Özer et al. (2026) Sustainable irrigation strategies for enhanced rice yield and economic sustainability

Identification

• Journal: The Journal of Agricultural Science
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-01
• Authors: Selçuk Özer, Yeşim Ahi
• DOI: 10.1017/s0021859626100501

Research Groups

• Atatürk Soil Water and Agricultural Meteorology Research Institute, Kırklareli, Turkey
• Water Management Institute, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

Short Summary

This study evaluated the impacts of drip irrigation (DI), alternate wetting and drying (AWD), and continuous flooding (CF) on rice yield, water productivity, and economic returns over three years. It found that the AWDI1 treatment achieved the highest water productivity and net income while significantly reducing water use compared to traditional continuous flooding.

Objective

• To evaluate the physical (yield, water productivity) and economic (net income, economic water productivity) performance of drip irrigation (DI), alternate wetting and drying (AWD), and continuous flooding (CF) strategies for rice cultivation in a water-scarce region.
• To determine the effects of these strategies on rice yield and quality under aerobic and near-anaerobic conditions.
• To select the most appropriate irrigation strategy by integrating both physical and economic indicators.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Field experiments conducted at the Atatürk Soil, Water and Agricultural Meteorology Research Institute, Kırklareli province, northern Marmara Region, Turkey (41°42′ N latitude, 27°14′ E longitude, 203 m elevation).
• Temporal Scale: Three consecutive growing seasons (2015, 2016, and 2017).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Statistical analysis (Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Least Significant Difference (LSD) test, and regression equations) was used to evaluate treatment differences and relationships.
• Data sources:
  • Field experiments with three irrigation methods (Drip Irrigation, Alternate Wetting and Drying, Continuous Flooding) and two irrigation levels (I1, I2).
  • Soil physical and chemical properties (texture, pH, EC, organic matter, field capacity, wilting point, bulk density) from experimental plots.
  • Irrigation water quality analysis from a deep well.
  • Weather data (air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, sunshine duration, precipitation) collected during the research years.
  • Measurements of rice yield (tonnes per hectare), water productivity (kilograms per cubic metre), and yield components (plant height, harvest index, thousand grain weight, milled efficiency, head yield).
  • Economic data for total production costs (variable and fixed) and gross production value to calculate net profit and economic water productivity (US dollars per hectare, US dollars per cubic metre).

Main Results

• Drip irrigation and Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) methods significantly reduced water use by 30–57% compared to continuous flooding (CF).
• The highest average rice grain yield (7.95 tonnes per hectare) was obtained from CF, followed closely by AWDI1 (7.60 tonnes per hectare) and DI1 (6.39 tonnes per hectare).
• Yield losses ranged from 2–52% in DI and AWD treatments compared to CF, with AWDI1 showing minimal loss (2%).
• AWDI1 recorded the highest water productivity (WP(I) and WP(I+R) values between 0.39–0.64 kg/m³ and 0.37–0.59 kg/m³ respectively) and the highest net income (US$2455 per hectare), outperforming CF (US$2428 per hectare) and DI1 (US$1604 per hectare).
• The highest Economic Water Productivity was US$0.19 per cubic metre from AWDI1.
• A strong polynomial relationship was observed between seasonal total water applied and yield (R² values between 0.96 and 0.99, statistically significant at p < 0.05 or p < 0.01).
• AWDI1 also showed the highest average harvest index (51.5%) and milled yield (74.5%), with head yield comparable to CF (71.6%).

Contributions

• This study provides a simultaneous evaluation of both the physical and economic performance of drip irrigation and alternate wetting and drying in rice cultivation, addressing a gap in existing literature, particularly in a water-scarce, major rice-producing region.
• It demonstrates the viability of AWD and drip irrigation as sustainable alternatives to traditional continuous flooding, effectively balancing water conservation with profitability and maintaining yield quality.
• The research underscores the critical importance of integrating physical and economic indicators for informed decision-making in selecting irrigation strategies to ensure food security and resource sustainability.

Funding

• TAGEM (General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies of Türkiye)
• Project reference number: TAGEM/TSKAD/15/A13/P02/11

Citation

@article{Özer2026Sustainable,
  author = {Özer, Selçuk and Ahi, Yeşim},
  title = {Sustainable irrigation strategies for enhanced rice yield and economic sustainability},
  journal = {The Journal of Agricultural Science},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1017/s0021859626100501},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021859626100501}
}