Abstract: Water saving and high-value is one of development directions of the ecological planting and breeding model in the future. In this paper, rice yield, economic benefits and the process of water movement in the planting and breeding model under rice ridge cultivation were studied with the method of farmers’ planting and breeding and field survey. The result showed that, compared with rice mono-planting model (CK), the rice yield of rice-mallard complex ecosystem under rice ridge cultivation (RM), rice-turtle complex ecosystem under rice ridge cultivation (RT) increased by 9.4% and 18.0%, respectively, and net income, output/input ratio, labor productivity, cost-benefits ratio in the RM and RT increased by 4.2 and 14.4 times, 32.6% and 8.9%, 3.4 and 4.3 times, 245.0% and 24.6%, respectively, which ensured increasing food production and farmer’s income. The planting and breeding model under rice ridge cultivation changed the pathway of water movement. The quantity of water loss via transpiration in the planting and breeding model under rice ridge cultivation was 16% higher than CK. Our results suggest that the planting and breeding model under rice ridge cultivation can increase water use efficiency.

Key words: water and carbon cycles, stable isotope, soilvegetationatmosphere continuum, water and carbon coupling.