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Investigating A Multiple Inlet Approach To Reduce Water Requirements For Rice Production
Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org
Citation: Paper number 032014, 2003 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.13990) @2003Authors: Earl D. Vories, Phil L. Tacker
Keywords: Rice, irrigation, water use efficiency, crop management, water management
Rice production in Arkansas accounts for 7% of the total cash receipts from all agricultural
commodities. Traditional flooded rice production consists of a well or riser in the highest-elevation
portion of the field. Water released from the well or riser flows over spills into lower paddies as the
upper paddies are filled. An alternative method is known as multiple-inlet irrigation. Rather than
discharging directly into the highest paddy, a pipe is connected and gates or holes are placed in
each paddy, so that each paddy is watered together instead of receiving overflow from a higher
paddy. The objective of this research was to investigate whether a multiple-inlet approach would
result in less water being pumped for rice production than conventional flooding, when applied on
production-scale fields by the regular farm employees.
On-farm water use studies were conducted during the 1999 through 2002 growing seasons. The
studies consisted of 15 paired fields located close together, with the same cultivar, soil type, planting
date and management practices. One field was randomly assigned as a conventionally flooded field
and the other was assigned as multiple-inlet rice irrigation. Flowmeters were installed in the inlets to
both fields and the farmers provided yield data. The multiple-inlet system required 26% less irrigation
water than conventional flooding; while a 3% yield increase and a 38% increase in irrigation water
use efficiency were associated with the multiple-inlet system compared to conventional flooding. The
project is continuing and is expected to provide conclusive data on the potential benefits of a
multiple-inlet rice irrigation system over conventional flooding.