What are the water benefits of Climate-Friendly rice?
Water Quantity
Climate-Friendly rice is grown using alternate wetting and drying (AWD) or furrow irrigation (FIR). Both of these practices reduce irrigation needs by up to 50% compared to conventionally flooded rice. This equates to 18 million gallons of water remaining in the aquifer for a single 40-acre field.
Water Quality
The growing hypoxia “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico is attributed to an increased flow of fertilizer, sediment, and chemicals from fields and surfaces along the Mississippi River watershed.
Using surface water (streams, rainfall) instead of groundwater for rice irrigation reduces or prevents those contaminants from flowing downstream.
Compared to a conventionally flooded rice field using groundwater, a 40-acre field using AWD and surface water would reduce the following amounts from flowing downstream:
- 5,500 lbs of Nitrogen
- 470 lbs of Phosphorus
- 1000 lbs of Potassium
- 190,000 lbs of sediment (equivalent to 0.015 inches of topsoil)