Replication Data for: Abiotic stress maps for rice (STRASA): Table with rice growing environments (irrigated lowland/rainfed lowland/rainfed upland/other) according to Diagne et al. (2013)

This dataset is produced for the STRASA project in which breeders are developing varieties tolerant to abiotic stresses. The dataset represents the distribution of rice area by rice growing environment in Africa in 2009. Generally three major rice growing environments are recognised in rice: irrigated lowland (lowlands with irrigation, full to water control); rainfed lowland (lowlands with no to partial water control); rainfed upland. The important difference between upland and lowland is in their landscape position. Lowlands have shallow groundwater and are flat, uplands have deep groundwater and are positioned not in the bottom but higher in the landscape. Main stresses in upland are drought, erosion and acidity. Main stresses in upland are flooding, salinity/alkalinity and iron toxicity. Problems of weeds, pest/diseases and nutrient deficiency are found in all environments, but the type of weeds, pest/diseases and nutrient deficiencies differs between environments. The distinction between upland and lowland has nothing to do with elevation above sea level. One may find an inland valley in the highlands of Madagascar, with lowland in the valley bottom and upland a few meters higher on the slope. Likewise, lowland and upland can be found in coastal regions near sea level. Clearly, the transition from upland to lowland is gradual: as one moves from upland to lowland one will find increasingly higher groundwater and less steep slopes. Also the distinction between rainfed lowland and irrigated lowland is gradual, ranging from no water contol in purely rainfed lowlands, to limited to water control in "intensified" rainfed lowland to full water control in irrigated lowlands. In addition to these three major categories, this dataset contains a category called "other", which in 2009 covered only 4% of the rice growing environments. It consists mainly of mangrove rice (rice grown in the wet season in mangrove areas). Crop areas grow over time, along with population growth. The crop areas shown here show total annually harvested crop areas from FAOSTAT for the year 2009, multiplied with fractions determined by Diagne et al. 2013 from surveys among national partners. In the table empty values means no data were collected.