Sustaining food security for rainfed ecosystems in Asia

Abstract

Since 1966 when the release of IR-8 triggered the green revolution in humid and subhumid tropics in Asia, rice production has increased at 2.4% per year, faster than the rate of population growth. The increase in production has come mostly from investment in water resource development that converted the variable monsoon-dependent rice growing environment into an irrigated ecosystem suitable for the adoption of modern varieties developed by rice scientists. The rice yield has remained low in rainfed lowlands and uplands, at 2.0 ton per hectare compared to 5.0 ton for the irrigated ecosystem. Although most Asian countries have declared themselves as self-sufficient in rice production, food insecurity and poverty are widely prevalent in regions with unfavourable rice growing environments. Increase in supplies from the existing irrigated land may not help these people in rainfed systems to meet their food needs because of the lack of purchasing capacity and alternative opportunities for productive employment. Further expansion of irrigation is constrained by rising costs and growing environmental concerns. Scientists must take up the difficult challenge of developing resistance to various abiotic stresses in high-yielding rice cultivars, and improving farming practices that increase productivity of the rice-based systems, to help people in rainfed environments achieve and sustain food security.