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Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important and leading cereal crops in the world. At present, it is the staple food of over half of the global population. In Egypt, rice is considered one of the major field crops for both local consumption and exportations.
The demand for food grain in Egypt has been increased and will continue to increase with the continuous increasing in population and the rise of the standard of living. Annually, rice cultivation area ranges from 0.50 to 0.60 million hectare (1.0 to 1.5 million fed.).
Rice productivity in 2003 was 9.75 ton/ha (4.095 ton/fed) and the total rice production was about 6.11 million ton which, was sufficient fore local consumption and export. (Anonymous, 2004). In recent years, due to the limitation of irrigation water and the increasing demand of water for the new agricultural national projects the agricultural policy in Egypt turn towards decreasing the rice area to overcome the water shortage and to save water for other needs since rice is high water consuming crop (about 8000 m2/fed).
In Egypt, the challenge that face rice scientists is how to produce more rice yield without increasing area or water consumption. Many research areas are opened to solve this problem and they recommended the following steps. First, breeders must incorporate earliness in the newly bred lines, and second, agronomists must look for various agronomic practices which save water and increase water use efficiency.