Advances in Research on the Approaches of Improving Water Utilization Efficiency in Rice

Water shortage is increasingly an important factor limiting the sustainable development of global economy, posing a huge threat to social security and human existence. Water usage in agriculture accounts for about 70% of total water consumption in the world, and rice cultivation is in turn the largest water user, which accounts for about 50% of total water usage in agriculture. Therefore, it is quite important to improve water utilization efficiency to reduce water consumption in rice. Water stress causes severe inhibition of plant growth and development as well as yield reduction, however the extent of inhibition or reduction varies greatly with the growth stages, duration and severity of stress, and plant genotypes. In rice, drought resistance and water utilization efficiency might be improved by developing stress resistant cultivars and conducting proper agronomic practices. It is hence imperative to determine the suitable criteria in morphological and physiological traits for drought resistance and water utilization efficiency in conventional breeding of rice. At present, leaf rolling, leaf water potential and carbon isotope discrimination are commonly used criteria for the evaluation and identification of germplasm with high drought resistance or water utilization efficiency. With rapid development of molecular biology, marker-assisted selection has been used in rice breeding against water stress. In this review, therefore, the agronomic aspect of water saving techniques such as selection of suitable rice cultivars, planting pattern, mulching, deficit irrigation and alternative drying and moist irrigation are discussed and effective approaches are also recommended.