Rainfed rice - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

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Foreword
About 45% of the world’s rice area is currently rainfed and about 25% of global
rice production depends on rainfed areas. The major constraints to higher rice
productivity in rainfed areas are drought, submergence and flash flooding,
farmers’ low resource base and the unavailability of appropriate technologies.
The expected future demand for rice from increased population can no longer
be met only by higher yields from irrigated areas. More efforts are needed to
enhance the contribution of rainfed rice areas to overall rice production by
identifying, validating, delivering and applying situation-specific, appropriate
technologies.
Rainfed rice farming technologies developed through the collaborative efforts
of rice scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, state
agricultural universities in different states of eastern India, NGOs in the region,
groups of farmers and the International Rice Research Institute have started
making a significant contribution to rainfed rice production in India. In the
past five years, the annual growth rate in rice productivity in Eastern India has
surpassed 2%.
These technologies have been synthesized in this book, which contains 50
topics on different aspects of rainfed rice farming. The publication features
some exemplary practices drawn from on-farm research and emphasizes the
experiences of scientists along with farmers’ traditional knowledge for the
improvement of rainfed rice farming. The material is presented in an easily
understandable form, This unique and valuable contribution to rainfed rice
science is probably the first of its kind. We hope that this will be a highly useful
resource, not only in India but also in similar ecologies around the world.
Ronald P. Cantrell
Director General
International Rice Research Institute