grain of truth

Challenges for rice production in China

by

Shaobing Peng

ice is the staple food for around two-thirds of the Breakdown of irrigation infrastructure. Chinas Chinese people. China ranks first in annual total irrigation infrastructure was established mainly in the 1970s. rice production (about 185 million tons) and second, Since then, maintenance of existing irrigation systems and after India, in annual total planting area (29 million building of new facilities have been very limited. Coupled hectares). The country produces 35% of the worlds rice with with declining freshwater resources, this problem may greatly 20% of the planting area. reduce the area planted to flood-irrigated rice in China. Rice production in China has more than tripled in the Oversimplified crop management. Because of labor past five decades mainly due to increased grain yield rather migration and increases in labor wages, decreased labor than increased planting area. This increase has come from input for rice production has resulted in compromised crop the development of high-yielding varieties (including hybrid management that may contribute to reduced yields. varieties) and improved crop management practices such as Weak extension system. Because of insufficient financial nitrogen fertilization and irrigation. The national average support, many extension workers earn part of their salary rice yield is about 6.25 tons per hectare compared with the by selling agrochemicals to farmers, which may promote world average of 3.75 tons per hectare. overuse of fertilizers and pesticides. Furthermore, the As its population rises, China will need to produce weakness of the system means that improved technologies about 20% more rice by 2030 to meet may not reach farmers. domestic needs if rice consumption per Despite t he cha llenges, good Several problems constrain capita stays at the current level. This is research strategies can drive increased not easyseveral trends and problems r ice produc t ion in China. These a sustainable increase in in the Chinese rice production system include constrain a sustainable increase in total Increasing yield potential. China Chinese rice production rice production. These include a decline has been at the forefront in attempting in arable land, increasing water scarcity, climate change, to develop high-yielding semidwarf, hybrid, and new plant labor shortages, and increasing consumer demand for high- type varieties. Further progress in increasing rice yield quality rice (often from low-yielding varieties). potential is possible when new breeding techniques, such The major problems confronting rice production in as marker-aided selection and genetic engineering, are China are as follows: combined with conventional breeding. Narrow genetic background. Low genetic diversity in Drought and heat tolerance. Drought and heat stress are commercially grown rice cultivars has led to vulnerability increasingly important constraints to rice production in China, to biotic stresses (pests and diseases) and abiotic stresses mostly due to variation in rainfall patterns from year to year, (such as drought and salinity). The situation is particularly uneven distribution of rainfall in the rice-growing season, and troublesome in China because 50% of the rice-planting area higher temperatures resulting from climate change. Chinese is occupied by hybrid rice, which is developed using only a scientists have identified and mapped genes for drought and few varieties as the female parent. heat tolerance, and are developing new varieties. Overfertilization. In 2002, the average rate of nitrogen Disease and insect resistance. Huge yield losses occur (N) fertilizer application for rice production in China was because of biotic stresses every year. Chinese scientists have 180 kilograms per hectare, about 75% higher than the world isolated and cloned from cultivated and wild rice species average. Only 2030% of this N is taken up by the rice plant, many genes that contribute to disease and insect resistance, with a large proportion lost to the environment. In some and have transferred these into local varieties. cases, overapplication of N fertilizer may actually decrease Integrated crop management. New crop management grain yield by increasing the plants susceptibility to lodging technologies need to be developed using whole-system (falling over) and damage from pests and diseases. approaches. Synergy among fertilizer, water, and pest Overuse of pesticides. On average, Chinese rice farmers management can maximize the overall efficiency of the who tend to grossly overestimate crop losses caused by pests production system. Sustainability of the rice production system are overusing pesticides by more than 40%. In many cases, can be maintained only when the natural resource base is overuse of pesticides actually contributes to pest outbreaks protected and the health of the rice ecosystem is maximized. because it reduces the biodiversity of rice ecosystems, killing natural predators of pests as well as the pests themselves. Dr. Peng is a senior crop physiologist at IRRI.
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Rice Today October-December 2007