The adaptation of flowering processes to heat is crucial for maintaining yields in rice growing systems. In the Senegal River valley, high temperatures cause sterility, a situation that has prompted the development of crop management sequences and predictive models that account for the ability of plants to escape (early anthesis time), avoid (panicle cooling through transpiration) or tolerate (presence of genes of interest) heat at flowering. Avoidance and tolerance are the main genetic improvement pathways, whereas cropping practices are adjusted to ensure escape and take advantage of suitable thermal periods.