Flooding is one of the most hazardous natural disasters and a major stress constraint to rice production throughout the world, which results in huge economic loss. Approximately one-fourth of the global rice crops (approximately 40 million hectares) are grown in rainfed lowland plots that are prone to seasonal flooding. A great progress has been made during last two decades in our understanding of the mechanisms involved in adaptation and tolerance to flooding/submergence in rice. In this review, we summarized the physiological and molecular mechanisms that contribute to tolerance of flooding/submergence in rice. We also covered various features of flooding stress with special reference to rice plants, viz. different types of flooding stress, environmental characterisation of flood water, impact of flooding stress on rice plant and their morphological, physiological and metabolic responses under flooding. A brief discussion on the tolerance mechanism in rice exhibited to different types of flooding will be focused for the future crop improvement programme for development of flooding tolerant rice variety.

洪水是最危险的自然灾害之一，也是全世界大米生产的主要压力制约因素，造成巨大的经济损失。全球约有四分之一的稻米作物（约4000万公顷）种植在容易发生季节性洪水的低雨地带。在过去的二十年中，我们对水稻适应和耐受洪水/淹没的机制有了很大的了解。在这篇综述中，我们总结了有助于耐受水淹/淹没水稻的生理和分子机制。我们还专门针对水稻植物，讨论了洪水胁迫的各种特征，即。不同类型的洪水胁迫，洪水的环境特征，洪水胁迫对水稻植物的影响及其在洪水下的形态，生理和代谢反应。简要讨论了水稻对不同类型的洪水的耐受机制，重点是今后开发改良水稻的耐水作物品种计划。