Rice is the staple food of more than half the world's population. It has shaped the livelihoods, cultures, diets and economies of several million people in the world. Rice cultivation depends on large quantities of surface and ground water, due to the scarcity of which, it is becoming unaffordable and unpredictable in many parts of the world. Improved technologies, however, are contributing to increased yields. But a slowdown in yield levels is evident. The ever-increasing demand for rice can be achieved by bringing larger areas under cultivation besides extracting more and more water from ecosystems. Several emerging technologies that require less water are boosting paddy yield per hectare. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is one such methodology. It offers an interesting alternative to improve rice productivity. It is a system of practices that can bring about improvements in total factors of productivity of land, capital, water and labour simultaneously.