Rainfed rice - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

Natural Ecosystems and Agro-Ecosystems in Eastern India
Characterising agro-ecosystems
Delineating agro-ecological zones helps assess the production potential of
crops in a given area. This has become a prerequisite for improving crop
production in rainfed areas.
The basic principles of agro-ecological characterisation are the land
suitability in relation to specific use;
suitability to sustainability;
evaluation for more than one envisaged use;
use on a simple economic basis; and
suitability through a multi-disciplinary approach involving ecologists,
climatologists, agronomists and economists.
Rice production systems in
different ecosystems
Production systems can differ within
the ecosystem. For example, in
rainfed lowland rice ecosystems, the
production system may be low and
stable, low and unstable, or even
high and unstable. Identifying the
production system in each ecosystem
helps
develop location-specific
technology and
adopt the technology developed
under such situations elsewhere.
When the rice productivity data were
analysed for all the rice-producing
districts in eastern India, they
showed a large-scale variability in
mean productivity and in the
coefficient of variability (CV).
The variations in mean productivity
and CV values set the categories of
the production systems in different
districts in eastern India.
Prepared by:
A.S.R.A.S. Sastri and V.P. Singh
Rice production systems in
different districts of eastern India
Districts Status
Madhya Pradesh
All Low and unstable
West Bengal
3 High and unstable
Others Low and stable
Bihar
1 High and stable
4 Low and stable
5 High and unstable
Uttar Pradesh
11 Low and unstable
4 High and unstable
Orissa
Others
High and stable
Low and stable
Low and unstable
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