Rice production in a sustainable intensification system under center-pivot irrigation

Abstract

In the present work, we conjecture and discuss on issues that influence the expansion of rice production in intensive systems, with succession of crops irrigated by center pivot in the Cerrado region. In the last decades, the national supply of this cereal was guaranteed by the production concentrated in one state, while the country is both importer and exporter. Improved soil management, pest control, availability of high-quality biomass or straw, efficient water use, zero methane emissions, and the production of arsenic-free grain resulting from the cultivation of rice subjected to center-pivot irrigation, and the recent price increase are indications which may alter the rice production matrix. It should be noticed that most of this irrigation equipment is located where rice production is not sufficient to supply the local demand, which limits the development of processing industries that operate idly and acquire most of the raw material in the South of the country. The system presents both harmonic as dissonant aspects to the guiding principles of sustainability. The costs of implementation, maintenance of irrigation equipment, and production are offset by productivity, quality of grain mass and whole grain yield, and by the reduction of the cost of transport from the production area to the industry. The main conclusion is that the future of the system depends on its competitiveness with rice from the South of the country, which in turn is subordinated to the adoption of innovations recommended by research and to the support and encouragement of the rice industry to producers.