Response of different local Rice varieties to shallow water depth irrigation in Indonesia

Shallow water depth (SWD) and intermittent irrigation are methods design to reduce water use of rice plant and maintain rice yield. The objective of this study was to characterize the rice plant growth behaviour of four different local rice varieties cultivated in continuous flooding (CF) and intermittent with shallow water depth (SWD) irrigation. Rice varieties i.e. Ciherang, IR64, Hitam, and Merah were grown in pot experiment with CF and SWD irrigation. Rice growth parameters such as plant height, number of tillers, SPAD, and steam hardness were observed during a season. Different rice varieties resulted different response to irrigation treatment, where Ciherang and Merah varieties under SWD irrigation were significantly improve number of tillers. However, IR64 and Hitam varieties were different. In addition, plant height and SPAD were not significantly different among treatment. Rice cultivation under SWD irrigation of different local rice varieties in this experiment shows that not significantly different from CF irrigation, indicated that rice varieties can be adapted in areas with limited water availability.