Management of rice production systems to increase productivity

MANAGEMENT OF RICE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS TO INCREASE
PRODUCTIVITY IN THE GAMBIA, WEST AFRICA
Mustapha M. Ceesay, Ph.D.
Cornell University 2004
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the leading food crops of the world.
Demand for rice is rapidly increasing in West Africa. The Gambia imports
more than 80% of its rice requirement. Local production is low and efforts to
increase production are hindered by high input costs, low prices for rice, and
low yields, especially in the uplands. This is true in most West African
nations. There is an urgent need for cultivars and production technologies in
the both the upland and lowland ecosystems that will help increase yields at
lower monetary costs. Upland rice is mainly grown under a shifting
cultivation system. This involves slashing and burning of virgin forest to
acquire new and more fertile lands. Environmental concerns and increasing
human density are discouraging this practice and research on permanent
cropping of the land is being promoted. One strategy to facilitate cultivation
of the same piece of upland rice field without yield loss and without high
input of human labor, fossil energy, fertilizer, and herbicide is the use of low‐
input rice varieties. These varieties present a major challenge for research
because upland rice often needs a higher level of fertilization than does
lowland rice. The West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) is
developing low‐input varieties primarily from selections among African
varieties and exotic varieties. In a 3‐year varietal screening exercise,
conducted in the Gambia, cv WAB 377‐B‐16‐LB‐LB and WAB56‐125, bred by
WARDA were found to be higher yielding and more stable than the
commonly used Asian variety (Peking) at low fertilizer application rates. The
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