Disadvantages Of Rice Production

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Global rice production, so far, has been able to meet population demands. However, its ability to continue this performance is in question unless appropriate action is taken in the near future. In the immediate future, the main challenges for rice production include increasing demand for rice from population growth, the limited possibility for expanding harvested area, declining rice yield growth, and low returns from rice production (Nguyen & Ferrero, 2006). Since the beginnings of agriculture about 10 000 years ago, growers have had to compete with harmful organisms – animal pests (insects, mites, nematodes, rodents, slugs and snails, birds), plant pathogens and weeds, collectively called pests – for crop products grown for human use and…show more content…
at different crop growth stages. . These joint incidence combinations showed that, although each pest was below its economic injury level, the combination of both pests inflicted economic damage (Selvaraj, Chander, & Sujithra, 2011). Due to the damage caused by pests and other biotic factors like weeds, chemical insecticides and herbicides are being employed in order to minimize the losses due to the said biotic components. Insecticides have played an important role in realizing yield potential of crops. However, intensive rice cultivation with excessive pesticide use has created several pest and environmental problems (Selvaraj, Chander, & Sujithra,…show more content…
With the global population approaching 9 billion people in the next few decades, it is often asserted (e.g., from United Nations (UNs) and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)), that there is a need for 70–100% more food (Charles, et al., 2010). It is in this light that sustainable rice production becomes an important part of the human population, especially the people in Asia. One of the methods in organic rice production that is currently gaining popularity not only among Filipino farmers but also from farmers all around the world is the Integrated Rice-Duck Farming System (IRDFS). IRDFS is based on the relationship between waterfowls and rice paddies, in this case ducks, wherein the rice provides food for the ducks while the ducks provide the fertilizer (Furuno, 2001). IRDFS has been the flagship of sustainable-agriculture movements in Asia since the early 1990s (Rutz, 2009). However, before it became famous, the integration of ducks into rice fields has been practiced by rice farmers in Asia. As observed by (King, 1911), ducks in China were fed with worms from rice fields just before a new rice season starts. As such, it could be said that the integration of animals in farms has been a normal practice since olden

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