That amount would meet domestic requirements if distribution problems could be overcome. But drought and floods in the major rice-producing areas can quickly bring about a national rice deficit. A lower but still significant percentage of rainfed lowland producers also have rice deficits. Most rainfed rice cultivation is based on a single wet season crop, with little or no associated cultivation of other crops either before or after the rice crop. An increase in the irrigated area could be achieved through the development of small irrigation systems.
Stable yields are the goal in the uplands.
There has been very little adoption of improved technologies in the rice-based ecosystems. Fertilizer use is limited. Organic fertilizer usually is applied only in seedbeds, while inorganic fertilizer use is limited to the relatively small area of irrigated production. The greatest constraint to rice production is the dependence on a rainfed rice-based system. The government has targeted these areas for increased production to achieve self-sufficiency.