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    Rice and Water

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    norip8668
    Rice is a water-intensive crop, but the Australian rice industry uses water more efficiently than most other countries or crops. Australian rice growers use 50% less water per kilo of rice than the global average. Careful water management plans and regulations ensure rice is grown sustainably while maintaining productivity. Rice is often rotated with other crops that utilize the soil moisture from the harvested rice fields, allowing two crops from one watering and further water savings.

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    Rice and Water

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    norip8668
    72 views3 pages
    Rice is a water-intensive crop, but the Australian rice industry uses water more efficiently than most other countries or crops. Australian rice growers use 50% less water per kilo of rice than the global average. Careful water management plans and regulations ensure rice is grown sustainably while maintaining productivity. Rice is often rotated with other crops that utilize the soil moisture from the harvested rice fields, allowing two crops from one watering and further water savings.

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    Rice is a water-intensive crop, but the Australian rice industry uses water more efficiently than most other countries or crops. Australian rice growers use 50% less water per kilo of rice than the global average. Careful water management plans and regulations ensure rice is grown sustainably while maintaining productivity. Rice is often rotated with other crops that utilize the soil moisture from the harvested rice fields, allowing two crops from one watering and further water savings.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    72 views3 pages

    Rice and Water

    Uploaded by

    norip8668
    Rice is a water-intensive crop, but the Australian rice industry uses water more efficiently than most other countries or crops. Australian rice growers use 50% less water per kilo of rice than the global average. Careful water management plans and regulations ensure rice is grown sustainably while maintaining productivity. Rice is often rotated with other crops that utilize the soil moisture from the harvested rice fields, allowing two crops from one watering and further water savings.

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    Fact Sheet

    Rice and Water


    Water is vital resource used in farming
    The production of food and fibre is dependent on water and rice growers know better than most the
    real value of water. Without it, Australian rice growers can’t plant a crop, make a living or continue to
    grow the rice which feeds up to 40 million people around the world everyday.

    The Australian rice industry is one of the most efficient users of water
    in the world
    Australian rice growers use 50% less water to grow one kilo of rice than the world average and are
    recognised worldwide for growing high quality rice varieties suited to Australia’s climate known as
    temperate rice. Contrary to popular belief, in terms of bulk use, rice uses much less water than many
    other agricultural products. Dairy, cotton, livestock and pasture grains all use more water in Australia
    than rice grains1.

    Rice grown in Australia has been developed to especially for our climate
    The type of rice grown in Australia is different to that which is grown in monsoonal wetland countries
    such as Thailand and Indonesia. Rice varieties grown in Australia have been specially developed to
    suit the hot, dry conditions of southern NSW.

    Rice growing is Australia’s most regulated agricultural industry in terms of


    land and water use and environmental impacts
    Much of this regulation has been industry-initiated. Rice can only be grown on soils that are deemed
    suitable by the irrigation corporations and/or the New South Wales Department of Natural Resources
    based on soil textural classification, electromagnetic induction to determine clay depths and sodicity.
    Overall water availability for irrigated agriculture in the region is determined by Water Sharing
    Plans with announcements made by the NSW Government of actual water allocations for each
    irrigation area.

    Careful water management of rice farms is needed to ensure both


    environmental sustainability and rice productivity
    Land and Water Management Plans set by state governments and rice growers are the cornerstone
    of environmental initiatives in the irrigation areas of the Riverina. Each plan is an integrated natural
    resource management strategy prepared by landholders and local communities with technical and
    financial assistance in partnership with the NSW and Federal governments.
    Plans set out the best practices for managing irrigation farming and improving water and soil
    management within the landscape. They also provide for long-term biodiversity restoration and better
    farm management techniques, so the land is preserved for future generations.

    1
    UNESCO-IHE, Chapagain, A.K and Hoekstra, A.Y. Water footprints of nations. November 2004.

    Page 
    Fact Sheet

    Rice and Water Continued


    The amount of rice able to be grown directly relates to the amount of
    water available to irrigators
    Like all farmers, rice growers are not immune to drought conditions. Each year State
    governments assess the water resource available in the dams and determine allocations for different
    users based on a hierarchy. Most rice is grown by general security irrigators who receive their water
    last in this hierarchy of allocations. They are also the first to have allocations reduced in times of
    water shortages.

    A rice crop forms one part of a farming system


    Australian farmers make decisions about which crops they will plant each season taking into
    consideration variable conditions such as water allocations and the weather. A rice crop forms one
    part of a farming system, and is only planted when the conditions are suitable.
    In Australia, rice is grown from October until March and in rotation with other crops such as wheat,
    barley and maize. Many of these crops grown in rotation with rice utilise the existing soil moisture
    from the harvested rice crops, meaning they don’t require further irrigation. This allows for further
    water savings and more efficient water usage, and effectively provides growers with two crops from
    the one application of water.
    “One year I’ll grow rice in a paddock and after harvest I’ll directly sow in a wheat crop. I am getting
    two crops from the same water because I utilise the moisture remaining in the soil from the rice”
    Les Gordon, rice grower of 22 years

    Australian rice is not the same as that grown in Asia


    Most rice varieties grown in Australia have been specifically developed for our climate and have been
    bred to suit the environmental conditions of south-eastern Australia.
    A common perception is that rice is a tropical crop, but almost all of the rice produced in Australia is
    Japonica, a variety which is perfectly suited to the dry temperate micro-climate of the Australian rice
    growing region.
    Rice can be divided into two types – Japonica and Indica. Japonica rice is usually grown in
    temperate climates, like Australia, California, Egypt, China and Japan. The grains are round and
    when cooked, this rice is sticky and moist.
    Indica rice is grown in hot, tropical climates. The grains are long and when cooked, the rice is fluffy
    and does not stick together. Most of the rice produced in Southern Asia, including India, Thailand,
    Vietnam and Southern China is Indica rice.

    Page 
    Fact Sheet

    Rice and Water Continued


    Internationally, Australian rice production uses less water per
    hectare than other countries and is consistently in the top 4 of water
    efficient producers
    If we imported all our rice, particularly from developing countries, we would consume food that is
    produced by countries with natural resources including water that are under considerable pressure.
    The Australian rice industry has a record of continuous improvement in product quality, productivity,
    land and water use, and environmental management.
    Figure 6 (below) compares the global average embedded water content for some selected
    agricultural goods, but as Figure 7 shows, embedded water can vary significantly depending on
    country of origin. There are a number of factors which influence how much water is embedded in
    a product: Climate, yield, crop requirements, technology and irrigation efficiency are a few of the
    variables that have an effect.

    Source: “Hidden Waters” A Waterwise Briefing,


    February 2007 by Joanne Zygmunt

    Fig &. Embedded water differs depending on Country


    of production.

    Data from: Chapagain ans Hoestra 2004. Nations with


    no bar either do not produce the good or do not trade
    it internationally.

    Source: “Hidden Waters” A Waterwise Briefing,


    February 2007 by Joanne Zygmunt

    Page 

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