Multiple environmental benefits of alternate wetting and drying irrigation system with limited yield impact on European rice cultivation: The Ebre Delta case

Martínez-Eixarch Maite, Alcaraz Carles, Guàrdia Mercè, Català-Forner Mar, Bertomeu Andrea, Monaco Stefano, Cochrane Nicole, Oliver Viktoria, Teh Yit Arn, Courtois Brigitte, Price Adam H.. 2021. Multiple environmental benefits of alternate wetting and drying irrigation system with limited yield impact on European rice cultivation: The Ebre Delta case. Agricultural Water Management, 258:107164, 13 p.

Quartile : Outlier, Sujet : AGRONOMY / Quartile : Q1, Sujet : WATER RESOURCES

Résumé : The AWD is an irrigation technology for rice cultivation, consisting in implementing alternate draining and flooded periods over the growing season, that delivers multiple environmental benefits, such as reduced water consumption, CH4 emissions and arsenic (As) grain content, but can be offset by yield losses. The trade-offs between the agronomic and environmental effects of AWD are crop context-dependent and they also vary among the different versions of AWD studied. Therefore, the implementation of a safe AWD needs to be preceded by studies conducted within a specific rice cropping system. A two-year field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of AWD on grain yield, As and heavy metal content in grains, and greenhouse gas emissions in nine representative European rice cultivars grown in a Mediterranean growing area. The experiment was performed in a split-plot design with four replications. The study revealed a significant cultivar effect on the agronomic response to AWD. Among the studied cultivars, one of them performed as tolerant to AWD while a group formed by four cultivars showed slight non-significant yield decline. AWD significantly reduced CH4 emissions and the global warming potential by 90% being such a large mitigation capacity explained by the negligible N2O emissions found in both water treatments. Finally, the implementation of AWD significantly reduced by ca. 40% As grain concentration but increased cadmium content, though the levels remained below the recommended thresholds. Further, AWD increased key nutritional elements like cupper, selenium, and zinc. In conclusion, this study confirms that AWD can be safely implemented in Mediterranean rice cultivation conditions with limited or null yield impact while obtaining the associated environmental benefits of this practice.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : variété, riz irrigué, impact sur l'environnement, système de culture, métal lourd, Oryza sativa, rendement des cultures, gestion des eaux, réduction des émissions, riz, pratique culturale, agroécosystème

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : France, Italie, Espagne

Mots-clés libres : Alternate wetting and drying, Greenhouse gas emission, Global warming potential, Heavy metal, Rice production

Auteurs et affiliations

• Martínez-Eixarch Maite, IRTA (ESP) - auteur correspondant
• Alcaraz Carles, IRTA (ESP)
• Guàrdia Mercè, IRTA (ESP)
• Català-Forner Mar, IRTA (ESP)
• Bertomeu Andrea, IRTA (ESP)
• Monaco Stefano, CREA (ITA)
• Cochrane Nicole, University of Aberdeen (GBR)
• Oliver Viktoria, University of Aberdeen (GBR)
• Teh Yit Arn, University of Aberdeen (GBR)
• Courtois Brigitte, CIRAD-BIOS-UMR AGAP (FRA) ORCID: 0000-0003-2118-7102
• Price Adam H., University of Aberdeen (GBR)

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/612701/)

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