This chapter discusses submergence tolerance as a response to flooding, focusing on rice as a model crop where progress was made in developing flood-tolerant varieties and where opportunities exist for further improvements through mining the enormous genetic diversity available in preserved...

This chapter presents the major abiotic stresses (drought, salinity, excess water, phosphorus deficiency, iron toxicity and extreme temperatures) that constrain rice production in sub-Saharan Africa and the breeding activities to develop rice cultivars tolerant of these stresses and adapted to...

This chapter briefly discusses the policies, planning and management involved at the land-water interface in tropical coastal deltas in South, South East, and East Asia. Specifically, land and water management, aquaculture and fisheries, as well as rice-based agriculture in these areas are...

Traditional approaches for introducing improved rice varieties to farmers have demonstrated significant impact in favourable ecosystems in Asia, but with limited success in unfavourable ecosystems, as in saltaffected areas. Developing rice varieties with wider adaptation and broader tolerance of...

Rice production in most areas of coastal deltas is affected adversely by numerous abiotic stresses, including salinity and other soil-related problems, submergence, stagnant flooding and drought. These stresses affect poor farmers disproportionately. We identify sources of tolerance of these...

The coastal saline ecosystem in Orissa State, eastern India extends from the shore of the Bay of Bengal to about 15 km inland. Salinity occurs because of the intrusion of seawater during high tides through surface channels, creeks and rivers, particularly during the dry season, but decreases with...

The importance of including farmers in targeted breeding and participatory variety selection (PVS) to ensure the adoption of high-yielding varieties was demonstrated in the coastal wetlands of the Ganges-Brahamputra Delta of southern Bangladesh. Five sites were selected for conducting 'mother and...

The delta soils of Bangladesh occur in the coastal region of the Ganges tidal flood plain, the young Meghna estuarine flood plain, the old Meghna estuarine flood plain and the Chittagong coastal plains. Although delta soils constitute some of the most productive lands of the country, their...

The coastal saline belt of the Mahanadi Delta in Orissa, India, is mostly monocropped with rainfed rice during the wet season (WS). In the dry season (DS), a small area is planted to rice using harvested rainwater. Currently, yields are low; however, integrated nutrient management combined with...

Coastal saline areas are normally monocropped with rice grown during the wet season. On-farm trials were conducted in Ersama block of Jagatsinghpur district, Orissa, India, during 2005-2006 to evaluate the performance of selected non-rice crops in the coastal saline ecosystem during the dry season. ...