Alternate wetting and drying (AWD)--using less water to grow rice

Also see: http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/ewa... Across the globe, water is fast becoming a precious commodity as more and more people use it for the household, industry, and agriculture. Since almost half of the worlds population depends on rice as its staple food, rice uses the highest amount of water in agriculture. By 2025, 15 to 20 million hectares of irrigated rice fields may suffer from water scarcity. To face this challenge, scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI; http://irri.org) have developed a technique called alternate wetting and drying or AWD, which uses less water to grow rice. This video provides a glimpse on how to apply AWD in irrigated rice fields.