Response of Lowland Rice (Oryza sativa L.) to Water Saving Management in the Coastal Savannah Agroecology of Ghana

Abstract

Water productivity of rice is relatively low especially in irrigated ecosystem due to poor water management which leads to high water loss through seepage, evaporation and percolation. However, the amount of fresh water available for irrigation in the world is decreasing due to climate change, population growth and development of urban and rural areas. This study was therefore conducted at the screen house of Soil and Irrigation Research Centre of the University of Ghana, Kpong, during the cropping season of 2016/2017 to investigate the effect of different water saving management methods on growth, grain yield and water productivity of lowland rice. The study was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with seven (7) replications. Five treatments were involved; continuous flooding (T1, control), flooding from transplanting to ten days after complete heading (T2), flooding from transplanting to twenty days after complete heading (T3), alternate wet and dry (AWD) from transplanting to booting, then flooding from booting to ten days after complete heading (T4), and AWD from transplanting to booting, then flooded from booting to twenty days after complete heading (T5). Results from the experiments revealed that, withholding water after complete heading has no significant effect on rice growth. Plants from T5 saved 24.3% and 25.2% of water used in 2016 and 2017, respectively while producing similar grain yield as the control.