Evaluating economic sustainability of the first automatic system for paddy irrigation in Europe

Italy is the leading rice producer in Europe, accounting for more than half of the total high-quality production of this crop. Rice is traditionally grown in fields that remain flooded starting with crop establishment until close to harvest, and this traditional irrigation technique (i.e., continuous submergence) is recognised as an important water resource sink (almost 40% of the irrigation water available worldwide is used for paddy areas). Meanwhile, the water management in rice areas requires a high level of labour because it is based on maintaining a predetermined water height in paddy fields and because the regulation of input and output flow is typically operated manually by the farmer. This study aims to evaluate the economical sustainability of adopting automatic and remote-controlled systems for irrigation of paddy fields. The results show that the investment is affordable for Italian farmers, it amount on average at about 650 € hectare-1 and it is repaid in about 15 year.