Precision Rice Irrigation and Surface Leveling

Level Up Rice Yields with Precision Irrigation and Resource Conservation

These technologies involve shaping rice paddy soil surfaces into straight, horizontal planes to enable uniform water distribution. Laser-guided leveling is a prominent method, significantly enhancing soil moisture control and water use efficiency. In regions like Cambodia and India, this practice has led to improved germination rates, reduced labor requirements, decreased weed infestations, and increased rice yields.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

8•8

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 8/9

Adults 18 and over: Positive medium

The poor: No impact

Under 18: Positive low

Women: Positive low

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

Environmental health: Moderately improves environmental health

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Water use: Much less water used

Problem

Uneven Ground Hinders Growth: Uneven soil stops water and nutrients from reaching all parts of the rice plants, leading to uneven growth.
Losses from Uneven Ground: For every small change in ground level, there's a big drop in the amount of rice we can harvest.
Need for Smoother Fields: Making the land flatter and adding furrows saves water, helps young rice plants survive, and makes it easier to take care of the fields.
Hard Work to Flatten Land: Making the land even takes a lot of hard work from farmers.
Expensive Watering Methods: The way we get water to the fields can cost a lot.
Tricky Watering Can Stress the Crop: Sometimes, the way we water the rice can cause stress to the plants.

Solution

Uniform Water Distribution: Engineered soil surfaces ensure uniform water distribution, enhancing crop growth.
Maximized Harvest: Leveling the soil surface through engineering reduces losses and maximizes harvest.
Optimized Water Use: Engineered surfaces and furrows optimize water use, improve seedling survival, and make field management easier.
Simplified Leveling Process: Precision-engineered equipment simplifies the process of leveling soil surfaces.
Cost-Efficient Irrigation: Efficient water lifting systems optimize irrigation, conserving resources and reducing costs.
Stress-Free Watering: Properly designed water delivery systems alleviate stress on the crops during watering.

Key points to design your program

Precision Rice Irrigation and Surface Leveling improves water distribution, increases rice productivity, and enhances resource use efficiency through precision land leveling and efficient irrigation systems. The technology can be integrated into rice value chain development, irrigation development, climate-smart agriculture, and food security programs to strengthen productivity while conserving water and reducing production costs. Its adoption contributes to SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), and 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Assess rice production systems, field topography, irrigation infrastructure, water availability, and mechanization needs in target areas.
Establish partnerships with Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), irrigation service providers, mechanization service providers, national agricultural research and extension services, farmer organizations, and other rice value chain stakeholders to support technology dissemination and scaling.
Facilitate access to land-leveling equipment, water lifting technologies, irrigation facilities, and mechanization services.
Implement demonstration plots and training for farmers, cooperatives, women's groups, youth enterprises, and extension agents on precision land leveling, irrigation management, and water-use efficiency.
Support extension and dissemination activities to promote the adoption of precision irrigation and surface leveling technologies.
Promote the participation of women, youth, and smallholder farmers in technology adoption and mechanization service delivery.
Implement monitoring, learning, and inclusion activities throughout the project lifecycle.
Track key indicators such as water use efficiency, rice yields, area leveled, farmer adoption rates, irrigation efficiency, and production costs.

30—80 USD

Hand-operated pumps

1 000 USD

Solar-powered pump

800 USD

High-pressure pumps

IP

Unknown

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology\’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology\’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 8 out of 9

Used by some intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid	–	–	–	–
Semiarid	–	–	–	–
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 1: no poverty

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

Prepare the Field: Ensure the rice paddy is sufficiently wet.
Calibrate Instruments: Set up and calibrate topographic survey instruments.
Measure the Land: Take precise measurements to design appropriate soil surfaces.
Level the Field: Utilize tractor-mounted tools guided by laser technology to level the field.
Verify Surface Dimensions: Conduct another land survey to ensure the dimensions of soil surfaces are correct.