Effects of Water-Saving Irrigation on Direct-Seeding Rice Yield and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in North China

Rice cultivation consumes more than half of the planet’s 70% freshwater supply used in agricultural production. Competing water uses and climate change globally are putting more pressure on the limited water resources. Therefore, water-saving irrigation (WSI) is recommended for rice production in wa...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiaoning Hang, Frederick Danso, Jia Luo, Dunxiu Liao, Jian Zhang, Jun Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-06-01
Series:Agriculture
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/7/937
_version_ 1797433953526743040
author Xiaoning Hang
Frederick Danso
Jia Luo
Dunxiu Liao
Jian Zhang
Jun Zhang
author_facet Xiaoning Hang
Frederick Danso
Jia Luo
Dunxiu Liao
Jian Zhang
Jun Zhang
author_sort Xiaoning Hang
collection DOAJ
description Rice cultivation consumes more than half of the planet’s 70% freshwater supply used in agricultural production. Competing water uses and climate change globally are putting more pressure on the limited water resources. Therefore, water-saving irrigation (WSI) is recommended for rice production in water scares areas. The impact of WSI techniques on direct-seeding rice production and greenhouse gas emissions in North China is becoming increasingly important in the era of climate change. Therefore, we conducted a two-year field experiment on directly seeded rice to assess the impact of traditional flooding irrigation (CK) and three water saving irrigation (WSI) methods, including drip irrigation with an irrigation amount of 50 mm (DI<sub>1</sub>) and 35 mm (DI<sub>2</sub>) at each watering time and furrow wetting irrigation (FWI), on rice yield and greenhouse emissions. Generally, the WSI techniques decreased the number of rice panicles per m<sup>−2</sup>, spikelet per panicle, 1000-grain weight and rice yield compared to CK. Rice yield and yield components of (DI<sub>1</sub>) were significantly higher than (DI<sub>2</sub>). The adoption of either (DI<sub>1</sub>) or (FWI) showed insignificant variation in terms of rice yield and its yield components measured except for 1000-grain weight. The water productivity was 88.9, 16.4 and 11.4% higher in the FWI plot than the CK, DI<sub>1</sub> and DI<sub>2</sub> plots, respectively. The WSI decreased cumulative CH<sub>4</sub> emission significantly by 73.0, 84.7 and 64.4% in DI<sub>1</sub>, DI<sub>2</sub> and FWI, respectively, in comparison with CK. The usage of DI<sub>2</sub> triggered 1.4 and 2.0-fold more cumulative N<sub>2</sub>O emission compared to DI<sub>1</sub> and FWI, respectively. Area-scaled emission among the water-saving irrigation methods showed no significance. The yield-scaled emission in DI<sub>1</sub> and DI<sub>2</sub> and FWI were 101, 67.5 and 102%, respectively, significantly lower than CK. The adoption of FWI produced an acceptable rice yield with the lowest yield-scaled emission and highest water productivity among the irrigation practices. Our experiment demonstrates that dry direct-seeding with furrow irrigation can impact triple-wins of sustainable rice yield, high water-use efficiency and low GHG emissions in North China.
first_indexed 2024-03-09T10:24:19Z
format Article
id doaj.art-7fbef72dc76a4523bcbfe61d7dadbe92
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2077-0472
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-09T10:24:19Z
publishDate 2022-06-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Agriculture
spelling doaj.art-7fbef72dc76a4523bcbfe61d7dadbe922023-12-01T21:45:39ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722022-06-0112793710.3390/agriculture12070937Effects of Water-Saving Irrigation on Direct-Seeding Rice Yield and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in North ChinaXiaoning Hang0Frederick Danso1Jia Luo2Dunxiu Liao3Jian Zhang4Jun Zhang5Chongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, ChinaKey Laboratory of Crop Physiology & Ecology, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaChongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, ChinaChongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, ChinaChongqing Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Chongqing 401329, ChinaKey Laboratory of Crop Physiology & Ecology, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, ChinaRice cultivation consumes more than half of the planet’s 70% freshwater supply used in agricultural production. Competing water uses and climate change globally are putting more pressure on the limited water resources. Therefore, water-saving irrigation (WSI) is recommended for rice production in water scares areas. The impact of WSI techniques on direct-seeding rice production and greenhouse gas emissions in North China is becoming increasingly important in the era of climate change. Therefore, we conducted a two-year field experiment on directly seeded rice to assess the impact of traditional flooding irrigation (CK) and three water saving irrigation (WSI) methods, including drip irrigation with an irrigation amount of 50 mm (DI<sub>1</sub>) and 35 mm (DI<sub>2</sub>) at each watering time and furrow wetting irrigation (FWI), on rice yield and greenhouse emissions. Generally, the WSI techniques decreased the number of rice panicles per m<sup>−2</sup>, spikelet per panicle, 1000-grain weight and rice yield compared to CK. Rice yield and yield components of (DI<sub>1</sub>) were significantly higher than (DI<sub>2</sub>). The adoption of either (DI<sub>1</sub>) or (FWI) showed insignificant variation in terms of rice yield and its yield components measured except for 1000-grain weight. The water productivity was 88.9, 16.4 and 11.4% higher in the FWI plot than the CK, DI<sub>1</sub> and DI<sub>2</sub> plots, respectively. The WSI decreased cumulative CH<sub>4</sub> emission significantly by 73.0, 84.7 and 64.4% in DI<sub>1</sub>, DI<sub>2</sub> and FWI, respectively, in comparison with CK. The usage of DI<sub>2</sub> triggered 1.4 and 2.0-fold more cumulative N<sub>2</sub>O emission compared to DI<sub>1</sub> and FWI, respectively. Area-scaled emission among the water-saving irrigation methods showed no significance. The yield-scaled emission in DI<sub>1</sub> and DI<sub>2</sub> and FWI were 101, 67.5 and 102%, respectively, significantly lower than CK. The adoption of FWI produced an acceptable rice yield with the lowest yield-scaled emission and highest water productivity among the irrigation practices. Our experiment demonstrates that dry direct-seeding with furrow irrigation can impact triple-wins of sustainable rice yield, high water-use efficiency and low GHG emissions in North China.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/7/937rice productionCH<sub>4</sub>N<sub>2</sub>Owater productivityglobal warming
spellingShingle Xiaoning Hang
Frederick Danso
Jia Luo
Dunxiu Liao
Jian Zhang
Jun Zhang
Effects of Water-Saving Irrigation on Direct-Seeding Rice Yield and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in North China
Agriculture
rice production
CH<sub>4</sub>
N<sub>2</sub>O
water productivity
global warming
title Effects of Water-Saving Irrigation on Direct-Seeding Rice Yield and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in North China
title_full Effects of Water-Saving Irrigation on Direct-Seeding Rice Yield and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in North China
title_fullStr Effects of Water-Saving Irrigation on Direct-Seeding Rice Yield and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in North China
title_full_unstemmed Effects of Water-Saving Irrigation on Direct-Seeding Rice Yield and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in North China
title_short Effects of Water-Saving Irrigation on Direct-Seeding Rice Yield and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in North China
title_sort effects of water saving irrigation on direct seeding rice yield and greenhouse gas emissions in north china
topic rice production
CH<sub>4</sub>
N<sub>2</sub>O
water productivity
global warming
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/7/937
work_keys_str_mv AT xiaoninghang effectsofwatersavingirrigationondirectseedingriceyieldandgreenhousegasemissionsinnorthchina
AT frederickdanso effectsofwatersavingirrigationondirectseedingriceyieldandgreenhousegasemissionsinnorthchina
AT jialuo effectsofwatersavingirrigationondirectseedingriceyieldandgreenhousegasemissionsinnorthchina
AT dunxiuliao effectsofwatersavingirrigationondirectseedingriceyieldandgreenhousegasemissionsinnorthchina
AT jianzhang effectsofwatersavingirrigationondirectseedingriceyieldandgreenhousegasemissionsinnorthchina
AT junzhang effectsofwatersavingirrigationondirectseedingriceyieldandgreenhousegasemissionsinnorthchina