Rice polyculture

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Rice polyculture is the cultivation of rice and another crop simultaneously on the same land. The practice exploits the mutual benefit between rice and organisms such as fish and ducks: the rice supports pests which serve as food for the fish and ducks, while the animals' excrement serves as fertilizer for the rice. The result is an additional crop, with reduced need for inputs of fertilizer and pesticides. In addition, the reduction of pests such as mosquito larvae and snails may reduce mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, and snail-born parasites such as the trematodes which cause schistosomiasis. The reduction in chemical inputs may reduce environmental harms caused by their release into the environment. The increased biodiversity may reduce methane emissions from rice fields.

Contents

Some rice-animal polycultures, including rice-fish systems in China and rice-duck farming in China and Southeast Asia, have been practised for centuries, while others have been developed more recently. The use of intercropping with plants such as maize and soybean, planted on levees between rice terraces, may help to reduce rice pests such as brown planthopper.

History

Common carp may have been the first fish in rice-fish systems. Cyprinus carpio 2008 G1 (cropped).jpg
Common carp may have been the first fish in rice-fish systems.

The simultaneous cultivation of rice and fish is thought to be over 2,000 years old. Ancient clay models of rice fields, containing miniature models of fish such as the common carp, have been found in Han dynasty tombs in China. [2] The system originated somewhere in continental Asia such as in India, Thailand, northern Vietnam and southern China. The practice likely started in China since they were early practitioners of aquaculture. [1]

Rice-duck farming is traditional in Southeast Asia; in China it is sometimes combined with fish on the same terraces. [3]

Mutualism

Diagram of interactions within a rice polyculture, in this case rice-fish, showing mutual benefits of the crops and advantages to the farmer Rice-Fish system interactions.svg
Diagram of interactions within a rice polyculture, in this case rice-fish, showing mutual benefits of the crops and advantages to the farmer

Several animal species have been raised in rice fields, offering the possibility of multiple crops and a variety of ecological and agro-ecological benefits. Pairings such as rice and fish or rice and ducks form a mutualistic relationship: they both benefit from growing together. The rice provides the fish with shelter and shade and a reduced water temperature, along with herbivorous insects and other small animals that feed on the rice. [7] Rice benefits from nitrogenous waste from the fish, while the fish reduce insect pests such as brown planthoppers, diseases such as sheath blight of rice, and weeds. [7] By controlling weeds, competition for nutrients is decreased. CO2 released by the fish may be used in photosynthesis by the rice. [4]

With other plants

Rice is widely grown using periodic flood irrigation, restricting the options for polycultures with other plants. Maize and soybeans are more profitable than rice, and they can be grown on the earth levees between rice terraces. There is some evidence that such intercropping reduces numbers of brown planthopper, a serious pest of rice, though it does not enhance numbers of natural enemies such as parasitoid wasps and insect predators. [8]

One crop that can be grown directly with irrigated rice is water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica, Convolvulaceae family); it is widely consumed as a vegetable in Asia. Experimental intercropping with rice reduced rice diseases and pests: rice sheath blight was cut by 17-50%, while rice leaf folder caterpillars were reduced by 5-58%, and rice yield was increased. [9] Similarly promising experiments have been carried out with pickerelweed. [10]

Taxonomic range

Indian Runner ducks with free access to rice paddies in Bali, Indonesia provide additional income and manure the fields, reducing the need for fertilizer. Ducks (6337601928).jpg
Indian Runner ducks with free access to rice paddies in Bali, Indonesia provide additional income and manure the fields, reducing the need for fertilizer.

As shown in the table, a large number of rice polycultures, with both animals and plants, have been used or studied experimentally.

Rice polycultures [12] [13] [6]
ApproachTaxonomyLocationNotes
Rice-fish Teleost ChinaAncient system with common carp; from 1935, also other species inc. black carp, grass carp, silver carp, bighead carp [2]
Rice-fish Teleost Asia Mozambique tilapia [1]
Rice-fish Teleost Egypt Nile tilapia [1]
Rice-duck Bird China, Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam, etc.Surface must be even; water depth must suit ducks; young ducks best as they don't nibble rice leaf tips. [14]
Rice-fish-duck Vertebrates ChinaAncient multiply-mutualistic system [3] [12] [13]
Rice-fish-duck-azolla Vertebrates, ferns Indonesia Azolla (water fern) fixes nitrogen, contributing to plant growth and productivity. [11] [15]
Rice-crayfish Arthropod China red swamp crayfish, from 1980s [6]
Rice-prawn Arthropod IndonesiaFreshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii ; may work best at moderate stocking density. [16] Deepwater rice, prawns, and fish: increases rice production. [17]
Rice-crab Arthropod China Chinese mitten crab, from 1980s [6] The crabs feed on zooplankton. [18]
Rice-turtle Reptile China softshell turtle, from 1980s [6]
Rice-maize Flowering plant ChinaMaize on levees may reduce planthopper numbers [8]
Rice-soybean Flowering plant ChinaSoybean on levees may reduce planthopper numbers [8]
Rice‑water spinach Flowering plant ChinaSuccessful experiments [9]
Rice-pickerelweed Flowering plant ChinaExperimentally reduces sheath blight and leaf folders, and increases rice yield. [10]

Sustainability

Rice polycultures offer the potential to help meet multiple sustainability goals in the face of pressures such as population growth and climate change. They may help maintain ecosystem diversity, produce food sustainably with reduced inputs, and adapt to changes in the environment. The inclusion of crops that provide high-quality protein, such as fish, can help to improve people's diet. In addition, environmental impacts from pesticides and fertilizers can be reduced, while for the farmer, the extra crop increases revenue and may also increase rice productivity. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture</span> Cultivation of plants and animals

Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in the cities. While humans started gathering grains at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers only began planting them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle were domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. In the 20th century, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monocultures came to dominate agricultural output.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rice</span> Cereal grain and staple food

Rice is a cereal grain and in its domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa —or, much less commonly, Oryza glaberrima. Asian rice was domesticated in China some 13,500 to 8,200 years ago; African rice was domesticated in Africa about 3,000 years ago. Rice has become commonplace in many cultures worldwide; in 2021, 787 million tons were produced, placing it fourth after sugarcane, maize, and wheat. Only some 8% of rice is traded internationally. China, India, and Indonesia are the largest consumers of rice. A substantial amount of the rice produced in developing nations is lost after harvest through factors such as poor transport and storage. Rice yields can be reduced by pests including insects, rodents, and birds, as well as by weeds, and by diseases such as rice blast. Traditional rice polycultures such as rice-duck farming, and modern integrated pest management seek to control damage from pests in a sustainable way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crop rotation</span> Agricultural practice of changing crops

Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. This practice reduces the reliance of crops on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, along with the probability of developing resistant pests and weeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monoculture</span> Farms producing only one crop at a time

In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monocultures increase ease and efficiency in planting, managing, and harvesting crops short-term, often with the help of machinery. However, monocultures are more susceptible to diseases or pest outbreaks long-term due to localized reductions in biodiversity and nutrient depletion. Crop diversity can be added both in time, as with a crop rotation or sequence, or in space, with a polyculture or intercropping.

Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that emphasizes the use of naturally occurring, non-synthetic inputs such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation, companion planting, and mixed cropping. Biological pest control methods such as the fostering of insect predators are also encouraged. Organic agriculture can be defined as "an integrated farming system that strives for sustainability, the enhancement of soil fertility and biological diversity while, with rare exceptions, prohibiting synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, and growth hormones". It originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Certified organic agriculture today accounts for 70 million hectares globally, with over half of that total in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Companion planting</span> Agricultural technique

Companion planting in gardening and agriculture is the planting of different crops in proximity for any of a number of different reasons, including weed suppression, pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial insects, maximizing use of space, and to otherwise increase crop productivity. Companion planting is a form of polyculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intensive farming</span> Branch of agriculture

Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming, conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of agricultural land area. It is characterized by a low fallow ratio, higher use of inputs such as capital, labour, agrochemicals and water, and higher crop yields per unit land area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable agriculture</span> Farming approach that balances environmental, economic and social factors in the long term

Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem services. There are many methods to increase the sustainability of agriculture. When developing agriculture within sustainable food systems, it is important to develop flexible business processes and farming practices. Agriculture has an enormous environmental footprint, playing a significant role in causing climate change, water scarcity, water pollution, land degradation, deforestation and other processes; it is simultaneously causing environmental changes and being impacted by these changes. Sustainable agriculture consists of environment friendly methods of farming that allow the production of crops or livestock without causing damage to human or natural systems. It involves preventing adverse effects on soil, water, biodiversity, and surrounding or downstream resources, as well as to those working or living on the farm or in neighboring areas. Elements of sustainable agriculture can include permaculture, agroforestry, mixed farming, multiple cropping, and crop rotation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agroecosystem</span>

Agroecosystems are the ecosystems supporting the food production systems in farms and gardens. As the name implies, at the core of an agroecosystem lies the human activity of agriculture. As such they are the basic unit of study in Agroecology, and Regenerative Agriculture using ecological approaches.

Intercropping is a multiple cropping practice that involves the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field, a form of polyculture. The most common goal of intercropping is to produce a greater yield on a given piece of land by making use of resources or ecological processes that would otherwise not be utilized by a single crop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Integrated pest management</span> Approach for economic control of pests

Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) that integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization defines IPM as "the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of pest populations and keep pesticides and other interventions to levels that are economically justified and reduce or minimize risks to human health and the environment. IPM emphasizes the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms." Entomologists and ecologists have urged the adoption of IPM pest control since the 1970s. IPM is a safer pest control framework than reliance on the use of chemical pesticides, mitigating risks such as: insecticide-induced resurgence, pesticide resistance and (especially food) crop residues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyculture</span> Growing multiple crops together in agriculture

In agriculture, polyculture is the practice of growing more than one crop species together in the same place at the same time, in contrast to monoculture, which had become the dominant approach in developed countries by 1950. Traditional examples include the intercropping of the Three Sisters, namely maize, beans, and squashes, by indigenous peoples of Central and North America, the rice-fish systems of Asia, and the complex mixed cropping systems of Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquaponics</span> System combining aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment

Aquaponics is a food production system that couples aquaculture with hydroponics whereby the nutrient-rich aquaculture water is fed to hydroponically grown plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agricultural biodiversity</span> Agricultural concept

Agricultural biodiversity or agrobiodiversity is a subset of general biodiversity pertaining to agriculture. It can be defined as "the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels that sustain the ecosystem structures, functions and processes in and around production systems, and that provide food and non-food agricultural products.” It is managed by farmers, pastoralists, fishers and forest dwellers, agrobiodiversity provides stability, adaptability and resilience and constitutes a key element of the livelihood strategies of rural communities throughout the world. Agrobiodiversity is central to sustainable food systems and sustainable diets. The use of agricultural biodiversity can contribute to food security, nutrition security, and livelihood security, and it is critical for climate adaptation and climate mitigation.

In agriculture, monocropping is the practice of growing a single crop year after year on the same land. Maize, soybeans, and wheat are three common crops often monocropped. Monocropping is also referred to as continuous cropping, as in "continuous corn." Monocropping allows for farmers to have consistent crops throughout their entire farm. They can plant only the most profitable crop, use the same seed, pest control, machinery, and growing method on their entire farm, which may increase overall farm profitability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domestic duck</span> Type of poultry

Domestic ducks are ducks that have been domesticated and raised for meat and eggs. A few are kept for show, or for their ornamental value. Most varieties of domesticated ducks, apart from the Muscovy duck and hybrids, are descended from the mallard, which was domesticated in China around 2000 BC.

Saltwater aquaponics is a combination of plant cultivation and fish rearing, systems with similarities to standard aquaponics, except that it uses saltwater instead of the more commonly used freshwater. In some instances, this may be diluted saltwater. The concept is being researched as a sustainable way to eliminate the stresses that are put on local environments by conventional fish farming practices who expel wastewater into the coastal zones, all while creating complementary crops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rice-fish system</span> Agricultural system

A rice-fish system is a rice polyculture, a practice that integrates rice agriculture with aquaculture, most commonly with freshwater fish. It is based on a mutually beneficial relationship between rice and fish in the same agroecosystem. The system was recognized by the FAO in 2002 as one of the first Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rice-duck farming</span> Polyculture in Asia

Rice-duck farming is the polycultural practice of raising ducks and rice on the same land. It has existed in different forms for centuries in Asian countries including China, Indonesia, and the Philippines, sometimes also involving fish. The practice is beneficial as it yields harvests of both rice and ducks. The two are in addition synergistic, as the rice benefits from being weeded and fertilized by the ducks, and having pests removed, while the ducks benefit from the food available in the rice paddy fields, including weeds and small animals.

References

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  16. ↑ Dewi, R. R. S. P. S.; Krettiawan, H.; Anggraeni, F.; Kusnendar, E.; Kusdiarti (1 June 2020). "Productivity and profitability of rice-freshwater prawn culture in different stocking density of prawn". IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 521 (1): 012021. Bibcode:2020E&ES..521a2021D. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/521/1/012021 . ISSN   1755-1307.
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