Deepwater rice

Deepwater rice are varieties of rice grown in flooded conditions with water more than 50 cm (20 in) deep for at least a month. More than 100 million people in Southeast Asia including Northeastern India rely on deepwater rice for their sustenance. Two adaptations permit the rice to thrive in deeper water, floating rice and traditional talls. Traditional talls are varieties that are grown at water depths between 50 and 100 cm and have developed to be taller and have longer leaves than standard rice. Floating rice grows in water deeper than 100 cm through advanced elongation ability. This means when a field where rice is growing floods, accelerated growth in the internodal of the stem allows the plant to keep some of its foliage on top of the water. The O. s. indica cultivar is the main type of deepwater rice, although varieties of O. s. japonica have been found in Burma and Assam Plains.

Production

Deepwater rice is a staple food grown on roughly of land. The main areas where it is grown are in Southeast Asia including Northeastern India, where more than people rely on its production for their livelihood. and Mekong in Vietnam and Cambodia. In these countries, deepwater rice accounts for more than 25% of the land used to grow rice. Areas it is grown include the Niger River basin. ==Cultivation methods==

Cultivation methods

Deepwater rice is grown in tropical monsoon climates normally around river deltas and their floodplains mainly in backswamps and natural levees. The nature of the flood is important for success of deepwater rice, with timing and the rate of rise of water affecting survival and crop density. Generally, the flood water comes from rainfall or rises in the water table. In places with low rainfall, water overspilling from rivers can flood rice-producing areas. Issues When seeds are sown directly into the soil, the seeds and young plants can be damaged by drought conditions before floods arrive. During this stage, the plants can also suffer due to competition from weeds. Sudden flooding, where a large volume of water enters the field in a short time, can lead to a high level of seedling death. Natural disasters can also damage or destroy deepwater rice crops. Tropical cyclones are particularly a problem in Asia. For example, in 2008, Cyclone Nargis damaged 122,782 hectares of deepwater rice in Burma. If predicted sea level rises due to climate change happen, this would affect the pattern of flooding, causing deeper floods over a wider area and eroding the coast.