Editing Intensive farming (section)

====Rice paddies====
{{Main|Paddy field}}

A '''paddy field''' is a flooded parcel of [[arable land]] used for growing rice and other [[Aquatic plant|semiaquatic crops]]. Paddy fields are a typical feature of rice-growing countries of [[East Asia|east]] and [[southeast Asia]], including Malaysia, China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, [[India]], and the Philippines. They are also found in other rice-growing regions such as [[Piedmont]] (Italy), the [[Camargue]] (France), and the [[Artibonite Valley]] (Haiti). They can occur naturally along [[river]]s or [[marshes]], or can be constructed, even on hillsides. They require large water quantities for irrigation, much of it from flooding. It gives an environment favourable to the strain of rice being grown, and is hostile to many [[species]] of [[weed]]s. As the only [[draft animal]] species which is comfortable in [[wetlands]], the [[water buffalo]] is in widespread use in Asian rice paddies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ghgonline.org/methanerice.htm|title=Methane – Rice|website=ghgonline.org|access-date=2007-05-26|archive-date=2018-10-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019211656/http://www.ghgonline.org/methanerice.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

A recent development in the intensive production of rice is the [[System of Rice Intensification]].<ref>{{cite web |title=SRI Concepts and Methods Applied to Other Crops |url=http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/aboutsri/othercrops/ |publisher=Cornell University |access-date=1 October 2014 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006084825/http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/aboutsri/othercrops/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The System of Crop Intensification Agroecological Innovations for Improving Agricultural Production, Food Security, and Resilience to Climate Change |url=http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/aboutsri/othercrops/SCImonograph_SRIRice2014.pdf |publisher=SRI International Network and Resources Center at [[Cornell University]] |access-date=1 October 2014 |archive-date=26 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926025949/http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/aboutsri/othercrops/SCImonograph_SRIRice2014.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Developed in 1983 by the [[France|French]] [[Jesuit]] [[Priest|Father]] [[Henri de Laulanie|Henri de Laulanié]] in [[Madagascar]],<ref name=henri>[http://www.tropicultura.org/text/v29n3/183.pdf Intensive Rice Farming in Madagascar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150824031335/http://www.tropicultura.org/text/v29n3/183.pdf |date=2015-08-24 }} by H. De Laulanié, in [http://www.tropicultura.org/ Tropicultura] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006103616/http://www.tropicultura.org/ |date=2014-10-06 }}, 2011, 29, 3, 183–187</ref> by 2013 the number of smallholder farmers using the system had grown to between 4 and 5 million.<ref>{{cite news |last=Vidal |first=John |title=India's rice revolution |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/feb/16/india-rice-farmers-revolution |work=[[The Observer]] |publisher=The Guardian |date=16 February 2013 |access-date=14 December 2016 |archive-date=19 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119042538/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/feb/16/india-rice-farmers-revolution |url-status=live }}</ref>