There’s no running away from the fact that rice is one of the most grown and consumed crops across the globe. Since rice production has become a rage globally, investors are looking at ways that enable them to improve rice yield.
How is Rice Harvested?
For your information, a large part of the world’s rice is harvested in fields usually flooded. After all, rice thrives in water, and thus, flooded fields register as the best breeding ground for this crop.
Once harvested, you’ll have to leave the rice for several months, so it can completely get soaked in the liquid. On the contrary, if rice isn’t provided with enough water, the crop itself will not grow to its fullest. As a result, you see small pieces of rice that are very hard to eat.
Once the rice field is drenched in water, you need to drain the floods in the middle of the year. Such methods are pivotal for maximum rice yield, since decaying plant material is submerged in water.
However, thanks to the massive improvement in scientific research, cultivators have many ways to improve rice yield. In this article, we will share everything related to improving rice yield.
The Statistics
Much to your surprise, the improved rice cultivation is applicable on around 163 million hectares globally. This can be acknowledged as an area that is the size of Mongolia. Furthermore, if rice cultivation is improved drastically, it could eradicate around 159 million tonnes of carbon monoxide.
Secondly, as the demand for rice has increased drastically in the Asian countries, the stats have only multiplied with time. As of now, around 3.5 billion people globally consume rice, which is enough reason to prioritize it. This can be equated with the combined emissions from more than 34 million vehicles a year.
What Are The Biggest Challenges Here?
Rice cultivation and improving rice yields are two of the world’s biggest challenges. Owing to the changes in climatic conditions, experts are worried if the weather will be in favor of rice growth in the future or not.
And even minor changes in the weather, such as the coming of summer as early as February, affect rice’s entire growth cycle. Secondly, since humidity has grown exponentially in tons of cities, it is hard for the rice crop to become the best version of itself during the cultivation and harvesting process.
Plus, more research is needed to unleash the best methods for rice cultivation in today’s time. And, unless the experts understand the effects of water management on the rice yield rate, it will be hard for them to make the most out of their efforts. Therefore, continued research is needed for everyone to understand the different ways to maximize production with time.
As of now, rice farmers have shown little incentive to maximize their waste management system efforts. And incentives like these will be essential for improving rice production with time.
As far as the Asian countries are concerned, the problem of fungus persists. Although it sounds weird, as rice is prepared, the fungus starts to grow, making the crop unsuitable for consumption. On the other hand, climate change is a major issue as far as the West is concerned. Plus, the scarcity of water in many regions will have a drastic impact on the final product. Secondly, pesticide use is a major concern for rice farmers since many are naïve to its research.
Unless the global concern with rice cultivation doesn’t improve with time, it will be hard to ensure rice yields grow to the fullest. Though experts are working on tons of ideas, it is still fair enough to say that rice production is seeing major global challenges.
How to Move forward?
For your information, in the best case situation, the water management of rice fields will reduce methane emissions by over 90%. However, this cannot be compared with full-time flooding because it yields the best results with time. It’s important that you trust science and make our contributions where possible. Keeping with others’ research and sharing your experiences will help make faster developments. Government authorities also need to create a culture where sharing knowledge is more common.
Luckily, some of the recent field experiments have suggested that the situation improves in rice yields after some time. Because many of the rice-producing fields across the globe have water shortages, this makes water management an important concept for them to imbibe with time.
However, it is important to note that better rice cultivation is an expensive project to be implemented in some places. But in others, it is a relatively low-cost treatment. For instance, if India is concerned, there’s already an improved ability to water management.
And even if the US is concerned, the methods for improving rice yields with time have proven to be a huge success. And by doing so one could save a lot on fuel costs in the future. Secondly, in areas dominated by technological capacity, better rice cultivation could easily produce the desired results.
What is the Future?
It is fair enough to say that with the massive evolution of scientific research, rice yield management will only improve with time. And since there’s been a lot of understanding done by the rice farmers, they are watching out for all sorts of constraints and issues that could affect rice production with time.
Plus, as rice consumption continues to increase, the prospects for improvement will always be there.
Not to forget, rice is acknowledged as a filler in Asian and third world countries, so it is important to them. And, since the global food industry has shifted its attention to eating healthy, the demand has also been a bit slow in the developed nations. But, as people demand a dine-in experience with families, restaurants have also started to acquire good quality rice.
Now that rice production is undergoing tons of changes with the new methodologies, we can rest assured that this crop will register itself as a staple diet in the future without facing various challenges.
