Over the past nine decades, the development and implementation of innovative farming technologies have resulted in a 400% increase in agricultural production using 10% less land. As a result, farming has become productive, profitable and adaptive to various environmental and economic fluctuations. However, continuing this progress is at risk due to unexpected climatic variations that reduce farm productivity and environmental quality. The occurrence of weather disturbances in normal times of the year has become a recurring event. It is affecting rice export and farmers’ income along with overall food security on the local, regional and global scales.

The climatic disturbances and human activities have led to a decline in the availability as well as quality of natural resources such as land, water and air that are vital for increased agricultural productivity. It is not just rice growers but the farming communities as a whole that are struggling to maintain economic viability and sustainability of their farming enterprise. Rice is a major food source for over half of the world population, supplying most of their energy needs. In the state of Louisiana, rice is a dominant crop largely grown for export with over 450,000 acres and contributing $460 million to the state economy. The United States is the fifth-largest exporting country, and rice plays an important role in providing global food security.

The challenges

Rice growers in Louisiana and other adjoining rice-growing states are worried about the viability of rice farming due to climate change. Drought and high nighttime temperature are two major threats affecting both yield and quality of rice. A high nighttime temperature not only leads to earlier flowering and the emergence of new pests, diseases and weeds, but it also increases chalkiness in rice grains. The dwindling freshwater resources call for a new approach to reduce the water requirement of rice crops because on average, 2,500 liters of water are needed to produce 1 kilogram of paddy rice. Similarly, salinity can potentially become a major constraint due to our proximity to the coast. Both the Mississippi River alluvial aquifer and the Chicot aquifer play a significant role in Louisiana agriculture. A study by LSU AgCenter researchers reported that increased salinity levels could reduce rice yield in the Chicot aquifer region by more than 39% within 30 years without implementing any preventive measures. The saltwater creeping inland and saltwater intrusion during hurricanes can make the farmland unsuitable for rice farming. Therefore, development of rice varieties with tolerance to these stresses and new production practices are needed to enhance sustainability and profitability of rice farming system.

Yield enhancement has been the major goal of every rice breeding program. However, new challenges call for a paradigm shift in our approach and innovations. The momentum in yield gain is slowing down, and even maintaining current productivity level in the face of climate change has become an uphill task. The narrow genetic base of American rice cultivars poses further limitation to this effort. Therefore, the transfer of novel climate-resilient traits and genes from exotic germplasms, or genetic material, to high-yielding varieties or breeding lines adapted to southern rice-growing states is an urgent need to strengthen the rice breeding programs to improve the sustainability of rice farming in the future.

AgCenter efforts

The Agriculture Innovation Agenda of the U.S. Department of Agriculture aims for enhancing American agricultural production by 40% with a 50% reduction in environmental footprint by 2050. The environmental footprint, also called ecological footprint, is a metric to measure human impact on the environment. Although there has been improvement in land-use efficiency and a decline in water and energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil losses, many current production practices are still resource intensive. In a recent grant titled Climate Resilient Innovations for Sustainable Production of Rice (CRISP-RICE) funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the LSU AgCenter is leading a multidisciplinary research effort to improve the sustainability and profitability of rice farming systems in the southern rice growing states of the U.S. Seven institutions from five states are involved in research, education and extension activities involving a wide range of disciplines, such as plant breeding, genetics, biotechnology, plant physiology, soil science, plant pathology, entomology, agricultural economics, sociology, artificial intelligence and precision agriculture, to develop novel products and tools and improved management practices to make rice farming sustainable in the long term.

With the projected climate change scenario, the long-term vision of the project is to develop and implement a climate-smart approach that will minimize the use of natural resources, maximize production efficiency, increase land-use efficiency and reduce environmental footprint. This approach encompasses two important components: climate-resilient cultivars and climate-smart production practices. For example, the development of high-yielding rice cultivars with increased climate resilience, high nutrient-use efficiency, water-use efficiency, and implementation of precision agriculture and improved crop and pest-management strategies has the power to change the future of rice farming. In addition, digital agricultural technologies like remote sensing, drone technology and crop modeling will be used for forecasting disease and pest outbreaks and timing of irrigation and fertilizer applications, which will reduce production costs. The project will strengthen extension programming by utilizing the latest online and field-based tools to disseminate new climate-smart agriculture technologies, resources and production practices successfully to the current and next generation of rice farmers, consultants and researchers. This multidisciplinary project demonstrates the importance and power of regional research collaborations in providing solutions to pressing problems due to climate change that threaten the farming industry.

Prasanta Subudhi is a professor in the School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences and the project director of the CRISP-RICE project funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

This article appeared in the spring 2024 edition of Louisiana Agriculture.

The LSU AgCenter is leading a multidisciplinary research effort to improve the sustainability and profitability of rice farming systems in the southern rice-growing states of the U.S. LSU AgCenter file photo