In Burkina Faso, rice is of great importance in terms of consumption and cultivated area. It is a staple food in most regions of the country and is the fourth most important cereal crop in Burkina Faso, in terms of area, production and annual per capita consumption. However, like the rest of the Sudano-Sahelian zone, Burkina Faso is subject to climatic hazards, and the decline and poor spatio-temporal distribution of rainfall has become the main obstacle to rainfed rice production. The objective of this study was to examine the behaviour of rainfed rice varieties under drip irrigation conditions. Thus, three upland rice varieties were evaluated in a three-repeat Fisher block. The results showed good behaviour of the tested varieties. The varieties showed a good tillering capacity (441 to 575 tillers/m²), a tillering fertility rate of more than 86%, a number of panicles/m² ranging from 322 to 430 and high grain yields (8.77 and 11.82 t/ha). The variety FKR45N had the highest grain yield (11.82 t/ha) and the best water productivity with 25.42 kg of rice produced for 1 m3 of water consumed. Drip irrigation could be exploited to stabilise rainfed rice production in context of climatic variability.

Burkina Faso, Irrigation, Rainfed rice