Major challenges in rice growing ecosystems are increased productivity and reduced water requirement. Rice isespecially sensitive to declining water availability towards maturity since it requires more water than any other food cropand has relatively low water productivity. One of the technology options that can help farmers cope up with water scarcityat the field level is alternate wetting and drying (AWD).It is an irrigation practice of introduction of unsaturated soilconditions during the growing period that can reduce water inputs in rice without compromising yields. AWD technique cansave water requirement up to 20-30 % besides reducing greenhouse gas emissions which have impact on climate change.However, AWD has not been widely adopted, in part, due to the apprehension of yield reductions and hence demandsgreater efforts from extension workers.Proper management of water in safe threshold is the foundation of AWD to realizepotential yield while saving water. This paper is an attempt to enlighten stakeholders in rice production on AWD principlesand practices, and its influence on water productivity.