Page 106 - EER-2-2

Explora: Environment
and Resource Climate suitability of AWD practice

1. Introduction farming. Adopting water-management techniques for rice
cultivation to minimize water use without affecting yields
Among the grains produced, rice contributes 29% of is essential. AWD practice is a water management option
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total grain produced globally, and rice cultivation can to offset the negative climate change repercussions.
be traced to over 10 millennia compared to other crops.
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The rice production area is projected to cover 150 million Nevertheless, scholarly investigations into applying
ha globally, yielding an average of 500 million metric this technique for water management in paddy fields
tons annually. Rice cultivation in Africa is gaining in Uganda remain scarce. Studies on mapping paddy
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popularity, with annual rice production of 14 metric tons rice fields provide an understanding of the influence of
and consumption estimated at 16 metric tons, leaving a 2 hydrological conditions and AWD practice for improving
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million metric tons deficit. Rice is an essential food for water use. Likewise, previous studies in Uganda have
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more than 800 million people in Africa, grown in over 75% relied on ground surveys and government reports. The
of African countries, including Tanzania, Senegal, Uganda, application of satellite-based data and machine learning
Gambia, and Madagascar, and is a staple food in most West opens the way for AI-driven tools to be used for AWD
African countries. Rice production in Uganda was initiated irrigation suitability evaluation.
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in 1942 to support World War II militias. However, there Therefore, understanding the paddy rice ecosystem and
was a gradual growth in rice farming until 1974, when hydrological characteristics of the potential irrigable paddy
the Doho Rice Irrigation Scheme was established with the fields is important for optimizing irrigation water use, an
technical assistance of Chinese specialists to respond to the aspect of Uganda’s national irrigation master plan. While
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farmers’ needs. 4 earlier studies recognized AWD practice as climate-smart,
The production in Uganda is expanding and primarily this study fills the gaps in climate suitability evaluation
grown on a small scale, with few large rice schemes. The of this practice under Uganda’s climatic conditions
annual rice production is estimated at 165,000 metric tons, and aims to assess (i) the influence of soil hydrological
while 350,000 metric tons is consumed. Uganda’s rice characteristics in the paddy rice fields and (ii) the climate
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deficit is attributed to low yields and insufficient expansion suitability analysis of AWD irrigation practice in paddy
of the rice-cultivable areas. With the country’s population soils, a win–win strategy for improving water management,
growth rate of 3.2%, rice demand will increase. The reducing greenhouse emissions, and increasing rice
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eastern region is Uganda’s rice production hub, resulting productivity in Uganda under climate change. This was
from the optimal soil moisture in lowland areas favoring achieved through ecological niche modeling (ENM) in
paddy rice during rice cultivation seasons. The Ugandan QGIS and the MaxEnt machine learning tool to evaluate
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government advocates increasing rice production to cater the soil study area suitability for paddy rice cultivation.
to the growing demand from rapid population growth. We performed a hydrological assessment of paddy fields
Unfortunately, some rice-growing schemes cannot sustain using a water balance equation to evaluate AWD’s climate
two rice production seasons due to water scarcity resulting suitability as a climate-smart technique. The study has
from prolonged droughts, which leads to the drying of pointed out the hydrological constraints and opportunities
water sources. These negatively affect irrigated yields, for AWD practice, which are largely unexplored as part of
hampering food security. 6 the climate-water strategy for the paddy rice ecosystem in
Uganda. The findings of this study go beyond theoretical to
Paddy rice is cultivated using the continuous flooding practical discussion by providing insights for government
(CF) method, in which the paddy field is submerged in policymakers and researchers in understanding the
prolonged ponded water conditions, creating an oxygen- influence of soil hydrological conditions and the evaluation
deprived environment within the soil and root zone – of paddy fields. In addition, this provides an understanding
anerobic. This condition enhances water for rice growth of the influence of climatic conditions – rainy and dry
while limiting weed growth. Paddy rice cultivation in seasons – on AWD practice, offering an opportunity to
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Uganda faces several challenges, including farmers’ limited integrate the technique into irrigation schemes for water
knowledge and skills in water management, insufficient management, supporting irrigation master plan.
irrigation infrastructure, and vulnerability to drought
conditions. Water demand for industrial and home 2. Materials and methods
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use is increasing, affecting water share for agricultural
production and creating tensions between various user 2.1. Study area characteristics
groups, with farmers frequently at the center of these The Eastern region (Figure 1) is among the four regions
conflicts. Furthermore, surface and underground water of Uganda, including Western, Northern, and Central. It is
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sources are shrinking, jeopardizing the future of paddy rice situated between the latitudes 0.2804°S and 2.2110°N with

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2025) 2 doi: 10.36922/EER025040005