35 2019 WORLD JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY ENHANCING WATER USE EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF RICE CROP USING MODERN FARMING METHODS IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN, A BRIEF REVIEW Muhammad Zeeshan Mehmood *, Ghulam Qadir, Obaid Afzal, Mohamed Ali Awale, Rana Numan Ashraf Department of Agronomy, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. ABSTRACT Rice is the major staple food for billions of people worldwide. It has the social and economic impacts on people lives. Water scarcity is one of the major challenges to rice production and ultimately food security globally. For food security, it is important to explore efficient rice production technology that uses less water. Therefore, in the modern agriculture focus has been shifted towards development of water saving technologies. These methods include direct seeding, alternate wetting and drying, aerobic rice systems, use of mulches etc. These techniques reduce the water requirements and can enhance water use efficiency (W.U.E) of rice. However, yield may be compromised with these techniques, but research has been carried out to reduce yield losses and water use. Biotechnology and breeding approaches are being u sed to develop rice verities with drought tolerance, improved water use efficiency etc. Development and adoption of these technologies will shift the rice production from anaerobic to completely or partially aerobic systems. These techniques may reduce the water losses. In Pakistan famers are willing to adopt new technologies; however, there is a need of dissemination and demonstration to adopt these technologies at farmer level to enhance crop productivity and water use efficiency. Innovative research approaches are required to fill the gaps in technological innovations and adoption. Key word: Water Use Efficiency; Rice Seeding Methods; Water Scarcity, Irrigation. *Corresponding email address: shani.arid@gmail.com Received: 27 August 2019 Accepted: 01 October 2019 INTRODUCTION Rice is the major staple crop of Pakistan after Wheat and major export crop after Cotton. It accounts for 3.1% in the value added in agriculture and 0.6% in GDP (GOP, 2018). About 60% of rice is exported to Asia, Africa and Europe. Basmati rice is popular for its natural aroma and it also has the grain elongation character while cooking. Its demand is increasing worldwide. Basmati rice from Pakistan is earning three times more price in international markets compared to coarse rice cultivars (Mahajan et al., 2018). It has a great contribution in revenue generation and has a key role in export earnings for Pakistan. Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan are main rice crop producers, contributes 50% and 38% respectively (GOP, 2017). In Pakistan rice production is around 2562kg/ha, that is only 60 percent of potential yield of rice (GOP, 2018-19). Rice production is mainly limited by water availability for irrigation. Global climate change leading to the extreme inconsistency in the weather, increasing the average temperature, more severe droughts and decline in water availability. These factors in addition to the increasing population are making the food security situation more worse (Cheeseman, 2016). Pakistan’s food security is linked with the availability of water. In recent decades food security has been improved due to increase in production as result of increased in acreage. The unsustainable use of water stressing the groundwater aquifers. Therefore we have to manage the water use in agriculture properly and efficiently (Kirby et al., 2017). Rice crop accounts for 24 to 30% of fresh water and 34 to 43% irrigation water consumption all over the world. Water inputs for season ranges between 660-5280mm in puddled system depending on growing and environmental conditions (Mann et al., 2016). In Asia about 50% of water is used for irrigation of rice crop. Consumptive use of rice is around 8cm but supplied water quantity is very higher and ranges between 13-18cm (Rehman et al., 2017). Water scarcity can be classified into two types, economic and physical scarcity. Economical scarcity is the scarcity when investments are not available to meet the current growing demand due to the various constraints. While physical scarcity is when water availability is insufficient to meet demands. In Asia a large portion suffers from economic or physical water scarcity. In future, Pakistan will face the water scarcity for irrigation due to decline in availability and increased demand of water (GOP, 2018-19). As 90% of rice is produced and consumed in Asia, therefore, this scarcity is going to affect the rice production severely in Asia. Water scarcity is becoming the biggest problem for rice production. Current rice cultivation practices: In Pakistan rice is grown usually by transplanting seedlings in puddled soils having standing water during the growth period. To rely on standing water during the growing period results in in poor water use efficiency (W.U.E). Seepage and percolation also contribute to increase the water losses. By conventional rice production, 2500 liters of water is used for producing 1kg of rice (Bouman, 2009). Majority of farmers use puddling system regardless of water availability for irrigation. Extensive research is required for clear demarcation of challenges and development of water saving techniques for targeted sites. Water scarcity: Total cultivated area of Pakistan is around 22mha, and 14.7mha or 68% is irrigated primarily by Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS). It provides 54 million-acre feet water to farms and almost 48 million-acre feet water is supplemented with the help of tube wells. But there is still shortage of 22.7 million-acre feet that is projected to become double in 2020s. The country is recently suffering with a serious water deficit while resources on surface as well as (Online) ISSN 2522-6754 (Print) ISSN 2522-6746 Mehmood, M.Z., Qadir, G., Afzal, O., Awale, M.A., Ashraf, R.N. (2019). Enhancing water use efficiency and productivity of rice crop using modern farming methods in Punjab, Pakistan, A brief review. World Journal of Biology and Biotechnology, 4(3), 35-37. DOI: https:/doi.org/10.33865/wjb.004.03.0235 Volume: 4 Issue: 3 www.sciplatform.com