The rice environments or ecosystems

Describe the  ecosystems wherein rice is grown.

Introduction

Rice scientists in Asia distinguish four broad categories of rice  "ecosystems" or environments.

What environments are mostly used?

Approximately 34% of rice is grown in rainfed lowlands, irrigated ecosystems cover 50%. Rainfed upland systems make up 9% and flood prone area cover 7% of the world rice area.

The percentage of rice area under the different ecosystems

Where do we find the different rice environments?

The following toposequence shows a schematic distribution of the different rice ecosystems in the landscape. It starts with upland rice in the top and moves down to flood-prone rice near the riverbanks. Rainfed lowland ecosystems appear at two locations in the toposequence: below rainfed upland systems (likely occurrence of drought) and between irrigated and flood-prone systems (likely occurrence of submergence and salinity).

Rice crop distribution on a toposequence

Next lesson

Let's see what abiotic stresses rice plants can suffer from.