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By 2050 the demand for water will increase by 50% globally. Rice farmers will compete with growing demand from manufacturing, electricity, and domestic use for this natural resource. Meanwhile, land degradation, pollution, and urban encroachment is constantly diminishing the amount of land suitable for farming. 

IRRI is helping rice farmers improve  the productivity of their farms so they can grow more on the same amount of land using less resources and with a smaller environmental footprint. 

Alternative agronomic management practices such as direct-seeded rice, non-puddled rice, and conservation agriculture, as well as the use of ICT tools like Geographic Information Systems, AutoMon, and Rice Crop Manager are just a few of the solutions that IRRI and its partners offer. These innovations help farmers optimize farm inputs like water and fertilizer to address this challenge. 

Related Projects

Rice Crop Manager (RCM)

Water-efficient and risk mitigation technologies for enhancing rice production in irrigated and rainfed environments (WATERice)

Development of Sustainable Rice Straw Management Practices and Technologies for Bioenergy, Food, and Feed in the Philippines (RiceStrawPH)

Long-Term Partnership between GCDT and IRRI's Harnessing Rice Genetic Diversity to Accelerate Impact Theme

Alternate wetting and drying (AWD)

Direct-seeded rice (DSR)

Scalable straw management options for improved farmer livelihoods, sustainability, and low environmental footprint in rice-based production systems

Pathways of scaling agricultural innovations for sustainable intensification in the polders of coastal Bangladesh (SIIL-Polder Project: phase II)

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