Maintenance of ecological functions
For countries with medium- or small-scale farms, the interest in managing rice farming would lessen as competitiveness weakens under the WTO. However, from the viewpoint of national security as well as land protection, rice paddy land is irreplaceable and irreversible. Hence, most governments would make every effort to preserve rice paddies.
When the area for rice-paddy decreases, the abundant agricultural water resource could be diverted to other purposes. In the meantime, not only the significant agricultural “return flow” diminishes as the amount of seepage reduces, agricultural production is also affected due to water contamination from domestic and industrial wastes. As a result, the government is now promoting the policy of “water planting.” In other words, the basic functions of ponding and irrigating are retained even during fallow or when rice is not planted, and this seems a good choice to reach the sustainable use of farm land.