Rice Genomics and Genetics 2025, Vol.16, No.5, 267-281 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/rgg 267 Feature Review Open Access Enhancement Effects of Rice-Duck Co-Culture Systems on the Ecosystem Services of Paddy Fields Xingzhu Feng Hainan Institute of Biotechnology, Haikou, 570206, Hainan, China Corresponding email: xingzhu.feng@hibio.org Rice Genomics and Genetics, 2025, Vol.16, No.5 doi: 10.5376/rgg.2025.16.0024 Received: 18 Aug., 2025 Accepted: 30 Sep., 2025 Published: 15 Oct., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Feng, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Feng X.Z., 2025, Enhancement effects of rice-duck co-culture systems on the ecosystem services of paddy fields, Rice Genomics and Genetics, 16(5): 267-281 (doi: 10.5376/rgg.2025.16.0024) Abstract Rice-duck symbiosis is an ecological agricultural technology that combines traditional and modern farming by raising ducks in rice fields. In recent years, this model has attracted much attention due to its outstanding advantages in controlling pests, diseases and weeds, optimizing soil nutrient cycles, and improving farmland ecological service functions. This study systematically sorted out the historical evolution and modern value of rice-duck symbiosis, and analyzed the mechanism of improving rice field ecological service functions, including ducks eating rice field pests and weeds to reduce pesticide application, duck manure as organic fertilizer to optimize soil nutrients, and indirect improvement of rice yield and quality. At the same time, through practical cases such as Xingqing Family Farm in Deqing County, the effectiveness of rice-duck symbiosis in reducing fertilizer and pesticide input, reducing environmental pollution and increasing the added value of agricultural products was evaluated. On this basis, the current promotion of rice-duck symbiosis faced problems such as high labor input, insufficient mechanization, and limited market recognition, and countermeasures and suggestions such as strengthening technology research and development and policy support, improving the standard system and brand building were proposed. The rice-duck symbiosis system helps to achieve synergistic effects between food production and ecological protection. This study hopes to promote the green and sustainable development of agriculture and the continuous improvement of the service functions of rice field ecosystems. Keywords Rice-duck symbiosis; Rice field ecological services; Pest and weed control; Soil nutrient cycle; Sustainable agriculture 1 Introduction The rice-duck symbiotic farming model originated from traditional Chinese agriculture and is an important part of my country's agricultural civilization with a history of thousands of years. As early as the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were records of using "rice field duck farming" in South China to increase grain and livestock output. Rice field duck farming combines rice planting with free-range duck farming to form a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship between crop production and livestock farming, and has been proven to have significant comprehensive benefits (Liang et al., 2022). The development of modern agricultural technology has given new connotations to rice-duck symbiosis. Since the 1980s, Japan and other countries have also begun to promote rice field integrated farming technology to restore traditional ecological farming models, reduce chemical inputs, and protect the agricultural ecological environment. In 2005, the rice-fish-duck symbiotic system in Congjiang Dong Township, Guizhou was selected as a Global Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS), highlighting the unique value of this model and its contribution to biodiversity (Zhang et al., 2023). In terms of modern value, rice-duck symbiosis has received much attention in the transformation of ecological agriculture. Studies have shown that compared with monoculture, the rice-duck symbiosis system can form a virtuous cycle of food and ecological chains, produce safe and high-quality rice and duck meat, and achieve quality and efficiency improvement of the rice and duck industries (Luo et al., 2010). For example, the practice of ecological farms in Hunan Province shows that the adoption of integrated rice field farming can achieve a "win-win situation of grain and money", which not only ensures grain production but also increases farming income. The rice-duck symbiosis system combines traditional wisdom with modern technology, improves the service function of the rice field ecosystem while ensuring food security, and is of great significance to the current sustainable development of agriculture.
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