Rice-duck farming is the polycultural practice of raising

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

and

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

on the same land. It has existed in different forms for centuries in Asian countries including China, Indonesia, and the Philippines, sometimes also involving fish. The practice is beneficial as it yields harvests of both rice and ducks. The two are in addition

synergistic Synergy is an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts (i.e., a non-linear addition of force, energy, or effect). The term ''synergy'' comes from the Attic Greek word συνεργία ' f ...

, as the rice benefits from being

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

ed and fertilized by the ducks, and having pests removed, while the ducks benefit from the food available in the rice paddy fields, including weeds and small animals.

Systems

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Het bewerken van de sawa TMnr 3525-23

In 2010, Asia produced around 90% of the world's

, and in 2012 some 80% of all

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

meat. Asian farmers had a tradition of fattening ducks on rice paddies, though this was achieved in different ways. Integrated rice-duck farming uses hybrid ducks such as Aigamo that avoid eating the leaves of rice plants. Such mutually-beneficial polycultural systems have been described as

permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using Systems theory, whole-systems thinking. It applies t ...

s. In 2001, rice-duck farming was introduced to Bangladesh, where the practice had been very limited. By 2004, it had been established in over 40 villages, either on small farms or on a "community basis" within a village.

Analysis

Advantages

The ducks eat weeds, preventing those plants from competing with the rice and limiting its growth. This reduces the need for herbicides, saving money and the labour of spraying, and reducing environmental harms such as

eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...

of waterways. Duck manure fertilizes the paddy fields, reducing the need for artificial fertilizers, again saving money and labour. Both soil nutrients and water parameters including nitrate, dissolved organic matter, dissolved oxygen, and suspended solids are higher because of duck manuring and dabbling in the soil, raising production and farm profits in comparison to rice farming without ducks (or fish).

Disadvantages

The addition of ducks requires labour and either a duck herder or additional fencing on the farm. Depending on the system, it may require the field to be more carefully managed, such as being flooded to the exact depth needed for ducks to swim freely but still able to dabble on the bottom.

References

{{Agriculture footer Agriculture in Asia Rice Polyculture

Systems

Analysis

Advantages

Disadvantages

See also

References