Water footprint assessment of paddy cultivation: Quantifying direct and indirect water consumption

Abstract

Water footprint quantification across product’s life cycle has become increasingly prominent. Thus, this study was conducted focusing on developing a quantification approach for water consumption of paddy cultivation at each growth phase using ISO 14046 as a guideline. A case study applying the proposed methodological framework at Muda Rice Granary, Malaysia from the year 2012 to 2015 is presented in this paper. The total irrigation water of paddy planted on Muda Rice Granary ranges from 1800-2600 litres/kg gross paddy. The study was conducted on three phases of paddy growth cycle, which were vegetative phase, reproductive phase and mature phase. Vegetative phase was identified as the hotspot during paddy cultivation as it has the highest water consumption. The demand for rice in the year 2030 is expected to increase to 533 million tonnes to meet the public demand globally. Therefore, it is imperative to identify ways to increase paddy yield while reducing water irrigation to accommodate such a challenge. The outcomes from this research can provide guidelines to the agricultural development authorities, rice farm owners, government as well as farmers to develop a sustainable paddy cultivation at all levels of rice farming.