Abstract
Rice is critical to maintaining nutritional demand and food security of many Asian and African nations. The high water demanding rice is traditionally cultivated with continuous flooding (CF) irrigation practices where 60–90% of applied water can be lost as deep percolation. Burgeoning pressures from other sectoral water demands often challenge flooding rice culture. Existing water conserving rice irrigation approaches are not widely accepted at farmers’ level because of compromising yield and/or high operating cost. This study presents the efficacy of a subsurface interceptor system in recycling percolated water for re-irrigating rice fields. The system comprises a pump and filter PVC pipes buried one meter below an experimental rice plot (A) to intercept, store and recycle percolating water. Rice was cultivated in two other adjacent plots (B and C) without an interceptor arrangement where any lateral seepage was restricted in plot B, as did for plot A. There was no such measure for plot C representing a conventional rice field. It was found that plot A produced the highest yield (6.5 t/ha) using the lowest amount of water (650 mm). This could save ~ 50% of water needed for CF irrigated plot C where percolation was the main pathway of water loss (65%). Additional energy requirement for recycling intercepted water was overshadowed by the energy burden of pumping larger amount of water against higher system head for plot C. This led the recycling system to produce the highest irrigation water productivity (3.19 kg/m3) and energy productivity (8.86 kg/kWh).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdallah A, Alzoheiry A, Burkey K (2018) Comparison of flooded and furrow-irrigated transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.): farm-level perspectives. J Irrig Drain Eng 144:04018022. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)ir.1943-4774.0001337
Adhya TK, Linquist B, Searchinger T, Wassmann R (2014) Wetting and drying: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving water from rice production. Washington DC
Alauddin M, Sharma BR (2013) Inter-district rice water productivity differences in Bangladesh: an empirical exploration and implications. Ecol Econ 93:210–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.05.015
Amin MGM, Akter A, Jahangir MMR, Ahmed T (2021) Leaching and runoff potential of nutrient and water losses in rice field as affected by alternate wetting and drying irrigation. J Environ Manag 297:113402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113402
Bandumula N (2018) Rice production in Asia: key to global food security. Proc Natl Acad Sci India Sect B Biol Sci 88:1323–1328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-017-0867-7
Bouman BAM, Feng L, Tuong TP et al (2007) Exploring options to grow rice using less water in northern China using a modelling approach. II. Quantifying yield, water balance components, and water productivity. Agric Water Manag 88:23–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2006.10.005
Bouman BAM (2009) How much water does rice use. Rice Today, pp 28–29
Campbell BM, Beare DJ, Bennett EM et al (2017) Agriculture production as a major driver of the earth system exceeding planetary boundaries. Ecol Soc. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09595-220408
Carrijo DR, Lundy ME, Linquist BA (2017) Rice yields and water use under alternate wetting and drying irrigation: a meta-analysis. Field Crop Res 203:173–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2016.12.002
Chien CP, Fang WT (2012) Modeling irrigation return flow for the return flow reuse system in paddy fields. Paddy Water Environ 10:187–196. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-011-0307-x
Deihimfard R, Mahallati MN, Koocheki A (2015) Yield gap analysis in major wheat growing areas of Khorasan province, Iran, through crop modelling. Field Crop Res 184:28–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2015.09.002
Enriquez Y, Yadav S, Evangelista GK et al (2021) Disentangling challenges to scaling alternate wetting and drying technology for rice cultivation: distilling lessons from 20 years of experience in the Philippines. Front Sustain Food Syst 5:1–16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.675818
Erban LE, Gorelick SM, Zebker HA, Fendorf S (2013) Release of arsenic to deep groundwater in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, linked to pumping-induced land subsidence. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110:13751–13756. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1300503110
Facchi A, Masseroni D, Miniotti EF (2017) Self-made microlysimeters to measure soil evaporation: a test on aerobic rice in northern Italy. Paddy Water Environ 15:669–680. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-016-0566-7
FAOSTAT (2020) Food and agriculture data. In: Food Agric. Organ. United Nations. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC
Fu J, Wu Y, Wang Q et al (2019) Importance of subsurface fluxes of water, nitrogen and phosphorus from rice paddy fields relative to surface runoff. Agric Water Manag 213:627–635. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2018.11.005
Hafeez M, Bundschuh J, Mushtaq S (2014) Exploring synergies and tradeoffs: energy, water, and economic implications of water reuse in rice-based irrigation systems. Appl Energy 114:889–900. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.08.051
Hatiye SD, Prasad KSH, Ojha CSP, Adeloye AJ (2016) Estimation and characterization of deep percolation from rice and berseem fields using lysimeter experiments on sandy loam soil. J Hydrol Eng. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001365
Hatiye SD, Kotnoor HPSR, Ojha CSP (2017) Study of deep percolation in paddy fields using drainage-type lysimeters under varying regimes of water application. ISH J Hydraul Eng 23:35–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/09715010.2016.1228086
Howell KR, Shrestha P, Dodd IC (2015) Alternate wetting and drying irrigation maintained rice yields despite half the irrigation volume, but is currently unlikely to be adopted by smallholder lowland rice farmers in Nepal. Food Energy Secur 4:144–157. https://doi.org/10.1002/fes3.58
Humphreys E, Meisner C, Gupta R et al (2005) Water saving in rice-wheat Systems. Plant Prod Sci 8:242–258. https://doi.org/10.1626/pps.8.242
Humphreys E, Kukal SS, Christen EW et al (2010) Halting the groundwater decline in north-west india-which crop technologies will be winners? Elsevier Ltd
Islam MR, Sarker MRA, Sharma N et al (2016) Assessment of adaptability of recently released salt tolerant rice varieties in coastal regions of South Bangladesh. Field Crop Res 190:34–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2015.09.012
Jain M, Fishman R, Mondal P et al (2021) Groundwater depletion will reduce cropping intensity in India. Sci Adv 7:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd2849
Jaksomsak P, Rerkasem B, Prom-U-Thai C (2021) Variation in nutritional quality of pigmented rice varieties under different water regimes. Plant Prod Sci 24:244–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/1343943X.2020.1819164
Janssen M, Lennartz B, Wöhling T (2010) Percolation losses in paddy fields with a dynamic soil structure: model development and applications. Hydrol Process 24:813–824. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7525
Krishnamurthy PK, Lewis K, Kent C, Aggarwal P (2016) Climate impacts on food security and nutrition—a review of existing knowledge
Kukal SS, Hira GS, Sidhu AS (2005) Soil matric potential-based irrigation scheduling to rice (Oryza sativa). Irrig Sci 23:153–159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-005-0103-8
LaHue GT, Chaney RL, Adviento-Borbe MA, Linquist BA (2016) Alternate wetting and drying in high yielding direct-seeded rice systems accomplishes multiple environmental and agronomic objectives. Agric Ecosyst Environ 229:30–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.05.020
Lewis J (2016) A simple field method for assessing near-surface saturated hydraulic conductivity. Groundwater. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.12408
Li Y, Simunek J, Wang S et al (2017) Modeling of soil water regime and water balance in a transplanted rice field experiment with reduced irrigation. Water 9:248. https://doi.org/10.3390/w9040248
Liang XQ, Harter T, Porta L et al (2014) Nitrate leaching in Californian rice rields: a field- and regional-scale assessment. J Environ Qual 43:881–894. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2013.10.0402
Livsey J, Kätterer T, Vico G et al (2019) Do alternative irrigation strategies for rice cultivation decrease water footprints at the cost of long-term soil health? Environ Res Lett 14:74011. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab2108
Mahindawansha A, Külls C, Kraft P, Breuer L (2020) Investigating unproductive water losses from irrigated agricultural crops in the humid tropics through analyses of stable isotopes of water. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 24:3627–3642. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-3627-2020
Mahtab MH, Zahid A (2018) Coastal surface water suitability analysis for irrigation in Bangladesh. Appl Water Sci 8:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-018-0650-9
Malakar P, Mukherjee A, Bhanja SN et al (2021) Three decades of depth-dependent groundwater response to climate variability and human regime in the transboundary Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna mega river basin aquifers. Adv Water Resour. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2021.103856
Minderhoud PSJ, Erkens G, Pham VH et al (2017) Impacts of 25 years of groundwater extraction on subsidence in the Mekong delta. Vietnam Environ Res Lett 12:064006
Mo’allim AA, Kamal MR, Muhammed HH et al (2018) An assessment of the vertical movement of water in a flooded paddy rice field experiment using Hydrus-1D. Water 10:1–20. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10060783
Mote K, Praveen Rao V, Ramulu V et al (2018) Standardization of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) method of water management in lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.) for upscaling in command outlets. Irrig Drain 67:166–178. https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.2179
Napoli C, Garcia-Tellez B (2016) A framework for understanding energy for water. Int J Water Resour Dev 32:339–361. https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2015.1122579
Naveen-Gupta EPL, Humphreys E et al (2019) Estimating soil evaporation in dry seeded rice and wheat crops after wetting events. Agric Water Manag 217:98–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2019.02.037
OECD/FAO (2020) OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2020–2029. Paris, France
Pandey S, Yadav S, Hellin J et al (2020) Why technologies often fail to scale: policy and market failures behind limited scaling of alternate wetting and drying in rice in Bangladesh. Water. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12051510
Parthasarathi T, Vanitha K, Mohandass S, Vered E (2018) Evaluation of drip irrigation system for water productivity and yield of rice. Agron J 110:2378–2389. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2018.01.0002
Pirmoradian N, Davatgar N (2019) Simulating the effects of climatic fluctuations on rice irrigation water requirement using AquaCrop. Agric Water Manag 213:97–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2018.10.003
Qureshi AS (2020) Groundwater governance in pakistan: from colossal development to neglected management. Water 12:1–20. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113017
Seeboonruang U (2016) Impact assessment of climate change on groundwater and vulnerability to drought of areas in Eastern Thailand. Environ Earth Sci 75:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4896-3
Seidel SJ, Schütze N, Fahle M et al (2015) Optimal irrigation scheduling, irrigation control and drip line layout to increase water productivity and profit in subsurface drip-irrigated agriculture. Irrig Drain 64:501–518. https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.1926
Shahid S (2010) Impact of climate change on irrigation water demand of dry season Boro rice in northwest Bangladesh. Clim Change 105:433–453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-010-9895-5
Shamsudduha M (2010) Groundwater dynamics and arsenic mobilisation in Bangladesh: a national-scale characterisation. University College London (UCL)
Soni DK, Singh KK (2021) Water saving and increase in the yield of rice crop through on farm reservoir: a case study. ISH J Hydraul Eng 27:153–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/09715010.2018.1530618
Surendran U, Raja P, Jayakumar M, Subramoniam SR (2021) Use of efficient water saving techniques for production of rice in India under climate change scenario: a critical review. J Clean Prod 309:1–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127272
Tan X, Shao D, Liu H et al (2013) Effects of alternate wetting and drying irrigation on percolation and nitrogen leaching in paddy fields. Paddy Water Environ 11:381–395. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-012-0328-0
Tan X, Shao D, Gu W (2018) Improving water reuse in paddy field districts with cascaded on-farm ponds using hydrologic model simulations. Water Resour Manag 32:1849–1865. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-018-1907-7
Tripathi A, Tripathi DK, Chauhan DK et al (2016) Paradigms of climate change impacts on some major food sources of the world: a review on current knowledge and future prospects. Agric Ecosyst Environ 216:356–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2015.09.034
Tsubo M, Fukai S, Basnayake J et al (2007) Effects of soil clay content on water balance and productivity in rainfed lowland rice ecosystem in Northeast Thailand. Plant Prod Sci 10:232–241. https://doi.org/10.1626/pps.10.232
Wang Y, Li K, Tanaka TST et al (2016) Soil nitrate accumulation and leaching to groundwater during the entire vegetable phase following conversion from paddy rice. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 106:325–334. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-016-9807-9
Wheeler T, von Braun J (2013) Climate change impacts on global food security. Science (80-) 341:508–513. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1239402
Wopereis MCS, Bouman BAM, Kropff MJ et al (1994) Water use efficiency of flooded rice fields I. Validation of the soil-water balance model SAWAH. Agric Water Manag 26:277–289. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-3774(94)90014-0
Xu X, He P, Zhao S et al (2016) Quantification of yield gap and nutrient use efficiency of irrigated rice in China. F Crop Res 186:58–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2015.11.011
Xu B, Shao D, Tan X et al (2017) Evaluation of soil water percolation under different irrigation practices, antecedent moisture and groundwater depths in paddy fields. Agric Water Manag 192:149–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2017.06.002
Xu B, Shao D, Fang L et al (2019a) Modelling percolation and lateral seepage in a paddy field-bund landscape with a shallow groundwater table. Agric Water Manag 214:87–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2018.11.008
Xu J, Bai W, Li Y et al (2019b) Modeling rice development and field water balance using AquaCrop model under drying-wetting cycle condition in eastern China. Agric Water Manag 213:289–297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2018.10.028
Acknowledgements
The Ministry of Education, Bangladesh supported this research (SD2017417) under the Grant for Advanced Research in Education programme.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rahman, M.M., Hasan, S., Ahmed, M.R. et al. Recycling deep percolated water in continuously flooding irrigated rice fields to mitigate water scarcity. Paddy Water Environ 20, 449–466 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-022-00904-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10333-022-00904-8