting rice flower devel-
opment. Plant Cell 12:871–884
Ji KX, Wang YY, Sun WN, Lou QJ, Mei HW, Shen SH, Chen H (2012) Drought-responsive mech-
anisms in rice genotypes with contrasting drought tolerance during reproductive stage. J Plant
Physiol 169:336–344
Jones JW (1952) Inheritance of natural and induced mutation in caloro rice and observations on
sterile caloro types. J Hered 43:81–85
Joshi R, Kumar P (2012) Lysigenous aerenchyma formation involves non-apoptotic programmed
cell death in rice (Oryza sativa L.) roots. Physiol Mol Biol Plants 18:1–9
Juliano BO, Bechtel DR (1985) The rice grain and its gross composition. In: Juliano BO (ed) Rice
chemistry and technology. American Association of Cereals Chemists, St. Paul, pp. 17–57
Kamiya N, Itoh JI, Morikami A, Nagato Y, Matsuoka M (2003a) The SCARECROW gene’s role in
asymmetric cell divisions in rice plants. Plant J 36:45–54
Kamiya N, Nagasaki H, Morikami A, Sato Y, Matsuoka M (2003b) Isolation and characterization
of a rice WUSCHEL-type homeobox gene that is specifically expressed in the central cells of a
quiescent center in the root apical meristem. Plant J 35:429–441
Katayama T (1963) Study on the progenies of autotriploid and asynaptic rice plants. Japan J Breed
13:83–87
Kaufman PB (1959) Development of the shoot of Oryza sativa II: leaf histogenesis.
Phytomorphology 9:277–311
Kawai M, Samarajeewa PK, Barrero RA, Nishiguchi M, Uchimiya H (1998) Cellular dissection of
the degradation pattern of cortical cell death during aerenchyma formation of rice roots. Planta
204:277–287
Kawasaki S, Borchert C, Deyholos M, Wang H, Brazille S, Kawai K, Galbraith D, Bohnert HJ (2001)
Gene expression profiles during the initial phase of salt stress in rice. Plant Cell 13:889–905
Kawashima C (1988) Roots system formation in rice plant. III. Quantitative studies. Japan J Crop
Sci 57:26–36
Kawata S, Harada J (1975) On the development of the crown root primordia in rice plants. Proc
Crop Sci Soc Japan 44:438–457
Kawata S, Harada J, Yamazaki K (1978) On the number and the diameter of crown root primordial
in rice plants. Japan J Crop Sci 47:644–654
Kawata S, Lai KL (1965) On the meristematic state of the endodermis in the crown roots of rice
plants. Proc Crop Sci Soc Japan 34:210–216
Kazama T, Toriyama K (2003) A pentatricopeptide repeat-containing gene that promotes the pro-
cessing of aberrant atp6 RNA of cytoplasmic male-sterile rice. FEBS Lett 544:99–102
Kebrom TH, Richards RA (2013) Physiological perspectives of reduced tillering and stunting in
the tiller inhibition (tin) mutant of wheat. Funct Plant Biol 40:977–985
Keeling PL, Banisadr R, Barone L, Wasserman BP, Singletary BW (1994) Effect of temperature on
enzymes in the pathway of starch biosynthesis in developing wheat and maize grain. Funct
Plant Biol 21:807–827
17  Rice Physiology 481

Kitada K, Omura T (1983) Genetic control of meiosis in rice Oryza sativa L. II. Cytogenetical
analyses of desynaptic mutants. Japan J Genet 58:567–577
Komatsu M, Chujo A, Nagato Y, Shimamoto K, Kyozuka J (2003) Frizzy panicle is required to
prevent the formation of axillary meristems and to establish floral meristem identity in rice
spikelets. Development 130:3841–3850
Komatsu M, Maekawa M, Shimamoto K, Kyozuka J (2001) The LAX1 and FRIZZY PANICLE 2
gene determine the inflorescence architecture of rice by controlling rachis-branch and spikelet
development. Dev Biol 231:364–373
Komori T, Ohta S, Murai N, Takakura Y, Kuraya Y, Suzuki S, Hiei Y, Imaseki H, Nitta N (2004)
Map-based cloning of a fertility restorer gene, Rf-1, in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Plant J  37:
315–325
Kumar S, Dwivedi SK, Singh SS, Bhatt BP, Mehta P, Elanchezhian R, Singh VP, Singh ON (2014)
Morphophysiological traits associated with reproductive stage drought tolerance of rice (Oryza
sativa L.) genotypes under rain-fed condition of eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain. Indian J Plant
Physiol 19:87–93
Kyozuka J, Kobayashi T, Morita M, Shimamoto K (2000) Spatially and temporally regulated
expression of rice MADS box genes with similarity to Arabidopsis class A, B and C genes.
Plant Cell Physiol 41:710–716
Kytridis VP, Manetas Y (2006) Mesophyll versus epidermal anthocyanins as potential in vivo anti-
oxidants: evidence linking the putative antioxidant role to the proximity of oxyradical source.
J Exp Bot 57:2203–2210
Latif HH (2014) Physiological responses of Pisum sativum plant to exogenous ABA application
under drought conditions. Pak J Bot 46:973–982
Lee S, Jung KH, An G, Chung YY (2004) Solation and characterization of a rice cysteine protease
gene, OsCP1, using T-DNA gene-trap system. Plant Mol Biol 54:755–765
Leonards B (2010) Available online at http://text.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/research_sta-
tions/Rice/Features/Publications/Knowledge-of-Rice-Growth-Stages-Important.htm.
Accessed 1 Feb 2016
Li CN, Yang LT, Srivastava MK, Li YR (2014) Foliar application of abscisic acid improves drought
tolerance of sugarcane plant under severe water stress. Int J Agric Innov Res 3:101–107
Li X, Qian Q, Fu Z, Wang Y, Xiong G, Zeng D, Wang X, Liu X, Teng S, Hiroshi F, Yuan M (2003)
Control of tillering in rice. Nature 422:618–621
Lian HL, Yu X, Ye Q, Ding XS, Kitagawa Y, Kwak SS, Su WA, Tang ZC (2004) The role of aqua-
porin RWC3 in drought avoidance in rice. Plant Cell Physiol 45:481–489
Liu W, Xu ZH, Luo D, Xue HW (2003) Roles of OsCKI1, a rice casein kinase I, in root develop-
ment and plant hormone sensitivity. Plant J 36:189–202
Lo SF, Yang SY, Chen KT, Hsing YI, Zeevaart JAD, Chen LJ, Yu SM (2008) A novel class of gib-
berellin 2-oxidases control semi dwarfism, tillering, and root development in rice. Plant Cell
20:2603–2618
Lopez-Dee ZP, Wittich P, Pe ME, Rigola D, Buono ID, Gorla MS, Kater MM, Colombo L (1999)
OsMADS13, a novel rice MADS-box gene expressed during ovule development. Dev Genet
25:237–244
Luo L, Zhou WQ, Liu P, Li CX, Hou SW (2012) The development of stomata and other epidermal
cells on the rice leaves. Biol Plant 56:521–527
Maeda E (1961) Studies on the mechanism of leaf formation in crop plants. II Anatomy of the
lamina joint in rice plant. Proc Crop Sci Soc Japan 29:234–239
Maekawa M (1988) A new allele at the lg locus expressing short ligules. Rice Genet Newsl
5:87–89
Marschner H (1995) Mineral nutrition of plants, 2 edn. Academic Press, San Diego
Menegus F, Cattaruzza L, Mattana M, Beffagna N, Ragg E (1991) Response to anoxia in rice and
wheat seedlings: changes in the pH of intracellular compartments, glucose-6-phosphate level,
and metabolic rate. Plant Physiol 95:760–767
Misro B (1981) Linkage studies in rice (Oryza sativa L.). 10. Identification of linkage groups in
indica rice. Oryza Cuttack 18:185–195
482 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

Mittal R, Dubey RS (1991) Behaviour of peroxidases in rice: changes in enzyme activity and iso-
forms in relation to salt tolerance. Plant Physiol Biochem 29:31–40
Miyoshi K, Kagaya Y, Ogawa Y, Nagato Y, Hattori T (2002) Temporal and spatial expression pat-
tern of the OSVP1 and OSEM genes during seed development in rice. Plant Cell Physiol
43:307–313
Miyoshi K, Nakata E, Nagato Y (2000) Characterization of viviparous mutants in rice. Breed Sci
50:207–213
Miyoshi K, Nakata E, Nagato Y, Hattori T (1999) Differential in situ expression of three
­ABA-­responsive genes of rice, Rab16A, REG2 and OSBZ8 during seed development. Plant
Cell Physiol 40:443–447
Mok M (1994) Cytokinins and plant development—an overview. In: Mok D, Mok M (eds)
Cytokinins—chemistry, activity, and function. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 155–166
Mostajeran A, Rahimi-Eichi V (2009) Effects of drought stress on growth and yield of rice (Oryza
sativa L.) cultivars and accumulation of proline and soluble sugars in sheath and blades of their
different ages leaves. Am Eur J Agric Environ Sci 5:264–272
Murata Y, Matsushima S (1975) Rice. In: Evans LT (ed) Crop physiology. Cambridge University
Press, London, pp. 73–99
Myers AM, Morell MK, James MG, Ball SG (2000) Recent progress toward understanding bio-
synthesis of the amylopectin crystal. Plant Physiol 122:989–998
Nagao S, Takahashi M (1963) Trial construction of twelve linkage groups in Japanese rice.
Genetical studies on rice plant, XXVII. J Fac Agr Hokkaido Univ 53:72–130
Nagasawa N, Miyoshi M, Sano Y, Satoh H, Hirano H, Sakai H, Nagato Y (2003) SUPERWOMAN1
and DROOPING LEAF genes control floral organ identity in rice. Development 130:705–718
Nakamura A, Umemura I, Gomi K, Hasegawa Y, Kitano H, Sazuka T, Matsuoka M (2006)
Production and characterization of auxin-insensitive rice by overexpression of a mutagenized
rice IAA protein. Plant J 46:297–306
Nishimura EK, Jordan SA, Oshima H, Yoshida H, Osawa M, Moriyama M, Jackson IJ, Barrandon
Y, Miyachi Y, Nishikawa SI (2002) Dominant role of the niche in melanocyte stem-cell fate
determination. Nature 416:854–860
Nonomura KI, Miyoshi K, Eiguchi M, Suzuki T, Miyao A, Hirochika H, Kurata N (2003) The
MSP1 gene is necessary to restrict the number of cells entering into male and female sporogen-
esis and to initiate anther wall formation in rice. Plant Cell 15:1728–1739
Nonomura KI, Nakano M, Fukuda T, Eiguchi M, Miyao A, Hirochika H, Kurata N (2004a) The
novel gene HOMOLOGOUS PAIRING ABERRATION IN RICE MEIOSIS1 of rice encodes a
putative coiled-coil protein required for homologous chromosome pairing in meiosis. Plant
Cell 16:1008–1020
Nonomura KI, Nakano M, Murata K, Miyoshi K, Eiguchi M, Miyao A, Hirochika H, Kurata N
(2004b) An insertional mutation in the rice PAIR2 gene, the ortholog of Arabidopsis ASY1,
results in a defect in homologous chromosome pairing during meiosis. Mol Genet Genomics
271:121–129
Obara M, Ikeda K, Itoh JI, Nagato Y (2004) Characterization of leaf lateral symmetry 1 mutant.
Breed Sci 54:157–163
Palada M, Vergara BS (1972) Environmental effect on the resistance of rice seedlings to complete
submergence. Crop Sci 12:209–212
Pandey V, Shukla A (2015) Acclimation and tolerance strategies of rice under drought stress. Rice
Sci 22:147–161
Papademetriou MK (2000) Rice production in the Asia-pacific region: issues and perspectives. In:
Papademetriou MK, Dent FG, Herath EM (eds) Bridging the rice yield gap in the Asia-pacific
region. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional office for Asia and
the Pacific Bangkok, Bangkok
Pedersen O, Rich SM, Colmer TD (2009) Surviving floods: leaf gas films improve O2 and CO2
exchange root aeration, and growth of completely submerged rice. Plant J 5:147–156
Penfield S, Josse EM, Kannangara R, Gilday AD, Halliday KJ, Graham IA (2005) Cold and light
control seed germination through the bHLH transcription factor SPATULA. Curr Biol
15:1998–2006
17  Rice Physiology 483

Perata P, Guglielminetti L, Alpi A (1997) Mobilization of endosperm reserves in cereal seeds under
anoxia. Ann Bot 79:49–56
Petrásek J, Friml J  (2009) Auxin transport routes in plant development. Development 136:
2675–2688
Pongprayoon W, Cha-um S, Pichakum A, Kirdmanee C (2008) Proline profiles in aromatic rice
cultivars photoautotrophically grown in response to salt stress. Int J Bot 4:276–282
Ponnamperuma FN (1972) The chemistry of submerged soils. Adv Agron 24:29–96
Prasad PVV, Boote KJ, Allen LH, Sheehy JE, Thomas JMG (2006) Species, ecotype and cultivar
differences in spikelet fertility and harvest index of rice in response to high temperature stress.
Field Crop Res 95:398–411
Rabello AR, Guimarães CM, Rangel PHN, Silva FRD, Seixas D, Souza ED, Brasileiro AC, Spehar
CR, Ferreira ME, Mehta A (2008) Identification of drought-responsive genes in roots of upland
rice (Oryza sativa L). BMC Genomics 9:485
Raghavan V (1988) Anther and pollen development in rice (Oryza sativa L). Am J  Bot 75:
183–196
Ranathunge K, Steudle E, Lafitte R (2003) Control of water uptake by rice (Oryza sativa L.): role
of the outer part of the root. Planta 5:193–205
Raskin I, Kende H (1983) How does deep water rice solve its aeration problem. Plant Physiol
5:447–454
Ren ZH, Gao JP, Li LG, Cai XL, Huang W, Chao DY, Zhu MZ, Wang ZY, Luan S, Lin HX (2005)
A rice quantitative trait locus for salt tolerance encodes a sodium transporter. Nat Genet
37:1141–1146
Ricard B, Couee I, Raymond P, Saglio PH, Saint-Ges V, Pradet A (1994) Plant metabolism under
hypoxia and anoxia. Plant Physiol Biochem 32:1–10
Rivoal J, Ricard B, Pradet A (1989) Glycolytic and fermentative enzyme induction during anaero-
biosis in rice seedlings. Plant Physiol Biochem 27:43–52
Roychoudury A, Basu S, Sarkar SN, Sengupta SN (2008) Comparative physiological and molecu-
lar responses of common aromatic indica rice cultivar to high salinity with non-aromatic indica
rice cultivars. Plant Cell Rep 27:1395–1410
Rzewuski G, Sauter M (2008) Ethylene biosynthesis and signaling in rice. Plant Sci 175:32–42
Sakamoto T, Sakakibara H, Kojima M, Yamamoto Y, Nagasaki H, Inukai Y, Sato Y, Matsuoka M
(2006) Ectopic expression of KNOTTED1-like homeobox protein induces expression of cyto-
kinin biosynthesis genes in rice. Plant Physiol 142:54–62
Satina S, Blakeslee AF, Avery AG (1940) Demonstration of the three germ layers in the shoot
apex of Datura by the means of induced polyploidy in periclinical chimeras. Am J  Bot
27:895–905
Sato Y, Hong SK, Tagiri A, Kitano H, Yamamoto N, Nagato Y, Matsuoka M (1996) A rice homeo-
box gene, OSH1, is expressed before organ differentiation in a specific region during early
embryogenesis. Proc. Natl Acad Sci USA 93:8117–8122
Satoh N, Hong SK, Nishimura A, Matsuoka M, Kitano H, Nagato Y (1999) Initiation of shoot
apical meristem in rice: characterization of four SHOOTLESS genes. Development 126:
­
3629–3636
Scafaro AP, Haynes PA, Atwell BJ (2010) Physiological and molecular changes in Oryza meridi-
onalis Ng., a heat-tolerant species of wild rice. J Exp Bot 61:191–202
Scott RJ, Spielman M, Dickinson HG (2004) Stamen Structure and Function. Plant Cell 16:S46–S60
Selote DS, Khanna-Chopra R (2004) Drought-induced spikelet sterility is associated with an inef-
ficient antioxidant defence in rice panicles. Physiol Plant 121:462–471
Setter TL, Ellis M, Laureles V, Ella ES, Senadhira D, Mishra SB, Sarkarung S, Datta S (1997)
Physiology and genetics of submergence tolerance in rice. Ann Bot 79:67–77
Setter TL, Waters I, Wallace I, Bhekasut P, Greenway H (1989) Submergence of rice. I. Growth
and photosynthetic response to CO2 enrichment of floodwater. Aust J  Plant Physiol
16:251–263
Shannon JC, Pien FM, Cao H, Liu KC (1998) Brittle-1, an adenylate translocator, facilitates trans-
fer of extraplastidial synthesized ADP-glucose into amyloplasts of maize endosperms. Plant
Physiol 117:1235–1252
484 A. Nawaz and M. Farooq

Sharma P, Dubey RS (2005) Drought induces oxidative stress and enhances the activities of anti-
oxidant enzymes in growing rice seedlings. Plant Growth Regul 46:209–221
Shehab GG, Ahmed OK, El-Beltagi HS (2010) Effects of various chemical agents for alleviation
of drought stress in rice plants (Oryza sativa L.). Not Bot Horti Agr Cluj-Napoca 38:139–148
Shi P, Tang L, Wang L, Sun T, Liu L, Cao W, Zhu Y (2015) Post-heading heat stress in rice of south
china during 1981-2010. PLoS One 10:e0130642
Singer M, Berg P (1991) Genes and genomes. A changing perspective . Blackwell Scientific
Publications, Oxford/LondonUniversity Science Books
Steffens B, Geske T, Sauter M (2011) Aerenchyma formation in the rice stem and its promotion by
H2O2. New Phytol 190:369–378
Takahashi M, Nagasawa N, Kitano H, Nagato Y (1998) Panicle phytomer 1 mutations affect the
panicle architecture of rice. Theor Appl Genet 96:1050–1056
Tsuchiya T, Toriyama K, Ejiri S, Hinata K (1994) Molecular characterization of rice genes specifi-
cally expressed in the anther tapetum. Plant Mol Biol 26:1737–1746
Venuprasad R, Impa SM, Vowda Gowda RP, Atlin GN, Serraj R (2011) Rice near-isogenic-lines
(NILs) contrasting for grain yield under lowland drought stress. Field Crop Res 123:38–46
Wang H, Zhang L, Ma J, Li X, Li Y, Zhang R, Wang R (2010) Effect of water stress on reactive
oxygen species generation and protection system in rice during grain-filling stage. Agric Sci
China 9:633–641
Wang Y, Li J (2006) Genes controlling plant architecture. Curr Opin Biotechnol 17:123–129
Waters I, Morrell S, Greenway H, Colmer TD (1991) Effects of anoxia on wheat seedlings.
II. Influence of 02 supply prior to anoxia on tolerance to anoxia, alcoholic fermentation, and
sugar levels. J Exp Bot 42:1437–1447
Wiengweera A, Greenway H, Thomson C (1997) The use of agar nutrient solution to simulate lack
of convection in waterlogged soils. Ann Bot 5:115–123
Wu Y, Wang Q, Ma Y, Chu C (2005) Isolation and expression analysis of salt up-regulated ESTs in
upland rice using PCR-based subtractive suppression hybridization method. Plant Sci
168:847–853
Xia K, Wang R, Ou X, Fang Z, Tian C, Duan J, Wang Y, Zhang M (2012) OsTIR1 and OsAFB2
downregulation via OsmiR393 overexpression leads to more tillers, early flowering and less
tolerance to salt and drought in rice. PLoS One 7:e30039
Xu KN, Mackill DJ (1996) A major locus for submergence tolerance mapped on rice chromosome
9. Mol Breed 2:219–224
Xu K, Xu X, Fukao T, Canlas P, Maghirang-Rodriguez R, Heuer S, Ismail AM, Bailey-Serres J,
Ronald PC, Mackill DJ (2006) Sub1A is an ethylene-response-factor-like gene that confers
submergence tolerance to rice. Nature 442:705–708
Xu M, Zhu L, Shou H, Wu P (2005) A PIN1 family gene, OsPIN1, involved in auxin-dependent
adventitiousroot emergence and tillering in rice. Plant Cell Physiol 46:1674–1681
Yamaguchi T, Nagasawa N, Kawasaki S, Matsuoka M, Nagato Y, Hirano HY (2004) The YABBY
gene DROOPING LEAF regulates carpel specification and midrib development in Oryza
sativa. Plant Cell 16:500–509
Yamauchi T, Rajhi I, Nakazono M (2011) Lysigenous aerenchyma formation in maize root is con-
fined to cortical cells by regulation of genes related to generation and scavenging of reactive
oxygen species. Plant Signal Behav 5:759–761
Yang J, Zhang J, Wang Z, Zhu Q, Wang W (2001) Remobilization of carbon reserves in response
to water deficit during grain filling of rice. Field Crop Res 71:47–55
Yang P, Li X, Wang X, Chen H, Chen F, Shen S (2007) Proteomic analysis of rice (Oryza sativa)
seeds during germination. Proteomics 7:3358–3368
Ye C, Argayoso MA, Redoña ED, Sierra SN, Laza MA, Dilla CJ, Mo Y, Thomson MJ, Chin J,
Delaviña CB, Diaz GQ, Hernandez JE (2012) Mapping QTL for heat tolerance at flowering
stage in rice using SNP markers. Plant Breed 131:33–41
Yoshida S (1981) Fundamentals of rice crop science. International Rice Research Institute Manila,
Los Baños
17  Rice Physiology 485

Yoshida S, Hara T (1977) Effects of air temperature and light on grain filling of an indica and a
japonica rice (Oryza sativa L.) under controlled environmental conditions. Soil Sci Plant Nutr
23:93–107
Zazímalová E, Murphy AS, Yang H, Hoyerová K, Hosek P (2010) Auxin transporters – why so
many? Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2:a001552
Zeng L, Shannon MC (2000) Salinity effects on seedling growth and yield components of rice.
Crop Sci 40:996–1003
Zhang SW, Li CH, Cao J, Zhang YC, Zhang SQ, Xia YF, Sun DY, Sun Y (2009) Altered architec-
ture and enhanced drought tolerance in rice via the down-regulation of indole-3-acetic acid by
TLD1/OsGH3.13 activation. Plant Physiol 151:1889–1901
Zhou BY, Ding ZS, Zhao M (2011) Alleviation of drought stress inhibition on photosynthesis by
overexpression of PEPC in rice. Acta Agron Sin 37:112–118
Zhou L, Xu H, Mischke S, Meinhardt LW, Zhang DP, Zhu XJ, Li XH, Fang WP (2014) Exogenous
abscisic acid significantly affects proteome in tea plant (Camellia sinensis) exposed to drought
stress. Hortic Res 1:1–19
Zhu QH, Ramm K, Shivakkumar R, Dennis ES, Upadhyaya NM (2004) The ANTHER
INDEHISCENCE1 gene encoding a single MYB domain protein is involved in another devel-
opment in rice. Plant Physiol 135:1514–1525
Chapter 18
Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production

Akshaya K. Biswal, Md. Shamim, Kevin Cruzado, Gericho Soriano,

Abhijit Ghatak, MitchellRey Toleco, and Prashant Vikram

18.1  Introduction

Rice is the most important cereal crop and a firmly established model plant for
­scientists. Recent advances in molecular biology and omics research have dramati-
cally changed our capability for gene discovery and functional genomics of rice. A
holistic “snapshot” of a rice cell can be obtained with transcript and metabolite
profiling. With the recent advances in phenomics research, one can easily expose a
germplasm to diverse field environments in a more integrative approach capturing
whole-­plant adaptation and trait diversity. Ultimately, the genetic control for spe-
cific component traits can be investigated with a reductionist approach in controlled
environments (Dingkuhn et al. 2015). With revolutionary progress in systems biol-
ogy and molecular techniques, functions of cohorts of genes and their regulation are
being predicted, validated, and implemented for improvement of rice cultivars.
Rice provides 31 % of all food energy consumed in Asia, 8 % in Africa, and 11 %
in Latin America (ILSI International Food Biotechnology Committee 2008). Rice
cultivation is a major socioeconomical and even political activity in many Asian

A.K. Biswal
Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
M. Shamim • A. Ghatak
Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour Bhagalpur, Bihar, India, 813210
K. Cruzado • G. Soriano
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Santo Tomas,
Manila, Philippines
M. Toleco
International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Philippines
P. Vikram (*)
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), El Batan, Mexico
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 487

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_18
488 A.K. Biswal et al.

countries. More than 50  % of the population of China, Thailand, and Vietnam
directly or indirectly depend on rice for their food and livelihood.
Demand for rice continues to increase due to the ever increasing rice consumer base.
However, the present rate of increase in rice production (2000–2009) has slowed down
(1.21 %) when compared to previous decades (2.49 % in 1970–1990, 1.7 % in 1990–
2000) due to various biotic and abiotic stresses (Khush and Jena 2009). The integration
of recent molecular tools to classical rice breeding programs offers substantial opportu-
nities toward breaking the yield barrier. Molecular markers have been utilized for long
time through (i) marker-assisted selection (MAS) strategies for germplasm improve-
ment and novel cultivar development, (ii) gene pyramiding for accumulating multiple
genes for resistance to specific or family of pathogens and pests, (iii) examining allelic
diversity in natural populations or breeding material and association mapping of genomic
regions related to the desired traits, and (iv) providing DNA fingerprinting barcodes to
diverse genotypes for plant variety protection. Candidate gene-based functional markers
can be used for precision breeding. The “advanced backcross QTL analysis” and “exotic
libraries” are other approaches that increase the efficiency of harnessing natural biodi-
versity to improve yield, adaptation, and quality of elite germplasm.
The exponential development in genomics, next-generation sequencing (NGS),
and associated DNA technologies in recent years represents a quantum leap in our
molecular understanding of important plant breeding traits. Advanced marker tech-
nologies, such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or more recently the
paradigm shift with microarray, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), and chromatin
immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) techniques, open a totally new hori-
zon to improve the efficiency of breeding programs. Powerful reverse genetic strate-
gies allow the detection of induced point mutations in individuals of the mutagenized
populations. It can address the major challenge of linking sequence information to
the biological function of genes and can also identify novel variation for plant
breeding. Multiple rice mutant resources that are key tools for functional analysis of
genes have been developed and are available in public domain (Hirochika et  al.
2004). A searchable FST database, which contains 55,000 mutant lines with func-
tions of gene trap and gene knockout and activation tagging, is available at the
Taiwan Rice Insertional Mutant (TRIM) website (http://trim.sinica.edu.tw/). The
available mutant seeds are provided upon request (Hsing et al. 2007).
DNA markers have enormous potential to improve the efficiency and precision
of conventional plant breeding via MAS. DNA markers have been used in almost all
aspects of rice improvement. Application of MAS in rice breeding can be broadly
classified into marker-assisted evaluation of breeding material, marker-assisted
backcrossing, pyramiding, early generation selection, and combined MAS
­(strategical combination of phenotypic screening with MAS), although there may
be overlap between these categories (Collard and Mackill 2008).
Various plant tissue culture techniques have been applied for crop improvement
for more than 30 years. While in vitro fertilization can be used to avoid physiological
incompatibility in both interspecific and intergeneric crosses, embryo rescue tech-
nique has been utilized against post-zygotic embryo abortion due to poor ­endosperm
development (International Rice Research Institute 2013). Unique hybrid plants,
which cannot be produced by conventional sexual hybridization methods, can be
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 489

generated using protoplast fusion. These techniques provide opportunity to utilize

genetic resources from distant relatives of rice. Similarly double haploid plants are
highly important for geneticists to study the recessive gene functions and for plant
breeders in terms of generating homozygous breeding lines within no time.
Genetic engineering, an important avenue for enhancing sustainable productivity in
agriculture, transcends the reproductive or phylogenetic barriers facilitating precise
transfer of traits. Several transgenic rice lines have been developed for biotic/abiotic
stress resistance, herbicide tolerance, and improvement of nutritional value as well as
to improve the quality of rice grains (Endo et  al. 2007). Rapid improvement in the
genetic engineering techniques such as “marker-free transgenics” and targeted genome
engineering using TALENs and CRISPR/Cas9 system provide better scope for intro-
duction of new genetic material to the targeted location in the genome. Modern bio-
technology tools have complemented to conventional trait-­based selection approach to
accelerate the rice improvement in several programs which are discussed below.

18.2  Improving Nutrition and Quality

Micronutrient malnutrition or hidden hunger is a serious health problem worldwide,

particularly in the developing countries. Micronutrients, often referred as vitamins
and minerals, are required in minor quantities to produce enzymes, hormones, and
other substances that are essential for growth and development. Absence of these
micronutrients poses severe consequences in the overall growth and development of
the human body. Humans obtain micronutrients from the food chain. Deficiencies
occur when people do not get access to micronutrient-rich food items such as fruits,
vegetables, animal products, and fortified food due to their high costs. With a large
part of the world’s population living on less than two dollars a day, staple crops such
as rice play the key role in providing the daily micronutrient needs. Rice is the pre-
dominant dietary energy source for 17 countries in Asia and the Pacific, 9 countries
in North and South America, and 8 countries in Africa (Hegde and Hegde 2013). It
supplies 30 % of the total dietary energy supply in the world. The milled rice grains
contain low levels of iron, folate, zinc, provitamin A, and vitamin E.  Previous
attempts tried supplementation and fortification-based interventions to furnish the
much needed micronutrients in cereals and other crops. In spite of the sizable suc-
cess, such interventions failed to eradicate the problem because of laborious under-
taking and expensive distribution logistics. Other factors such as mismanagement,
underfunding, and poor compliance that arises due to economic crisis and political
turmoil make such type of interventions unsustainable.
Biofortification takes advantage of the regular daily intake of staple food by all
family members. It targets low-income household and hard to reach areas with l­ imited
access to commercially available fortified foods. Biofortification aims to develop rice
cultivars with abundant vitamin and mineral nutrients through traditional plant
­breeding methods and transgenic approaches. Genomic-based strategies have been
applied to identify functional profile of candidate genes that will allow the ­development
of nutrient-rich rice cultivars. Multiple genes associated with production and storage
490 A.K. Biswal et al.

of micronutrients into the rice endosperm can be integrated into a single rice cultivar
to produce a high micronutrient density variety. Biofortification can also give rise to
superior rice varieties with combined high micronutrient density and high yield traits.
Recent advancement in the field of gene discovery and biotechnology makes such
interventions feasible and cost effective. Once biofortified crops are developed, there
are no other recurring costs except those involved in maintenance breeding.

18.2.1  Iron and Zinc Content

Iron, zinc, and vitamin A deficiency are recognized as the most common forms of
micronutrient deficiency. Iron deficiency alone affects about 2 billion people, and
vitamin A deficiency affects at least 100 million children each year, of which 1.3–
2.5 million die and over 0.25 million suffer permanent health defects such as blind-
ness. Nearly 30 % of the world’s population may face the risk of iodine deficiency.
Inadequate diet owing to poverty is the most important reason for zinc deficiency
that diminishes appetite and adversely affects the immune response. The polished
rice contains an average of only 2 parts per million (ppm) iron (Fe) and 12 ppm of
zinc (Zn) (International Rice Research Institute 2006). Several screening studies
have been undertaken to identify rice cultivars with higher iron and zinc content
(Anuradha et al. 2012; Sardar et al. 2015; Jahan et al. 2013).

18.2.1.1  Marker-Assisted Breeding

Initial germplasm screening and field evaluation of breeding lines from Korea,
Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines has shown that iron and zinc con-
tent in polished rice can be increased by a factor of 2–4 (International Rice Research
Institute 2006). Jalmagna, a traditional floating rice variety of Eastern India, has
almost double the iron concentration of IR64 as well as nearly 40  % more zinc.
Madhukar, a popular variety in some rainfed and deepwater areas of Eastern India,
had slightly high iron density and very high zinc density. Other known zinc-efficient
rice varieties that can be exploited for zinc or iron content through breeding include
Kuatik Putih, Bille Kagga, Getu, Zuchem, and Xua Bue Nuo.
Three groups of genes were found to be associated with the high-iron trait. These
groups of genes were located on chromosomes 7, 8, and 9 and explained 19–30 %
of the variation in iron content. Permanent mapping populations of F8 recombinant
inbred lines (RILs) were developed to map high-iron and high-zinc traits.

18.2.1.2  Transgenic Research

Iron concentration was observed to be significantly correlated with zinc concentra-

tion (Anuradha et al. 2012). Although concentration of these trace minerals is mod-
erately affected by soil properties and weather, breeding for higher iron and zinc
content can be done side by side (Vasconcelos et al. 2003).
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 491

The entire coding sequence of soybean endosperm-specific ferritin gene was

transferred into Oryza sativa (L.) cv. Kitaake to improve iron content in rice (Goto
et al. 1999). Ferritin is an intracellular protein present in all organisms responsible
for storing iron and releasing it in a controlled manner when needed (http://www.
chemistry.wustl.edu/). In a different study, the human lactoferrin gene was expressed
in rice for higher bioavailability (Nandi et al. 2002). Human lactoferrin is the major
iron-binding protein in breast milk. Its expression in transgenic rice was stable for
more than five generation. However, expression of lactoferrin was able to only dou-
ble the iron content in rice grains unlike two- to threefold increase observed in the
soybean ferritin expression (Lonnerdal 2003).
In another attempt, the ferritin (pfe) gene from Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean)
was introduced into rice along with two other genes – Aspergillus fumigatus phytase
(phyA) and an endogenous cysteine-rich metallothionein-like (rgMT) protein (Lucca
and Hurrell 2001). Cysteine peptides formed in the digestive system enhance iron
absorption, while the enzyme phytase hydrolyzes phytic acid. Phytic acid present in
plant seeds chelates multivalent metal ions such as iron and zinc forming insoluble salts
with low bioavailability (Zhou and Erdman 1995). Resulting seeds of the transgenic
rice showed sevenfold increase in cysteine residues and 130-fold increase in phytase
level. Further study by Hong et al. (2004) in Taiwan showed the potential of increasing
phytase in transgenic rice by the incorporation of two bacterial genes derived from
ruminal bacterium Selenomonas ruminantium (SrPf6) and Escherichia coli (appA).
The expressions of these genes produce phytases highly active under broad pH ranges
of 3.0–5.5 and 2.0–6.0 and with optimal temperature at 55 and 60 °C, respectively.
Overexpression of MxIRT1, a ferrous transporter from an iron-efficient genotype of the
apple tree, Malus xiaojinensis, showed active transport of iron (Tan et  al. 2015a).
Concerted expression of AtIRT1, AtNAS1, and PvFERRITIN synergistically increased
iron in both polished and unpolished rice grains (Boonyaves et al. 2015).

18.2.2  Vitamin A

Many countries with a high prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) rely on rice
as a major source of energy. Rice does not contain β-carotene, the direct precursor
of vitamin A. Existing rice cultivars are not capable of accumulating provitamin A
in the grain. Germplasm screening conducted by various rice institutions and private
companies showed that there are no cultivars of rice that can be used as parental line
for vitamin A biofortification using traditional breeding methods. Key pathway
enzymes in β-carotene synthesis are only expressed in the vegetative tissues of rice
plants. However, immature rice endosperm is capable of synthesizing the early
intermediate of β-carotene called geranylgeranyl diphosphate. While this isopren-
oid precursor is synthesized in the endosperm, conversion of this to β-carotene
requires the enzyme phytoene synthase along with three other plant enzymes – phy-
toene desaturase and ξ-carotene desaturase, each catalyzing the establishment of
double bonds, and lycopene β-cyclase, encoded by the lcy gene.
The engineering of biosynthetic pathway of provitamin A (β-carotene) into the rice
endosperm was first reported by Xudong Ye and his colleagues in 2000 (Ye and
492 A.K. Biswal et al.

Al-Babili 2000) (Table 18.2). Since immature rice endosperm is capable to produce
the precursor of β-carotene, geranylgeranyl diphosphate, genetic engineering was
used to introduce other key enzymes needed in β-carotene synthesis pathway. The
phytoene synthase (psy) gene was introduced through Agrobacterium-­mediated trans-
formation to convert geranylgeranyl diphosphate to phytoene, the immediate precur-
sor of β-carotene in plants. In Golden Rice 1, the phytoene desaturase and ξ-carotene
desaturase, involved in catalyzing the introduction of two double bonds, were replaced
by a bacterial carotene desaturase (crtI), which was capable of introducing all four
double bonds. Golden Rice 2 was developed with homologs of the same genes that
were used in Golden Rice 1 and encode enzymes with similar activities. The psy gene
for Golden Rice 2 was isolated from maize, while it came from daffodil (Narcissus
pseudonareissus) for Golden Rice 1 (Paine et al. 2005).
Golden Rice 2 had an increase in total carotenoids of up to 23-fold (maximum 37
μg/g) compared to Golden Rice 1 and a preferential accumulation of β-carotene,
resulting to a deep orange color (Paine et al. 2005). With significantly higher level
of β-carotene, the consumption of Golden Rice 2 in typical quantities may provide
adequate daily intake of vitamin A in countries in which rice is a staple food, assum-
ing cooking losses of β-carotene are not excessive. If approved for human consump-
tion, Golden Rice 2 could provide adequate levels of vitamin A to large populations
that are currently at risk for VAD. Golden Rice 2 may also be useful even for popu-
lations where rice is a smaller dietary component.

18.3  Improvement of Abiotic Stress Resistance

Global environmental changes (GEC) have posed a threat to rice production.

Various abiotic stresses such as drought, flooding, soil salinization, extremely low
and high temperatures, and other adverse environmental conditions result in major
loss to rice yield. Though high-yielding varieties are mostly susceptible, wide vari-
ation exists in rice gene pool, which is being utilized to improve the cultivated
varieties.

18.3.1  Drought

Drought is a complex physiological phenomenon of widespread significance for

agriculture. It is among the most severe factors which affect rice yield and grain
quality. It has been termed as the single most common cause of severe food scarcity
in developing countries. From agronomic point of view, drought is a period when
soil moisture is inadequate to meet the demands for crops to initiate and sustain
plant growth. In rainfed areas, upon failure of rain or a long interval between two
rains, drought stress can occur at the seedling, vegetative, or reproductive stage of
the rice crop, and it can also be intermittent depending upon the rainfall pattern and
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 493

distribution. In fact, drought often has neither a distinct start nor end. The reproduc-
tive stage drought has been identified as the most detrimental to grain yield (O’Toole
1982) and a short period of drought during this stage can lead to substantial yield
loss.
Poor water management, increased competition for limited water resources, and
the uncertain threats associated with global warming all highlight the looming water
crisis that threatens agricultural productivity worldwide. More than 23 million ha
(20 %) of the total rice area in Asia is subjected to drought of different intensities
(Pandey and Bhandari 2009; Pandey et al. 2007). Development and dissemination
of a climate-smart drought-tolerant rice varieties can increase the annual rice pro-
duction up to 6 million tons worth US$ 3.3 billion (Mottaleb et al. 2016). Hence,
there is an urgent need to develop climate-resilient rice cultivars, which can give
higher yield under drought and boost the income of resource poor farmers.
Drought resistance includes drought escape (DE) via a short life cycle or devel-
opmental plasticity; drought avoidance (DA) via enhanced water uptake and reduced
water loss; drought tolerance (DT) via osmotic adjustment (OA), antioxidant capac-
ity, and desiccation tolerance; and drought recovery (DR) mainly through high veg-
etative vigor (Chang et al. 1986) (Fig. 18.1). Different rice varieties use different
physicochemical methods that again vary at different developmental stages (Tripathy
et  al. 2000).The ability to maintain water uptake during drought appears to be a
major attribute that confers increased drought resistance on traditional rice varieties,
and hence increased rooting depth and density would increase the capacity to extract
available water. Chang et al. (Chang et al. 1986) found that rice cultivars with deep
root systems avoided drought better than those with more shallow root systems. The
ability to resist the adverse effect of drought has also been reported to be directly
proportional to the density and concentration of root development in wheat (Hurd
1964). Application of molecular markers and high-density SNP genotyping array to
look for parental polymorphism and root-specific gene expression can be exploited
for drought tolerance of rice (Chen et al. 2014).

18.3.1.1  Marker-Assisted Breeding

Progress in breeding for drought resistance has been slow mainly due to a wide
range of water stress environments found in rice-growing areas, difference in time,
intensity, and hydrology of drought. Furthermore, drought stress is accompanied by
other stresses like high temperature and nutrient deficiencies, which further compli-
cate the breeding efforts. Traditional varieties, N22, Laloo 14, Brown gora, Birsa
gora, Dular, etc., are known to have high drought tolerance. However, most of these
lines are early in duration and carry unfavorable linkage drag. On the other hand,
some released varieties, such as Annada and Vandana in India and Apo and PSBRc82
and PSBRc68 in the Philippines, possess good drought tolerance.
Conventional breeding for drought tolerance in rice has met with little success
(Fukai and Cooper 1995) due to the polygenic nature of the phenomenon with low
heritability and high G×E interaction (Zhang and Creelman 2004; McWilliam 1989;
494 A.K. Biswal et al.

Ingram and Bartels 1996). With recent advances in marker-assisted selection,

­several international and national programs working on rice have generated system-
atic programs to develop effective drought-tolerant cultivars. Over the past decade,
many drought researchers have shifted to direct selection of large-effect QTLs for
higher grain yield (GY) under drought stress against the earlier thought that herita-
bility (H) of yield under drought stress might be low. Most of these programs evalu-
ate advanced lines under both drought stress and irrigated control situations to select
lines combining high yield under both situations. However, proper drought-­
phenotyping protocols for inducing an appropriate level of drought stress in screen-
ing experiments that result in a clear differentiation of drought-tolerant and
drought-susceptible lines still need improvement and standardization.
Drought is an ideal trait for improvement through MAS though it has been dif-
ficult to be managed through conventional phenotypic selection. The recent prog-
ress made in the field of genomics offers new opportunities to dissect QTLs for
drought tolerance. Initial approaches included the secondary physiological traits as
the targets for selection. Significant genetic variability has been found in the root-­
associated traits, especially root morphology and ability to penetrate compact soil
layers (Nguyen and Joshi 1994). Several QTLs associated with different parameters
of rice root morphology, i.e., root length, thickness, root/shoot ratio, root dry weight
per tiller, deep root dry weight per tiller, maximum root length, and root penetration

Escape Early
flowering
/Short
Changing life growth
duration
cycle

Leaf
Closing glaucousness
stomata
Recovery
Vegetative
Leaf rolling growth vigor
Minimizing
the water Drought
loss
resistance
Senescense
of older
leaves Avoidance Tolerance
desiccation
Preventing the Neutralizing tolerance

exposure to the effects of

stress stress
Increased Maximizing
root the water
prolifferation Scavanging
uptake
ROS
Osmotic
adjustment

Deeper
roots

Fig. 18.1  Schematic mechanism of drought resistance in rice

18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 495

ability, have been identified (Champoux et al. 1995; Price et al. 2000; Steele et al.
2006). A study on RILs developed from a cross between Co39 and Moroborekan
showed that osmotic adjustment and dehydration tolerance were negatively con-
nected with root morphological characters associated with drought avoidance
(Lilley et al. 1996). Shen et al. (2001) conducted a marker-assisted backcross breed-
ing program to transfer the deeper root alleles of Azucena into the elite high-­yielding
cultivar IR64. QTLs for drought avoidance using other traits have also been
explored. Courtois et al. (2000) also identified 42 QTLs for drought-related traits in
rice among which 11 were for leaf rolling, 10 for leaf drying, 11 for relative water
content, and 10 for relative growth rate under stress. Due to the complex polygenic
nature of drought resistance, major QTLs have been considered for effective toler-
ance. Obara et al. (2010) mapped a major QTL qRL6.1 for root length, on chromo-
some 6 in rice seedlings. Steele et al. (2006) improved the root morphological traits
of Indian upland rice cultivar Kalinga III through marker-assisted backcross breed-
ing with Azucena, an upland japonica variety from the Philippines.
The identification of QTLs with a major effect on grain yield raises new hopes of
improving grain yield under drought through marker-assisted breeding (Table 18.1).
The first large-effect QTL, qDTY12.1, for grain yield under reproductive-stage drought
was reported in the Vandana/Way Rarem population explaining nearly 51% of the
genetic variance (Bernier et al. 2009, 2007; Dixit et al. 2015). Major QTLs have also
been reported for grain yield under lowland drought stress explaining 32 and 36 % of
the genetic variance (Kumar et al. 2007; Venuprasad et al. 2009). Another major QTL
for grain yield under reproductive-stage drought stress (qDTY1.1) showed an additive
effect of 29.3 %, 24.3 %, and 16.1 % on mean yield in N22/Swarna, N22/IR64, and
N22/MTU1010, respectively (Vikram et al. 2011). It also showed a positive effect on
GY in non-stress situations. The grain yield under reproductive-stage drought stress of
popular rice varieties Vandana and IR64 has been successfully improved through
identification of large-effect QTLs (qDTY2.2, qDTY4.1, qDTY9.1, qDTY10.1, and
qDTY12.1) and marker-assisted backcross breeding (Mishra et al. 2013; Swamy et al.
2013). Direct selection of GY under drought has led to the successful development
and release of 17 high-yielding drought-tolerant rice varieties in South Asia, Southeast
Asia, and Africa as well as 14 QTLs showing a large effect against high-yielding
drought-susceptible popular varieties (Kumar et al. 2014).

18.3.1.2  Transgenic Research

While molecular biologists are gathering more and more information about the
mechanism of drought tolerance, information regarding transgenic rice lines that
show increased drought stress tolerance is being generated fast (Table 18.2).
However, molecular basis underlying the improved drought tolerance of these trans-
genic rice plants remains largely unclear. Most of the transgenic lines have been
developed by expressing transcription factors or other genes targeting secondary
traits like root system architecture (RSA), water use efficiency (WUE), antioxidants
and other metabolites, etc.
Table 18.1  List of QTLs that have been used in rice crop improvement
496

QTL Function Cross References

Abiotic stress tolerance
qDTY12.1 Controls grain yield under Vandana and Way Rarem Bernier et al.
reproductive-­stage drought stress (2009), Bernier
et al. (2007)
qDTY1.1 Controls grain yield under N22 crossed with Swarna, IR64, and MTU1010 Vikram et al.
reproductive-­stage drought stress (2011)
qDTY2.2, qDTY4.1, Major-effect QTL for improved grain IR64 and Aday Sel Swamy et al.
qDTY9.1, and qDTY10.1 yield under drought stress (2013)
qSKC-1 Controls rice salt tolerance Nona Bokra and susceptible japonica, Koshihikari Lin et al. (2004)
qSNC-7 Controls rice salt tolerance Nona Bokra and susceptible japonica, Koshihikari Lin et al. (2004)
Saltol Controls Na/K ratio and seedling- Pokkali and IR29 (indica) Gregorio (1997)
stage salinity tolerance
Sub1 Controls submergence tolerance Submergence-tolerant indica line (IR40931-26) and susceptible Xu et al. (2006)
japonica line (P1543851)
qRL6.1 Major QTL for root length; promoted Koshihikari (japonica) and Kasalath (indica) Obara et al. (2016)
root elongation under a range of
NH4+ concentrations
QTL 2 Increased root penetration and deep Bala/Azucena RIL Steele et al. (2013)
root weight under well-­watered
conditions
QTL 7 Increased root weight parameters and Bala/Azucena RIL Steele et al. (2013)
maximum root length
QTL 9 Increased deep root thickness under Bala/Azucena RIL Steele et al. (2013)
both well-watered and drought
conditions
QTL 11 Increased root length and root Bala/Azucena RIL Steele et al. (2013)
penetration
A.K. Biswal et al.
Biotic stress tolerance
pif Rice blast resistance Lemont and Jasmine 85 Jia and Liu (2011)
qSB-11 Sheath blight resistance Lemont and Jasmine 85 Liu et al. (2009)
qStv1, qStv 7, and qStv11 RSV resistance Kinmaze and DV85 Ding et al. (2004)
qSTV7 RSV resistance Nipponbare/Kasalath/Nipponbare Zhang et al. (2011)
qSTV11KAS RSV resistance Nipponbare/Kasalath/Nipponbare Zhang et al. (2011)
qBph4.2 Brown planthopper (Bph) resistance Zhenshan 97 and IR65482-17 (Oryza australiensis) Hu et al. (2015)
Yield trait improvement
pn4 Controls panicle number Junambyeo and introgressed indica IR71033-121-15 Rahman et al.
(2008)
pn6 Controls panicle number Junambyeo and introgressed indica IR71033-121-15 Rahman et al.
(2008)
qPN2 Controls panicle number Three MAGIC populations from elite indica lines (DC1, DC2, Meng et al. (2016)
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production

and 8 way)
Ghd7 Controls grain per panicle, plant Zhenshan 97 and ZS(tq7) near-isogenic lines Xue et al. (2008)
height, and heading date
Ghd8 Controls grain per panicle, plant Zhenshan 97 (ZS) and HR5 Yan et al. (2011)
height, and heading date
DTH8 Controls yield, plant height, and CSSL61 and Asominori Wei et al. (2010)
flowering time
GW2 Controls rice grain width and weight WY3 (japonica) and Song et al. (2007)
Fengaizhan-1 (high-quality elite indica)
GS3 Major QTL for grain length and size; Minghui 63 (large grain) and Chuan 7 (small grain) Fan et al. (2009)
minor QTL for width and thickness in
rice
GIF1 Controls grain filling gif1 and Zhenshan97 (indica) Wang et al. (2008)
497
Table 18.2  List of genes characterized or used for rice improvement
498

Gene Category Source species Phenotype Function References

Nutrition and quality
Soybean ferritin Ferritin Glycine max High iron content Increased iron content in Goto et al. (1999)
the rice endosperm
HLF Human lactoferrin Human High iron content Increased iron content in Nandi et al. (2002)
the rice endosperm
Pfe Ferritin Phaseolus vulgaris High iron content Increased iron content in Lucca and Hurrell
the rice endosperm (2001)
phyA Phytase Aspergillus Decreased phytic Increase iron Lucca and Hurrell
fumigatus acid in simulated bioavailability (2001)
small intestine
condition
rgMT Cysteine-rich metallothionein-­ Oryza sativa Increase in content Increased iron absorption Lucca and Hurrell
like protein cysteine residues (2001)
SrPf6 Phytase Selenomonas High phytase Hydrolyzes phosphate Hong et al. (2004)
ruminantium activity over broad from phytate
pH ranges
appA Phytase Escherichia coli High phytase Hydrolyzes phosphate Hong et al. (2004)
activity over broad from phytate
pH ranges
MxIRT1 Ferrous transporter Malus xiaojinensis High iron content Active transport of iron Tan et al. (2015b)
AtIRT1 Iron-regulated transporter Arabidopsis thaliana High iron content; Active transport of iron Boonyaves et al.
accumulation of Cu (2015)
and Zn, but not Mn
AtNAS1 Nicotianamine synthase Arabidopsis thaliana High iron content Biosynthesis of Boonyaves et al.
phytosiderophores (2015)
(mugineic acid family) for
iron uptake
PvFERRITIN Ferritin Phaseolus vulgaris High iron content Boonyaves et al. (2015)
A.K. Biswal et al.
Psy Phytoene synthase Narcissus Increased Conversion of Paine et al. (2005)
pseudonarcissus provitamin A geranylgeranyl
diphosphate to phytoene
crtI Bacterial phytoene desaturase Erwinia uredovora Increased Introduction of double Ye and Al-Babili
provitamin A bonds to phytoene (2000)
pinA, Puroindolines Chinese spring Grain texture Grain softness Krishnamurthy and
pinB wheat Giroux (2001)
Abiotic stress tolerance
SNAC1 NAC transcription factor Oryza sativa Drought and salinity Water use efficiency Hu et al. (2006)
tolerance
OsbZIP23 Basic leucine zipper (bZIP) Oryza sativa Drought and salinity Transcriptional regulator Xiang et al. (2008)
transcription factor tolerance through an ABA-­
dependent regulation
pathway
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production

DREB1A Transcription factor Arabidopsis thaliana Drought tolerance Drought-responsive Datta et al. (2012)
element
DREB1C Transcription factor Arabidopsis thaliana Drought tolerance Drought-responsive Ishizaki et al. (2013)
element
OsLEA3-1 LEA protein Oryza sativa Drought resistance LEA Xiao et al. (2007)
for yield in the field
MnSOD Manganese superoxide Pisum sativum Drought tolerance Antioxidant enzyme Wang et al. (2005)
dismutase
ZmPPDK Kinase Zea mays Drought tolerance C4 photosynthesis Gu and Qiu (2013)
ZmPCK Kinase Zea mays Drought tolerance C4 photosynthesis Gu and Qiu (2013)
OsCPK4 Calcium-dependent protein Oryza sativa Drought and salinity Protection of lipid Campo et al. (2014)
kinase tolerance peroxidation
OsSIK1 Receptor-like kinase Oryza sativa Drought and salinity Abiotic stress and the Ouyang et al. (2010)
tolerance senescence process
(continued)
499
Table 18.2 (continued)
500

Gene Category Source species Phenotype Function References

OsSIK2 Receptor-like kinase Oryza sativa Drought and salinity Abiotic stress and the Chen et al. (2013)
tolerance senescence process
CodA Choline oxidase Arthrobacter Salt stress tolerance Conversion of choline to Mohanty et al. (2002)
globiformis glycine betaine
OsCDPK7 Calcium-dependent protein Oryza sativa Salt stress tolerance Ca2+-stimulated protein Saijo et al. (2000)
kinase phosphorylation
HVA1 LEA protein Barley Salt/drought Confers cell membrane D et al. (1996)
tolerance protection from damages
caused by water limitation
OsSOS1 Plasma membrane Na+/H+ Oryza sativa Salt tolerance Proton pumps, antiporters, Martinez-Atienza
exchanger and ion transporters et al. (2007)
pdc1 Pyruvate decarboxylase Oryza sativa Submergence Conversion of pyruvate to Rahman (2001)
tolerance acetaldehyde during
alcohol fermentation;
enhanced metabolic
capacity under
anaerobiosis
adh1, adh2 Alcohol dehydrogenase Cotton Submergence Conversion of Rahman (2001), Xie
tolerance acetaldehyde to ethanol and Wu (1989)
during alcohol
fermentation
NtPT1 Phosphate transporter Rice Phosphate Proton pumps, antiporters, Park et al. (2007)
acquisition and ion transporters
Biotic stress resistance
Pi-d2 Transmembrane receptor Rice variety Digu Wide-spectrum Rice blast resistance gene Chen et al. (2010)
protein kinase resistance to rice
blast strains
A.K. Biswal et al.
Pi54 Coiled-coil, nucleotide-binding Indian rice cultivar Resistance to blast Class of R genes and the Wang et al. (2014a)
site and leucine-rich repeats HR22 protein activates several
downstream defense-­
related pathways upon
pathogen attack
Cht-2 and Cht-3 Chitinase Rice Enhanced resistance Chitin breakdown; PR Nishizawa et al.
against protein; rice blast (1999)
Magnaporthe grisea resistance gene
StSy Antitoxin gene Vitis vinifera Resistance to blast Stilbene synthase; Stark-Lorenzen et al.
phytoalexin trans-­ (1997)
resveratrol synthesis
Alfalfa glucanase Chitinase-glucanase Alfalfa and rice Resistance to blast Glucan and chitin Daorong et al. (1999)
and rice basic breakdown; enhanced
chitinase resistance to Pyricularia
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production

oryzae
Trichosanthin Type I ribosome-inactivating Trichosanthes Resistance to blast Protein synthesis inhibitor Ming et al. (2000)
protein (RIP) kirilowii Maxim
WT1 Phytoalexin Wasabia Resistance to blast Antimicrobial peptide Kanzaki et al. (2002)
japonica
Dm-AMP Defensin Dahlia merckii Rice blast/sheath Antimicrobial peptide Jha et al. (2009)
blight resistance
Tlp Thaumatin-like protein Rice Rice blast/sheath PR protein Kalpana et al. (2006)
blight resistance
Xa21 Serine-threonine kinase Oryza sativa Rice blast/sheath Confers resistance to Zhai et al. (2004),
blight/bacterial Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Zhai et al. (2000)
blight resistance oryzae (Xoo)
N RHBV nucleocapsid protein Rice hoja blanca RHBV resistance RNA-mediated resistance Lentini et al. (2003)
virus (RHBV) to RHBV
(continued)
501
Table 18.2 (continued)
502

Gene Category Source species Phenotype Function References

CP RTBV coat protein Rice tungro RTBV/RTSV Confers RTBV/RTSV Ganesan et al. (2009)
bacilliform virus resistance resistance in rice with
(RTBV) integrated transgene
cryIA(b), cryIA(c), Cry group endotoxin Bacillus Resistance to insect Endotoxin-mediated Tu et al. (2000), Chen
and cry1Ab/Ac thuringiensis pest (leaf folder and disruption of apical cell et al. (2011)
yellow stem borer) membrane and osmotic
process of insect pests
OC-IΔD86 Oryzacystatin-IΔD86 Rice Resistance to Cysteine proteinase Vain et al. (1998)
Meloidogyne inhibitor
Chi11 Chitinase Rice Resistance to sheath Chitin breakdown Maruthasalam and
blight and BLB Kalpana (2007)
Ace-AMP1 ns-LTP-like protein Allium cepa Resistance to both Antimicrobial protein Patkar and Chattoo
fungal and bacterial (2006)
pathogens
Dm-AMP1 Antimicrobial protein Dahlia merckii Resistance to sheath Antifungal activity Jha et al. (2009)
blight
Yield traits
OsTB1 Putative HLH TF Rice Increased no. of Negative regulator of Takeda et al. (2003)
tillers lateral branching
OsmiR393 MicroRNA Rice Increased no. of Targets auxin receptor Xia et al. (2012)
tillers homologs
OsmiR397 MicroRNA Rice Increased no. of Targets auxin receptor Zhang et al. (2013)
tillers homologs
LRK1 Leucine-rich repeat receptor-­ Dongxiang wild rice Higher grain Plasma membrane protein; Zha et al. (2009)
like kinase 1 number per plant regulates rice branch
number by enhancing
cellular proliferation
A.K. Biswal et al.
OsLSK1, Large spike S-domain Rice Improved grain Plasma membrane protein Zou et al. (2015)
OXOsLSK1-t-3, receptor-like kinase 1 and yield
and OXOsLSK1-t-4 truncated large spike S-domain
receptor-like kinase 1
OsSPL14 Squamosa promoter-binding Rice Increase in branch Promotes panicle Miura et al. (2010)
protein-like 14 and grain number branching and higher grain
yield in rice; controls shoot
branching in the vegetative
stage
Herbicide resistance
Bar Bialaphos resistance Streptomyces Herbicide tolerance Detoxification of Kumar et al. (2008)
hygroscopicus glufosinates
EPSPS Enolpyruvylshikimate-3-­ Agrobacterium sp. Glyphosate Aromatic amino acid Kumar et al. (2008)
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production

phosphate synthase CP4 tolerance biosynthesis via shikimate

pathway
Protox Protoporphyrinogen oxidase Bacillus subtilis Diphenyl ether Heme and chlorophyll Jung et al. (2004)
(DPE) herbicide biosynthesis; oxyfluorfen
tolerance detoxification
CYP1A1, CYP2B2, Cytochrome p450 Human Enhanced Metabolizes xenobiotics in Kawahigashi et al.
and CYP2C19 chlorotoluron and mammals; enhanced (2007), Kumar et al.
norflurazon herbicide metabolism in (2012)
metabolism plants; soil detoxification
by phytoremediation
Other traits
PEPC, PPDK, C4 enzymes Maize Improvement in C4 photosynthesis Kajala et al. (2011)
NADP-ME, and photosynthesis
NADP-MDH
503
504 A.K. Biswal et al.

There are several reports that transgenic rice plants show higher grain yields than
their wild relatives under drought treatment. The increase in grain yield of the
­transgenic plants has mainly been attributed to larger panicle sizes and higher tiller
numbers (Todaka et  al. 2015).Transcription factors have been suggested to play
important roles in the regulation or reprogramming of the gene expression associ-
ated with plant stress responses. Overexpression of a NAC (NAM, ATAF and CUC)
transcription factor SNAC1 significantly enhanced drought resistance in transgenic
rice (22–34 % higher seed setting than control) in the field under severe drought
stress conditions at the vegetative and reproductive stage without showing any
­phenotypic changes or yield penalty (Hu et al. 2006). Similarly, overexpression of
OsNAC6 in rice plants was observed to increase tolerance to drought and salinity
stresses (Nakashima et  al. 2007). Overexpression of transcriptional regulators
OsbZIP23 and OsbZIP16 that function through an ABA-dependent regulatory path-
way resulted in transgenic rice plants with enhanced tolerance to drought and salin-
ity stresses (Chen et al. 2012; Xiang et al. 2008). Transgenic rice plants expressing
AtDREB1A under the control of the stress-inducible RD29 promoter and AtDREB1C
driven by a stress-inducible rice lip9 promoter showed higher tolerance to dehydra-
tion (Datta et al. 2012; Ishizaki et al. 2013).
Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are important stress-inducible pro-
teins involved in cellular protection against stresses (Hong and Uknes 1988).
Transgenic rice plants expressing different LEA proteins showed increased toler-
ance to drought and salinity stresses (Xu et al. 1996; Xiao et al. 2007; Duan 2012).
ABA-signaling unit composed of OsPYL/RCAR5, OsPP2C30, SAPK2, and OREB1
was also used for the transgenic purpose in different rice varieties and found better
adaptation under drought stress (Todaka et al. 2015).
Wang et al. (2005) used the pea manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), an
important antioxidant enzyme, under the control of a stress-inducible SWPA2 pro-
moter to generate transgenic rice lines which showed improved drought tolerance.
Gu et  al. (2013) developed a transgenic rice lines with maize-specific pyruvate
orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK) independently and in combination with the maize
C4-specific phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PCK) which exhibited higher grain
yields than wild-type (WT) plants under soil drought conditions.
Changes in membrane integrity and modulation of lipid synthesis are important
factors in the primary sensing of abiotic stress (Kader 2010). Transgenic rice plants
overexpressing OsCPK4, a calcium-dependent protein kinase, exhibited stronger
water-holding capability and reduced levels of membrane lipid peroxidation and
electrolyte leakage under drought or salt stress condition (Campo et  al. 2016).
Similarly, transgenic rice plants, overexpressing OsSIK1 and OsSIK2 [putative
receptor-like kinase (RLK)], showed enhanced tolerance to drought and salinity
stresses (Ouyang et al. 2010; Chen et al. 2013). Transgenic rice plants expressing
many other candidate genes such as lipid transfer protein gene OsDIL (O. sativa
drought-induced LTP), (Guo and Ge 2013), heat shock protein gene OsHsp17.0 or
OsHsp23.7 (Zou et al. 2012), and Arabidopsis glycine-rich RNA-binding protein
AtGRP2 or AtGRP7 genes (Yang et al. 2014) have been reported to show enhanced
drought tolerance. Disruption of squalene synthase (SQS) gene function by RNA
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 505

interference has also been found to improve drought tolerance in rice plants
(Manavalan et al. 2012).
Although several studies have reported transgenic rice plants with improved
drought tolerance during field trials, further research is needed to uncover the regu-
latory mechanism of drought response and tolerance under field conditions. Such
investigations should lead to the discovery of new genes that increase drought toler-
ance without yield penalty under well-watered as well as drought conditions.

18.3.2  Salinity

Salinity is one of the major impediments for enhancing production in rice-growing

areas worldwide. Rice shows varied level of tolerance to salinity at different devel-
opmental stages. Though rice is relatively tolerant to salinity during germination,
active tillering, and maturity, it is highly sensitive during the early seedling stage
and reproductive stage (Ismail et al. 2007; Munns 2008; Singh and Redoña 2010).
Thus, the seedling and reproductive stages are the most vulnerable to salt stress,
with considerable impacts on survival and grain yield. One-fifth of irrigated arable
lands in the world have been reported to be adversely influenced by high soil salin-
ity (Negrão and Courtois 2011). Over 800 million ha of land is severely salt affected
worldwide, while approximately 20 % of irrigated areas (about 45 million ha) are
estimated to suffer from salinization problems of various degrees.

18.3.2.1  Marker-Assisted Breeding

Salinity is particularly a major problem in coastal regions in the tropics because of

the intrusion of brackish water during the dry season and at the start of the wet sea-
son into rice field. Salt stress is also worsening due to buildup of salinity as a con-
sequence of excessive use of irrigation water with improper drainage and poor-quality
irrigation water. Rice shows wide genetic variation with respect to salinity toler-
ance. Landraces such as Pokkali, Nona Bokra, Damodar, Dasal and Getu, etc. are
well adapted to grow in saline environments, while modern rice varieties show high
sensitivity. The salinity tolerance at different growth stages seems to be managed by
independent genes. A number of mapping studies have identified QTLs associated
with salinity tolerance in rice (Table 18.1). A cross between tolerant indica landrace
Nona Bokra with the susceptible japonica Koshihikari led to identification of sev-
eral QTLs such as qSKC-1 for shoot K+ concentration on chromosome 1 and
qSNC-7 for shoot Na+ concentration (Lin et al. 2004). The SKC1 gene was subse-
quently cloned and found to encode a sodium transporter that helps control K+
homeostasis under salt stress (Ren et al. 2005). Saltol, a major QTL associated with
the Na+/K+ ratio and seedling-stage salinity tolerance, was identified from a RIL
population developed from indica varieties IR29 and Pokkali (Gregorio 1997). This
QTL explains 43.2 % of the phenotypic variance and confers salinity tolerance at
506 A.K. Biswal et al.

the vegetative stage (Bonilla et al. 2016). The availability of the large-effect QTL
Saltol for salinity tolerance in rice, a theoretical framework for MABC, and the
existence of intolerant varieties that are widely accepted by farmers provide an
opportunity to develop cultivars that would be suitable for larger areas of
submergence-­prone rice (MacKill 2008). One highly salt-tolerant RIL from this
population, FL478 (IR 66946-3R-178-1-1), has been used to improve the salt toler-
ance of BT7 variety by using marker-assisted backcross (Linh et al. 2012). Lang
et al. (2008) applied MAS to improve salt tolerance in OMCS2000 rice cultivar, a
widely grown cultivar in North Vietnam. However, there is no report of robust QTLs
for salt tolerance at the reproductive stage. The main reason for this is time-­
consuming and laborious phenotyping protocols needed for the reproductive stage
as compared with the relatively easy phenotyping protocols for the seedling stage
(Jena and Mackill 2008).
The best known and seemingly most robust QTL is Saltol/SKC1 on the short arm
of chromosome 1 (Lin et al. 2004). QTLs have been identified in this region in a
number of populations derived from several donors (Ahmadi et al. 2011; Ul Haq
et al. 2010), and the candidate gene has been identified to a high degree of confi-
dence (Ren et  al. 2005; Platten et  al. 2006). Hossain et  al. (Hossain et  al. 2015)
reported that genomic regions on chromosomes 1, 7, 8, and 10 affect salinity toler-
ance at the reproductive stage through alterations in Na+ uptake, pollen fertility, and
Na+/K+ ratio, and these loci are good targets for marker-assisted selection aimed at
improving salinity tolerance. The notable association of some QTLs with other
QTLs for different traits suggests that they have a causal relationship. This would
help to improve rice varieties for salinity-prone areas where reproductive-stage salt
stress is a major impediment to rice production especially during the dry season.
Mechanisms such as Na+ exclusion, Na+/K+ ratio, and pollen fertility may be respon-
sible for reproductive-stage salt tolerance. Recently, a novel cross was made using
embryo rescue technique between the exotic wild rice species Oryza coarctata and
cultivated rice variety IR56 (O. sativa.), spawning a new generation of rice that has
double the salinity tolerance of other rice varieties (International Rice Research
Institute 2013).

18.3.2.2  Transgenic Research

Genes for aquaporins (water channel proteins) and late embryogenesis abundant
(LEA) proteins have been tested in transgenic studies addressing drought and salin-
ity, but much more work is necessary before we know whether they will be useful
to breeders and farmers (Table 18.2). Transgenic rice plants harboring the choline
oxidase (codA) gene from Arthrobacter globiformis were highly tolerant to salt
stress (Mohanty et  al. 2002). Choline oxidase catalyzes conversion of choline to
glycine betaine, which is known to provide tolerance against a variety of stresses.
The protective function of glycine betaine has been predicted to be more efficient
when produced in a photosynthetic organelle (Sakamoto and Murata 1998).
Transgenic rice with chloroplast-targeted codA gene were more tolerant than the
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 507

transgenic plants with the protein localized in the cytosol (Kathuria et al. 2009). The
potential role of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the protection against salt stress
was examined through overexpression in rice (Tanaka et al. 1999). Transgenic rice
plants expressing HVA1, driven by the constitutive promoter from the rice actin1
gene, showed significant increase in tolerance to salt (Xu et al. 1996). The overex-
pression of calcium-dependent protein kinase OsCDPK7 gene, which performs the
Ca2+-stimulated protein phosphorylation, in rice resulted in higher salt tolerance
(Saijo et  al. 2000). Barley LEA protein genes expressed in two rice varieties
enhanced growth under either salt or drought stress (Rohila and Jain 2002; Chandra
Babu et al. 2004).

18.3.3  Flood and Submergence

Flooding and submergence are recurring problems for rice farming, especially in
the lowlands of South and Southeast Asia. Since most of the economically high-­
yielding varieties are intolerant to flooding, farmers in these areas depend on tradi-
tional low-yielding varieties that can tolerate flooded conditions. In the rainfed
lowland areas of Eastern India, submergence is the third most important limitation
to rice production among 42 biotic and abiotic stresses, and it is surpassed only by
drought and weeds (Widawsky and O’Toole 1996). The expression of submergence
tolerance genes is known to be environmentally dependent and genetically complex
(Setter et al. 1997). One of the ways that has enabled rice to adapt to flooding has
recently been identified as a “quiescence strategy” (Bailey-Serres and Voesenek
2008). It is characterized by reduced plant elongation during submergence associ-
ated with regrowth when the water recedes. An ethylene-responsive factor (ERF),
Sub1A, is the key determinant of this survival mechanism (Xu et al. 2006). Sub1A-1
is induced by ethylene, a gaseous plant hormone that becomes entrapped by water
submergence (Perata 2007).

18.3.3.1  Marker-Assisted Breeding

Genetic studies suggest both simple and quantitative inheritance for submergence
tolerance. Breeding of improved varieties to overcome the problem of submergence
has mainly relied on FR13A, a tolerant landrace from Odisha, India that can tolerate
complete inundation for 10–14 days (Mackill et al. 1993). Using population derived
from a cross between a submergence-tolerant indica line (IR40931-26) and a sus-
ceptible japonica line (“P1543851”), a major QTL was finely mapped near the cen-
tromere of chromosome 9, designated as Submergence 1 (Sub1). The locus showed
70 % of phenotypic variation in submergence tolerance. There are a cluster of three
genes at Sub1 locus, encoding putative ethylene response factors (ERFs)/ethylene-­
responsive element-binding proteins/APETALA2-like proteins (Xu et  al. 2006;
Perata 2007). All three Sub1 region genes fall in the B-2 subclass of ERF proteins,
508 A.K. Biswal et al.

which contains a single 58- to 59-residue ERF domain. Two of these genes, Sub1B
and Sub1C, are invariably present in the Sub1 region of all rice accessions analyzed.
In contrast, the presence of Sub1A is variable. A survey identified two alleles within
indica varieties that possess this gene: a tolerance-specific allele named Sub1A-1
and an intolerance-specific allele named Sub1A-2. Overexpression of Sub1A-1 in a
submergence-intolerant O. sativa ssp. japonica conferred enhanced tolerance to
submergence, downregulation of Sub1C, and upregulation of Alcohol dehydroge-
nase 1 (Adh1), indicating that Sub1A-1 is a primary determinant of submergence
tolerance. The molecular mechanism behind the deepwater rice responses through
the identification of the genes, viz., SNORKEL1 (SK1) and SNORKEL2 (SK2),
which trigger deepwater response by encoding ethylene response factors involved
in ethylene signaling (Hattori et  al. 2009). The products of SK1 and SK2 trigger
remarkable internode elongation via gibberellin. The deepwater rice C9285 pos-
sesses SK1 and SK2, although both genes are absent in the non-deepwater rice T65.
SK1 and SK2 possess a putative nuclear localization signal and a single APETALA2/
ethylene response factor (AP2/ERF) domain. The SK genes were significantly
expressed under deepwater conditions, whereas these expressions were low under
dry conditions in C9285. Overexpression of SK1 gene drove elongation one to three
internodes, and SK2 overproducers elongated one to seven internodes, even under
dry conditions (Hattori et al. 2009). The Sub1 gene, derived from the tolerant variety
FR13A, has been transferred to a number of widely grown varieties, allowing them
to withstand complete submergence for up to 2 weeks. The IR64-­Sub1 cultivar car-
rying QTL/Sub1 gene was successfully used in backcross breeding programs to
alter the submergence tolerance of improved high-yielding Vietnamese rice culti-
vars (Lang et al. 2013; Lang and Buu 2011; Submergence et al. 2013).
Four QTLs were identified in a cross between two moderately tolerant varieties
IR72 and Madabaru, on chromosomes 1, 2, 9, and 12. The largest QTL on chromo-
some 1 which had a LOD score of 11.2 and R2 of 52.3 % was found in a non-Sub1
locus and had the tolerant allele from IR72 which suggests that an alternative path-
way may be present in this variety that is independent of the ethylene-dependent
pathway mediated by the Sub1A gene (Septiningsih et al. 2012). These novel QTLs
can be combined with Sub1 using marker-assisted backcrossing in an effort to
enhance the level of submergence tolerance for flood-prone areas (Table 18.1).

18.3.3.2  Transgenic Research

Two different approaches have been used to try and identify limiting factors in
response to waterlogging (Table 18.2). First is the under-expression of single candi-
date genes, e.g., for ethanol synthesis, using sense and antisense constructs. Second
is the overexpression of transcription factors (Dennis et al. 2000). It was anticipated
that both approaches may have a beneficial effect in switching on the longer-term
adaptation response to low oxygen stress. Quimio et al. (2000) found that Taipei 309
transformed with pyruvate decarboxylase (pdc1) linked to a constitutive 35S pro-
moter had up to threefold higher PDC activities and ethanol synthesis rates when
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 509

exposed to anoxia compared to non-transformed controls. They also reported that

increasing ethanol production up to sixfold in a range of transgenic lines exposed to
anoxia was correlated with an eightfold increase in percentage survival of lines dur-
ing submergence under hypoxic conditions. In contrast, Rahaman et al. (2001) stud-
ied Taipei 309 transformed with pdc1 and found that two transgenic lines had over
twofold greater PDC activity and they had up to 43 % greater rate of ethanol synthe-
sis; however, survival of seed lines exposed to anoxia was even less than that of
non-transformed plants. They observed similar results for transgenic rice expressing
the cotton alcohol dehydrogenase adh2cDNA. Therefore, the results of transgenic
rice need to be repeated for its potential extrapolation.

18.4  Improvement of Biotic Stress Resistance

On average, farmers lose 37 % of their rice yield to pests and diseases, and these
losses can range between 24 and 41  % depending on the production situation
(Sparks et al. 2012). While many of these can be handled with management prac-
tices, often it is not the viable option due to financial and educational status of the
farmers and unavailability of the pesticides.

18.4.1  Disease Resistance

18.4.1.1  Blast Disease

Rice blast is among the diseases that cause highest damage to the grain yield among
all diseases (Lee 1983). The fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is the causal agent of rice
blast. It is a haploid filamentous ascomycete with a relatively small genome of
~40 Mb divided into seven chromosomes (Dean 2005). The fungus causes disease
at seedling and adult stages on the leaves, nodes, and panicles. Sesma and Osbourn
(Sesma 2004) reported a new facet of the M. oryzae life cycle, where the fungus can
undergo a different and previously uncharacterized set of programmed developmen-
tal events that are typical of root-infecting pathogens.

Marker-Assisted Breeding

Conventional genetic analyses of identified donors with resistance, availability of

pure isolates of the blast pathogen, and advanced molecular analysis techniques have
resulted in identification of more than 100 genes for resistance to M. oryzae (Sharma
2012) and have been designated as Pi1-Pi62, Pii, Pia, Pib, Pik, Pi-kh (same as Pi54),
Pit, Pita, Pita 2, Pitp, Pish, etc. (Wang et al. 2014a). A genome-­wide association
study based on genotyping 0.8 million single-nucleotide polymorphism variants
510 A.K. Biswal et al.

across 366 diverse indica accessions identified thirty associated loci (Wang et  al.
2014b). Marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB) approach was employed to
incorporate blast resistance genes, viz., Piz-5 and Pi54, from the donor lines C101A51
and Tetep into the genetic background of PRR78 to develop Pusa1602 (PRR78 +
Piz5) and Pusa1603 (PRR78 + Pi54), respectively (Singh et al. 2012).

Transgenic Research

Homozygous transgenic rice lines harboring rice blast resistance gene Pi-d2 showed
high resistance to disease incidence of neck blast (Chen et al. 2010). Microarray
analysis of transgenic rice Taipei 309 (TP) carrying Pi54 gene indicated activation
of defense response and transcription factor-related genes and a higher expression
of key enzymes involved in the defense response pathway (Gupta et  al. 2012).
Asghar et  al. (2007) attempted to improve basmati rice against fungal infection
through gene transfer technology. Transgenic plants with rice class-I chitinase
genes, Cht-2 or Cht-3, showed significantly higher resistance against the rice blast
pathogen Magnaporthe grisea races 007.0 and 333 (Nishizawa et al. 1999). Other
reports include plant antitoxin gene (Stark-Lorenzen et  al. 1997), chitinase-­
glucanase gene (Daorong et al. 1999), trichosanthin gene (Ming et al. 2000), wasabi
phytoalexin gene (Kanzaki et al. 2002), and rice blast resistance genes Pi-ta, Pi-9,
Pi-2, etc. (Table 18.2).

18.4.1.2  Sheath Blight (ShB)

Rice ShB pathogen produces toxin that induces characteristic symptoms on rice
leaves and wilting of seedlings and inhibits rice radicle growth. Over the past
decades, studies on resistance to ShB have been conducted by many researchers
who have had diverse objectives, including screening of the germplasm of culti-
vated rice and its wild relatives, assessment of genetically engineered plants with
genes for resistance, and phenotyping for QTL mapping or validation (Table 18.1).
Sources of ShB resistance have been sought for in different rice-growing regions.
These studies resulted in the identification of genotypes with moderate to high lev-
els of resistance.

Marker-Assisted Breeding

Both wild species and landraces of the Oryza genus possess under-exploited alleles
that may have a strong potential for the improvement of Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.)
and African rice (Oryza glaberrima Steud.). Over the years, a very large number of
accessions from different species of Oryza have been tested at IRRI to identify
sources for ShB resistance. From a total of 233 accessions tested, 76 were found to
contain a high level of resistance to ShB, and 29 showed moderate resistance. The
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 511

latter accessions belonged to the African rice, O. glaberrima (2n = 24 AA), a close
relative of O. sativa (2n = 24 AA). The relatively high-resistant accessions belonged
to mixed genetic groups. In addition to the studies mentioned above, several other
groups also explored wild accessions or their derivatives for ShB resistance (Amante
et  al. 1990; Lakshmanan 2016; Prasad and Eizenga 2008). Ram et  al. (2016)
screened 11 different species of Oryza, identifying the accessions of O. latifolia
Desv., O. grandiglumis (Doell) Prod, O. nivara, and O. rufipogon as having a higher
level of resistance. Li et al. (1995) identified six QTLs for sheath blight resistance
in an F4 population of Teqing/Lemont.

Transgenic Research

Pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins are produced in response to attack by pathogens

and are known to play key roles in the plant defense mechanisms. Overexpression
of PR proteins, including chitinase (PR-3), β-1,3-glucanases (PR-2), thaumatin-like
proteins (PR-5), and other plant- or microbe-derived antifungal proteins, has been
used to develop transgenic plants against fungal infection. Chitinases that hydrolyze
the β-1,4 linkages of N-acetylglucosamine (“chitin”) have been well characterized.
Overexpression of different chitinases in rice cultivars has been found to result in
enhanced resistance against ShB (Datta et al. 2001). The expression of Ace-AMP1
(Patkar and Chattoo 2006) and Dm-AMP1 (Jha et al. 2009) genes resulted not only
in enhanced resistance against ShB but also against other rice diseases. There have
been efforts to combine resistance genes to generate plants with increased resis-
tance to ShB. To date, more than 12 rice cultivars, including IR72, IR64, Chinsurah
Boro II, Basmati 122, Swarna, and IR58, have been transformed with different
genes for ShB resistance. Kalpana et al. (2006) engineered the different lines of elite
indica rice cultivars, ADT38, ASD16, IR50, and Pusa Basmati1, by constitutively
overexpressing rice tlp encoding a thaumatin-like protein. The putative transfor-
mants and their progenies expressing tlp showed enhanced resistance against the
sheath blight pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani, when compared to the non-transformed
plants. The combination of rice chi11, encoding a chitinase, along with tlp showed
enhanced resistance against R. solani than the ones that express either tlp or chi11
transgene alone (Table 18.2).

18.4.2  Bacterial Disease

18.4.2.1  Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB)

Bacterial leaf blight or bacterial blight (BB) caused by the pathogen Xanthomonas
oryzae pv oryzae (Xoo) is one of the most destructive diseases of rice throughout the
world (Rao and Lakshminarasu 2002). Twenty-six genes conferring resistance to
various races of the pathogen have been identified and used in rice breeding
512 A.K. Biswal et al.

programs (http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org). Fourteen of these [Xa1, Xa2, Xa3,

Xa4, Xa7, Xa10, Xa11, Xa12, Xa14, Xa16, Xa17, Xa18, Xa21 and Xa22 (t)] are
dominant while six (xa5, xa8, xa13, xa15, xa19 and xa20) were also found to be
recessive (Khush 1991; Kinoshita 1995; Lin 1996). At least ten races of the bacte-
rium have been identified in the Philippines and two other in India. Each race has
specific virulence to varieties with different resistance genes, showing a gene-for-­
gene relationship in the host-pathogen interaction (Mew 2016; Vera Cruz 1989).

Marker-Assisted Breeding

Four Xa genes have been cloned and six others have been tagged with molecular
markers and employed for marker-assisted selection and release of resistant cultivars
in several countries. Huang et al. (1997) pyramided four resistance genes into IR-24
background. The resistance gene Xa-1, conferring resistance to the Japanese Xoo race
I, was first reported by Sakaguchi (Sakaguchi 1967). TheXa-1 gene was extensively
studied and mapped to chromosome 4 by RFLP markers (Yoshimura et  al. 1996).
Positional cloning of the gene in the rice genome project in Japan revealed that it
encodes a nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) type of protein. A
broad spectrum bacterial blight resistance gene Xa-21 was introgressed from the wild
species O. longistaminata into O. sativa background (Khush and Mackill 1989). This
gene was tagged by RAPD and RFLP markers and was later cloned by map-based
cloning strategy. Marker-assisted selection was used by Sanchez et al. (2000) to trans-
fer three bacterial blight resistance genes Xa-5, Xa-13, and Xa-21 into three promising
new plant types. The same set of genes were also pyramided into PR106, a widely
grown variety in Punjab, India and Samba Mahsuri (BPT5204), a very popular variety
with farmers and consumers across India because of its high yield and excellent cook-
ing quality (Sundaram and Vishnupriya 2008; Singh et al. 2001). The Xa3/Xa26 fam-
ily is a potential disease resistance gene reservoir. In addition to Xa3/Xa26, the MRKa,
a paralog of Xa3/Xa26 in rice cultivar Minghui 63, can mediate Xoo resistance (Cao
et al. 2007). Datta et al. (2002) stacked the Bt fusion gene (for insect resistance) and
the chitinase gene (for tolerance of sheath blight) in rice by reciprocal crossing.

Transgenic Research

Maruthasalam et  al. (2007) generated indica rice cultivars, co-transformed with
genes rice chitinase (chi11) and a thaumatin-like protein (tlp) conferring resistance
to fungal pathogens, and a serine-threonine kinase (Xa21) conferring bacterial
blight resistance through particle bombardment. The transgenic Pusa Basmati1 line
pyramided with chi11, tlp andXa21 showed an enhanced resistance to both sheath
blight and bacterial blight. Zhai et  al. (2004, 2000) transformed Xa21 into five
widely used Chinese rice varieties through an Agrobacterium-mediated transforma-
tion system and obtained transgenic plants highly resistant to bacterial blight ­disease
(Table 18.2).
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 513

18.4.2.2  Virus Resistance

The detrimental effects of viruses in rice yield have posed a challenge in the past
years. In fact, , 828,000 tons of rice amounting to US$120 million was lost due to
rice grassy stunt virus (RGSV) or co-infection by RGSV and rice ragged stunt virus
(RRSV) that severely infected more than 485,000 hectares of paddy fields in south-
ern Vietnam during 2006–2007 (Cabauatan and Cabunagan 2009; Sasaya et  al.
2013). Thus, it is important to control viral diseases in rice to maintain global food
security and rice supply.

Marker-Assisted Breeding

Some indica paddy varieties, such as Modan, have a resistance allele Stvb-i, which
is incompletely dominant and allelic with Stv-b on chromosome 11 (Washio et al.
1968). In the 1960s, Stvb-i from Modan was introduced into many japonica variet-
ies, including St. No. 1, Chugoku 31, Aichi 6 and Aichi 97 for the control of rice
stripe virus (RSV) (Toriyama et al. 1966; Maeda et al. 2006). Thereafter, the deriva-
tive varieties harboring Stvb-i were widely cultivated in Japan and in the Jiangsu
province of China with stable resistance to RSV (Wang 2006).
In the variety Milyang 23, a QTL for RSV resistance was detected in the interval
between markers XNpb202 and C1172 on chromosome 11 (Maeda et  al. 1999),
which was reported to be allelic with Stvb-i. Subsequently, the same research group
using both RFLP and SSR markers reported two QTLs in the Japanese upland rice
variety, Kanto 72. The QTL on chromosome 11 corresponding to Stv-b exerted a
greater effect than the other on chromosome 2 by reducing the infection rate of RSV
(Maeda et al. 2006, 2004). Ding et al. (2004) also detected two major QTLs for RSV
resistance in the indica variety, DV85 (Table 18.1). One was mapped to the same
chromosomal region as Stvb-i and the other was mapped on chromosome 7. More
recently, three QTLs were detected in the Indian landrace Dular, one on chromo-
some 3 and the other two in the RM287–RM209 and RM209–RM21 intervals on
chromosome 11, respectively (Wu et al. 2009).Romero et al. (2014) identified one
major QTL on the short arm of chromosome 4 for resistance to rice hoja blanca
virus (RHBV) in two populations. Two major QTL on chromosomes 5 and 7 were
also identified for resistance to T. orizicolus in the Fd2000 · WC366 and Fd50 ·
WC366 crosses, respectively. This comparative study using two distinct rice popu-
lations allowed for a better understanding of how the resistance to RHBV and its
vector are controlled genetically. Zhang et al. (2011) performed QTL analysis for
RSV resistance using 98 backcross inbred lines derived from the cross between the
highly resistant variety, Kasalath and the highly susceptible variety, Nipponbare.
Under artificial inoculation in the greenhouse, two QTLs for RSV resistance, desig-
nated qSTV7 and qSTV11KAS, were detected on chromosomes 7 and 11 respec-
tively, whereas only one QTL was detected in the same location of chromosome 11
under natural inoculation in the field. The stability of qSTV11KAS was validated
using 39 established chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs). Fine ­mapping
514 A.K. Biswal et al.

of qSTV11KAS was carried out using 372 BC3F2:3 recombinants and 399 BC3F3:4
lines selected from 7018 BC3F2. Resistance to RSV has been studied in Japanese
upland rice varieties and two loci, Stv-a and Stv-b, have been reported (Washio et al.
1968). Stv-a and Stv-b are complementary dominant genes. The former was linked
with the glutinous endosperm (wx) and photosensitivity-1 (Se-1) loci on chromo-
some 6 and the latter was located on chromosome 11. Encabo et al. (2009) devel-
oped near-isogenic lines from Utri Merah and Taichung Native 1 (TN1), which were
evaluated for reactions to rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV) and rice tungro bacil-
liform virus (RTBV). TW16 is an NIL (BC5) resistant to rice tungro disease (RTD).
RTBV was able to infect both TN1 and TW16 but the levels of RTBV were usually
significantly lower in TW16 than in TN1. Infection of RTSV was confirmed in TN1
by a serological test but not in TW16. However, the global gene-expression pattern
in an RTSV-resistant NIL (BC6), TW16-69, inoculated with RTSV indicated that
RTSV can also infect the resistant NIL. Infection of RTSV in TW16 was later con-
firmed by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) but the level of
RTSV was considerably lower in TW16 than in TN1. Examination for virus accu-
mulation in another NIL (BC6), TW16-1029, indicated that all plants of TW16-
1029 were resistant to RTSV, whereas the resistance to RTBV and symptom severity
were segregating among the individual plants of TW16-1029. Collectively, these
results suggest that RTD resistance of Utri Merah involves suppression of interact-
ing RTSV and RTBV but the suppression trait for RTSV and for RTBV is inherited
separately.

Transgenic Research

Transformation of rice with the RHBV nucleocapsid protein (N) gene showed a
significant reduction in disease development (Lentini et  al. 2003) (Table 18.2).
Reactions were observed that ranged from susceptible to completely resistant plants
(immunity). The resistant reactions were characterized by the production of local
lesions like a hypersensitive reaction or a recovery phenotype with the emergence
of symptomless new leaves. These transgenic RHBV-resistant rice lines expressed
the N gene RNA at low levels that were below the detection limit by Northern blots
and only resolved by RT-PCR. The nucleocapsid protein could not be detected in
any of the transgenic plants either by Western or ELISA tests. These results suggest
that the resistance encoded by the N gene in these plants appears to be mediated by
RNA. When challenged with RHBV, the resistant transgenic lines showed a signifi-
cant increased performance for important agronomic traits including the number of
tillers, the number of grains per plant and the yield as compared to the susceptible
control. Furthermore, upon inoculation some of the most resistant transgenic lines
showed agronomic traits similar to the uninoculated, non-transgenic Cica 8 control.
Using both agronomic traits and disease severity as criteria, several of the most
resistant lines demonstrated that the N gene and RHBV resistance were inherited in
a stable manner. These transgenic rice lines could become a new genetic resource in
developing RHBV-resistant cultivars. Verma et  al. (2012) transformed rice using
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 515

DNA constructs designed to express an untranslatable sense or anti-sense RTSV

RNA.  Progeny of primary transformants, showing low copies of the integrated
transgenes and accumulating the corresponding transcripts at low levels, were chal-
lenged with viruliferous green leafhopper (GLH). Three out of four transgenic plant
lines expressing untranslatable RTSV RNA in the sense orientation and two out of
the four lines expressing an RTSV gene in the anti-sense orientation showed delayed
buildup of RTSV RNA over time. Transmission of RTBV from the above lines was
reduced significantly.
Biotechnological approaches have also been employed to develop transgenic
plants for resistance against RTBV and RTSV (Dai and Beachy 2009). Ganesan
et al. (2009) transformed indica rice cultivar Pusa Basmati-1 with coat protein (CP)
gene of an Indian isolate of RTBV. Rice plants containing the transgene integrated
in low copy numbers were obtained, in which the CP was shown to accumulate in
the leaf tissue. The progenies representing three independent transformation events
were challenged with Indian isolates of RTBV using viruliferous GLH and the viral
titers in the inoculated plants were monitored using DNA dot-blot hybridization. As
compared to non-transgenic controls, two independent transgenic lines showed sig-
nificantly low levels of RTBV DNA, especially towards later stages of infection and
a concomitant reduction of tungro symptoms. The transgenic strategies for RTD
resistance are promising although pathogen derived resistance for RTD has been
reported as being only partially effective. Recently, some research on the develop-
ment of transgenic resistance to RTD have been done targeting RTBV, as it is the
causative agent of tungro symptoms (Ganesan et al. 2009; Dai et al. 2008; Tyagi
et  al. 2008). These reports showed considerable resistance against the disease in
controlled laboratory conditions. Tyagi et al. (2008) developed a transgenic rice line
by RNA interference (RNAi) for the control of RTBV infection. In the two trans-
genic lines expressing ds-RNA, different resistance responses were observed against
RTBV. In one of the above lines (RTBV-O-Ds1), there was an initial rapid buildup
of RTBV levels following inoculation, comparable to that of untransformed con-
trols, followed by a sharp reduction, resulting in approximately 50-fold lower viral
titers, whereas the untransformed controls maintained high levels of the virus till 40
days post-inoculation (dpi). In RTBV-ODs2, RTBV DNA levels gradually rose
from an initial low to almost 60  % levels of the control by 40 dpi. Line RTBV-­
O-­Ds1 showed symptoms of tungro similar to the untransformed control lines,
whereas line RTBV-O-Ds2 showed extremely mild symptoms.

18.4.3  Nematodes

About 300 nematode species belonging to 35 genera have been reported infesting
rice. Among them, nematode species from about ten genera are economically
important in relation to rice production. Rice grown in different environments is
attacked by different nematode species. Ufra (Ditylenchus angustus) and root-knot
(Meloidogyne spp.) nematodes are major pests of deepwater rice. In irrigated rice,
516 A.K. Biswal et al.

infections by Hirschmanniella spp. and Aphelenchoides besseyi are common,

whereas upland rice is invariably infested by Meloidogyne and Pratylenchus spe-
cies. Among the important nematode species that attack rice, ufra and white tip
nematodes find a place in regulatory pest lists of several countries (Varaprasad et al.
2006). In India, yield losses due to ufra were reported as 5–50  % in UP (Singh
1953), 10–15 % in West Bengal, and 30–100 % in hot spots for this nematode in
Assam (Panwar and Rao 1998). In southern region of Thailand, 10–90 % loss was
observed (Hashioka 1963). Khuong (1983) observed most severe and conspicuous
damage by D. angustus in 50,000  ha flooded fields with 50  % yield loss in the
Mekong Delta and Dong-Thap Province of Vietnam.
Nematode problems have received relatively less attention in the past due to
incipient damage in vast areas and difficulties in investigations. Most of the times,
the losses caused by the parasitic nematodes in rice are just accepted mainly due to
unawareness, poor economic condition of the rice growers, and subsistence farming
of the crop. However, importance of nematode pests has increased in the recent
years due to the changes in cropping systems and introduction of new production
technologies that favor nematode multiplication and spread to new ecosystems in
several rice-growing countries. More than 200 species of plant-parasitic nematodes
(PPNs) have been reported to be associated with rice (Prot 1994). Rice root-knot
nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.), rice root nematode (Hirschmanniella oryzae), white
tip nematode (Aphelenchoides besseyi), and stem nematode (Ditylenchus angustus)
are the important PPNs associated with rice-based cropping systems (Sharma and
Rahaman 1998). Among these, the rice root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne sp.) are
considered as the major problem in rainfed, upland, and lowland rice fields, whereas
the rice root nematodes (Hirschmanniella sp.) are problematic on lowland rice-­
growing areas of South and Southeast Asia (Prot 1994). Among Meloidogyne sp.,
the rice root-knot nematode (M. graminicola Golden and Birchfield) attacking rice
and wheat is considered the most serious nematode in upland rice cultivation
(Panwar and Rao 1998) and causes economic losses in upland, lowland, and deep-
water rice and also in rice nurseries (Bridge et al. 1990).
Rice root-knot nematode, M. graminicola, was reported to reproduce on all the
ten wild Oryza species tested. O. australiensis Domin and O. brachyantha Chev and
Rochr showed by far the greatest infestation (5855 and 10,235 juveniles/g root,
respectively) compared with O. officinalis Wall., which recorded the lowest infesta-
tion (240 juveniles/g root). O. latifolia Desv., O. ridleyi Hook. f., and O. rufipogon
Griff. recorded <500 juveniles/g root (Gergon and Prot 1993). Efforts have been
initiated to screen for rice cultivars with resistance to M. graminicola. Srivastava
et al. (2011) identified Achhoo, HPR2373, and Naggardhan as rice cultivars with
appreciable resistance to M. graminicola. In these cultivars only up to ten galls were
observed per 5 g root sample in a 3-year consecutive field testing. In contrast, Ranbir
Basmati and Hasan Sarai were found to be highly susceptible. These contrasting
phenotypes would be helpful in breeding efforts as well as marker development for
MAS-breeding approaches. There are other reports on screening for resistant rice
cultivars (Ravindra et al. 2015; Sharma-Poudyal et al. 2004). However, due to dif-
ferences in the screening procedures, it has become challenging to come up with a
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 517

list of truly M. graminicola-resistant rice cultivars. Pokharel et al. (2012) noted that
the absence of a uniform resistance evaluation procedure has taken a toll on the
progress of the development of resistant lines.

18.4.3.1  Marker-Assisted Breeding

M. graminicola does not show any significant effect on yield of indica rice variety
Bala, but causes a yield reduction of almost half in japonica rice variety Azucena,
suggesting that the partial resistance to nematode establishment was related to
­nematode tolerance. Shrestha et al. (2007) identified QTLs for partial resistance to
M. graminicola using a mapping population based on Bala (tolerant) × Azucena
(susceptible). A total of six putative QTLs for nematode tolerance were detected.
For two of the QTLs detected, Azucena was the donor of the tolerance alleles,
­suggesting it may be possible to breed plants with greater tolerance than Bala.
Evaluation of advanced backcross populations developed for water stress environ-
ment and M. graminicola resistance revealed that Teqing and the donors cvs Type 3,
Zihui 100, and Shwe Thwe Yin Hyv were resistant to the nematode (Prasad and
Vijayakumar 2006). Furthermore, the study revealed that the resistance to
M. graminicola is most likely multigenic in nature.
While Soriano et  al. (1999) have identified resistant wild rice accessions of
O. glaberrima (TOG7235, TOG5674, TOG5675) and O. longistaminata (WL02),
success of introgression into O. sativa has been very limited. Using the rice diver-
sity panel 1 with 332 accessions, Dimkpa et al. (2016) found accessions Khao Pahk
Maw and LD 24 to be resistant to M. graminicola and identified 11 QTLs through a
genome-wide association study. It is noteworthy that 6 of the 11 QTLs contain
genes annotated as containing lectin domains. QTL11.1 contains genes that have
been associated with powdery mildew resistance in barley and also genes with
strong homology to stripe rust resistance (Dimkpa et al. 2016). Fine mapping these
regions should yield molecular markers and perhaps mine new resistance genes for
molecular breeding and/or the generation of resistant transgenic lines.

18.4.3.2  Transgenic Research

There are several possible approaches to develop transgenic plants with improved
nematode resistance, such as anti-invasion and migration strategies, feeding-cell
attenuation, and anti-nematode feeding and development strategies (Atkinson et al.
2003). Plant proteins (cystatins) that prevent digestion of dietary plant proteins by
the feeding nematodes have been exploited for rice nematode resistance. Expression
of an engineered cysteine proteinase inhibitor (oryzacystatin-IΔD86) for nematode
resistance in transgenic rice plants resulted in a significant (55 %) reduction in egg
production by Meloidogyne incognita (Vain et  al. 1998) (Table 18.2). However,
more research is required to understand the plant-nematode interaction and to
develop smart plants that can resist nematodes.
518 A.K. Biswal et al.

18.4.4  Insect Pest

Among the biotic stresses, next to diseases, yield losses due to insect damages
are considered as major cause for the decline in rice production and productivity
worldwide. Losses due to pests and diseases have been estimated at 37  % of
agricultural production worldwide, with 13 % due to only insect pests (Gatehouse
1992). Yield loss due to insects in Asia has been estimated at nearly 25  %
(Heinrichs and Institute 1985). The losses due to egregious pests like stem bor-
ers, gall midge, green leafhopper, rice hispa, brown leafhopper, and thrips are
quite high (Kalode et al. 1986). Brown planthopper (BPH) is a destructive insect
pest to rice in Asian countries. It directly damages the plant phloem by using its
piercing-sucking mouthparts, resulting in “hopper burn” in the most serious
cases. It is also a vector for rice grassy stunt virus and ragged stunt virus, which
cause further yield losses in many Asian countries (Zhang and Xie 2014). At
least six species of stem borer attack rice. These are the yellow stem borer,
white stem borer, striped stem borer, gold-fringed stem borer, dark-headed
striped stem borer, and pink stem borer. Stem borers can destroy rice at any
stage of the plant from seedling to maturity. At the vegetative stage, the insect
larva feeds inside the stem resulting in death of the young leaf whorl causing
“deadheart,” and during reproductive stage, it feeds inside the panicle stalk
leading to unfilled grains causing “white heads” (Biswal 2010). The average
yearly yield losses caused by above insects are estimated at about 10 million
tons worldwide (Herdt 1991). Enhancing the host plant resistance is considered
as the most desirable approach to combat insect/pathogen attack. Hence
improvement of rice cultivars by identification and incorporation of new resis-
tance genes into modern rice cultivars are important breeding strategies to con-
trol the damage caused by different insect pests.

18.4.4.1  Marker-Assisted Selection

Brown planthopper (BPH) is one of the major insect pests of rice in the temperate
rice-growing regions. A resistant gene bph2 was successfully mapped between SSR
markers RM7102 and RM463 on the long arm of chromosome 12, in a cross
between resistant parent ASD7 and susceptible cultivar C418, a japonica restorer
line (Sun et al. 2006). Three other QTLs for seedling resistance and feeding rate to
BPH were identified in a cross between Zhenshan 97 (ZS97) and IR65482-17
(derived from the wild rice species Oryza australiensis) (Hu et  al. 2015). Other
derivatives of O. australiensis were also used to identify QTLs and the genes Bph10
and Bph18(t) (Jena et al. 2006; Nguyen Thi Lang 2003). Three other QTLs control-
ling BPH resistance were detected on chromosomes 2, 10, and 12 in a cross between
Nipponbare (japonica) x Kasalath (indica) where all of the resistance QTLs came
from Kasalath, the moderate resistance parent (Su et  al. 2002). Du et  al. (2009)
cloned Bph14 gene which encodes a coiled-coil, nucleotide-binding, and
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 519

leucine-­rich repeat (CC-NB-LRR) protein. QTLs associated with resistance to

white-backed planthopper (WBPH) (Sogatella furcifera) have been identified using
a doubled-­haploid (DH) mapping population derived from the cross IR64/Azucena
in rice (Geethanjali et al. 2009). QTLs associated with sucking pests have also been
identified in a RIL population derived from a cross between japonica rice variety
Kinmaze and indica DV85 (Wang et al. 2004). Screening of a F2 population derived
from a cross between an introgression line, IR71033-121-15, from O. minuta, and a
susceptible Korean japonica cultivar, Junambyeo, resulted in identification of two
major QTLs for BPH resistance.
Attempts have been made to identify rice germplasm with resistance to stem
borer. ANOVA and linear regression involving the SSR marker data and the pheno-
typic data associated with YSB resistance resulted in the association of SSR marker
RM104 on chromosome 1 with deadheart incidence under both glass house and
field conditions (Palanivel et al. 2014).

18.4.4.2  Transgenic Approach

Conventional efforts have been made for the development of rice varieties with
moderate level of resistance to stem borer for two decades (Kalode et al. 1986).
The results were not convincing. The identification of donor varieties with high
level of resistance still remains a challenge for breeders. Even the effort of
screening more than 30,000 rice accessions for the stem borer resistance genes
was not successful in identifying sufficient degree of resistance in any of the
accessions (Teng 1995). However, great progress has been made in developing
insect-resistant rice by the transformation of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) genes
(Table 18.2). Numerous independent transgenic events have been generated by
using different genes and combination of genes or genes and promoters (Biswal
2010; Fujimoto and Itoh 1993; Ju et  al. 1998; Loc and Tinjuangjun 2002;
Ramesh et  al. 2004; Tang et  al. 2006; Jouanin and Bonadé-Bottino 1998; Xu
et al. 1996). Transgenic elite rice lines expressing a Bt fusion gene derived from
cryIA(b) and cryIA(c) under the control of rice actinI promoter showed high
protection against two lepidopteran insects, leaf folder and yellow stem borer,
without reduction in yield (Tu et  al. 2000). Similarly, many other lines have
been field tested with positive results (Tang et al. 2006; Ye et al. 2001; Shu et al.
2000; Bashir et al. 2004; Chen et al. 2005; Ye et al. 2003; Oard et al. 1996). In
October 2009, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture issued biosafety certificates
for commercial production of two cry1Ab/Ac (Bt) lines (Chen et  al. 2011).
Rigorous testing has shown that these transgenic rice lines are safe for the envi-
ronment and also for use as food. Laboratory and field tests have confirmed that
these two Bt rice lines can provide effective and economic control of the lepi-
dopteran complex on rice with less risk to the environment than present prac-
tices (Chen et al. 2011). Field evaluation of Bt rice is under progress in many
other countries which may result in release of transgenic rice in other countries
shortly.
520 A.K. Biswal et al.

18.5  Boosting the Rice Yield

Since the beginning of cereal cultivation, there has been a continuous challenge to
increase grain yield. The green revolution almost doubled the rice production that
sustained the simultaneous increase in global population from 3 billion in 1961 to 7
billion within five decades. In today’s rapidly increasing population that is expected
to reach 9.1 billion by the year 2050 (Fao 2009), the demand for rice simultaneously
increases as well. Therefore, considerable efforts are now being undertaken to
develop strategies in boosting rice yields. These strategies include the elucidation
and engineering of the traits that govern rice yield, herbicide tolerance, and C4
photosynthesis.

18.5.1  Yield Traits

Yield is one of the most important and complex traits in the genetic improvement of
rice. Over the past years, tremendous efforts have been done in functional genomics
research in rice. Cloning and functional characterization of genes that may be asso-
ciated to or directly related to yield traits have led to considerable progress in the
understanding of molecular and biological processes underlying yield traits in rice.
Rice varieties differ greatly in their grain yield. This variability is influenced by
their vast genetic diversity, environmental conditions, field management practices,
and the interactions between genotypes and environment that confer adaptation to a
specific environmental condition. As a complex trait, grain yield of a rice plant is
determined by three component traits: number of tillers/panicles per plant, number
of grains per panicle, and grain weight. In the recent years, advances in the m­ olecular
marker, genome mapping, and quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis technologies
have greatly facilitated the studies on the genetic bases of these quantitative traits.

18.5.1.1  Number of Tillers/Panicles per Plant

The first of the three component traits that is significant to the improvement of rice
grain yield is the number of tillers/panicles. Rice panicles arise from the fully devel-
oped tillers. Rice tillers are produced at the late vegetative phase of rice growth and
develop through the process of shoot branching. Axillary meristems are formed in
each leaf axil which subsequently generates a few lateral leaves to form the axillary
bud. Axillary buds may be subsequently activated to form shoot branches called til-
lers. Secondary and higher-ordered tiller arise through subsequent development if
environmental conditions permit. Once fully developed, tillers will give rise to the
development of panicles and the subsequent development of grains after pollination.
The activity of the axillary buds is mediated by a network of systemic signals
through the complex interactions of phytohormones. The production and signaling
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 521

via phytohormones are influenced by genetic, developmental, and environmental

signals (Leyser 2003; Shimizu-Sato and Mori 2001; Xing and Zhang 2010). These
phytohormones which include that of auxins (Aux), cytokinins (CKs), and strigo-
lactones and its derivatives allow for the integration of information between differ-
ent plant organs necessary for plant development (Domagalska and Leyser 2011). A
well-known concept in apical dominance had shown the role of CK and Aux in the
regulation of shoot apical meristem in rice (Azizi et  al. 2015). CKs have been
observed to promote branching, leading to an increase in the numbers of spikelet in
rice, while Aux, provided by the primary shoot apex, suppresses axillary bud growth
(Xing and Zhang 2010; Azizi et al. 2015). CK reduces the inhibition and leads to the
outgrowth of lateral branches, and the decreased level of CK results in the increase
of apical dominance and repression of axillary bud growth (Azizi et al. 2015).
Grain yield is predominantly contributed by the primary tillers and some second-
ary tillers. Tertiary and higher-ordered tillers usually make little contribution to
grain yield despite its consumption of water, nutrients, and photosynthetic products
(Mohanan and Mini 2008). Thus, breeding strategies for the development of rice
varieties with optimum numbers of primary and secondary tillers should be a prior-
ity. From an agronomic point of view, it is suggested that strategies to regulate axil-
lary bud activity through biotechnology and genetic engineering would be
advantageous in the effort to increase rice yields (Xing and Zhang 2010).

Marker-Assisted Breeding

In the recent years, several major QTLs have been identified to influence the number
of panicles (Table 18.1). In a cross between Junambyeo and an introgressed indica
IR71033-121-15, two QTLs affecting the number of panicles on chromosomes 4
and 6 in both populations were identified and designated as pn4 and pn6, respec-
tively (Rahman et al. 2008). It was found in the same study that an increasing effect
on chromosome 4 was imparted by IR71033; on the other hand, there was a decreas-
ing effect on chromosome 6. In addition, a recent genome-wide association study
(GWAS) has employed three multi-parent advanced generation intercross (MAGIC)
populations from elite indica lines (DC1, DC2, and 8 way) to identify QTLs for
several yield traits and has revealed a QTL for panicle number designated as qPN2
(Meng et al. 2016).

Transgenic Research

Some phytohormones also influence tillering and branching, and several genes act-
ing downstream of these phytohormones have been identified. One of these is the
rice OsTB1 (Oryza sativa Teosinte Branched 1). OsTB1 encodes for a putative
transcription factor carrying a helix-loop-helix DNA-binding motif, and it was
found to be a negative regulator of lateral branching in rice (Takeda et al. 2003). In
a recent study, this gene had been overexpressed in rice through
522 A.K. Biswal et al.

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, and it was observed that compared to

wild-type plants, the number of tillers and panicles was reduced and increased in
overexpressed and RNAi-­mediated knockdown OsTB1 rice plants, respectively
(Choi et al. 2012) (Table 18.2).
Additionally, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to play a vital role in the
regulation of plant development by targeting complementary RNAs for cleavage or
translational repression (Jones-Rhoades et  al. 2006). Recent studies showed that
miRNAs were involved in rice tillering and the number of panicles by regulating a
number of target genes. In fact, transgenic rice overexpressing an miRNA,
OsmiR393, displayed a 30 % increase in the number of tillers compared to the con-
trol plants (Xia et al. 2012). This was attributed to the hyposensitivity to auxin sig-
nals of auxin receptor gene homologs (OsTIR1 and OsAFB2) targeted by the
OsmiR393. In addition, the increase in tillering was also owed to the downregula-
tion of expression of the auxin transporter OsAUX1 and OsTB1. In a similar study,
it was reported that the overexpression of the OsmiR397 miRNA in rice promotes
panicle branching, leading to an increase in overall grain yield of up to 25 % in a
field trial (Zhang et al. 2013). In summary, all of these suggest that manipulation of
these regulatory genes may prove to be useful in achieving the optimum number of
panicles/tillers in an effort to increase rice yield.

18.5.1.2  Number of Grains per Panicle

The number of grains per panicle is a complex quantitative trait in rice and is one of
the most important component traits for rice yield. Furthermore, it has been posi-
tively correlated with grain yield per plant (Khan et al. 2009) highlighting its signifi-
cance in the improvement of rice yield potential (Table 18.1). The number of grains
per panicle is divided into three subcomponent traits: panicle development, rate of
spikelet formation, and duration of panicle differentiation (Tripathi et al. 2012).
Panicle development marks the transition from the late vegetative phase to
reproductive phase and is influenced by an interplay of phytohormones and a num-
ber of genetic factors. Mutant analyses have revealed two main regulatory genes of
axillary meristem formation in rice. These include the LAX PANICLE1 (Lax1) and
SMALL PANICLE (SPA) genes (Komatsu et al. 2003). Lax1 and SPA were dem-
onstrated to play an overlapping function in axillary meristematic formation, which
is significant in the transition from vegetative phase to reproductive phase. In Lax1
mutants, indeterminate growth of rachis branches and a constrained initiation and/
or maintenance of lateral and terminal spikelets have been observed (Komatsu
et  al. 2001). Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of Lax1 revealed that it
encodes for a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor involved in the
formation of all types of axillary meristems throughout the ontogeny of a rice plant
(Komatsu et al. 2003).
Genes associated with the control of the rate of spikelet formation include DEP1
(Huang et  al. 2009), SP1 (Li et  al. 2009), APO1 (Ikeda-Kawakatsu et  al. 2009),
LOG (Kurakawa et  al. 2007), and cytokinin degradation enzyme (OsCKX2)
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 523

(Ashikari et al. 2008). All are known to be positive regulators of the rate of spikelet
formation except OsCKX2. Among these, DEP1 was highly expressed from the til-
lering to the heading stage, while the expression of SP1 was higher until the flower-
ing stage (Tripathi et  al. 2012). On the other hand, the expression of OsCKXR
encoded by the Gn1a gene was found to have a negative correlation with the grain
yield per plant. This supports the positive influence of CKs on the grain number per
plant. The decreased expression of OsCKX2 thus leads to an increase in the number
of reproductive organs and spikelets due to the accumulation of CK in the inflores-
cence meristems. This, in turn, leads to an improvement in the grain yield (Azizi
et al. 2015; Ashikari et al. 2008).

Marker-Assisted Breeding

The duration of panicle differentiation is influenced by QTLs that control heading

date. Gene/QTLs that regulate heading date usually increase the duration of panicle
differentiation to increase spikelet number per panicle and, in turn, enhance grain
yield potential (Tripathi et al. 2012). Among these are the Ghd7 (Weng et al. 2014;
Xue et al. 2008), Ghd8/DTH8 (Wei et al. 2010; Yan et al. 2011), RCN1 (Nakagawa
et al. 2002), and RFL (Kyozuka et al. 1998; Rao et al. 2008). Ghd7 encodes for a
CCT motif family of protein and functions as one of the major regulators in the
pleiotropic control of several traits, including the number of grains per panicle,
plant height, and heading date (hence the name Ghd). A recent study has suggested
that Ghd7 positively regulates both tiller and panicle branches in a density-depen-
dent manner, indicating that Ghd7 influences the control of branch development in
response to environmental conditions (Weng et al. 2014). In addition, elevated Ghd7
expression levels repress Hd3a expression which prolongs panicle differentiation.
Ghd7-1, Ghd7-3, and other Ghd7 functional alleles with strong effects allow rice to
utilize light and temperature by delaying flowering under long-­day conditions in
areas with long growing seasons, thus producing large panicles and increasing grain
yield (Xue et  al. 2008). In a similar fashion, Ghd8/DTH8 is able to repress the
expression of early heading date 1 (Ehd1) and Hd3a under long-­day conditions
leading to a delayed heading date and an increased number of grains per plant (Wei
et al. 2010; Yan et al. 2011).

Transgenic Approach

Several studies have employed transgenic approach in the functional characteriza-

tion of some genes that may influence the number of grains per panicle. The LRK1
(leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase 1) has been reported to contribute to a
higher grain number per plant (Zha et al. 2009). The overexpression of this gene
resulted in an increased number of panicles, spikelets per panicle, weight per grain,
and cellular proliferation that led to a 27.09 % increase in total grain yield per plant.
In another transgenic study in rice, the use of transgenic expression of a dominant
524 A.K. Biswal et al.

negative form of SRK (S-domain receptor kinase) called OsLSK1 (large spike
S-domain receptor-like kinase 1) was observed to improve grain yield components
in rice (Zou et al. 2015a). In the same study, the overexpression of a truncated ver-
sion of OsLSK1 improved the primary branches per panicle and grains per primary
branch which resulted to an increase in grain number per panicle in OXOsLSK1-t-3
and OXOsLSK1-t-4 transgenic lines generated (Zou et al. 2015b). Additionally, in a
study on another gene OsSPL14 (squamosa promoter-binding protein-like 14, also
known as IPA1) encoded by the WFP (wealthy farmer’s panicle), QTL has been
reported to increase grain productivity in rice (Miura et al. 2010). It was observed
that OsSPL14WFP allele on chromosome 8 was associated with an increase of about
40 % in the primary branch and grain number. These studies underscore that the
manipulation of these genes may be a viable and practicable way to improve grain
yield in rice and other crops.

18.5.1.3  Grain Weight

Grain weight is a significant trait related to grain yield potential and grain quality of
rice. Three parameters are commonly used to determine grain weight. These include
grain length, grain width, and grain filling. Recent studies in QTL mapping and
cloning have made significant progresses on identification of genes and major QTLs
regulating grain weight (Table 18.1). The major genes/QTLs reported to regulate
these parameters are GW2, GS3, and the grain incomplete filling 1 (GIF1) (Tripathi
et al. 2012).
GW2 encodes a RING-type ubiquitin E3 ligase that was previously suggested
to negatively regulate grain width and cell division by targeting its substrates to
degradation via ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (Song et al. 2007). On the other
hand, GS3 was found to influence grain size and length. The activity of GS3 to
influence grain size has been detected in a diverse range of rice varieties (Fan
et al. 2009; Takano-Kai et al. 2009) and was found to have lower expression levels
throughout the stages of development (Tripathi et al. 2012). Comparative sequence
analysis of the gene has identified a nonsense mutation, shared among all the
large-grain varieties sequenced in comparison with the small- to medium-grain
varieties (Xing and Zhang 2010; Takano-Kai et al. 2009). This mutation causes a
178-amino acid truncation in the C terminus of the protein product itself, suggest-
ing that GS3 may function as a negative regulator for cell division and integument
elongation.
GIF1 gene was observed to influence grain filling. It encodes for a cell wall
invertase required for carbon partitioning during early grain filling (Wang et  al.
2008). In contrast to the GW2 and GS3 genes, GIF1 functions as a positive regulator
and had higher expression in the flowering and milk stages of the reproductive phase
(Tripathi et al. 2012).
All of these highlight the role of biotechnology in increasing rice yield potential.
Knowledge and control of these agronomically important genes that regulate major
yield traits offer strategies in an effort to boost rice yields.
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 525

18.5.2  Herbicide Tolerance

Herbicide tolerance (HT) is a significant agronomic trait that has been used to control
weeds efficiently for several decades. Considerable efforts have been made to pro-
duce HT crops to simplify weed management and to alleviate problems that arise
from herbicide residues. Several techniques have been used to develop HT crops
which include cell culture, in vitro selection, and genetic engineering approaches.
Substantial efforts are being made to develop herbicide-tolerant rice using genes that
confer resistance to herbicides. Three major HT systems, currently commercialized,
are based on resistance to herbicides inhibiting amino acid biosynthesis. These
include imidazolinone (IMI), glyphosate, and glufosinate resistance (Duke 2005). In
rice, all the three HT rice systems have been developed (Scarabel et al. 2012; Tsai
et al. 2006; Wang et al. 2014c).
IMI-resistant rice conveys resistance to the imidazolinone group of potent herbi-
cides (imazethapyr, imazapyr, imazamox, imazapic), which control a broad spec-
trum of grass and weeds and have favorable environmental profiles (Tan et al. 2005).
Imidazolinone herbicides control weeds by inhibiting the acetolactate synthase
(ALS) enzyme. As such, ALS has been the target for conventional mutation breed-
ing and transgenic protocols. One of the herbicides that inhibit ALS activity is
bispyribac sodium (BS). BS tolerance was found to be associated with two point
mutations in the ALS gene: a tryptophan-to-leucine change (W548 L) and another
serine to isoleucine (S627I) (Endo et al. 2007). In the same study, a highly efficient
T-DNA-mediated gene-targeting (GT) system was developed to introduce W548 L
and S627I mutations into the ALS gene which resulted in the generation of hyper-­
tolerant rice plants against BS.
Transgenic approach has also been used to introduce herbicide-resistant genes
into rice from other organisms. It includes the bar gene, isolated from Streptomyces
hygroscopicus, responsible for the metabolic detoxification of glufosinates and the
enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) gene isolated from
Agrobacterium strain CP4 that detoxifies glyphosate herbicides (Kumar et al. 2008).
Considerable efforts have been made to find other sources of genes that could be
used to develop HR transgenic rice. For example, transgenic rice plants expressing
Bacillus subtilis protoporphyrinogen oxidase (an enzyme that is vital to heme and
chlorophyll biosynthesis) were found to be resistant against the herbicide oxyfluor-
fen (Jung et  al. 2004). Another example is the expression of human cytochrome
P450s in rice. Transgenic rice plants that contain CYP1A1, CYP2B6, and CYP2C19
genes were found to be more tolerant to several herbicides than non-transgenic
plants (Kawahigashi et al. 2007; Kumar et al. 2012). However, rice plant expressing
human genes may have ethical issues (Kumar et al. 2008).
Furthermore, herbicide resistance by metabolic detoxification can confer phy-
toremediating capabilities to transgenic plants which can mitigate the debilitating
effects of chemical residues in the environment. However, these advantages should
be weighed against potential risks and consequences that are brought about by
large-scale adoption of HR technologies in rice.
526 A.K. Biswal et al.

18.5.3  Other Value-Added Traits

18.5.3.1  Lodging Resistance

High-yielding varieties with natural plant height generally suffer from lodging
though dwarf plants have relatively less lodging problem. In addition to plant height,
lodging resistance also depends on the physical strength of culms (Ookawa and
Ishihara 1993). Recent development of the disomic derivatives of Oryza latifolia in
the background of O. sativa has shown high culm strength, and these are being
considered as lines with potential to improve lodging resistance in cultivated rice
stem (Angeles-Shim et al. 2014).

18.5.4  C4 Rice

C4 photosynthesis is one of the most remarkable adaptations within the flowering

plants. In fact, C4 photosynthesis is estimated to account for 20–30 % of terrestrial
carbon fixation despite being used by only approximately 3 % of the total angio-
sperm species (Kellogg 2013). The maximum energy conversion efficiency of C4
photosynthesis mainly depends upon its CO2 concentration mechanism in contrast
to the common C3 photosynthesis systems of the most of the terrestrial plants
including rice.
In all plants, CO2 is fixed by the enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxyl-
ase/oxygenase or Rubisco. It catalyzes the carboxylation of ribulose-1,5-bisphos-
phate (RuBP) into an unstable 6-carbon intermediate that is subsequently hydrated
and cleaved to produce two molecules of a three-carbon compound, 3-phospho-
glycerate (3-PGA), as the first stable product (hence the name C3). In C3 plants,
this process occurs in the mesophyll (M) cells located on the surface of the leaf.
The deviant interaction of Rubisco with oxygen elicits Rubisco’s oxygenase activ-
ity, in which O2 is covalently bound to RuBP at carbon 2, producing a molecule of
3-PGA and 2-phosphoglycolate (2-PG). 2-PG is toxic for the plant at higher con-
centrations and has to undergo detoxification in the peroxisome and mitochondria
in a process called photorespiration. In the photorespiratory cycle, 2-PG is regen-
erated to 3-PGA. However, it involves the release of formerly assimilated CO2 and
NH3, consumption of energy and reducing equivalents (Peterhansel et al. 2010),
and, consequently, a reduction of photosynthetic efficiency by up to 30  %
(Mallmann et  al. 2014). For this reason, photorespiration is often viewed as a
wasteful process. In C4 plants, the CO2 is initially fixed by the cytosolic enzyme
phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) to form a four-carbon compound oxa-
loacetate (OAA) (hence the name C4). The PEPC is insensitive to O2 and specifi-
cally reacts with only CO2. Several attempts have been made either to understand
the molecular mechanism of C4 photosynthesis or to introduce C4 photosynthesis
into rice.
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 527

18.5.4.1  Marker-Assisted Breeding

In fact, C4 photosynthesis has been proposed as a polygenic quantitative trait

(Westhoff & Gowik 2010) because of stepwise transition from C3 to C4 and the
presence of C3–C4 intermediates (Westhoff and Gowik 2010). Attempts have been
made to map the QTL between closely related species from the 1970s. In one of the
early crosses made by Malcolm Nobs and Olle Björkman between Atriplex prostrata
(C3) and Atriplex rosea (C4), an F2 population was generated which showed segre-
gation of individual C4. It could not proceed further due to aneuploidy. Similarly
crosses have been made between C3, C4, and C3–C4 intermediates of Flaveria
species through genetic engineering efforts.

18.5.4.2  Transgenic Research

Initially, it was thought that a single-cell C4 system could be faster to develop in C3

plants, and there have been previous attempts to engineer single-cell C4 system in
rice (Miyao et al. 2011). However, the earlier attempts have only produced futile
cycle (Zhu et al. 2010). In an effort to incorporate the more efficient Kranz-type C4
system into rice, the C4 rice consortium spearheaded the discovery of genes and
engineering of already known genes into rice. C4 genes including CA, PEPC,
PPDK, NADP-ME, and NADP-MDH have been cloned from maize and transformed
into rice (Kajala et al. 2011). Several studies have employed comparative transcrip-
tomics in maize and several closely related C3, C4, and C3–C4 intermediate species
(Wang et al. 2013; Gowik et al. 2011; Wang and Czedik-Eysenberg 2014) to iden-
tify candidate genes related to C4 syndrome and Kranz anatomy. Cohorts of genes
have been identified and being validated through genetic transformation into rice
(Table 18.2).
Currently, the phase III of the C4 Rice Project is underway. This will allow for a
more refined genetic toolkit that has been assembled in the previous stages and a
greater understanding of the regulatory mechanisms that establish the pathway in
C4 plants. These efforts are geared toward the full realization of engineering the C4
pathway into rice.

18.6  Limitation of Molecular Breeding

Main problems encountered in these studies were that the QTLs having a minor
effect on the phenotype pose a great challenge for the breeders to select improved
lines in the field condition and discovery of major QTLs functioning independent of
their genetic background underlies extensive efforts (Gowda et al. 2011). Secondly,
most of these QTL mapping studies in rice have been conducted using progenies
derived from intraspecific crosses. Much needed efforts are still required to go for
interspecific crosses to explore novel alleles and with their effective incorporation
528 A.K. Biswal et al.

into the breeding programs for drought tolerance in rice. Thirdly, availability of
uniformly distributed molecular markers for fine mapping of large-effect QTLs has
never been sufficient. Exploitation of 3 K genome sequence and the use of high-­
density SNP genotyping platform along with next-generation sequencing (NGS)
may help to accelerate molecular breeding for improved rice cultivars.

18.7  Controversies Over GM Rice

Several controversies regarding the possible repercussions that genetically modified

(GM) rice may bring have been raised. Though many of these are fictitious, some of
these issues concern about its environmental and ecological safety, food safety, and
ethical and economic issues, among others.
On an environmental and ecological perspective, the evolution of resistant pests
and weeds termed as superbugs and super weeds raises an issue on the conse-
quences of GM rice (Bawa and Anilakumar 2013). This is based on the uncertainty
of whether the pest-resistant characteristic of these transgenic crops can escape to
their weedy relatives causing resistant and increased weeds. Similarly, herbicide-­
resistant transgenic crops are also speculated to cause the surrounding weeds to
develop resistance as well, thus nullifying the effects of the transgenics. This has
led to the topics regarding prevention of gene flow from transgenic crops to wild
type. In a study conducted to assess gene flow from herbicide-resistant rice to that
of the wild type, it was found that gene flow frequency decreased exponentially
with increasing isolation distance and is dependent on the main wind direction dur-
ing flowering (Han et al. 2015). These highlight the importance of crop manage-
ment and agricultural laws if large-scale adoption of transgenic varieties is to be
carried out.
Another major concern of GM crops, such as rice, is in its safety for human
health. Health risks associated with GM foods are concerned with toxins and aller-
gens (Bajaj and Mohanty 2005). Transgenic rice has been developed to overex-
press 2S albumin from sesame to increase its cysteine and methionine content (Lee
et al. 2003). Despite the fact that sesame has been used as a food additive in many
Asian countries, the 2S albumin from sesame seeds has been previously demon-
strated to be allergenic (Pastorello et al. 2001). While it is justifiable to conduct
allergenicity studies on all transgenic rice, like all other allergenic food items,
allergenic transgenic products can be separately labeled and barred from people
who are sensitive to it.
Rice is a staple food and is the primary source of energy for more than half of the
world’s population. There is still a great amount of uncertainties, especially in the
large-scale adoption of GM rice. Thus, it is understandable that the incorporation of
GM rice into agricultural production is continuously being debated. All of these
show the significance of weighing the immense potential benefits of GM rice in
food supply and the possible risks that it entails.
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 529

Nevertheless, genetic engineering has already shown the potential of plant bio-
technology for crop improvement. As a result, transgenic plants with high agro-
nomic and environmental value have been developed for several crop species such
as maize, soybean, cotton, tomato, potato, tobacco, papaya, and wheat (http://www.
isaaa.org/). However, it suffers from onerous regulatory obstacles. Nevertheless,
new methods of precisely transferring genes through targeted genome editing
method may simplify the process of commercialization of transgenic crops with less
severe regulations. Similarly transfer of genes from the same or related species
through cisgenic approach can also be exploited though it limits the potential of
genetic engineering to deliver genetic material from any species.

18.8  Future Research and Conclusions

There is a broad scope of biotechnology in modern-day agriculture. Apart from

genetic understanding of important traits, biotechnology has a key role in product
development. Marker-assisted breeding and transgenic deployment are the two
potential areas. Marker-assisted rice breeding has made remarkable progress.
Varieties improved through MAS can be used to study gene function and resistance
mechanisms by using modern biotechnological tools. The application of tissue cul-
ture technology, as a central tool or as an adjunct to other methods, including recom-
binant DNA techniques, is at the vanguard in plant modification and improvement
for agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. Implementation of targeted genome edit-
ing technologies such as TALENs and CRISPR/Cas system can be harnessed to
modify defunct alleles of useful genes or to knock out unwanted genes in plants
without any trace of transgene. Biotechnological tools and techniques provide a
unique opportunity to create novel useful variation which is instrumental for the rice
breeders.

References

Ahmadi N, Negrão S, Katsantonis D, Frouin J, Ploux J, Letourmy P et al (2011) Targeted associa-
tion analysis identified japonica rice varieties achieving Na(+)/K (+) homeostasis without the
allelic make-up of the salt tolerant indica variety Nona Bokra. Theor Appl Genet [Internet].
[cited 2016 Mar 22];123(6):881–895. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/21713536
Amante AD, Pena R de la, Sitch LA, Leung H, Mew TW (1990) Sheath blight (ShB) resistance in
wild rices. Int Rice Res Newsl [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 6];15(3). Available from: http://www.
cabdirect.org/abstracts/19901615238.html;jsessionid=AB673CDEA74E8A7D4788884399E0
2BF4
Angeles-Shim RB, Vinarao RB, Marathi B, Jena KK (2014) Molecular Analysis of Oryza latifolia
Desv. (CCDD Genome)-Derived Introgression Lines and Identification of Value-Added Traits
for Rice (O. sativa L.) Improvement. J Hered [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 27];105(5):676–689.
Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24939891
530 A.K. Biswal et al.

Anuradha K, Agarwal S, Batchu AK, Babu PA, Swamy BPM, Longvah T et al (2012) Evaluating
rice germplasm for iron and zinc concentration in brown rice and seed dimensions. J Phytol
[Internet] 4(1):19–25 Available from: http://journal-phytology.com/index.php/phyto/article/
viewArticle/11448
Asghar A, Rashid H, Ashraf M, Khan MH, Chaudhry Z (2007) Improvement of Basmati rice
against fungal infection through gene transfer technology. Pakistan J Botany. pp 1277–1283
Ashikari M, Ashikari M, Sakakibara H, Lin S (2008) Cytokinin oxidase regulates rice grain pro-
duction. Science 741(2005):741–745
Atkinson HJ, Urwin PE, McPherson MJ (2003) Engineering plants for nematode resistance. Annu
Rev Phytopathol [Internet]. Annual Reviews 4139 El Camino Way, P.O. Box 10139, Palo Alto,
CA 94303–0139, USA; 28 [cited 2016 Apr 8];41:615–639. Available from: http://www.annu-
alreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.phyto.41.052002.095737
Azizi P, Rafii MY, Maziah M, Abdullah SNA, Hanafi MM, Latif MA et al (2015) Understanding
the shoot apical meristem regulation: a study of the phytohormones, auxin and cytokinin, in
rice. Mech Dev [Internet] Elsevier Ireland Ltd 135:1–15 Available from: http://dx.doi.
org/10.1016/j.mod.2014.11.001
Bailey-Serres J, Voesenek LACJ (2008) Flooding stress: acclimations and genetic diversity. Annu
Rev Plant Biol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 26];59:313–339. Available from: http://www.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18444902
Bajaj S, Mohanty A (2005) Recent advances in rice biotechnology - Towards genetically superior
transgenic rice. Plant Biotechnol J 3(3):275–307
Bashir K, Husnain T, Fatima T, Latif Z, Aks Mehdi S, Riazuddin S (2004) Field evaluation and risk
assessment of transgenic indica basmati rice. Mol Breed [Internet]. May [cited 2016 Apr
10];13(4):301–312. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1023/B:MOLB.0000034078.
54872.25
Bawa AS, Anilakumar KR (2013) Genetically modified foods: Safety, risks and public concerns –
a review. J Food Sci Technol 50(6):1035–1046
Bernier J, Kumar A, Ramaiah V, Spaner D, Atlin G (2007) A large-effect QTL for grain yield under
reproductive-stage drought stress in upland rice. Crop Sci 47(2):507–518
Bernier J, Serraj R, Kumar A, Venuprasad R, Impa S, Veeresh Gowda RP et al (2009) The large-­
effect drought-resistance QTL qtl12.1 increases water uptake in upland rice. F Crop Res
[Internet] 110(2):139–146. Available from: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/
S0378429008001639
Biswal AK (2010) Sub-cloning of synthetic Bt genes into binary vector and development of Bt
transgenic rice resistant to yellow stem borer. JNT University, Hyderabad
Bonilla P, Munoz NE, Dvorak J, Mackell D, Deal K, Gregorio G (2002) RFLP and SSLP mapping
of salinity tolerance genes in chromosome 1 of rice (Oryza sativa L.) using recombinant inbred
lines. Philipp Agric Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 22];85:68–76. Available from: http://agris.fao.
org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=PH2003000777
Boonyaves K, Gruissem W, Bhullar NK (2015) NOD promoter-controlled AtIRT1 expression
functions synergistically with NAS and FERRITIN genes to increase iron in rice grains. Plant
Mol Biol [Internet]. Springer, Netherlands; 0(3):207–215. Available from: http://dx.doi.
org/10.1007/s11103-015-0404-0
Bridge J, Luc M, Plowright RA (1990). Nematode parasites of rice. Plant Parasit nematodes
Subtrop Trop Agric [Internet]. CAB International; [cited 2016 22];69–108. Available from:
http://www.cabdirect.org/abstracts/19901182752.html;jsessionid=7CDDF7117BE62B502CE
FEAAF01AF512A
Cabauatan PQ, Cabunagan RC, Choi I (2009) Rice viruses transmitted by the brown planthopper
Nilaparvata lugens Stål 357–368.
Campo S, Baldrich P, Messeguer J, Lalanne E, Coca M, San Segundo B (2014) Overexpression of
a Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinase Confers Salt and Drought Tolerance in Rice by Preventing
Membrane Lipid Peroxidation. Plant Physiol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];165(2):688–704.
Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=4044838&tool=p
mcentrez&rendertype=abstract
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 531

Cao Y, Duan L, Li H, Sun X, Zhao Y, Xu C et al (2007) Functional analysis of Xa3/Xa26 family
members in rice resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Theor Appl Genet [Internet].
[cited 2016 Mar 22];115(7):887–895. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/17657469
Champoux MC, Wang G, Sarkarung S, Mackill DJ, O’Toole JC, Huang N et al (1995) Locating
genes associated with root morphology and drought avoidance in rice via linkage to molecular
markers. Theor Appl Genet 90(7–8):969–981
Chandra Babu R, Zhang J, Blum A, David Ho T-H, Wu R, Nguyen H (2004) HVA1, a LEA gene
from barley confers dehydration tolerance in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.) via cell mem-
brane protection. Plant Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 22];166(4):855–862. Available from:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168945203004837
Chang TT, Armenta-Soto JL, Mao CX, Peiris R, Loresto GC (1986) Genetic studies on the com-
ponents of drought resistance in rice ( Oryza sativa L.). In: Rice genetics. International Rice
Research Institute, Manila. pp 387–398
Chen H, Tang W, Xu C, Li X, Lin Y, Zhang Q (2005) Transgenic indica rice plants harboring a
synthetic cry2A* gene of Bacillus thuringiensis exhibit enhanced resistance against lepi-
dopteran rice pests. Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10];111(7):1330–1337.
Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16187120
Chen D, Chen X, Lei C, Ma B, Wang Y, Li S (2010) Rice Blast Resistance of Transgenic Rice
Plants with Pi-d2 Gene. Rice Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 6];17(3):179–184. Available from:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1672630809600159
Chen M, Shelton A, Ye G (2011) Insect-resistant genetically modified rice in China: From Research
to Commercialization. Annu Rev Entomol [Internet] 56(1):81–101 Available from: http://
www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-ento-120709-144810
Chen H, Chen W, Zhou J, He H, Chen L, Chen H et al (2012) Basic leucine zipper transcription
factor OsbZIP16 positively regulates drought resistance in rice. Plant Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016
Feb 1];193–194:8–17. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/
S0168945212001008
Chen L-J, Wuriyanghan H, Zhang Y-Q, Duan K-X, Chen H-W, Li Q-T et al (2013) An S-domain
receptor-like kinase, OsSIK2, confers abiotic stress tolerance and delays dark-induced leaf
senescence in rice. Plant Physiol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];163(4):1752–1765. Available
from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3850199&tool=pmcentrez
&rendertype=abstract
Chen H, Xie W, He H, Yu H, Chen W, Li J et al (2014) A high-density SNP genotyping array for
rice biology and molecular breeding. Mol Plant [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 19];7(3):541–553.
Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674205214602549
Choi MS, Woo MO, Koh EB, Lee J, Ham TH, Seo HS et al (2012) Teosinte Branched 1 modulates
tillering in rice plants. Plant Cell Rep 31(1):57–65
Collard BC, Mackill DJ (2008) Marker-assisted selection: an approach for precision plant breeding
in the twenty-first century. Philos Trans R Soc B Biol Sci [Internet] 363(1491):557–572
Available from: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/cgi/doi/10.1098/rstb.2007.2170
Courtois B, McLaren G, Sinha PK, Prasad K, Yadav R, Shen L (2000) Mapping QTLs associated
with drought avoidance in upland rice. Mol Breed 6(1):55–66
Dai S, Beachy RN (2009) Genetic engineering of rice to resist rice tungro disease. Vitr Cell Dev
Biol  – Plant [Internet] 45(5):517–524 Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/
s11627-009-9241-7
Dai S, Wei X, Alfonso AA, Pei L, UG D, Zhang Z et al (2008) Transgenic rice plants that overexpress
transcription factors RF2a and RF2b are tolerant to rice tungro virus replication and disease. Proc
Natl Acad Sci U S A [Internet] 105(52):21012–21016 Available from: http://www.pubmedcen-
tral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2634887&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract
Daorong F, Jianwen W, Xinping X, Yao X, Baojian L (1999) Introduction of multiple antifungal
protein genes into rice and preliminary study on resistance to Pyricularia oryzae of transgenic
rices. Acta Sci Nat Univ Sunyatseni [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 6];38(4):62–66. Available from:
http://europepmc.org/abstract/CBA/329901
532 A.K. Biswal et al.

Datta K, Tu J, Oliva N, Ona I, Velazhahan R, Mew TW et al (2001) Enhanced resistance to sheath
blight by constitutive expression of infection-related rice chitinase in transgenic elite indica
rice cultivars. Plant Sci 160(3):405–414
Datta K, Baisakh N, Thet KM, Tu J, Datta SK (2002) Pyramiding transgenes for multiple resis-
tance in rice against bacterial blight, yellow stem borer and sheath blight. Theor Appl Genet
[Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 22];106(1):1–8. Available from: http://link.springer.com/arti-
cle/10.1007/s00122-002-1014-1
Datta K, Baisakh N, Ganguly M, Krishnan S, Yamaguchi Shinozaki K, Datta SK (2012)
Overexpression of Arabidopsis and rice stress genes’ inducible transcription factor confers
drought and salinity tolerance to rice. Plant Biotechnol J  [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar
21];10(5):579–86. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22385556
Dean RA, Talbot NJ, Ebbole DJ, Farman ML, Mitchell TK, Orbach MJ et al (2005) The genome
sequence of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea. Nature 434(7036):980–986
Dennis ESS, Dolferus R, Ellis M, Rahman M, Wu Y, Hoeren FU et al (2000) Molecular strategies
for improving waterlogging tolerance in plants. J  Exp Bot [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar
22];51(342):89–97. Available from: http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/51/342/89.full
Dimkpa SON, Lahari Z, Shrestha R, Douglas A, Gheysen G, Price AH (2016) A genome-wide
association study of a global rice panel reveals resistance in Oryza sativa to root-knot nema-
todes. J Exp Bot [Internet] 67(4):1191–1200 Available from: http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/con-
tent/early/2015/11/07/jxb.erv470.full
Ding X-L, Jiang L, Liu S-J, Wang C-M, Chen L-M, Cheng Z-B et al (2004) [QTL analysis for rice
stripe disease resistance gene using recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from crossing of
Kinmaze and DV85]. Yi Chuan Xue Bao [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 22];31(3):287–292.
Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15195569
Dingkuhn M, Sow A, Manneh B (2015) Field phenomics for response of a rice diversity panel to
ten environments in Senegal and Madagascar. 1. Plant phenological traits. F Crop … [Internet].
[cited 2016 Mar 20]; Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/
S0378429015300307
Dixit S, Biswal AK, Min A, Henry A, Oane RH, Raorane ML et al (2015) Action of multiple intra-­
QTL genes concerted around a co-localized transcription factor underpins a large effect
QTL.  Sci Rep [Internet]. Nature Publishing Group 5(April):15183. Available from: http://
www.nature.com/articles/srep15183
Domagalska MA, Leyser O (2011) Signal integration in the control of shoot branching. Nat Rev
Mol Cell Biol [Internet]. Nature Publishing Group 12(4):211–221. Available from: http://dx.
doi.org/10.1038/nrm3088
Du B, Zhang W, Liu B, Hu J, Wei Z, Shi Z et  al (2009) Identification and characterization of
Bph14, a gene conferring resistance to brown planthopper in rice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
[Internet]. 29 [cited 2016 Apr 10];106(52):22163–22168. Available from: http://www.pnas.org/
content/106/52/22163.abstract
Duan J, Cai W (2012) OsLEA3-2, an abiotic stress induced gene of rice plays a key role in salt and
drought tolerance. PLoS One [Internet]. [cited 2016 Feb 18];7(9):e45117. Available from:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3443202&tool=pmcentrez&rende
rtype=abstract
Duke SO (2005) Taking stock of herbicide-resistant crops ten years after introduction. Pest Manag
Sci 61(3):211–218
Encabo JR, Cabauatan PQ, Cabunagan RC, Satoh K, Lee J-H, Kwak D-Y et al (2009) Suppression
of two tungro viruses in rice by separable traits originating from cultivar Utri Merah. Mol Plant
Microbe Interact [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 22]; 22(10):1268–1281. Available from: http://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19737100
Endo M, Osakabe K, Ono K, Handa H, Shimizu T, Toki S (2007) Molecular breeding of a novel
herbicide-tolerant rice by gene targeting. Plant J 52(1):157–166
Fan C, Yu S, Wang C, Xing Y (2009) A causal C-A mutation in the second exon of GS3 highly
associated with rice grain length and validated as a functional marker. Theor Appl Genet
118(3):465–472
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 533

Fujimoto H, Itoh K, Yamamoto M (1993) Insect resistant rice generated by introduction of a modi-
fied δ-endotoxin gene of Bacillus thuringiensis. Nat … [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10];
Available from: http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v11/n10/abs/nbt1093-1151.html
Fukai S, Cooper M (1995) Development of drought-resistant cultivars using physio-morphological
traits in rice. F Crop Res 40(2):67–86
Ganesan U, Suri SS, Rajasubramaniam S, Rajam MV, Dasgupta I (2009) Transgenic expression of
coat protein gene of Rice tungro bacilliform virus in rice reduces the accumulation of viral
DNA in inoculated plants. Virus Genes [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 22];39(1):113–119.
Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19387813
Gatehouse A (1992) Control of insect pests by plant genetic engineering. Proc R Soc Edinburgh
Sect B Biol Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10];99(3–4):51–60. Available from: http://journals.
cambridge.org/abstract_S0269727000005492
Geethanjali S, Kadirvel P, Gunathilagaraj K, Maheswaran M (2009) Detection of quantitative trait
loci (QTL) associated with resistance to whitebacked planthopper ( Sogatella furcifera ) in rice
( Oryza sativa ). Plant Breed [Internet] 128(2):130–136 Available from: http://doi.wiley.
com/10.1111/j.1439-0523.2008.001565.x
Gergon EB, Prot (1993) Effect of benomyl and carbofuran on Aphelenchoides besseyi on rice.
Fund Appl Nematol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 22];16(6):563–566. Available from: http://
www.cabi.org/isc/abstract/19932339761
Goto F, Yoshihara T, Shigemoto N, Toki S, Takaiwa F (1999) Iron fortification of rice seed by the
soybean ferritin gene. Nat Biotechnol 17(3):282–286
Gowda VRP, Henry A, Yamauchi A, Shashidhar HE, Serraj R (2011) Root biology and
genetic improvement for drought avoidance in rice. F Crop Res [Internet]. Apr [cited
2016 Feb 24]; 122(1):1–13. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti-
cle/pii/S037842901100061X
Gowik U, Bräutigam A, Weber KL, Weber APM, Westhoff P (2011) Evolution of C4 photosynthe-
sis in the genus Flaveria: how many and which genes does it take to make C4? Plant Cell
[Internet] 23(6):2087–2105 Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.
fcgi?artid=3160039{{}{&}{}}tool=pmcentrez{{}{&}{}}rendertype=abstract
Gregorio G (1997) Tagging salinity tolerance genes in rice using amplified fragment length poly-
morphism (AFLP). University of the Philippines, Los Baños
Gu J-F, Qiu M, Yang J-C (2013) Enhanced tolerance to drought in transgenic rice plants overex-
pressing C4 photosynthesis enzymes. Crop J  [Internet]. [cited 2016 Feb 1];1(2):105–114.
Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214514113000226
Guo C, Ge X, Ma H (2013) The rice OsDIL gene plays a role in drought tolerance at vegetative and
reproductive stages. Plant Mol Biol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];82(3):239–253. Available
from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23686450
Gupta SK, Rai AK, Kanwar SS, Chand D, Singh NK, Sharma TR (2012) The single functional
blast resistance gene Pi54 activates a complex defence mechanism in rice. J  Exp Bot
63(2):757–772
Han SM, Lee B, Won OJ, Hwang KS, Suh SJ, Kim C et  al (2015) Gene flow from herbicide
­resistant genetically modified rice to conventional rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars. 38(4):
397–403.
Hattori Y, Nagai K, Furukawa S, Song X-J, Kawano R, Sakakibara H et al (2009) The ethylene
response factors SNORKEL1 and SNORKEL2 allow rice to adapt to deep water. Nature
[Internet]. Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved; 20 [cited 2016 Mar
8];460(7258):1026–1030. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature08258
Hegde S, Hegde V (2013) Assessment of global rice production and eExport opportunity for eEco-
nomic development in Ethiopia. Int J Sci Res 2(6):257–260
Heinrichs EA, Institute IRR (1985) Genetic evaluation for insect resistance in rice [Internet]. Int
Rice Res Inst. [cited 2016 Apr 10]. 356 p. Available from: https://books.google.com/
books?hl=en&lr=&id=kz5XQyd-VbMC&pgis=1
Herdt RW (1991) Research priorities for rice biotechnology. In: Khush GS, Toenniessen GH, edi-
tors. Rice biotechnology. B International with International Rice Research Institute. pp 19–54.
534 A.K. Biswal et al.

Hirochika H, Guiderdoni E, An G, Hsing Y-I, Eun MY, Han C-D et al (2004) Rice mutant resources
for gene discovery. Plant Mol Biol [Internet] 54(3):325–334 Available from: ­http://www.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15284490
Hong B, Uknes S, Ho T (1988) Cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding a mRNA
rapidly-­induced by ABA in barley aleurone layers. Plant Mol Biol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar
21]; Available from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00039030
Hong C-Y, Cheng K-J, Tseng T-H, Wang C-S, Liu L-F, Yu S-M (2004) Production of two highly
active bacterial phytases with broad pH optima in germinated transgenic rice seeds. Transgenic
Res [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 4];13(1):29–39. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/15070073
Hossain H, Rahman MA, Alam MS, Singh RK (2015) Mapping of quantitative trait loci associated
with reproductive-stage salt tolerance in rice. J Agron Crop Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 22];
201(1):17–31. Available from: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jac.12086
Hsing Y-I, Chern CG, Fan MJ, Lu PC, Chen KT, Lo SF et al (2007) A rice gene activation/knock-
out mutant resource for high throughput functional genomics. Plant Mol Biol 63(3):
351–364
Hu H, Dai M, Yao J, Xiao B, Li X, Zhang Q et al (2006) Overexpressing a NAM, ATAF, and CUC
(NAC) transcription factor enhances drought resistance and salt tolerance in rice. Proc Natl
Acad Sci U S A [Internet] 103(35):12987–12992 Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.
nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1559740&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract
Hu J, Xiao C, Cheng M-X, Gao G-J, Zhang Q-L, He Y-Q (2015) A new finely mapped Oryza
australiensis-derived QTL in rice confers resistance to brown planthopper. Gene [Internet].
[cited 2016 Apr 10];561(1):132–137. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/25682936
Huang N, Angeles ER, Domingo J, Magpantay G, Singh S, Zhang G et al (1997 Pyramiding of
bacterial blight resistance genes in rice: marker-assisted selection using RFLP and PCR. TAG
Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. 20 [cited 2016 Mar 22];95(3):313–320. Available from: http://
link.springer.com/10.1007/s001220050565
Huang X, Qian Q, Liu Z, Sun H, He S, Luo D et al (2009) Natural variation at the DEP1 locus
enhances grain yield in rice. Nat Genet [Internet] 41(4):494–497 Available from: http://www.
nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/ng.352
Hurd EA (1964) Root study of three wheat varieties and their resistance to drought and damage by
soil cracking. Can J Plant Sci 44(3):240–248
Ikeda-Kawakatsu K, Yasuno N, Oikawa T, Iida S, Nagato Y, Maekawa M et al (2009) Expression
level of ABERRANT PANICLE ORGANIZATION1 determines rice inflorescence form
through control of cell proliferation in the meristem. Plant Physiol [Internet] 150(2):736–747
Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2689948&tool=p
mcentrez&rendertype=abstract
ILSI International Food Biotechnology Committee (2008) Golden Rice 2. Compr Rev Food Sci
Food Saf [Internet] 7(1):92–98 Available from: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1541-4337.
2007.00029_7.x
Ingram J, Bartels D (1996) The molecular basis of dehydration tolerance in plants. Annu Rev Plant
Physiol Plant Mol Biol [Internet] 47(1):377–403 Available from: http://www.annualreviews.
org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.arplant.47.1.377
International Rice Research Institute (2006) High-iron and -zinc rice Why [Internet]. Rice fact
sheet. p.  2006. Available from: http://www.doc-developpement-durable.org/file/Culture-­
plantes-­alimentaires/FICHES_PLANTES/riz/fs_Fe%20And%20Zn%20rice%20irri.pdf
International Rice Research Institute (2013) Wild parent spawns super salt-tolerant rice [Internet].
[cited 2016 Mar 22]. Available from: http://irri.org/news/119-wild-parent-spawns-super-salt-
tolerant-rice
Ishizaki T, Maruyama K, Obara M, Fukutani A, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K, Ito Y et  al (2013)
Expression of Arabidopsis DREB1C improves survival, growth, and yield of upland New Rice
for Africa (NERICA) under drought. Mol Breed [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];31(2):
255–264. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11032-012-9785-9
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 535

Ismail AM, Heuer S, Thomson MJ, Wissuwa M (2007) Genetic and genomic approaches to
develop rice germplasm for problem soils. Plant Mol Biol 65(4):547–570
Jahan G, Hassan L, Begum SN, Islam SN (2013) Identification of Iron rich rice genotypes in
Bangladesh using chemical analysis. J Bangladesh Agril Univ [Internet] 11(1):73–78 Available
from: http://www.banglajol.info/bd/index.php/JBAU/article/view/18216
Jena KK, Mackill DJ (2008) Molecular markers and their use in marker-assisted selection in rice.
Crop Sci [Internet] 48(4):1266. Available from: https://www.crops.org/publications/cs/
abstracts/48/4/1266
Jena KK, Jeung JU, Lee JH, Choi HC, Brar DS (2006) High-resolution mapping of a new brown
planthopper (BPH) resistance gene, Bph18(t), and marker-assisted selection for BPH resis-
tance in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10];112(2):288–
297. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16240104
Jha S, Tank HG, Prasad BD, Chattoo BB (2009) Expression of Dm-AMP1 in rice confers resis-
tance to Magnaporthe oryzae and Rhizoctonia solani. Transgenic Res [Internet] 18:59–69
Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11248-008-9196-1
Jia Y, Liu G 2011 Mapping quantitative trait loci for resistance to rice blast
Jones-Rhoades MW, Bartel DP, Bartel B (2006) MicroRNAs and their regulatory roles in plants.
Annu Rev Plant Biol 57:19–53
Jouanin L, Bonadé-Bottino M, Girard C (1998) Transgenic plants for insect resistance. Plant Sci
[Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10]; Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/
pii/S0168945297002392
Jung S, Chung JS, Chon SU, Kuk YI, Lee HJ, Guh JO et al (2004) Expression of recombinant
protoporphyrinogen oxidase influences growth and morphological characteristics in transgenic
rice. Plant Growth Regul 42(3):283–288
Kader MA, Lindberg S (2010) Cytosolic calcium and pH signaling in plants under salinity stress.
Plant Signal Behav [Internet]. Taylor & Francis; [cited 2016 Mar 21];5(3):233–238. Available
from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.4161/psb.5.3.10740
Kajala K, Covshoff S, Karki S, Woodfield H, Tolley BJ, Dionora MJA et al (2011) Strategies for
engineering a two-celled C 4 photosynthetic pathway into rice. J Exp Bot 62(9):3001–3010
Kalode MB, Reazul Karim ANM, Pongprasert S, Heinrichs EA (1986) Varietal improvement and
resistance to insect pests [Bangladesh; India; Philippines; Thailand]. In: Progress in rainfed
lowland rice [Internet]. International Rice Research Institute; [cited 2016 Apr 10]. pp 240–252.
Available from: http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=PH8810043
Kalpana K, Maruthasalam S, Rajesh T, Poovannan K, Kumar KK, Kokiladevi E et  al (2006)
Engineering sheath blight resistance in elite indica rice cultivars using genes encoding defense
proteins. Plant Sci [Internet] 170(2):203–215 Available from: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/
retrieve/pii/S0168945205002918
Kanzaki H, Nirasawa S, Saitoh H, Ito M, Nishihara M, Terauchi R et al (2002) Overexpression of
the wasabi defensin gene confers enhanced resistance to blast fungus (Magnaporthe grisea) in
transgenic rice. Theor Appl Genet 105(6–7):809–814
Kathuria H, Giri J, Nataraja KN, Murata N, Udayakumar M, Tyagi AK (2009) Glycinebetaine-­
induced water-stress tolerance in codA-expressing transgenic indica rice is associated with
up-regulation of several stress responsive genes. Plant Biotechnol J [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar
22];7(6):512–526. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19490479
Kawahigashi H, Hirose S, Ohkawa H, Ohkawa Y (2007) Herbicide resistance of transgenic rice
plants expressing human CYP1A1. Biotechnol Adv 25(1):75–84
Kellogg EA (2013) C4 photosynthesis. Curr Biol [Internet] 23(14):R594–R599. Available from:
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982213005071
Khan AS, Imran M, Ashfaq M (2009) Estimation of genetic variability and correlation for grain yield
components in rice. Am-Euras Journal Agriculture & Environmental Science. p. 585–590.
Khush GS, Jena K (2009) Current status and future prospects for research on blast resistance in
rice (Oryza sativa L.). In: Wang G-L, Valent B, editors. Advances in genetics, genomics and
control of rice blast disease [Internet]. Springer, Dordrecht; [cited 2016 Apr 3]. pp  1–10.
Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-4020-9500-9_1
536 A.K. Biswal et al.

Khush G, Kinoshita T (1991) Rice karyotype, marker genes, and linkage groups. Rice Biotechnol
[Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 22]; Available from: https://books.google.com/
books?hl=en&lr=&id=xo6v-I8GYc8C&oi=fnd&pg=PA83&dq=Rice+karotype,+marker+gen
e+and+linkage+groups&ots=Rtr3uiyf9I&sig=5EsprXDGulAdBn7B5dy_ovpAawM
Khush G, Mackill D, Sidhu G (1989) Breeding rice for resistance to bacterial blight. Bact blight rice
[Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 22];Available from: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=G_
L8pPRZmjwC&oi=fnd&pg=PA207&dq=Breeding+rice+for+resistance+to+bacterial+blight.+B
acterial+Blight+of+Rice&ots=OEP-9upBvr&sig=dz4Y9NC-­1aFGtGYwLoXcJox6FHU
Kinoshita T (1995) Report of the Committee on Gene Symbolization, Nomenclature and Linkage
Groups. Rice Genet Newslet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 6];12:9–153. Available from: http://
archive.gramene.org/newsletters/rice_genetics/rgn3/v3C.html
Komatsu M, Maekawa M, Shimamoto K, Kyozuka J (2001) The LAX1 and FRIZZY PANICLE 2
genes determine the inflorescence architecture of rice by controlling rachis-branch and spikelet
development. Dev Biol 231(2):364–373
Komatsu K, Maekawa M, Ujiie S, Satake Y, Furutani I, Okamoto H et al (2003) LAX and SPA:
Major regulators of shoot branching in rice. Proc Natl Acad Sci [Internet] 100(20):11765–
11770 Available from: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1932414100
Krishnamurthy K, Giroux MJ (2001) Expression of wheat puroindoline genes in transgenic rice
enhances grain softness. Nat Biotechnol [Internet] 19(February):162–166 Available from:
http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/84435
Kumar R, Venuprasad R, Atlin GN (2007) Genetic analysis of rainfed lowland rice drought
­tolerance under naturally-occurring stress in eastern India: Heritability and QTL effects. F
Crop Res [Internet] 103(1):42–52 Available from: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/
S0378429007000925
Kumar V, Bellinder RR, Gupta RK, Malik RK, Brainard DC (2008) Role of herbicide-resistant rice
in promoting resource conservation technologies in rice-wheat cropping systems of India: a
review. Crop Prot 27(3–5):290–301
Kumar S, Jin M, Weemhoff J (2012) Cytochrome P450-mediated phytoremediation using trans-
genic plants: a need for engineered cytochrome P450 enzymes. J  Pet Environ Eng
29(6):997–1003
Kumar A, Dixit S, Ram T, Yadaw RB, Mishra KK, Mandal NP (2014) Breeding high-yielding drought-
tolerant rice: genetic variations and conventional and molecular approaches. J Exp Bot [Internet]
65(21):6265–6278 Available from: http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/lookup/doi/10.1093/jxb/eru363
Kurakawa T, Ueda N, Maekawa M, Kobayashi K, Kojima M, Nagato Y et al (2007) Direct control
of shoot meristem activity by a cytokinin-activating enzyme. Nature [Internet]. 445(7128):652–
655. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17287810
Kyozuka J, Konishi S, Nemoto K, Izawa T, Shimamoto K (1998) Down-regulation of RFL, the
FLO/LFY homolog of rice, accompanied with panicle branch initiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S
A [Internet] 95(5):1979–1982 Available from: http://www.pnas.org/content/95/5/1979.abstract
Lakshmanan P, Velusamy R (1991) Resistance to sheath blight ShB and brown spot BS in lines
derived from Oryza officinalis. Int Rice Res Newsl [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 6];16(6):8.
Available from: http://eurekamag.com/research/002/209/002209519.php
Lang NT, Tao N Van, Buu BC (2011) Marker-assisted backcrossing (MAB) for rice submergence
tolerance in Mekong Delta. Omonrice 21:11–21.
Lang N thi, Buu B, Ismail A (2008) Molecular mapping and marker-assisted selection for salt
tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Omonrice [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];16:5056. Available
from: http://clrri.org/ver2/uploads/noidung/16-7.pdf
Lang NT, Thi P, Ha T, Nha CT, Hieu N Van, Hon D Van et al (2013) Introgression of Sub1 gene
into local popular varieties and newly developed elite breeding lines in the mekong delta.
Omonrice 19:27–39.
Lee F, Rush M (1983) Rice sheath blight: a major rice disease. Plant Dis [Internet]. [cited 2016
Apr 6]; Available from: http://www.apsnet.org/publications/PlantDisease/BackIssues/
Documents/1983Articles/PlantDisease67n07_829.pdf
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 537

Lee TTT, Wang MMC, Hou RCW, Chen L-J, Su R-C, Wang C-S et al (2003) Enhanced methionine
and cysteine levels in transgenic rice seeds by the accumulation of sesame 2S albumin. Biosci
Biotechnol Biochem 67(8):1699–1705
Lentini Z, Lozano I, Tabares E, Fory L, Domínguez J, Cuervo M et  al (2003) Expression and
inheritance of hypersensitive resistance to rice hoja blanca virus mediated by the viral nucleo-
capsid protein gene in transgenic rice. Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar
21];106(6):1018–1026. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12671749
Leyser O (2003) Regulation of shoot branching by auxin. Trends Plant Sci 8(11):541–545
Li Z, Pinson S, Marchetti M (1995) Characterization of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in cultivated
rice contributing to field resistance to sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani). Theor Appl …
[Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 6]; Available from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/
BF00220903
Li S, Qian Q, Fu Z, Zeng D, Meng X, Kyozuka J et al (2009) Short panicle1 encodes a putative
PTR family transporter and determines rice panicle size. Plant J 58(4):592–605
Lilley JM, Ludlow MM, McCouch SR, O’Toole JC (1996) Locating QTL for osmotic adjustment
and dehydration tolerance in rice. J  Exp Bot [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 19];47(302):1427–
1436. Available from: http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/47/9/1427
Lin X. (1996) Identifying and Mapping a New Gene for Bacterial Blight Resistance in Rice Based
on RFLP Markers. Phytopathology. p. 1156.
Lin HX, Zhu MZ, Yano M, Gao JP, Liang ZW, Su WA et al (2004) QTLs for Na+ and K+ uptake
of the shoots and roots controlling rice salt tolerance. Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016
Mar 22];108(2):253–260. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14513218
Linh LH, Linh TH, Xuan TD, Ham LH, Ismail AM, Khanh TD (2012). Molecular breeding to improve
salt tolerance of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in the red river delta of Vietnam. Int J  Plant Genomics
[Internet]. 2012:1–9. Available from: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijpg/2012/949038/
Liu G, Jia Y, Prado GA, Yeater KM, Mcclung A, Correll JC (2009) Mapping quantitative trait loci
for resistance to sheath blight in rice. Phytopathology 99(i):1078–1084
Loc N, Tinjuangjun P, Gatehouse A (2002) transgene constructs lacking vector backbone sequences
generate transgenic rice plants which accumulate higher levels of proteins conferring insect
resistance. Mol … [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10]; Available from: http://link.springer.com/arti-
cle/10.1023/A:1020333210563
Lonnerdal B (2003) Nutritional and physiologic significance of human milk proteins. Am J Clin
Nutr [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 4];77(6):1537S–1543. Available from: http://ajcn.nutrition.
org/content/77/6/1537S.short
Lucca P, Hurrell R, Potrykus I (2001) Genetic engineering approaches to improve the bioavail-
ability and the level of iron in rice grains. TAG Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr
4];102(2–3):392–397. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s001220051659
MacKill DJ (2008) Breeding for resistance to abiotic stresses in rice: the value of quantitative trait
loci. In: Lamkey KR, Lee M (eds). Plant breeding: the Arnel R Hallauer International
Symposium [Internet]. Blackwell Publishing, Ames; [cited 2016 Mar 22]. pp  201–212.
Available from: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9780470752708
Mackill DJ, Amante MM, Vergara BS, Sarkarung S ( 1993) Improved Semidwarf Rice Lines with
Tolerance to Submergence of Seedlings. Crop Sci [Internet] 33(4):749. Available from: https://
www.crops.org/publications/cs/abstracts/33/4/CS0330040749
Maeda H, Nemoto H, Yagi T, Fukuta Y (1999) QTL analysis for rice stripe disease resistance using
recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from crossing between Milyang 23 and Akihikari. In:
China Association of Agricultural Science Societies, China National Rice Research Institute,
China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center, China Foundation Society for
Agricultural Science and Education (eds) Prospects of rice genetics and b. Beijing: China
Agricultural Science Technology Press. pp 53–57.
Maeda H, Sugisawa T, Nemoto H, Sunohara Y (2004) QTL analysis for rice stripe resistance in the
Japanese Upland Rice Kanto72. Breed Sci [Internet] 54(1):19–+. Available from: <Go to
ISI>://000221368400003
538 A.K. Biswal et al.

Maeda H, Matsushita K, Iida S, Sunohara Y (2006) Characterization of two QTLs controlling

resistance to rice stripe virus detected in a Japanese upland rice line, Kanto 72. Breed Sci
[Internet]. Japanese Society of Breeding; Dec [cited 2016 Mar 21];56(4):359–364. Available
from: http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110004863707/en/
Mallmann J, Heckmann D, Bräutigam A, Lercher MJ, Weber AP, Westhoff P et al (2014) The role
of photorespiration during the evolution of C 4 photosynthesis in the genus Flaveria. Elife
[Internet] 3:1–23 Available from: http://elifesciences.org/lookup/doi/10.7554/eLife.02478
Manavalan LP, Chen X, Clarke J, Salmeron J, Nguyen HT (2012) RNAi-mediated disruption of
squalene synthase improves drought tolerance and yield in rice. J Exp Bot 63(1):163–175
Martinez-Atienza J, Jiang X, Garciadeblas B, Mendoza I, Zhu J-KK, Pardo JM et  al (2007)
Conservation of the salt overly sensitive pathway in rice. Plant Physiol [Internet]. 143(2):1001–
1012. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1104/pp.106.092635\nhttp://www.plantphysiol.org/
cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.106.092635
Maruthasalam S, Kalpana K, Kumar K (2007) Pyramiding transgenic resistance in elite indica rice
cultivars against the sheath blight and bacterial blight. Plant Cell Rep [Internet]. [cited 2016
Mar 21]; Available from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00299-006-0292-5
McWilliam JR (1989) The dimensions of drought. In: Baker FWGB, editor. Drought resistance in
cereals. CAB International, Wallingford. pp 1–11
Meng L, Zhao X, Ponce K, Ye G, Leung H (2016) QTL mapping for agronomic traits using multi-­
parent advanced generation inter-cross (MAGIC) populations derived from diverse elite indica
rice lines. F Crop Res [Internet]. Elsevier B.V. 189:19–42. Available from: http://linkinghub.
elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0378429016300259
Mew T (1987) Current status and future prospects of research on bacterial blight of rice. Annu Rev
Phytopathol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21]; Available from: http://www.annualreviews.org/
doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.py.25.090187.002043
Ming X, Wang L, An C, Yuan H, Chen Z (2000) Resistance to rice blast (Pyricularia oryzae) caused
by the expression of trichosanthin gene in transgenic rice plants transferred through agrobacte-
rium method. Chinese Sci Bull [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 6];45(19):1774–1778. Available
from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF02886265
Mishra KK, Vikram P, Yadaw RB, Swamy BPM, Dixit S, Teresa M et al (2013) qDTY 12. 1: a
locus with a consistent effect on grain yield under drought in rice. BMC Genet [Internet]. BMC
Genetics 14(1):1. Available from: BMC Genetics
Miura K, Ikeda M, Matsubara A, Song X-J, Ito M, Asano K et al (2010) OsSPL14 promotes pani-
cle branching and higher grain productivity in rice. Nat Genet [Internet] 42(6):545–549.
Available from: http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v42/n6/abs/ng.592.html?lang=en\nhttp://
www.nature.com/ng/journal/v42/n6/pdf/ng.592.pdf
Miyao M, Masumoto C, Miyazawa SI, Fukayama H (2011) Lessons from engineering a single-cell
C 4 photosynthetic pathway into rice. J Exp Bot 62(9):3021–3029
Mohanan KV, Mini CB (2008) Relative contribution of rice tillers of different status towards yield.
Int J  Plant Breed Genet [Internet] 2(1):9–12. Available from: http://www.scialert.net/
abstract/?doi=ijpbg.2008.9.12
Mohanty A, Kathuria H, Ferjani A, Sakamoto A, Mohanty P, Murata N et al (2002) Transgenics of
an elite indica rice variety Pusa Basmati 1 harbouring the codA gene are highly tolerant to salt
stress. Theor Appl Genet 106:51–57
Mottaleb KA, Rejesus RM, Murty M, Mohanty S, Li T (2016) Benefits of the development and
dissemination of climate-smart rice: ex ante impact assessment of drought-tolerant rice in
South Asia. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Chang [Internet]. Available from: ­http://link.springer.
com/10.1007/s11027-016-9705-0
Munns R, Tester M (2008) Mechanisms of salinity tolerance. Annu Rev Plant Biol [Internet]. Ann
Rev. [cited 2015 Feb 21];59:651–681. Available from: http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/
abs/10.1146/annurev.arplant.59.032607.092911
Nakagawa M, Shimamoto K, Kyozuka J  (2002) Overexpression of RCN1 and RCN2, rice
TERMINAL FLOWER 1 CENTRORADIALIS homologs, confers delay of phase. 29.
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 539

Nakashima K, Tran L-SP, Van Nguyen D, Fujita M, Maruyama K, Todaka D et al (2007) Functional
analysis of a NAC-type transcription factor OsNAC6 involved in abiotic and biotic stress-­
responsive gene expression in rice. Plant J [Internet] 51(4):617–630 Available from: http://doi.
wiley.com/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2007.03168.x
Nandi S, Suzuki Y, Huang J, Yalda D, Pham P (2002) Expression of human lactoferrin in transgenic
rice grains for the application in infant formula. Plant Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 4];
Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168945202001656
Negrão S, Courtois B, Ahmadi N (2011) Recent updates on salinity stress in rice: from physiologi-
cal to molecular responses. Crit Rev … [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21]; Available from: http://
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07352689.2011.587725
Nguyen HT, Joshi CP (1994) Molecular genetic approaches to improving heat and drought
stress tolerance in crop plants. In: Cherry JH, editor. Biochemical and cellular mechanisms
of stress tolerance in plants [Internet]. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin/Heidelberg:
[cited 2016 Mar 19]. pp  279–289. Available from: http://www.springerlink.com/
index/10.1007/978-3-642-79133-8
Nguyen Thi Lang BCB (2003) Genetic and physical maps of gene Bph-10 controling brown plant
hopper resistance in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Omonrice 11:35–41
Nishizawa Y, Nishio Z, Nakazono K, Soma M, Nakajima E, Ugaki M et al (1999) Enhanced resis-
tance to blast (Magnaporthe grisea) in transgenic Japonica rice by constitutive expression of
rice chitinase. Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 6];99(3–4):383–390. Available
from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22665169
O’Toole J  (1982) Adaptation of rice to drought prone environments. In: Drought resistance in
crops with emphasis on rice. International Rice Research Institute, Manila/Los Banos.
pp 195–213
Oard JH, Linscombe SD, Braverman MP, Jodari F, Blouin DC, Leech M et al (1996) Development,
field evaluation, and agronomic performance of transgenic herbicide resistant rice. Mol Breed
[Internet]. Dec [cited 2016 Apr 10];2(4):359–368. Available from: http://link.springer.
com/10.1007/BF00437914
Obara M, Tamura W, Ebitani T, Yano M, Sato T, Yamaya T (2010) Fine-mapping of qRL6.1, a
major QTL for root length of rice seedlings grown under a wide range of NH4(+) concentra-
tions in hydroponic conditions. Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 19];121(3):535–
547. Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2903690&to
ol=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract
Ookawa T, Ishihara K (1993) Varietal difference of the cell wall components affecting the bending
stress of the culm in relation to the lodging resistance in paddy rice. Japanese J  Crop Sci
[Internet] 14 [cited 2016 Mar 27];62(3):378–384. Available from: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/
article/jcs1927/62/3/62_3_378/_article
Ouyang S-Q, Liu Y-F, Liu P, Lei G, He S-J, Ma B et  al (2010) Receptor-like kinase OsSIK1
improves drought and salt stress tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa) plants. Plant J [Internet]. [cited
2016 Mar 15];62(2):316–329. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20128882
Paine JA, Shipton CA, Chaggar S, Howells RM, Kennedy MJ, Vernon G et al (2005) Improving
the nutritional value of Golden Rice through increased pro-vitamin A content. Nat Biotechnol
[Internet]. Nature Publishing Group; [cited 2016 Mar 4];23(4):482–487. Available from: http://
dx.doi.org/10.1038/nbt1082
Palanivel H, Ponnusamy S (2014) Mapping QTL’s for yellow stem borer resistance in rice
[Internet]. LAMBERT Academic Publishing; [cited 2016 Apr 10]. Available from: ­http://www.
amazon.com/Mapping-QTLs-Yellow-Borer-Resistance/dp/3659520152
Pandey S, Bhandari H (2009) Drought, coping mechanisms and poverty: insights from rainfed rice
farming in Asia [Internet]. Policy.International Fund for Agricultural Development Rome; 49
p. Available from: http://www.ifad.org/operations/projects/regions/pi/paper/7.pdf
Pandey S, Bhandari H, Hardy B (eds) (2007) Economic costs of drought and rice farmers’ coping
mechanisms: a cross-country comparative analysis. International Rice Research Institute, Los
Baños
540 A.K. Biswal et al.

Panwar MS, Rao YS (1998) Status of phytonematodes as pests of rice. In: Nematode disease in
plant. In: Trivedi PC (ed). Nematode disease in plant.CBS Publishers and Distributors, New
Delhi. pp 49–81
Park MR, Baek S-H, de los Reyes BG, Yun SJ (2007) Overexpression of a high-affinity phosphate
transporter gene from tobacco (NtPT1) enhances phosphate uptake and accumulation in trans-
genic rice plants. Plant Soil [Internet]. 6 [cited 2016 Jun 19];292(1–2):259–269. Available
from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11104-007-9222-8
Pastorello EA, Varin E, Farioli L, Pravettoni V, Ortolani C, Trambaioli C et al (2001) The major
allergen of sesame seeds (Sesamum indicum) is a 2S albumin. J Chromatogr B Biomed Sci
Appl [Internet]. 756(1–2):85–93. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti-
cle/pii/S0378434701000731
Patkar RN, Chattoo BB (2006) Transgenic indica rice expressing ns-LTP-like protein shows
enhanced resistance to both fungal and bacterial pathogens. Mol Breed 17(2):159–171
Perata P, Voesenek LACJ (2007) Submergence tolerance in rice requires Sub1A, an ethylene-­
response-­factor-like gene. Trends Plant Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 26];12(2):43–46.
Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17208508
Peterhansel C, Horst I, Niessen M, Blume C, Kebeish R, Kürkcüoglu S et al (2010) Photorespiration.
Arabidopsis Book [Internet]. 8:e0130. Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/arti-
clerender.fcgi?artid=3244903&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract
Platten JD, Cotsaftis O, Berthomieu P, Bohnert H, Davenport RJ, Fairbairn DJ et  al (2006)
Nomenclature for HKT transporters, key determinants of plant salinity tolerance. Trends Plant
Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];11(8):372–374. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/pubmed/16809061
Pokharel RR, Duxbury JM, Abawai G (2012) Evaluation of protocol for assessing the reaction of
rice and wheat germplasm to infection by meloidogyne graminicola. J  Nematol [Internet]
44(3):274–283 Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=35
47335&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract
Prasad B, Eizenga GC (2008) Rice sheath blight disease resistance identified in Oryza spp. acces-
sions. Plant Dis [Internet] 92(11):1503–1509. Available from: http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/
doi/abs/10.1094/PDIS-92-11-1503
Prasad J, Vijayakumar C (2006) Root-knot nematode resistance in advanced back cross popula-
tions of rice developed for water stress conditions. Nematol … [Internet] 34:3–8. Available
from: http://www.inaav.ba.cnr.it/vol34-1, 2006/vol34-1a.pdf
Price AH, Steele KA, Moore BJ, Barraclough PP, Clark LJ (2000) A combined RFLP and AFLP
linkage map of upland rice ( Oryza sativa L.) used to identify QTLs for root-penetration ability.
TAG Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 19];100(1):49–56. Available from: http://
link.springer.com/10.1007/s001220050007
Prot J (1994) Combination of nematodes, Sesbania rostrata, and rice: the two sides of the coin. Int
Rice Res Notes [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21]; Available from: http://agris.fao.org/agris-­
search/search.do?recordID=PH9510342
Quimio C, Torrizo L, Setter T (2000) Enhancement of submergence tolerance in transgenic rice
overproducing pyruvate decarboxylase. J Plant … [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21]; Available
from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0176161700801674
Rahman M, Grover A, Peacock WJ, Dennis ES, Ellis MH (2001) Effects of manipulation of pyru-
vate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase levels on the submergence tolerance of rice.
Aust J Plant Physiol 28(28):1231–1241 ST – Effects of manipulation of pyruvat.
Rahman L, Khanam MS, Koh H-J (2008) QTL analysis for yield related traits using populations
derived from an indica-japonica hybrid in rice ( Oryza sativa L .). Czech J Genet Plant Breed
44(3):93–104.
Ram T, Majumder ND, Laha GS, Ansari MM, Kar CS, Mishra B (2008) Identification of donors
for sheath blight resistance in wild species of rice. Indian J Genet Plant Breed [Internet]. The
Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding New Delhi, India; [cited 2016 Apr 6];68(3):317–
319. Available from: http://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ijgpb&volume=68&
issue=3&article=015
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 541

Ramesh S, Nagadhara D, Reddy V, Rao K (2004) Production of transgenic indica rice resistant to
yellow stem borer and sap-sucking insects, using super-binary vectors of Agrobacterium tume-
faciens. Plant Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10]; Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.
com/science/article/pii/S0168945203005491
Rao K, Lakshminarasu M, Jena K (2002) DNA markers and marker-assisted breeding for durable
resistance to bacterial blight disease in rice. Biotechnol Adv [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];
Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0734975002000022
Rao NN, Prasad K, Kumar PR, Vijayraghavan U (2008) Distinct regulatory role for RFL, the rice
LFY homolog, in determining flowering time and plant architecture. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
105(9):3646–3651
Ravindra H, Mukesh S, Narasimhamurthy HB, Imran Khan HS, Shruthi AS (2015) Evaluation of
rice landraces against rice root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne graminicola. African J Microbiol
Res [Internet]. ;9(16):1128–1131. Available from: http://academicjournals.org/journal/AJMR/
article-abstract/59A896652657
Ren Z-H, Gao J-P, Li L-G, Cai X-L, Huang W, Chao D-Y et al (2005) A rice quantitative trait locus
for salt tolerance encodes a sodium transporter. Nat Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar
2];37(10):1141–1146. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16155566
Rohila JS, Jain RK, Wu R (2002) Genetic improvement of Basmati rice for salt and drought toler-
ance by regulated expression of a barley Hva1 cDNA. Plant Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar
21];163(3):525–532. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/
S0168945202001553
Romero LE, Lozano I, Garavito A, Carabali SJ, Triana M, Villareal N et al (2014) Major QTLs
control resistance to rice hoja blanca virus and its vector Tagosodes orizicolus. G3 (Bethesda)
[Internet]. Jan [cited 2016 Apr 8];4(1):133–142. Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.
nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3887529&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract
Saijo Y, Hata S, Kyozuka J, Shimamoto K, Izui K (2000) Over-expression of a single Ca2+-
dependent protein kinase confers both cold and salt/drought tolerance on rice plants. Plant
J 23(3):319–327
Sakaguchi S. (1967) Linkage studies on the resistance to bacterial leaf blight Xanthomonas oryzae
(Uyeda et Ishiyama) DOWSON, in rice. Bull Natl Inst Agric Sci D(16):1–18.
Sakamoto A, Murata A (1998) Metabolic engineering of rice leading to biosynthesis of glycinebe-
taine and tolerance to salt and cold. Plant Mol Biol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21]; Available
from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1006095015717
Sanchez A, Brar D, Huang N (2000) Sequence tagged site marker-assisted selection for three bac-
terial blight resistance genes in rice. Crop Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21]; Available from:
https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/cs/abstracts/40/3/792
Sardar G, Mallick GK, Jana K, Ghosh S (2015) Screening of high iron and zinc rice genotypes in
red and lateritic areas of West Bengal. Int J Appl Bioresearch 23:7–9
Sasaya T, Nakazono-Nagaoka E, Saika H, Aoki H, Hiraguri A, Netsu O et al (2013) Transgenic
strategies to confer resistance against viruses in rice plants. Front Microbiol 4(JAN):1–11
Scarabel L, Cenghialta C, Manuello D, Sattin M (2012) Monitoring and Management of
Imidazolinone-Resistant Red Rice (Oryza sativa L., var. sylvatica) in Clearfield® Italian
Paddy Rice. Agronomy [Internet]. 2(4):371–383. Available from: ­http://www.mdpi.
com/2073-4395/2/4/371/
Schmit V, Reversat G, Soriano I, Brar D, Prot J-C (1999) Resistance to rice root-knot nematode
Meloidogyne graminicola identified in Oryza longistaminata and O. glaberrima. Nematology
1(4):395–398
Septiningsih EM, Sanchez DL, Singh N, Sendon PMD, Pamplona AM, Heuer S et  al (2012)
Identifying novel QTLs for submergence tolerance in rice cultivars IR72 and Madabaru. Theor
Appl Genet [Internet] 124(5):867–874. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/22083356
Sesma A, Osbourn AE (2004) The rice leaf blast pathogen undergoes developmental processes
typical of root-infecting fungi. Nature [Internet]. [cited 2016 Feb 16];431(7008):582–586.
Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature02880
542 A.K. Biswal et al.

Setter T, Ellis M, Laureles E (1997) Physiology and genetics of submergence tolerance in rice. Ann
Bot [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 26];79:67–77. Available from: http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/
content/79/suppl_1/67.short
Sharma SB, Rahaman PF (1998). Nematode pests in rice and wheat cropping systems in the Indo-­
Gangatic plain. In: Sharma SB, Johasan C, Midha SE (eds). Nematode pets in rice-wheat
legume cropping systems. Proceedings of a regional training course 1–5 September 1997, CCS
Harayana Agricultural University, Hisar, Harayana, India. Rice-Wheat Consortium paper series
4.Rice-Wheat Consortium for the IndoGangatic Plains, New Delhi. pp 11–16
Sharma TR, AK R, SK G, Vijayan J, BN D, Ray S (2012) Rice blast management through host-­
plant resistance: retrospect and prospects. Agric Res 1(1):37–52
Sharma-poudyal D, Pokharel RR, Shrestha SM, Khatri-chhetri GB (2004) Evaluation of Common
Nepalese Rice Cultivars Against Rice Root Knot Nematode. Sci York 5:33–36
Shen L, Courtois B, McNally KL, Robin S, Li Z (2001) Evaluation of near-isogenic lines of rice
introgressed with QTLs for root depth through marker-aided selection. TAG Theor Appl Genet
[Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 19];103(1):75–83. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/
s001220100538
Shimizu-Sato S, Mori H (2001) Control of outgrowth and dormancy in axillary buds. Plant Physiol
127(4):1405–1413
Shrestha R, Uzzo F, Wilson MJ, Price AH (2007) Physiological and genetic mapping study of
tolerance to root-knot nematode in rice. New Phytol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];176(3):665–
672. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17822410
Shu Q, Ye G, Cui H, Cheng X, Xiang Y, Wu D (2000) Transgenic rice plants with a synthetic
cry1Ab gene from Bacillus thuringiensis were highly resistant to eight lepidopteran rice pest
species. Mol … [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10]; Available from: http://link.springer.com/articl
e/10.1023/A:1009658024114
Singh S, Sidhu JS, Huang N, Vikal Y, Li Z, Brar DS et al (2001) Pyramiding three bacterial blight
resistance genes ( xa5 , xa13 and Xa21 using marker-assisted selection into indica rice cultivar
PR106. TAG Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. 25 [cited 2016 Mar 21];102(6–7):1011–1015.
Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s001220000495
Singh RK, Redoña E, Refuerzo L (2010) Abiotic Stress Adaptation in Plants [Internet]. Pareek A,
Sopory SK, Bohnert HJ (eds). Abiotic stress adaptation in plants: physiological, molecular and
genomic foundation. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht. pp 1–526. Available from: http://link.
springer.com/10.1007/978-90-481-3112-9
Singh VK, Singh A, Singh SP, Ellur RK, Choudhary V, Sarkel S et al (2012) Incorporation of blast
resistance into “PRR78”, an elite Basmati rice restorer line, through marker assisted backcross
breeding. F Crop Res 128(March):8–16
Song X-J, Huang W, Shi M, Zhu M-Z, Lin H-X (2007) A QTL for rice grain width and weight
encodes a previously unknown RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligase. Nat Genet [Internet] 39(5):623–
30. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17417637
Sparks A, Nelson A, Castilla N (2012) Where rice pests and diseases do the most damage. Rice
Today 11(4):27
Srivastava A, Rana V, Rana S, Singh D, Singh V (2011) Screening of rice and wheat cultivars for
resistance against Root-knot Nematode, Meloidogyne graminicola (Golden and Birchfield ) in
rice-wheat cropping system. J Rice Res 4:8–10
Stark-Lorenzen P, Nelke B, Hänßler G, Mühlbach HP, Thomzik JE (1997) Transfer of a grapevine
stilbene synthase gene to rice (Oryza sativa L.). Plant Cell Rep [Internet]. 14 [cited 2016 Apr
6];16(10):668–673. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s002990050299
Steele KA, Price AH, Shashidhar HE, Witcombe JR (2006) Marker-assisted selection to introgress
rice QTLs controlling root traits into an Indian upland rice variety. Theor Appl Genet
112(2):208–221
Steele KA, Price AH, Witcombe JR, Shrestha R, Singh BN, Gibbons JM et al (2013) QTLs associ-
ated with root traits increase yield in upland rice when transferred through marker-assisted
selection. Theor Appl Genet 126(1):101–108
Su C-C, Cheng X-N, Zhai H-Q, Wan J-M (2002) [Detection and analysis of QTL for resistance to
the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), in rice (Oryza sativa L.), using backcross
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 543

inbred lines]. Yi Chuan Xue Bao [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10];29(4):332–338. Available
from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11985267
Submergence I, Of T, Rice V, By C (2013) Improving submergence tolerance of vietnamese rice
cultivar by molecular breeding [Internet]. J Plant Breed Genet. [cited 2016 Mar 27]. pp 157–
168. Available from: http://escijournals.net/index.php/JPBG/article/view/318
Sun L-H, Wang C-M, Su C-C, Liu Y-Q, Zhai H-Q, Wan J-M (2006) Mapping and marker-assisted
selection of a brown planthopper resistance gene bph2 in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Yi Chuan Xue
Bao [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10];33(8):717–723. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/pubmed/16939006
Sundaram R, Vishnupriya M, Biradar S (2008) Marker assisted introgression of bacterial blight
resistance in Samba Mahsuri, an elite indica rice variety. Euphytica [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar
21]; Available from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10681-007-9564-6
Swamy BPM, Ahmed HU, Henry A, Mauleon R, Dixit S, Vikram P et  al (2013) Genetic,
Physiological, and Gene Expression Analyses Reveal That Multiple QTL Enhance Yield of
Rice Mega-Variety IR64 under Drought. PLoS One [Internet] 8(5):e62795. Available from:
http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062795
Takano-Kai N, Hui J, Kubo T, Sweeney M, Matsumoto T, Kanamori H et al (2009) Evolutionary
history of GS3, a gene conferring grain length in rice. Genetics 182(4):1323–1334
Takeda T, Suwa Y, Suzuki M, Kitano H, Ueguchi-Tanaka M, Ashikari M et al (2003) The OsTB1
gene negatively regulates lateral branching in rice. Plant J 33(3):513–520
Tan S, Evans RR, Dahmer ML, Singh BK, Shaner DL (2005) Imidazolinone-tolerant crops:
History, current status and future. Pest Manag Sci 61(3):246–257
Tan S, Han R, Li P, Yang G, Li S, Zhang P et al (2015a) Over-expression of the MxIRT1 gene
increases iron and zinc content in rice seeds. Transgenic Res 24(1):109–122
Tan S, Han R, Li P, Yang G, Li S, Zhang P et al (2015b) Over-expression of the MxIRT1 gene
increases iron and zinc content in rice seeds. Transgenic Res [Internet] 24(1):109–122 Available
from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11248-014-9822-z
Tanaka Y, Hibino T, Hayashi Y, Tanaka A (1999) Salt tolerance of transgenic rice overexpressing
yeast mitochondrial Mn-SOD in chloroplasts. Plant Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];
Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168945299001338
Tang W, Chen H, Xu C, Li X, Lin Y, Zhang Q (2006) Development of insect-resistant transgenic
indica rice with a synthetic cry1C* gene. Mol Breed [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10]; Available
from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11032-006-9002-9
Teng P, Revilla I (1995) Technical issues in using crop loss data for research prioritization. Philipp
J  Crop Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10]; Available from: http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/
search.do?recordID=PH9611366
Todaka D, Shinozaki K, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K (2015) Recent advances in the dissection of
drought-stress regulatory networks and strategies for development of drought-tolerant
­transgenic rice plants. Front Plant Sci [Internet]. Available from: http://www.frontiersin.org/
Plant_Biotechnology/10.3389/fpls.2015.00084/abstract
Toriyama K, Sakurai Y, Ezuka A, Sakurai Y (1966) The breeding of resistant varieties for rice stripe
virus. J Agric Sci 21:16–20
Tripathi AK, Pareek A, Sopory SK, Singla-Pareek SL (2012) Narrowing down the targets for yield
improvement in rice under normal and abiotic stress conditions via expression profiling of
yield-related genes. Rice (N Y) [Internet] 5(1):37. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/pubmed/24280046
Tripathy JN, Zhang J, Robin S, Nguyen TT, Nguyen HT (2000) QTLs for cell-membrane stability
mapped in rice ( Oryza sativa L.) under drought stress. TAG Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited
2016 Mar 19];100(8):1197–202. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s001220051424
Tsai AC, Wang C, Wang C, Tsai C (2006) Physiological characteristics of glufosinate resistance in
rice. Article Weed Sci 54(4):634–640
Tu J, Datta K, Alam MF, Fan Y, Khush GS, Datta SK (1998) Expression and Function of a Hybrid
Bt Toxin Gene in Transgenic Rice Conferring Resistance to Insect Pest. Plant Biotechnol
[Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10];15(4):195–203. Available from: http://jlc.jst.go.jp/JST.
Journalarchive/plantbiotechnology1997/15.195?from=Google
544 A.K. Biswal et al.

Tu J, Zhang G, Datta K, Xu C, He Y (2000) Field performance of transgenic elite commercial

hybrid rice expressing Bacillus thuringiensis δ-endotoxin. Nat … [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr
10]; Available from: http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v18/n10/abs/nbt1000_1101.html
Tyagi H, Rajasubramaniam S, Rajam MV, Dasgupta I (2008) RNA-interference in rice against Rice
tungro bacilliform virus results in its decreased accumulation in inoculated rice plants. Transgenic
Res [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];17(5):897–904. Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.
nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2522301&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract
Ul Haq T, Gorham J, Akhtar J, Akhtar N, Steele KA (2010) Dynamic quantitative trait loci for salt
stress components on chromosome 1 of rice. Funct Plant Biol [Internet]. CSIRO Publishing;
[cited 2016 Mar 21];37(7):634. Available from: http://www.publish.csiro.au/view/journals/
dsp_journal_fulltext.cfm?nid=102&f=FP09247
Vain P, Worland B, Clarke MC, Richard G, Beavis M, Liu H et al (1998) Expression of an engi-
neered cysteine proteinase inhibitor (Oryzacystatin-IΔD86) for nematode resistance in trans-
genic rice plants. TAG Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 8];96(2):266–71. Available
from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s001220050735
Varaprasad KS, Prasad JS, Chakrabarty SK, K A (2006) Global pest status of whitetip and ufra
nematodes and their role in transbounadary movement of rice. In: International rice congress.
New Delhi. p. 84.
Vasconcelos M, Datta K, Oliva N, Khalekuzzaman M, Torrizo L, Krishnan S et al (2003) Enhanced
iron and zinc accumulation in transgenic rice with the ferritin gene. Plant Sci [Internet]. [cited
2016 Apr 4];164(3):371–378. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/
pii/S0168945202004211
Venuprasad R, Dalid CO, Del Valle M, Zhao D, Espiritu M, Sta Cruz MT et al (2009) Identification
and characterization of large-effect quantitative trait loci for grain yield under lowland drought
stress in rice using bulk-segregant analysis. Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar
19];120(1):177–190. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19841886
Vera Cruz M (1989) How variable is Xanthomonas campestris pv. oryzae? In: International
Workshop on Bacterial Blight of Rice Los Banos, Laguna (Philippines) 14–18 Mar 1988
[Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 30]. Available from: http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.
do?recordID=PH19910099370
Verma V, Sharma S, Devi SV, Rajasubramaniam S, Dasgupta I (2012) Delay in virus accumulation
and low virus transmission from transgenic rice plants expressing Rice tungro spherical virus
RNA. Virus Genes [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];45(2):350–359. Available from: ­http://www.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22826155
Vikram P, Swamy BPM, Dixit S, Ahmed H, Teresa Sta Cruz M, Singh A et al (2011) qDTY1.1, a
major QTL for rice grain yield under reproductive-stage drought stress with a consistent effect
in multiple elite genetic backgrounds. BMC Genet [Internet] 12(1):89. Available from: http://
www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2156/12/89
Wang C (2006) The advance of the resistant breeding of rice stripe disease in Jiangsu province.
Jiangsu Agric Sci 3:1–5
Wang CM, Su CC, Ding XL, Zhai HQ, Wan JM (2004) QTLs linked to a gene cluster conferring
resistance to sucking insect pests in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Rice Genet Newsl [Internet]. [cited
2016 Apr 10]; 21:23. Available from: http://shigen.nig.ac.jp/rice/oryzabase/asset/rgn/vol21/
b23.html
Wang F-Z, Wang Q-B, Kwon S-Y, Kwak S-S, Su W (2005) Enhanced drought tolerance of trans-
genic rice plants expressing a pea manganese superoxide dismutase. J Plant Physiol [Internet]
162(4):465–472Available from: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0176161704002391
Wang E, Wang J, Zhu X, Hao W, Wang L, Li Q et al (2008) Control of rice grain-filling and yield
by a gene with a potential signature of domestication. Nat Genet [Internet]. 40(11):1370–1374.
Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18820698
Wang P, Kelly S, Fouracre JP, Langdale JA (2013) Genome-wide transcript analysis of early maize
leaf development reveals gene cohorts associated with the differentiation of C4 Kranz anatomy.
Plant J 75(4):656–670
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 545

Wang X, Lee S, Wang J, Ma J, Bianco T, Ji Y (2014a) Current advances on genetic resistance to

rice blast disease. In: Rice – germplasm, genetics and improvement [Internet]. InTech. Available
from: http://www.intechopen.com/books/rice-germplasm-genetics-and-improvement/
current-advances-on-genetic-resistance-to-rice-blast-disease
Wang C, Yang Y, Yuan X, Xu Q, Feng Y, Yu H et al (2014b) Genome-wide association study of blast
resistance in indica rice. BMC Plant Biol [Internet]. 18 [cited 2016 Apr 6];14(1):311. Available
from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2229/14/311/
Wang L, Czedik-Eysenberg A, Mertz R (2014c) Comparative analyses of C4 and C3 photosynthe-
sis in developing leaves of maize and rice. Nat … [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 29]; Available
from: http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v32/n11/abs/nbt.3019.html
Wang W, Xia H, Yang X, Xu T, Si HJ, Cai XX et al (2014d) A novel 5-enolpyruvoylshikimate-­3-
phosphate (EPSP) synthase transgene for glyphosate resistance stimulates growth and fecun-
dity in weedy rice (Oryza sativa) without herbicide. New Phytol 202(2):679–688
Washio O, Toriyama K, Ezuka A, Sakurai Y (1968) Studies on the breeding of rice varieties resis-
tant to stripe disease: II. Genetic Study on Resistance to Stripe Disease in Japanese Upland
Rice. Ikushugaku zasshi [Internet]. 16 [cited 2016 Mar 21];18(2):96–101. Available from:
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jsbbs1951/18/2/18_2_96/_article
Wei XJ, Xu JF, Guo HN, Jiang L, Chen SH, Yu CY et al (2010) DTH8 Suppresses Flowering in
Rice, Influencing Plant Height and Yield Potential Simultaneously. Plant Physiol [Internet]
153(4):1747–1758. Available from: <Go to ISI>://000280566000025
Weng X, Wang L, Wang J, Hu Y, Du H, Xu C et al (2014) Grain number, plant height, and heading
date7 is a central regulator of growth, development, and stress response. Plant Physiol [Internet]
164(2):735–747 Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retriev
e&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=24390391
Westhoff P, Gowik U (2010) Evolution of C4 photosynthesis--looking for the master switch. Plant
Physiol 154(2):598–601
Widawsky D, O’Toole J (1996) Prioritizing the rice research agenda for eastern India. Rice Res Asia
Prog … [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 26]; Available from: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en
&lr=&id=hwFHfwBsoZoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA109&dq=Prioritizing+rice+biotechnology+resear
ch+agenda+for+Eastern+India&ots=BcwrluE7sD&sig=YrW-­hl9jlJK7OQc2FT0bH8CvWio
Wu SJ, Zhong H, Zhou Y, Zuo H, Zhou LH, Zhu JY et al (2009) Identification of QTLs for the
resistance to rice stripe virus in the indica rice variety Dular. Euphytica 165(3):557–565
Xia K, Wang R, Ou X, Fang Z, Tian C, Duan J et al (2012) OsTIR1 and OsAFB2 downregulation
via OsmiR393 overexpression leads to more tillers, early flowering and less tolerance to salt
and drought in rice. PLoS One 7(1):1–10
Xiang Y, Tang N, Du H, Ye H, Xiong L (2008) Characterization of OsbZIP23 as a key player of the
basic leucine zipper transcription factor family for conferring abscisic acid sensitivity and
salinity and drought tolerance in rice. Plant Physiol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 20];148(4):1938–
1952. Available from: http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/148/4/1938
Xiao B, Huang Y, Tang N, Xiong L (2007) Over-expression of a LEA gene in rice improves
drought resistance under the field conditions. Theor Appl Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar
21];115(1):35–46. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17426956
Xie Y, Wu R (1989) Rice alcohol dehydrogenase genes: anaerobic induction, organ specific expres-
sion and characterization of cDNA clones. Plant Mol Biol 13:53–68
Xing Y, Zhang Q (2010) Genetic and molecular bases of rice yield. Annu Rev Plant Biol.
;61(FEBRUARY 2010):421–442
Xu D, Duan X, Wang B, Hong B, Ho T-HD, Wu R (1996a) Expression of a late embryogenesis
abundant protein gene, HVA1, from Barley Confers Tolerance to Water Deficit and Salt Stress
in Transgenic Rice. Plant Physiol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];110(1):249–257. Available
from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=157716&tool=pmcentrez&r
endertype=abstract
Xu DP, Xue QZ, McElroy D, Mawal Y, Hilder VA, Wu R (1996b) Constitutive expression of a
cowpea trypsin inhibitor gene, CpTi, in transgenic rice plants confers resistance to two major
546 A.K. Biswal et al.

rice insect pests. Mol Breed [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10];2(2):167–173. Available from:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00441431
Xu K, Xu X, Fukao T, Canlas P, Maghirang-Rodriguez R, Heuer S et  al (2006) Sub1A is an
ethylene-­ response-factor-like gene that confers submergence tolerance to rice. Nature
[Internet]. Nature Publishing Group; 10 [cited 2016 Mar 26];442(7103):705–708. Available
from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature04920
Xue W, Xing Y, Weng X, Zhao Y, Tang W, Wang L et al (2008) Natural variation in Ghd7 is an
important regulator of heading date and yield potential in rice. Nat Genet 40(6):761–767
Yan WH, Wang P, Chen HX, Zhou HJ, Li QP, Wang CR et al (2011) A major QTL, Ghd8, plays
pleiotropic roles in regulating grain productivity, plant height, and heading date in rice. Mol
Plant [Internet]. The Authors 2011. All rights reserved 4(2):319–330. Available from: http://
dx.doi.org/10.1093/mp/ssq070
Yang DH, Kwak KJ, Kim MK, Park SJ, Yang K-Y, Kang H (2014) Expression of Arabidopsis
glycine-rich RNA-binding protein AtGRP2 or AtGRP7 improves grain yield of rice (Oryza
sativa) under drought stress conditions. Plant Sci [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];214:106–112.
Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24268168
Ye X, Al-Babili S, Klöti A, Zhang J, Lucca P, Beyer P et al (2000) Engineering the provitamin A
(beta-carotene) biosynthetic pathway into (carotenoid-free) rice endosperm. Science 287(5451):
303–305
Ye G-Y, Shu Q-Y, Yao H-W, Cui H-R, Cheng X-Y, Hu C et al (2001) Field evaluation of resistance
of transgenic rice containing a synthetic cry1Ab gene from Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner to
two stem borers. J  Econ Entomol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10];94(1):271–276. Available
from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/0022-0493-94.1.271
Ye GY, Yao HW, Shu QY, Cheng X, Hu C, Xia YW et al (2003) High levels of stable resistance in trans-
genic rice with a cry1Ab gene from Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner to rice leaffolder , Cnaphalocrocis
! e ) under field conditions medinalis ( Guen e. Crop Prot [Internet]. [cited 2016 Apr 10];22:171–8.
Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261219402001424
Yoshimura S, Umehara Y, Kurata N, Nagamura Y, Sasaki T, Minobe Y et al (1996) Identification of
a YAC clone carrying the Xa-1 allele, a bacterial blight resistance gene in rice. Theor Appl
Genet [Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];93(1–2):117–122. Available from: ­http://www.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/pubmed/24162208
Zha X, Luo X, Qian X, He G, Yang M, Li Y et al (2009) Over-expression of the rice LRK1 gene
improves quantitative yield components. Plant Biotechnol J 7(7):611–620
Zhai W, Li X, Tian W, Zhou Y, Pan X, Cao S et al (2000) Introduction of a rice blight resistance
gene, Xa21, into five Chinese rice varieties through an Agrobacterium-mediated system. Sci
China C Life Sci 43(4):361–368.
Zhai W, Chen C, Zhu X, Chen X, Zhang D, Li X et al (2004) Analysis of T-DNA- Xa21 loci and
bacterial blight resistance effects of the transgene Xa21 in transgenic rice. Theor Appl Genet
[Internet]. [cited 2016 Mar 21];109(3):534–542. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/15088086
Zhang F, Xie J (2014) Genes and QTLs Resistant to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses from Wild Rice
and Their Applications in Cultivar Improvements. Rice-Germplasm, Genet Improv [Internet].
59–78. Available from: http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/46080.pdf
Zhang JZ, Creelman RA, Zhu J (2004) From laboratory to field. Using information from arabidop-
sis to engineer salt, cold, and drought tolerance in crops. Plant Physiol [Internet]. 135(June):615–
621. Available from: http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.104.040295
Zhang Y-X, Wang Q, Jiang L, Liu L-L, Wang B-X, Shen Y-Y et  al (2011) Fine mapping of
qSTV11(KAS), a major QTL for rice stripe disease resistance. Theor Appl Genet [Internet].
May [cited 2016 Mar 21];122(8):1591–1604. Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.
gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3082044&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract
Zhang Y-C, Yu Y, Wang C-Y, Li Z-Y, Liu Q, Xu J et al (2013) Overexpression of microRNA OsmiR397
improves rice yield by increasing grain size and promoting panicle branching. Nat Biotechnol
[Internet] 31(9):848–852. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23873084
18  Role of Biotechnology in Rice Production 547

Zhou JR, Erdman JW (1995) Phytic acid in health and disease. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr [Internet]. [cited
2016 Mar 18];35(6):495–508. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8777015
Zhu XG, Shan L, Wang Y, Quick WP (2010) C4 Rice  - an Ideal Arena for Systems Biology
Research. J Integr Plant Biol 52(8):762–770
Zou J, Liu C, Liu A, Zou D, Chen X (2012) Overexpression of OsHsp17.0 and OsHsp23.7 enhances
drought and salt tolerance in rice. J Plant Physiol [Internet]. [cited 2016 Feb 1];169(6):628–
635. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22321692
Zou X, Qin Z, Zhang CC, Liu B, Liu J, Zhang CC et al (2015a) Over-expression of an S-domain
receptor-like kinase extracellular domain improves panicle architecture and grain yield in rice.
J  Exp Bot [Internet]. 66(22):erv417. Available from: http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/lookup/
doi/10.1093/jxb/erv417
Zou X, Qin Z, Zhang C, Liu B, Liu J, Zhang C et al (2015b) Over-expression of an S-domain
receptor-like kinase extracellular domain improves panicle architecture and grain yield in rice.
J  Exp Bot [Internet]. 1 [cited 2016 Apr 10];66(22):7197–7209. Available from: ­http://jxb.
oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/10/01/jxb.erv417.figures-only
Index

A crop production, 130

Abiotic stress resistance cultivated species and wild progenitors,
drought 119
avoidance, 493 cultivation technologies, 118
escape, 493 ecologies
marker-assisted breeding, 493–495 aquatic, 123–125
poor water management, 493 high elevation zone, 125–126
QTLs, rice crop improvement, 496–503 rainfed upland, 121–123
recovery, 493 food self-sufficiency, 118
severe food scarcity, 492 genetic diversity, 119
tolerance, 493 genetic resource utilization, 126–129
transgenic research, 495, 504–505 grain quality reduction, 129
flooding and submergence history, 118–120
marker-assisted breeding, 507–508 income, agriculture, 131
transgenic research, 508–509 intensification and expansion, 119
salinity Oryza glaberrima (African rice species), 6,
marker-assisted breeding, 505–506 118, 208, 209, 211, 345, 372, 510
transgenic research, 506–507 paddy rice production, 119, 120
Advance rice for Africa (ARICA) varieties, population growth, 117
127, 128 pre- and postharvest loss reduction, 130
Aerenchyma formation, 462, 464–466, 472 production and consumption trends,
Aerobic rice varieties (ARVs) 120–121
characteristics, 7, 269–270 rainfed upland rice production system, 188
direct seeding, 189 research-for-development activities, 118
eco-efficiency, rice-based systems, 195 seed production scheme, 130
herbicides, 367 single nucleotide polymorphism, 118
integrated weed management, 382, 383 whole value chain, 119–120
iron deficiency, 197 AfricaRice
sprinkler irrigation systems, 189 CBSS, 131
supplemental irrigation, 195 cold-tolerant varieties, 125
water requirement reduction, 189, 192 gene bank, 126
water use efficiency, 7 genetic diversity, 119
yield losses, 366 grain quality analysis, 130
Africa, rice production hybrid-rice program, 128–129
AfricaRice, 129–130 IRM, 129
brown spot of rice, 330 marker-assisted breeding technique, 127

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 549

B.S. Chauhan et al. (eds.), Rice Production Worldwide,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5
550 Index

AfricaRice (cont.) distribution, 395–396

mechanical weeders, 125, 129–130 invasive species, 393
NRDS, 131 quarantine directives, 393, 413
regional breeding initiatives, 126 records of damage to rice, 395–396
Agricultural problems, Europe rice crop vulnerability reduction (see Rice
fungicides, 107, 109 establishment method)
insecticides, 107, 108 snail damage potential, 396–398
weed species Aquatic ecology, Africa
country/region-specific, 104 irrigated lowland, 124–125
crop selectivity, 104 rainfed lowland, 123–124
cross-resistance phenomena, 106 Arborio rice, 145, 213
dry-seeded rice, 104 ARICA. See Advance rice for Africa (ARICA)
minor differences, 104 varieties
registered herbicides, 104–106 Aromatic rice, 6, 211–213
Agroecology, 73, 74, 78, 81, 118, 293–295 Australian rice production
Alternate wetting and drying (AWD), 195, agro-based industry, 169
197, 256, 258, 265–266 area and production, 172
America cropping systems, 171, 173–174
Central America (see Central America) dry climate, 170
crop management, 150–156 harvesting management, 179–180
cultivation area, 138–140 high yields, 170, 180
economics, 140–141 history, 171–172
harvesting and postharvest handling, insect pests and diseases, 178–179
160–161 integrated production regime, 181
head rice yield, 161 irrigation management, 174–175
herbicide resistance, 157–159 management practices, 171
milling quality, 161 marketing management, 179–180
North America (see North America) nutrient management, 175–176
off-target movement of pesticides, postharvest management, 179–180
159–160 production methods, 173–174
production constraints, 147–150 rice sowing methods, 169
production methods, 143–144 shrinking water resources, 170
rice-based cropping systems, 141–143 stress-tolerant varieties, 180
South America (see South America) temperate varieties, 174
statistics, 138, 139 water-use efficiency, 170
trends, rice area, 140 weed management, 176–178
US black japonica rice, 213
US Della, Delrose and Delmont rice, 213
varieties and genetic improvement, B
145–147 Bacterial blight (BB)
Apple snails (Ampulariidae) ecology disease cycle and epidemiology, 308–309
aquatic crop damage, 394 disease management
climate effects, 396–398 chemical control, 310
densities reduction, rice fields cultural control, 310
biological control, integrated farms, host resistance, 309
411–412 seed infection, 310
chemical molluscicides, 408–409 economic importance, 306–307
classical biological control, 412–413 global distribution, 305, 306
crop rotation and fallow periods, 410 history and geographical distribution,
fertilizers, 409–410 305–306
manual collection, 410–411 marker-assisted breeding, 512
new association biological control, pathogen, 307, 308
412–413 symptoms
practices, crop growth, 401–403, 408 Kresek/Wilt Phase, 307, 308
Index 551

leaf blight phase, 307, 308 insect pest, 518–519

pale yellow leaf phase, 307, 308 nematodes, 515–517
transgenic research, 512 Black Rice, 213, 442
Bacterial diseases Blast disease, rice
BB, 511–512 disease cycle and epidemiology, 315–316
BB of rice, 305–310 disease management
BLB, 511–512 biological control, 317
BLS, 310–312 chemical control, 317–318
virus resistance, 513–515 cultural control, 317
Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) host plant resistance, 316–317
marker-assisted breeding, 512 economic importance, 313–314
transgenic research, 512 geographic distribution, 313
Bacterial leaf streak (BLS) history, 313
disease cycle and epidemiology, 312 marker-assisted breeding, 509–510
disease management, 312 molecular analysis techniques, 509
distribution, 310–311 pathogen, 314–315
economic importance, 310–311 symptoms
history, 310–311 leaf blast, 314
pathogen, 311 neck and panicle blast, 314
symptoms, 311 node blast, 314
Basmati rice, 5–6, 67, 70, 145, 212–213, 305, transgenic research, 510
322, 510, 516 Boron (B) fertilizer, 244
Bioherbicide approaches, 377–379 Brown planthopper (BPH), 66, 518, 519
Biotechnology role, rice production Brown spot disease
abiotic resistance (see Abiotic stress disease cycle, 332
resistance) disease management
biotic resistance (see Biotic stress biological control, 333
resistance) botanical use, 333
ChIP-Seq techniques, 488 chemical control, 332–333
C4 photosynthesis, 526–527 host plant resistance, 332
DNA markers, 488 economic importance, 330
functional genomics, 487 epidemiology, 332
gene discovery, 487 geographical distribution, 330
genetic engineering, 489 history, 330
GM rice, 528–529 pathogen, 331
HT, 525 symptoms, 331
lodging resistance, 526
microarray, 488
micronutrient nutrition, 489–492 C
molecular breeding limitations, 527–528 Cake, rice, 444–445
NGS, 488 Caribbean islands, production methods, 138,
plant tissue culture techniques, 488 144
RNA sequencing, 488 Carnaroli rice, 213
sexual hybridization methods, 488–489 Central America
SNPs, 488 disease management, rice 155
yield traits herbicide resistance, 157–158
grains per panicle, 522–524 insect herbivores, 283
grain weight, 524 insect management, 156
tillers/panicles, 520–522 irrigated system, 143
Biotic stress resistance production methods, 144
bacterial disease, 511–515 rainfed system, 143
disease resistance rainfed upland rice production system, 188
blast disease, 509–510 statistics, 138, 139
ShB pathogen, 510–511 varieties and genetic improvement, 146
552 Index

Cereals, rice, 447 Cropping systems (CS), rice-based, 11

China, rice production in Americas
distribution, 35 costs and returns per hectare, 142, 143
genetic improvement and varieties, 36–37 fertilizer management, 150–151
harvesting and yields, 45–46 herbicide-resistant weeds, 141
heavy metal pollution, 46, 47 irrigation management, 143, 151–152
history, 34–35 management practices, 141
hybrid rice, 34 pest management, 152–156
increasing yield potential, 41 Australian rice, 173–174
indica rice varieties, 34 in China, 35
insect infestation, 42 in India
integrated crop management, 43 agroclimatic conditions, 62, 64
japonica rice varieties, 34 food grain production systems, 62
land resources, 34 food production dynamics, 60
mechanical harvest, 45 high-yielding photo- and thermo-­
molecular breeding approach, 42 insensitive, 61
nitrogen fertilizer, 43–45 irrigated medium land situations, 65
nonchemical methods, weed control, 42 irrigation facilities, 60
planting methods, 37–38 land topography, 60–65
production constraints marketing facilities, 60–65
fertilizers overuse, 40 rainfed lowland ecosystem, 65
labor availability instability, 38 rainfed upland ecosystems, 64
narrow genetic background, 40 rice-chickpea/lentil, 61
oversimplified crop management, rice-green gram, 61
40–41 rice-mustard/linseed, 61
poor extension system, 40–41 rice-peanut, 61
rice planting area instability, 38, 39 rice-rice, 61
rice aging during storage, 45 rice-wheat, 61
rice-based cropping systems, 35 socioeconomic system, 60
varieties with abiotic and biotic resistance, soil health improvement, 65
41–42 soil textural properties, 60–65
weeds germination, 42 state-wise area, 62, 63
world’s food security, 34 system productivity and farmer income,
Chromatin immunoprecipitation 64
sequencing (ChIP-Seq) water resources, 60–65
techniques, 488 Cultivated species
Clearfield™ rice (herbicide-tolerant) climatic conditions, 207
in Central America, 146 natural progenitors, 207
crop rotation, 159 Oryza glaberrima, 211
in Europe, 93, 98, 102, 106 Oryza sativa
history, 384 indica rice, 211
imidazolinone herbicides, 160 japonica rice, 211
in North America, 145–146 javanica/tropical japonica, 211
weed management, 153
Color sorting process, 435
Combine harvester, 424–425 D
Community-based seed systems (CBSS), 130, Dehusking process, 426, 429
131 Direct-seeded rice (DSR)
Conventional breeding methods, 6, 36, 40, in China, 37
127, 292 dry seeding, 191–192
Conventional tillage with typical puddled in India
transplanted rice (CTTPR), 11, 14 classification, 69
Cookies, rice, 447 crop establishment methods, 69
Crackers, rice, 447 dry-direct seeded rice, 69–70
Index 553

dry seeding, 69–70 water source, 186

lowlands, 69 European rice production
medium lands, 69 agricultural problems
on puddled seedbed/wet direct-seeded diseases of, 107
rice, 70 insects, 107
rainfed uplands, 69 weed species, 103–106
water seeding, 71 annual global production, 95
wet seeding, 69 biodiversity, 112
productivity of, 193–194 Bulgaria, 96
water seeding, 193 classification, grain shape, 97
wet seeding, 192–193 Ebro Delta, Spain, 96
Domestication. See also Cultivated species environmental effects
history biodiversity, 110
Asian and African rice, 208–209 gas emission, 109
traits, 209–210 heavy metals, 109–110
types, 209 water consumption, 107–108
Dry seeding rice (dry-DSR), 42, 70, 191–192, fertilizers, 102–103
195–198, 200 Great Hungarian Plain, 96
greenhouse gas emission, 111
Guadalquivir Valley, Spain, 96
E heavy metals, 111–112
Ecological engineering, 281, 293–295 hybrid rice, 111
Edible products, rice based import and export, 95
beer, 214 Japonica- and indica-type rice
bread, 444 acreages, 97
cake, 444–445 laser levelling, 99
cereals, 447 Macedonia, 96
cookies, 447 methane production, 94
crackers, 447 plantation, spring, 98
edible films and wrappers, 446–447 planting period, 98
flour, 444 political and technological changes, 94
fudge, 447 Po valley, Italy, 96
milk, 447 Rhone delta, France, 96
noodles, 445 rice farms, 103
pudding, 443–444 rice-growing areas, 96
RBO, 445–446 rice market, 98
vinegar, 446 Romania, 96
Environmental footprint, rice, 199–200 seeding rates, 102
Environmental pollution Tejo and Mondego valleys, Portugal, 96
ozone layer depletion, 22 Thessaloniki, Central Greece, 96
surface and groundwater eutrophication, weed management, 110–111
21–22
Environment classification
altitude, 186 F
establishment method False smut
DSR system, 191–193 disease cycle and epidemiology, 325
TPR system, 190–191 disease management
irrigated upland/aerobic rice production chemical control, 326
system, 189 cultural methods, 326
lowland production system host plant resistance, 325–326
irrigated, 187–188 economic importance, 323–324
rainfed (flood prone), 188 history and distribution, 323
rainfed upland rice production system, pathogen, 325
188–189 symptoms, 324–325
554 Index

Fertilizer management environmental and ecological perspective,

India, 81–82 528
micronutrients, 218 health risks, 528
use efficiency Genetic resource utilization
boron, 244 Africa
iron, 242–243 AfricaRice, 127
manganese, 243–244 ARICA varieties, 127, 128
nitrogen (see Nitrogen (N) fertilizer) biotic and abiotic stresses, 126
phosphorus (see Phosphorus (P) breeding programs, 126
fertilizer) climate change, 127
potassium (see Potassium (K) conventional breeding, 127
fertilizer) hybrid technology, 128, 129
sulfur, 241–242 molecular breeding, 127
zinc, 239–240 NERICA varieties, 127
Flood-prone rice ecosystem, India, 58 PVS, 127, 128
Flour, rice, 444 China, 37, 40
Foot rot disease India, 88
disease cycle, 328 Global warming (GW)
disease management contribution of rice cultivation, 19–20
biological control, 329 impact, future rice production, 19
botanical use, 329 Glutinous (sticky) rice, 213–214
chemical control, 329–330 Golden rice, 6, 443, 492
cultural management, 329 Good agricultural practices (GAP), 125, 129,
host plant resistance, 328–329 420
economic importance, 326–327 Grading, rice, 434–435
epidemiology, 328 Grain characteristics
geographical distribution, 326 aromatic rice types, 212–213
history, 326 Glutinous (sticky) rice, 213–214
pathogen, 328 Mochi Rice, 213–214
symptoms of, 327 nonaromatic and non-glutinous rice, 213
France Green Super Rice (GSR) in 2007, 36, 41
false smut disease, 323 Ground cover rice production system
fertilizer application, 98, 101 (GCRPS), 270–271
field irrigation, 102
registered herbicides, 104, 105
Rhone delta, 96 H
rice varieties, 102 Half feed thresher, 424
weed genera, 104 Harvest, rices
Fudge, rice, 447 Americas, 160–161
Fungal diseases China
Bakanae, 326–330 mechanical, 45
brown spot, 330–333 and yields, 45–46
false smut, 323–326 environmental conditions, 421
foot rot, 326–330 field/farm access, 421
rice blast (see Blast disease, rice) grain recovery, 420–421
sheath blight (see Sheath blight (ShB)) India
sheath rot, 333–336 combine harvesting, 85
stem rot, 336–339 machine reaping and threshing, 84
and mechanical threshing, 84
and threshing, 84
G time, 83–84
Gene pyramiding, 316, 317, 488 labor availability, 421
Genetically modified (GM) rice, 6 loss minimization, 420–421
cisgenic approach, 529 manual methods, 422, 423
Index 555

market demand, 421 fuel prices and energy crisis, 54

mechanical methods, 422 functional genomics, 80
with reapers, 422–423 growing ecology
rice variety, 421 flood-prone rice ecosystem, 58
straw yield improvement, 420–421 irrigated rice ecosystem, 57
timeliness of, 421 rainfed lowland rice ecosystem, 58
whole grain recovery, 420 rainfed upland rice ecosystem, 57
Heavy metal pollution, China, 46, 47 harvesting, 83–85
Herbicide resistance history, rice production, 58–59
in Americas, 157–159 hybrid rice, 80
rice weeds, 367 inefficient use of resources, 54
Herbicide tolerance (HT), 525 Kharif season, 60
High-yielding fertilizer responsive varieties labor dependence reduction
ARVs, 7 harvesting, 54
basmati rice, 5–6 land preparation, 54
GM rice, 6 nutrition management, 54
hybrid rice, 5 sowing methods, 54
NERICA rice, 6 lack of mechanization, 79
Host plant resistance land availability, 76
Bakanae, 328–329 land fragmentation, 54
BB resistance genes, 309 major production constraints
BLS, 312 agroecological constraints, 74
Brown spot disease, 332 socioeconomic constraints, 75
false smut, 325–326 of states/agroecologies, 73, 74
foot rot, 328–329 technological constraints, 74–75
insect/pathogen attack, 518 yield gap analysis, 73
rice blast, 316–317 male sterility/fertility restoration, 81
RTD, 342–343 marker-assisted selection, 66–67
sheath blight (Shbl), 321–322 milling
sheath rot, 335 mechanical method, 87
stem rot, 338–339 traditional method, 87
Hubs, rice, 131 northeastern region, 56
Husk separation process, 430 northern region, 56
Hybrid rice breeding, China, 36 nutritional quality, 81
paddy threshing
machine threshing, 86
I manual threshing, 85–86
India parboiling, 86–87
abiotic and biotic stresses, 54, 78–79 pest management, 82–83
agroclimatic conditions, 57 physical adaptability, 55
agroecosystems resource use efficiency, 81
direct seeding, 68–71 rice-based cropping systems, 60–65
rice sowing methods, 67–68 rice quality, 79
soil types, 67 significance, 59
transplanted rice, 71–73 socioeconomic changes, 54
water sources, 67, 68 soil-related challenges
area and production, 59–61 excessive mining, 77
climate change/variability, 54, 55, 79 quality deterioration, 76
conservation agriculture, 81 soil variations, 57
drying processing of rice, 86 southern region, 56
eastern region, 56 stress tolerance, 54
environmental problems, 80 superior alleles identification, 81
farm profitability reduction, 54 transplanted rice, 54
fertilizer management, 81–82 varieties and genetic improvement, 65–67
556 Index

India (cont.) Integrated pest management (IPM) program,

water productivity, 54 18, 82–83, 156
water-related challenges Integrated plant nutrient management (IPNM),
decreasing availability of water, 77 244–245
quality deterioration, 78 Integrated rice management (IRM), 129
water use efficiency, 77–78 IPNM. See Integrated plant nutrient
western region, 56 management (IPNM)
yield gap, 78 Iron (Fe) fertilizer, 242–243
yield stagnation, 78 Irrigated ecosystem
Insect herbivores of rice Africa
arthropods, 280 dry season ecology, 124
biodiversity, rice fields, 280 land preparation, 124–125
caterpillar feeding, 281 O. sativa indica type, 125
crop management, 281 water sources, 124
economic damage, 282 weeds, 125
flood cycles, productivity patterns, 279 wet season ecology, 124
healthy rice ecosystem Australian rice, 174–175
abundance indices, 294, 296 India, 57, 65
agroecology, 293–295 Italy
ecological engineering, 293–295 AHAS-resistant weedy rice, 106
high-diversity vegetation patches, 294, dry-seeded rice, 98, 100
295 equipped tractor transport, 98, 101
landscape approaches, 293 fertilizer, 102–103
natural enemies fungicides, 107, 109
apple snails, 397 herbicide application, 98, 100
bioherbicide approach, 378 insecticides, 107, 108
biological weed control, 377 methane production, 109
density-dependent responses, 284 non-GMO hybrid rice cultivation, 111
ecological engineering, pest planting dates, 102
management, 293 Po valley, 96
ecological resurgence, 290 registered fungicides and mixtures, 107,
egg parasitoids (Hymenoptera), 280 109
habitat requirements, 280 registered herbicides, 104–106
high mortality to neonates, 285 rice management in, 98, 99
mirid predators, 280 rice varieties, 102
outbreak species, 282–283 stem rot disease, 336
recycle organic materials, 280 weed genera, rice, 104
sustainable rice production systems,
292
outbreak species, 282–283 J
population densities, 283–285 Jasmine rice, 213
resistant rice varieties, breeding
techniques, 292
rice plant, ecosystem, 291–293 K
tolerance benefit, 292, 293 Kalijira rice, 213
yield losses Kalo nunia rice, 213
crop management techniques, 288
damage reduction, 288–291
estimates, insect damage, 286–288 L
exports and imports, 288, 289 Large-scale hybrid seed production, 36
measurement difficulties, 285–286 Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA)
Insecticide check method, 288 proteins, 504
Integrated crop management, China, 43 Liberty Link®, 384
Index 557

M Nitrogen (N) fertilizer

Machine transplanted rice, 190 China, 43–45
Manganese (Mn) fertilizer, 243–244 critical levels and uptake, 220–221
Marker-assisted breeding deficiency symptoms, 218
blast disease, 509–510 irrigated lowland rice, 219
BLB, 512 management, rice hybrids, 231–232
C4 photosynthesis, 527 site-specific nitrogen management
drought, 493–495 agronomic efficiency, 231
flooding and submergence, 507–508 applications, 227
grains per panicle, 523 hand-held chlorophyll meters, 227
insect pest, 518–519 leaf color chart method, 228–230
nematodes, 517 uncertainty, 226–227
salinity, 505–506 transformations, flooded rice soils, 219,
ShB, 510–511 220
tillers/panicles, 521 usage and management
virus resistance, 513–514 above-ground biomass, 222
Megagametogenesis, 468–469 controlled-N release fertilizers, 225
Megasporogenesis, 468–469 crop lodging, 225
Microgametogenesis, 469 general guidelines, 223, 224
Micronutrient nutrition high yield production, 223
biofortification, 489 pest attacks, 225
genomic-based strategies, 489 recommended/optimum levels, 223, 224
iron and zinc content recovery efficiency, 221
germplasm screening, 490 urease and nitrification inhibitors,
marker-assisted breeding, 490 225–226
transgenic research, 490–491 weed competition, 225
vitamin A, 491–492 Nitrogen Soil Test for Rice (N-STaR)
Microsporogenesis, 469 procedure, 151
Milk, rice, 447 Noodles, rice, 445
Mochi Rice, 213–214 North America
Molecular breeding approach apple snails, 393–394
Africa, 127 brown spot of rice, 330
China, 36, 42 climate, 149
limitations, 527–528 irrigation management, 151–152
micronutrient malnutrition, 489
N-STaR procedure, 151
N planting certified seed, 153
National molecular rice breeding network, 36 P. maculata, rice, 396
National rice development strategies (NRDS), production methods, 143
131 statistics, 138, 139
Nematodes varieties and genetic improvement,
Aphelenchoides besseyi, 516 145–146
Hirschmanniella spp., 516 Nutritional quality of rice
marker-assisted breeding, 517 consumer’s health, 441, 443
PPNs, 516 consumer’s health, 442
resistance evaluation procedure, 517 micro and macroelemental composition,
rice root-knot, 516 441–442
root-knot (Meloidogyne spp.), 515 micronutrient and phenolics contents,
transgenic research, 517 441–442
Ufra (Ditylenchus angustus), 515
New Rice for Africa (NERICA) rice, 6, 119,
122–123, 126–128, 309, 316, O
345, 372 Oriental sheath blight. See Sheath blight (ShB)
558 Index

P Postharvest losses, cereal grains,

Paddy 439–440
cleaning Potassium (K) fertilizer
destoners, 429 critical levels, 237
open double-sieve precleaner, 428 disease incidence, 236
single-action aspirator precleaner, leaf deficient symptoms, 235–236
428 management strategies, 237–239
single-drum precleaner, 428–429 root growth and plant vigor, 235
dehulling, 429 uptake of, 237
dehusking, 429 vascular bundles, 235
drying weathering, soil minerals, 236
adverse climatic conditions, 427 Processing methods, rice
batch-in-bin technique, 427 color sorting, 435
continuous flow type dryer, 427 dehusking, 426, 429
innate quality attributes, 426 grading, 434–435
husk separation, 430 husk separation, 430
separation length grading, 431
compartment type separator, 430 milling, 425, 426
tray separator, 430–431 packaging, 425, 426
storage, 440–441 paddy drying, 425–428
Parboiling process parboiled rice (see Parboiling process)
advantages, 436 polishing, 433–434
concrete soaking tanks, 438 storage, 440–441
disadvantages, 436 whitening, 431–433
hydrothermal technique, 435–436 width grading, 431
soaking, 437 Production constraints
steamed paddy handling, 438–439 Americas
steaming, 437–438 climate, 149
Participatory varietal selection (PVS), Africa, extension infrastructure, 149–150
127, 128 flooding, 148
Pest management fragmented program implementation,
Americas 149–150
disease management, 155 irrigation water limitations,
insect management, 156 147–148
weed management, 152–155 pests, 148–149
China, 43–45 soil nutrient deficiency/toxicity,
India, 82–83 148
Phosphorus (P) fertilizer water management, 148
critical level, plant, 232–233 China
genetic materials, 232 fertilizers overuse, 40
management strategies labor availability instability, 38
application effect, 234, 235 narrow genetic background, 40
calibrated soil test values, 233 oversimplified crop management,
classical empirical approach, 234 40–41
double and triple rice-cropping poor extension system, 40–41
systems, 234 rice planting area instability, 38, 39
soil availability, 235 India
nutrition, rice crop, 232 agroecological constraints, 74
sorption capacity, 232 socioeconomic constraints, 75
uptake of, 232–233 of states/agroecologies, 73, 74
Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs), 516 technological constraints,
Polishing process, rice, 433–434 74–75
Population dynamics, 282, 293, 398 yield gap analysis, 73
Postharvest handling, 160–161 Pudding, rice, 443–444
Index 559

Q ecosystems (see Rice field ecosystems

Quality, rice (RFES))
cooking environmental footprint, 199–200
degree of milling, 449 fertilizer
gelatinization temperature, 449 nitrogen, 16
gel consistency, 449 phosphorus, 16–17
variety of rice, 448–449 potassium, 17
milling zinc deficiency, 17
admixture, 448 foreign exchange earner, 1
cracked grains, 448 global rice export during 2014, 1, 2
damaged grains, 448 Green Revolution, 1960s, 2
degree of purity, 448 harvesting methods, 420
discolored grains, 448 harvesting time, 420
immature grains, 448 history, wild ancestor
moisture contents, 447 Asian and African Rice, 208–209
traits, 209–210
human consumption scale, 419
R micro and macroelemental composition,
Rainfed lowland ecology 441–442
Africa micronutrient and phenolics contents,
deep water ecology, 123–124 441–442
mangrove ecology, 124 milling, 420
India, 58, 65 moisture conditions, 420
Rainfed upland ecology natural resources
Africa groundwater structures, 13, 14
biotic stresses, 121 labor requirements, 14–15
land preparation, 121 land, 12, 13
major constraints, 122 total seasonal water input, 12
production potential and yield limiting water shortage, 13, 14
factors, 121, 122 nutrient availability, 420
upland varieties, 122–123 nutritional composition, 441
without soil surface flooding, 121 nutrition and consumer’s health, 442
India, 57, 64 origin, 2–3
Red rice, 18, 213, 384 pesticides, 18
Reproductive development pest management, 198–199
fertilization and grain development, 470–471 methods
flowering stage, 467 Australia, 173–174
grain-filling stage, 467 Caribbean islands, 144
megagametogenesis, 468–469 Central America, 144
megasporogenesis, 468–469 North America, 143
microgametogenesis, 469 South America, 144
microsporogenesis, 469 resource use
panicle initiation, 466 nutrients, 196–197
spikelets, 467–468 water, 194–195
starch biosynthesis, 470 significance, human health, 441
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) soils
area and consumption, 3–4 flooding, 8
classification iron, 9–10
environment, 186–189 manganese, 10
establishment method, 189–193 oxygen depletion, 8–9
cultivation and environmental pollution pH of, 9
(see Environmental pollution) redox potential, 9
cultivation mechanization, energy, 15–16 sulfur, 10–11
daily calorie intake, 185 storage conditions, 420
560 Index

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) (cont.) economic importance, 345–346

taxonomy, 2–3 epidemiology, 346–347
types and cultivars symptoms, 346
cultivated rice species, 210–211 transmission, 346
grain characteristics, 211–214 Rice physiology
varieties, 214 developmental stages, 455, 457
high-yielding fertilizer responsive, 5–7 external and internal factors, 458
Indica–Japonica Crosses, 4 growth stages, 455, 456, 458
weather forecast, 420 oxygen availability, 458–459
weed management, herbicides, 18 reproductive development
yield of, 3–4 fertilization and grain development,
Rice bran oil (RBO), 445–446 470–471
Rice diseases flowering stage, 467
bacterial (see Bacterial diseases) grain-filling stage, 467
climatic parameters, 305 megagametogenesis, 468–469
cultivation practices, 305 megasporogenesis, 468–469
disease-resistant cultivars, 304 microgametogenesis, 469
fungal (see Fungal diseases) microsporogenesis, 469
fungicide application, 304 panicle initiation, 466
intensity and profile, 304 spikelets, 467–468
viral (see Virus diseases) starch biosynthesis, 470
Rice establishment method resistance to abiotic stresses
crop vulnerability drought stress, 472, 475
dapog method, 406 heat stress, 476
direct seeding, 407 morphological, physiological and
machine transplanting, 406 yield-related parameters, 473–474
management practices, 399–400, 404 salt stress, 475–476
seedling broadcasting, 406–407 submergence, 471–472
water seeding, 408 seed germination, 456, 458–459
DSR system, 191–193 vegetative stage
seedling transplanting aerenchyma formation, 464–466
delayed transplanting, 404–405 gene expression and mutants, 459–461
field draining, 405–406 leaf development, 463–464
number of seedlings per hill, 405 stomatal formation, 466
TPR system, 190–191 tillering and shoot/root growth, 459,
Rice field ecosystems (RFES) 461–463
flood-prone, 7, 8 Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV),
India 341–342
flood-prone rice ecosystem, 58 Rice tungro disease (RTD)
irrigated rice ecosystem, 57 disease cycle and epidemiology, 342
rainfed lowland rice ecosystem, 58 disease management
rainfed upland rice ecosystem, 57 chemical control, 343
irrigated, 7, 8 cultural control, 343
pest problems, 8 host plant resistance, 342–343
plant nutrient problems, 8 distribution, 340
rainfed lowland, 7, 8 economic importance, 340
upland, 7, 8 pathogen, 341–342
weed species, 8 RTBV, 341–342
Rice genome sequencing, 36 RTSV, 341–342
Rice hoja blanca virus (RHBV) symptoms, 341
disease management, 347 virus-vector relationship, 341–342
distribution, 345–346 Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV), 341–342
Index 561

Rice tungro virus disease complex (RTV), 339 uncertainty, 226–227

Rice value chain, 119–120, 131 South America
Rice–wheat cropping system (RWCS), 11, 17 apple snails, 393–394
Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) bacterial blight of rice, 305
disease management, 345 brown spot of rice, 330
distribution, 343–344 disease management, 155
economic importance, 343–344 economics, 140–141
epidemiology, 345 extension infrastructure, 149–150
genetic resistance, 345 foot rot and bakanae, 326
symptoms, 344 herbicide resistance, 157, 158
and transmission, 344–345 insect management, 156
Roundup Ready®, 384 irrigation management, 151–152
micronutrient malnutrition, 489
production methods, 144
S rainfall variability, 149
Seed germination, 149, 324, 407, 456, 458–459 Rice hoja blanca virus, 345–346
ShB pathogen, 510–511 statistics, 138, 139
Sheath blight (ShB) varieties and genetic improvement, 147
causal organism, 319, 320 Sowing methods
disease cycle and epidemiology, 320–321 dry/semidry upland cultivation, 67
disease management wet/lowland cultivation, 68
chemical control, 323 Spain
cultural control, 323 Agulha, 102
host plant resistance, 321–322 brown spot of rice, 330
induced resistance and biological Carolino, 102
control, 322 Ebro Delta, 96
economic importance, 319 foot rot disease, 326
geographical distribution, 318–319 fungicides and mixtures, 107, 109
history, 318–319 Guadalquivir Valley, 96
marker-assisted breeding, 510–511 hybrid rice, 111
pathogen, 320 insecticides, 107, 108
pathogenesis-related proteins, 511 planting dates for rice 102
symptoms, 319, 320 popular varieties, 102
transgenic research, 511 registered herbicides, 104–106
Sheath rot disease stem rot disease, 336
disease cycle, 335 Starch biosynthesis, 470
disease management Stem rot disease
chemical control, 336 disease cycle, 338
cultural and biological methods, disease management
335–336 chemical control, 339
host plant resistance, 335 cultural and biological control, 339
economic importance, 333–334 host plant resistance, 338–339
epidemiology, 335 economic importance, 337
geographical distribution, 333 epidemiology, 338
history, 333 geographical distribution, 336
pathogen, 334–335 history, 336
symptoms, 334 pathogen, 338
Site-specific nitrogen management approach symptoms, 337–338
agronomic efficiency, 231 Stomatal formation, 261, 466, 475
applications, 227 Sulfur (S) fertilizer, 241–242
hand-held chlorophyll meters, 227 The System of Rice Intensification (SRI),
leaf color chart method, 228–230 267–268
562 Index

T RHBV, 339, 345–347

Texmati rice, 6, 213 rice black streaked dwarf virus, 339
Threshing, rice products rice crinkle disease, 339
grain recovery, 420–421 rice gall dwarf virus, 339
grain separation, 420 rice grassy stunt virus, 339
manual methods, 422, 423 rice ragged stunt virus, 339
mechanical methods, 422 rice stripe necrosis virus, 339
straw yield improvement, 420–421 rice transitory yellowing virus, 339
types, 424 RTD (see Rice Tungro disease (RTD))
Transgenic research RTV, 339
blast disease, 510 RYMV, 339, 343–345
BLB, 512 southern rice black streaked dwarf virus,
C4 photosynthesis, 527 339
drought, 495, 504–505 yield loss, 339
flooding and submergence, 508–509 Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), 491–492
grains per panicle, 523–524
HT, 525
insect pest, 519 W
nematodes, 517 Water management
salinity, 506–507 aerobic rice production, 269–270
ShB, 511 AWD, 265–266
tillers/panicles, 521–522 Azolla, 255
virus resistance, 514–515 DSR cultivation, 268–269
Transplanting method GCRPS, 270–271
advantages, 190–191 genetic approach, 271–272
agronomic techniques, 71 land preparation
China, 37–38 field channels, 263–264
dapog method, 71 laser leveling, 262
environmental and socioeconomic tillage operations, 263
conditions, 191 productivity values, 259–260
machine transplanting, 190 rice environments
manual transplant, 190 deep water/floating rice, 257
random method, 72 irrigated rice, 256–257
straight-row method, 72 rainfed lowland rice, 257
mechanical transplanting, 72–73 rainfed upland rice, 257
nutrient availability, 190–191 rice-growing practices, 256
physical properties, soil, 191 rice plant and drought, 260–262
productivity of, 193–194 SRI, 267–268
puddling, 71 transplanting method, 258–259
seedling establishment assurance, 190–191 unproductive water outflow reduction
soil physical properties, 68 hydrostatic pressure reduction, 265
water consumption, 191 idle periods, 264
water loss, 71 soil resistance, 265
use efficiency (see Water management)
water input, 257–259
V wet direct-seeding method, 258–259
Vinegar, rice, 446 Water seeding rice (water-DSR), 193
Virus diseases Wax, rice, 447
African cereal streak virus, 339 Weed control methods
maize streak virus, 339 biological weed control, 377–381
resistance biocontrol agents, effective, 378, 380
marker-assisted breeding, 513–514 bioherbicide approach, 378
transgenic research, 514–515 classical approach, 377–378
Index 563

fungal pathogens, 379 herbicide-tolerant rice, 383–384

management programs, 381 integrated weed management, 381–383
chemical control physical control methods, 375
types, direct-seeded rice, 377, 379 preventive measures, 367–368
weed density and biomass, 377, 378 DSR method, 361
cultural measures heavy rice yield losses, 361, 362, 366
allelopathic rice cultivars and weed herbicide resistance, 367
suppression, 373, 374 rice establishment method, 362
crop establishment methods, 370 surface hydrology, 362
land preparation/tillage systems, types of, 362
368–369 weed flora in rice, 362–365
rice-based cropping sequence Wehani rice, 213
intensification, 375 Wet seeding rice (wet-DSR), 192–193
seeding rate and planting geometry, Whitening process, rice
370–371 bran layer removal, 431
stale/false seedbed technique, 368 horizontal abrasive whitener, 433
weed competitive cultivars, 371–373 horizontal friction whiteners, 433
herbicide-tolerant rice, 383–384 multiple machine mills, 432
integrated weed management, 381–383 single machine mills, 432
physical control methods, 375 vertical abrasive whitener, 432–433
preventive measures, 367–368 Whole feed thresher, 424
Weed management Width grading, 431
in Americas
annual loss estimation, 152
cultural, mechanical and chemical Y
control, 153 Yield gap
herbicides, 153, 155 Africa, 129
management practices, 154 Chinese rice, 34
preplant application, 154 widening, India, 73, 78
in Australia, 176–178
control methods
biological weed control, 377–381 Z
chemical control, 376–377 Zinc (Zn) fertilizer, 17, 150, 151,
cultural measures, 368–375 239–240, 443