Research is aimed at developing the best environmentally available rice irrigation technology that provides normal physiological indicators of the growth and development of rice plants while maintaining favorable salt and thermal regimes of soil and water. The research study was based on certified methodological guidelines and standards. The agricultural rice production practices in the experimental plots corresponded to the recommendations of the LLP Kazakh Research Rice Institute.According to preliminary calculations, by more than 15-20% of the required amount of water is used for irrigation which leads to a deterioration of ecological and reclamation conditions and a diminished performance of the irrigated hectare.Saving of irrigation water on the recommended option for intensive rice varieties averaged 3,550 m3/ha; it allowed to reduce irrigation water intake by 273 million m3 of water per year in the course of the current rice land under cultivation - 77,000 ha.

The article explores the method of drip irrigation of agricultural crops, which provides a high coefficient of irrigation water (80–95%) and land (95%) use. This method helps to significantly save irrigation water by reducing losses for evaporation and filtration outside the root system zone, which eliminates surface runoff, unevenness of irrigation and creates the ability to maximize the use of irrigated areas for agricultural crops. The use of drip irrigation in vegetable production in the south of Kazakhstan since 2000 has radically changed the approach to the “water – soil – plant” complex. The authors believe that a metered feeding regimen would form a new approach to irrigation of agricultural crops, such as rice. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) as a food culture serves as one of the products consumed in food. It is grown in 120 countries on the area of more than 165 million hectares. Rice, unlike other agricultural crops, has a high biological plasticity and adaptive ability, which in modern agriculture allows it to be cultivated in a wide range of climatic conditions and irrigation methods, such as flooding, periodic irrigation and dry conditions. In world practice a continuous flooding of checks was the most widespread method of watering. This technology consumes about 50% of the total volume of irrigation water or 30% of the world’s fresh water reserves. The irrigation rate of rice cultivated with the use of this technology is in the range of 20–25 thousand m3/ha, which significantly exceeds the biological water consumption of rice agrocenosis. A significant part of the irrigation water is lost for filtration, discharges and lateral outflows. Currently, the use of drip irrigation method in rice fields is poorly studied. The research is aimed at substantiating the technology of rice cultivation using a low-pressure drip irrigation method in the conditions of Kyzylorda region