A CHARACTERIZATION OF RICE-GROWING ENVIRONMENTS IN WEST AFRICA

Building on past classifications, this article proposes a comprehensive characterization of rice-growing environments in West Africa on the basis of ecological and agronomic parameters. Using climate, soils, toposequence, land types and rice cropping system as classificatory principles, 18 different environments are distinguished and their characteristics are summarized in three sets of tables. Current constraints to rice production in each of the environments and the implications for rice research are briefly highlighted, as well as the need for field-level verification of the characterization.