Physiological and Metabolic Responses of Rice to Reduced Soil Moisture: Relationship of Water Stress Tolerance and Grain Production.

Access to adequate irrigation resources is critical for sustained agricultural production, and rice, a staple cereal grain for half of the world population, is one of the biggest users of irrigation. To reduce water use, several water saving irrigation systems have been developed for rice production, but a reliable system to evaluate cultivars for water stress tolerance is still lacking. Here, seven rice cultivars that have diverse yield potential under water stress were evaluated in a field study using four continuous irrigation regimes varying from saturation to wilting point.