Management of rice production systems to increase productivity

context of food security. As there are many people in the major rice‐
consuming countries living at sub‐optimal nutritional levels, there is need to
increase rice production by as much as 70% in order to raise nutritional levels
to satisfy current dietary needs (Greenland, 1997).
The Gambia has a per capita rice consumption of 117.33 kg. This is the
highest among Sahelian countries, and third highest in West Africa (WARDA,
1993; Marong et al., 2001). Due to a high population growth rate of 4.2% per
annum, and a high influx of refugees and immigrants from the sub‐region of
West Africa, total rice consumption has been increasing over the years;
meanwhile there has been a steady decline in rice‐growing area and
productivity. With a projected population of 1.5 million for the year 2005, and
a per capita consumption of 117.33 kg, the total rice requirement of the
country will be 175,000 metric tons (Marong et al., 2001). At present, the total
national production represents only 17% of the total rice requirement of the
country. The huge deficit is met through importation from Asia. In 2000,
US$10.9 million was spent on the importation of 93,900 metric tons of rice (The
Gambia Central Statistics Department, 2001). For these reasons the
government of The Gambia is keen to increase rice productivity, and research
input from national scientists is being requested. The goal of this research
work is to achieve food self‐sufficiency. Thus the general objective of this
research work, is to increase rice productivity and/or reduce production costs.
In The Gambia the rice production systems can be grouped into five
categories: upland, lowland rainfed, irrigated, freshwater, and mangrove
swamps. Production constraints differ from one environment to another, and
so do the kinds of technology packages needed for the farmers in the different
growing environments.
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