Rice in Southeast Asia: facing risks and vulnerabilities to respond to climate change

摘要

Rice is one of the most important staple foods for more than half of the world's population (IRRI, 2006) and influences the livelihoods and economies of several billion people. In 2010, approximately 154 million ha were harvested worldwide, of which 137 million ha (88 percent of the global rice harvested) were in Asia - of which 48 million ha (31 percent of the global rice harvested) were harvested in Southeast Asia alone (FAOSTAT, 2012) (Figure 1). The greatest levels of productivity are found for irrigated rice, which is the most intensified production system, where more than one crop is grown per year and yields are high -12.5 tonnes/ha/year compared with 2.5 tonnes/ha/year for rainfed rice. Approximately 45 percent of the rice area in SoutheastAsia is irrigated, with the largest areas being found in Indonesia, Viet Nam. Philippines and Thailand (Table 1) (Mutert and Fairhurst, 2002).