Water is a precious and scarce resource input in rice production, so it is very important that irrigation water is used wisely and efficiently.
The current way growing irrigated rice in most Asian rice farms requires large amounts of water. For example, in India and the Philippines, an average of about 3000 liters of water is used to produce 1 kilo of rice!
The increasing shortage of water in irrigated areas because of, for example, the lack of water conservation practices and the need of water for the industrial, domestic and other non agriculture sectors, show that the present rice cultivation techniques must be improved. Better water management is needed!