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Rice



 
 
Rice is a staple food
Staple food

A staple food is a food that can be stored for use throughout the year and forms the basis of a traditional diet. Staple foods vary from place to place, but are typically inexpensive starchy foods of vegetable origin that are high in food energy and carbohydrate....
 for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
, and East
East Asia

East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either Geography or cultural terms. Geography and geopolitically, it covers about 12,000,000 km?, or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia as Central Asia....
, South
South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
 and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia....
, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize
Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
. A traditional food plant in Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, rice has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.






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Koeh 232
Rice is a staple food
Staple food

A staple food is a food that can be stored for use throughout the year and forms the basis of a traditional diet. Staple foods vary from place to place, but are typically inexpensive starchy foods of vegetable origin that are high in food energy and carbohydrate....
 for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
, and East
East Asia

East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either Geography or cultural terms. Geography and geopolitically, it covers about 12,000,000 km?, or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia as Central Asia....
, South
South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
 and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia....
, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize
Maize

Maize , known as corn in some countries, is a cereal domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents....
. A traditional food plant in Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, rice has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare. Rice provides more than one fifth of the calorie
Calorie

The calorie is a pre-SI metric system unit of energy. The unit was first defined by Professor Nicolas Cl?ment in 1824 as a unit of heat. This definition entered French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867....
s consumed worldwide by humans. In early 2008, some governments and retailers began rationing
Rationing

Rationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarcity goods or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time....
 supplies of the grain due to fears of a global rice shortage.

The name wild rice
Wild rice

Wild rice is any of the four species of plants that make up the genus Zizania , a group of Poaceae that grow in shallow water in small lakes and slow-flowing streams; often, only the flowering head of wild rice rises above the water....
 is usually used for species of the different but related genus Zizania
Zizania

Zizania may refer to:*Zizania, a wild rice native to North America*USS Zizania , a patrol craft tender which served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919....
, both wild and domesticated, although the term may be used for primitive or uncultivated varieties of Oryza.

Rice is grown as a monocarpic
Monocarpic

Monocarpic plants are those that flower, set seeds and then die. Other terms with the same meaning are hapaxanth and Reproduction#Other types of reproductive strategies....
 annual plant
Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
, although in tropical areas it can survive as a perennial and can produce a ratoon crop and survive for up to 20 years. Rice can grow to 1–1.8 m tall, occasionally more depending on the variety and soil
Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
 fertility. The grass has long, slender leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 50–100 cm long and 2–2.5 cm broad. The small wind-pollinated
Anemophily

Anemophily or wind pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by wind. Anemophilous plants may be either gymnosperms or angiosperms ....
 flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are produced in a branched arching to pendulous inflorescence
Inflorescence

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches....
 30–50 cm long. The edible seed
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
 is a grain
GRAIN

GRAIN is an international non-governmental organization based in Barcelona, Spain, which works toward sustainable agriculture. It was formed upon the realization that the genetic diversity of the world's food crops are being drastically eliminated....
 (caryopsis) 5–12 mm long and 2–3 mm thick.

Rice cultivation
Cultivation

In agriculture, cultivation is the process of geting fater plants on arable land. It is usually associated with large-scale agriculture, as opposed to small-scale gardening....
 is well-suited to countries and regions with low labor costs and high rainfall, as it is very labor-intensive to cultivate and requires plenty of water for cultivation
Cultivation

In agriculture, cultivation is the process of geting fater plants on arable land. It is usually associated with large-scale agriculture, as opposed to small-scale gardening....
. On the other hand, mechanized cultivation is extremely oil
Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
-intensive, more than other food products with the exception of beef
Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, European cuisine and the Americas, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia....
 and dairy
Dairy

A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk—mostly from goat or cattle, but also from bovine, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption....
 products. Rice can be grown practically anywhere, even on a steep hill or mountain. Although its species are native to South Asia
South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
 and certain parts of Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, centuries of trade and exportation have made it commonplace in many cultures.

The traditional method for cultivating rice is flooding the fields whilst, or after, setting the young seedlings. This simple method requires sound planning and servicing of the water damming and channeling, but reduces the growth of less robust weed and pest plants that have no submerged growth state, and deters vermin. While with rice growing and cultivation the flooding is not mandatory, all other methods of irrigation require higher effort in weed and pest control during growth periods and a different approach for fertilizing the soil.

Etymology

According to the Microsoft Encarta Dictionary
Encarta

Encartais a digital multimedia encyclopedia published by Microsoft. , the complete English version, Encarta Premium consists of more than 62,000 articles, numerous photos and illustrations, music clips, videos, interactivities, timelines, maps and atlas, and homework tools, and is available on the World Wide Web by yearly subscripti...
 (2004) and the Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988), the word 'rice' has an Indo-Iranian
Indo-Iranian languages

The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European languages family of languages. It consists of three language groups: the Indo-Aryan languages , Iranian languages and Nuristani languages....
 origin. It came to English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 from Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 óryza, via Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 oriza, Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 riso and finally Old French
Old French

Old French was the Romance languages dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from around 1000 to 1300....
 ris (the same as present day French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 riz).

It has been speculated that the Indo-Iranian vrihi itself is borrowed from a Dravidian
Dravidian

Dravidian may refer to the following about southern South Asia:* Dravidian languages, a language family comprising about 21 languages including the four literary languages spoken mainly in South India and North-Eastern Sri Lanka...
 vari (< PDr. *warinci) or the Tamil
Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has Official language in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore....
  arisi, from which the Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 ar-ruzz, from which the Portuguese
Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and Portugal. It is derived from the Latin language spoken by the Romanization Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago....
 and Spanish
Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
 word arroz originated.

Preparation as food


The seeds of the rice plant are first milled using a rice huller to remove the chaff
Chaff

Chaff is the inedible, dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain, or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material such as scaly parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw....
 (the outer husks of the grain). At this point in the process, the product is called brown rice
Brown rice

Brown rice is Huller or partly milled rice, a kind of whole grain, a natural grain that remains unbleached. It has a mild nutty flavor, is chewier than white rice and becomes rancidification more quickly....
. The milling may be continued, removing the 'bran
Bran

Bran is the hard outer layer of grain and consists of combined aleurone and pericarp. Along with cereal germ, it is an integral part of whole grains, and is often produced as a by-product of milling in the production of refined grains....
', i.e., the rest of the husk and the germ
Cereal germ

The germ of a cereal is the reproductive part that germinates to grow into a plant; it is the embryo of the seed....
, thereby creating white rice
White rice

White rice is the name given to milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and cereal germ removed. This is done largely to prevent spoilage and to extend the storage life of the grain....
. White rice
White rice

White rice is the name given to milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and cereal germ removed. This is done largely to prevent spoilage and to extend the storage life of the grain....
, which keeps longer, lacks some important nutrients; in a limited diet which does not supplement the rice, brown rice helps to prevent the deficiency disease beriberi
Beriberi

Beriberi is a nervous system ailment caused by a deficiency of thiamine in the Diet . Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose, and is also found on the Cell membrane of neurons....
.

White rice
White rice

White rice is the name given to milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and cereal germ removed. This is done largely to prevent spoilage and to extend the storage life of the grain....
 may be also buffed with glucose or talc
Talc

Talc is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula Hydrogen2Magnesium34 or Magnesium3Silicon4Oxygen102....
 powder (often called polished rice, though this term may also refer to white rice in general), parboiled
Parboiled rice

Parboiled rice is rice that has been boiled in the husk. Parboiling makes rice easier to process by hand, improves its nutritional profile, and changes its texture....
, or processed into flour
Flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
. White rice may also be enriched by adding nutrients, especially those lost during the milling process. While the cheapest method of enriching involves adding a powdered blend of nutrients that will easily wash off (in the United States, rice which has been so treated requires a label warning against rinsing), more sophisticated methods apply nutrients directly to the grain, coating the grain with a water insoluble substance which is resistant to washing.
Rice Fields Indonesia (java)
Despite the hypothetical health risks of talc
Talc

Talc is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula Hydrogen2Magnesium34 or Magnesium3Silicon4Oxygen102....
 (such as stomach cancer), talc-coated rice remains the norm in some countries due to its attractive shiny appearance, but it has been banned in some and is no longer widely used in others such as the United States. Even where talc
Talc

Talc is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula Hydrogen2Magnesium34 or Magnesium3Silicon4Oxygen102....
 is not used, glucose, starch, or other coatings may be used to improve the appearance of the grains; for this reason, many rice lovers still recommend washing all rice in order to create a better-tasting rice with a better consistency, despite the recommendation of suppliers. Much of the rice produced today is water polished.

Rice bran, called nuka in Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, is a valuable commodity in Asia and is used for many daily needs. It is a moist, oily inner layer which is heated to produce an oil. It is also used as a pickling bed in making rice bran pickles
Nukazuke

are a type of Japanesepickling, made by fermenting vegetables in rice bran . Almost any edible vegetable may be pickled through this technique,though traditional varieties include eggplant, Japanese radish ,...
 and Takuan
Takuan

, also known as Takuwan, is a popular traditional Japanese people pickle. It is made from daikon radish. In addition to being served alongside other types of tsukemono in traditional Japanese cuisine, takuan is also enjoyed at the end of meals as it is thought to aid digestion....
.

Raw rice may be ground into flour
Flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
 for many uses, including making many kinds of beverages such as amazake
Amazake

is a traditional sweet, low-alcoholic Japanese drink made from fermented rice. Amazake dates from the Kofun period, and it is mentioned in the Nihon Shoki....
, horchata
Horchata

Horchata or orxata is the name for several kinds of vegetable beverages, made of ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley or tigernuts ....
, rice milk
Rice milk

Rice milk is a kind of grain milk processed from rice. It is mostly made from brown rice and commonly unsweetened, the sweetness in most rice milk varieties is generated by a natural enzymes process, dividing the carbohydrates into sugars, especially glucose, similar to the Japanese Amazake....
, and sake
Sake

Sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice.This beverage is called sake in English, but in Japanese language, sake or Honorific speech in Japanese refers to alcoholic drinks in general....
. Rice flour does not contain gluten
Gluten

Gluten is a composite of the proteins gliadin and glutenin. These exist, conjoined with starch, in the endosperms of some Triticeae glutens cereal, notably wheat, rye, and barley....
 and is suitable for people on a gluten-free diet
Gluten-free diet

A gluten-free diet is recommended amongst other things in the treatment of celiac disease and wheat allergy. It is a diet completely free of ingredients derived from gluten-containing cereals: wheat , barley, rye, and triticale, as well as the use of gluten as a food additive in the form of a flavoring, stabilizing or thickening agent....
. Rice may also be made into various types of noodle
Noodle

A noodle is food made from unleavened dough that is cooked in a boiling liquid. Depending upon the type, noodles may be dried or refrigerated before cooking....
s. Raw wild or brown rice may also be consumed by raw-foodist or fruitarians if soaked and sprouted
Sprouting

Sprouting is the practice of soaking, draining and then rinsing seeds at regular intervals until they germinate, or sprout. This can be a semi-automated or fully automated process when done on a large scale for commercial use....
 (usually 1 week to 30 days), see also Gaba rice below.

Processed rice seeds must be boiled or steamed before eating. Cooked rice may be further fried in oil
Cooking oil

Cooking oil is purified fat of plant origin, which is liquid at room temperature.Some of the many different kinds of edible Vegetable fats and oilss include: olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil, pumpkin seed oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil, argan oil and rice bran oil....
 or butter
Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermentation cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying....
, or beaten in a tub to make mochi
Mochi

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki....
.

Rice is a good source of protein and a staple food in many parts of the world, but it is not a complete protein
Complete protein

A complete protein is a source of protein that contains an adequate proportion of all of the essential amino acids for the dietary needs of humans or other animals....
: it does not contain all of the essential amino acids in sufficient amounts for good health, and should be combined with other sources of protein, such as nuts, seeds, beans, fish or meat.

Rice, like other cereal
Cereal

Cereals, or cereal grains, are mostly Poaceae cultivated for their edible brans or fruit seeds . Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple foods....
 grains
Caryopsis

In botany, a caryopsis is a type of simple dry fruit — one that is monocarpelate and indehiscent and resembles an achene, except that in a caryopsis the pericarp is fused with the thin seed #Seed_structure....
, can be puffed (or popped)
Puffed rice

Puffed rice is a type of puffed grain made from rice; usually made by heating rice kernels under high pressure in the presence of steam, though the method of manufacture varies widely....
. This process takes advantage of the grains' water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
 content and typically involves heating grains in a special chamber. Further puffing is sometimes accomplished by processing pre-puffed pellets in a low-pressure
Pressure

Pressure is the force per unit area applied to an object in a direction surface normal to the surface. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure....
 chamber. The ideal gas law
Ideal gas law

The ideal gas law is the equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas, first stated by Beno?t Paul ?mile Clapeyron in 1834. The law is derived from the fact that in the ideal state of any gas a given number of its "particles" occupy the same volume, and that volume changes are inverse to pressure changes and linear to temperature changes....
 means that either lowering the local pressure or raising the water temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
 results in an increase in volume
Volume

The volume of any solid, liquid, plasma, vacuum or theoretical object is how much three-dimensional space it occupies, often quantified numerically....
 prior to water evaporation
Evaporation

Evaporation is the slow vaporization of a liquid and the reverse of condensation. A type of phase transition, it is the process by which molecules in a liquid State of matter spontaneously become gaseous ....
, resulting in a puffy texture. Bulk raw rice density is about 0.9 g/cm³. It decreases to less than one-tenth that when puffed.

Cooking


There are many varieties of rice; for many purposes the main distinction is between long- and medium-grain rice. The grains of long-grain rice (high amylose
Amylose

Amylose is a linear polymer of glucose linked mainly by a bonds. It can be made of several thousand glucose units. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylopectin....
) tend to remain intact after cooking; medium-grain rice (high amylopectin
Amylopectin

Amylopectin is a highly branched polymer of glucose found in plants. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylose. It is soluble in water....
) becomes more sticky. Medium-grain rice is used for sweet dishes, and for risotto
Risotto

Risotto is a rich and creamy, traditional Italy rice dish. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy.Its origins are in North Italy, specifically Eastern Piedmont , Western Lombardy, and the Veneto , where rice paddies are abundant....
 and many Spanish dishes.

Rice is cooked by boiling
Boiling

Boiling, a type of phase transition, is the rapid vaporization of a liquid, which typically occurs when a liquid is heated to its boiling point, the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid is equal to the pressure exerted on the liquid by the surrounding environmental pressure....
 or steaming
Steaming

Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. Steaming is considered a relatively healthier cooking technique and capable of cooking almost all kinds of food....
, and absorbs water during cooking. It can be cooked in just as much water as it absorbs (the absorption method), or in a large quantity of water which is drained before serving (the rapid-boil method). Electric rice cooker
Rice cooker

A rice cooker or rice steamer is a device used primarily for cooking rice. There are self-contained electrical appliance versions, as well as microwave oven and natural gas variants....
s, popular in Asia and Latin America, simplify the process of cooking rice. Rice is often heated in oil before boiling, or oil is added to the water; this is thought to make the cooked rice less sticky.

In Arab cuisine
Arab cuisine

Arab cuisine is defined as the various regional cuisines spanning the Arab World from Iraq to Morocco to Somalia to Yemen, and incorporating Levantine, Egyptian and others....
 rice is an ingredient of many soups and dishes with fish, poultry, and other types of meat. It is also used to stuff vegetables or is wrapped in grape leaves. When combined with milk, sugar and honey, it is used to make desserts. In some regions, such as Tabaristan, bread is made using rice flour. Medieval Islamic texts spoke of medical uses for the plant.

Rice may also be made into rice porridge (also called congee or rice gruel) by adding more water than usual, so that the cooked rice is saturated with water to the point that it becomes very soft, expanded, and fluffy. Rice porridge is commonly eaten as a breakfast food, and is also a traditional food for the sick.

Rice may be soaked prior to cooking, which saves fuel, decreases cooking time, minimizes exposure to high temperature and thus decreases the stickiness of the rice. For some varieties, soaking improves the texture of the cooked rice by increasing expansion of the grains.

In some countries parboiled rice
Parboiled rice

Parboiled rice is rice that has been boiled in the husk. Parboiling makes rice easier to process by hand, improves its nutritional profile, and changes its texture....
 is popular. Parboiled rice is subjected to a steaming or parboiling process while still a brown rice. This causes nutrients from the outer husk to move into the grain itself. The parboil process causes a gelatinisation of the starch in the grains. The grains become less brittle, and the color of the milled grain changes from white to yellow. The rice is then dried, and can then be milled as usual or used as brown rice. Milled parboiled rice is nutritionally superior to standard milled rice. Parboiled rice has an additional benefit in that it does not stick to the pan during cooking, as happens when cooking regular white rice.

Minute Rice
Minute Rice

Minute Rice is a brand of instant rice. The product was introduced in 1949 by General Foods, who merged with Kraft in 1990 and became Kraft General Foods, which became Kraft Foods in 1995....
, or "easy-cook rice", differs from parboiled rice in that it is milled, fully cooked and then dried. It does not share the nutritional benefits of parboiling.

A nutritionally superior method of preparing brown rice known as GABA Rice or GBR (Germinated Brown Rice) may be used. This involves soaking washed brown rice for 20 hours in warm water (38°C or 100°F) prior to cooking it. This process stimulates germination
Germination

Germination is the process whereby growth emerges from a period of dormancy. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an flowering plant or gymnosperm....
, which activates
Activator

Activator may mean:* Activator , a DNA-binding protein that regulates one or more genes by increasing the rate of transcription* Activator , a type of effector that increases the rate of enzyme mediated reactions...
 various enzymes in the rice. By this method, a result of research carried out for the United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 Year of Rice, it is possible to obtain a more complete amino acid
Amino acid

In chemistry, an amino acid is a molecule containing both amine and carboxyl functional groups. These molecules are particularly important in biochemistry, where this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H2NCHRCOOH, where R is an organic substituent....
 profile, including GABA
Gamma-aminobutyric acid

γ-Aminobutyric acid is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. It plays an important role in regulating neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system....
.

Cooked rice can contain Bacillus cereus
Bacillus cereus

Bacillus cereus is an Endemic , soil-dwelling, Gram-positive bacteria, Bacillus, hemolysis bacteria that causes foodborne illness. It is the cause of "Fried rice Syndrome"....
 spores, which produce an emetic toxin when left at 4°C–60°C . When storing cooked rice for use the next day, rapid cooling is advised to reduce the risk of toxin production.

Rice flour and starch
Starch

File:Amylose2.svgFile:Amylopektin Sessel.svgStarch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds....
 often are used in batters and breadings to increase crispiness.

Rice growing ecology

Rice can be grown in different ecologies, depending upon water availability.

  1. Lowland, rainfed, which is drought prone, favors medium depth; waterlogged, submergence, and flood prone
  2. Lowland, irrigated, grown in both the wet season and the dry season
  3. Deep water or floating rice
  4. Coastal Wetland
  5. Upland rice, also known as 'Ghaiya rice', well known for its drought tolerance


History of domestication & cultivation


Asia

Rice has been eaten in Asia since hominins arrived in Asia. In Asia alone over 200,000,000 tons are eaten every day.

Africa


African rice has been cultivated for 3500 years. Between 1500 and 800 BC, O. glaberrima propagated from its original centre, the Niger River
Niger River

The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about 4180 km . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea....
 delta
River delta

A delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river....
, and extended to Senegal
Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the S?n?gal River in West Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south....
. However, it never developed far from its original region. Its cultivation even declined in favour of the Asian species, possibly brought to the African continent
Continent

A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents ? they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia ....
 by Arabs coming from the east coast between the 7th and 11th centuries CE.

In parts of Africa under Islam, rice was chiefly grown in southern Morocco. During the tenth century rice was also brought to east Africa
East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN subregion, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
 by Muslim traders. Although, the diffusion of rice in much sub-Saharan Africa remains uncertain, Muslims brought it to the region stretching from Lake Chad
Lake Chad

Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow lake in Africa, whose size has varied greatly over the centuries. It is economically very important, providing water to more than 20 million people living in the four countries which surround it — Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria....
 to the White Nile
White Nile

The White Nile is a river of Africa, one of the two main tributary of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. In the strict meaning, "White Nile" refers to the river formed at Lake No at the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal and Bahr el Ghazal rivers....
.

Middle East

According to Zohary and Hopf (2000, p. 91), O. sativa was introduced to the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
 in Hellenistic
Hellenistic Greece

In the context of Ancient Greek art, architecture, and culture, Hellenistic Greece corresponds to the period between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the Classical Greece heartlands by Roman Republic in 146 BC....
 times, and was familiar to both Greek and Roman writers. They report that a large sample of rice grains was recovered from a grave at Susa
Susa

Susa was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian Empire and Parthian empires of Iran, located about 250 km east of the Tigris River.The modern town of Shush, Iran is located at the site of ancient Susa....
 in Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
 (dated to the first century AD) at one end of the ancient world, while at the same time rice was grown in the Po
Po River

The Po is a river that flows 652 km eastward across northern Italy, from Monviso to the Adriatic Sea near Venice. It has a drainage area of 71,000 km? and is the longest river in Italy....
 valley in Italy. However, Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
 writes that rice (oryza) is grown only in "Egypt, Syria, Cilicia, Asia Minor and Greece" (N.H. 18.19).

After the rise of Islam, rice was grown anywhere there was enough water to irrigate it. Thus, desert oases, river valleys, and swamp lands were all important sources of rice during the Muslim Agricultural Revolution
Muslim Agricultural Revolution

The Islamic Golden Age from the 8th century to the 13th century witnessed a fundamental transformation in agriculture known as the Arab Agricultural Revolution, Medieval Green Revolution, or Muslim Agricultural Revolution....
.

In Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
 rice was grown in some areas of southern Iraq. With the rise of Islam it moved north to Nisibin, the southern shores of the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the List of lakes by area or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers ....
 and then beyond the Muslim world into the valley of Volga. In Israel, rice came to be grown in the Jordan valley. Rice is also grown in Yemen.

Europe

The Muslims (later known as Moors
Moors

In the Spanish language, the term for Moors is Moro; in Portuguese language the word is mouro. There seems to have been some confusion about the relationship of the word moro/mouro to the word moreno , both from Greek language ma?ros, i.e....
) brought Asiatic rice to the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France....
 in the tenth century. Records indicate it was grown in Valencia
Valencian Community

The Valencian Community is an Autonomous Community located in central to south-eastern Spain. It is divided in three provinces, from South to North: Alicante , Valencia and Castell?n ....
 and Majorca. In Majorca, rice cultivation seems to have stopped after the Christian conquest, although historians are not certain.

Muslims also brought rice to Sicily
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
, where it was an important crop.

After the middle of the 15th century, rice spread throughout Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 and then France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, later propagating to all the continents during the age of European exploration.

United States


In 1694, rice arrived in South Carolina
South Carolina

South Carolina is a U.S. state in the Southern United States of the United States. It borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north....
, probably originating from Madagascar
Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
.

In the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, colonial South Carolina and Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
 grew and amassed great wealth
Wealth

Wealth is an abundance of valuable material possessions or resources. The word is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem....
 from the slave
Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
 labor obtained from the Senegambia area of West Africa
West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
 and from coastal Sierra Leone. At the port
Port

||-||-|-||-||-||-||-||-||-|}A port is a facility for receiving ships and transferring cargo. They are usually found at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake....
 of Charleston, through which 40% of all American slave imports passed, slaves from this region of Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 brought the highest prices, in recognition of their prior knowledge of rice culture, which was put to use on the many rice plantation
Plantation

A plantation is usually a large farm or Estate , especially in a tropical or semitropical country, like Brazil or Nicaragua on which cotton, tobacco, lice coffee, sugar cane and the like are cultivated, usually by resident laborers....
s around Georgetown
Georgetown, South Carolina

Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, South Carolina. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Great Pee Dee River, Waccamaw River, and Sampit River, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina, handling over 960,000 tons of materials a year....
, Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is a city in Charleston County, South Carolina in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is the largest city and county seat of Charleston County....
, and Savannah
Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Chatham County, Georgia, Georgia , United States. Savannah was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia....
. From the slaves, plantation owners learned how to dyke the marsh
Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood . Typically the water is shallow and features Poaceaees, Juncaceaees, Phragmites, typhas, Cyperaless, and other herbaceous plants....
es and periodically flood the fields. At first the rice was milled by hand with wood
Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
en paddles, then winnowed in sweetgrass basket
Basket

A basket is a container which is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers, often made of willow. . The top is either left open or the basket may be fitted with a lid....
s (the making of which was another skill brought by the slaves). The invention of the rice mill increased profitability of the crop, and the addition of water power for the mills in 1787 by millwright
Millwright

The trade of millwright is concerned with the construction and maintenance of machinery....
 Jonathan Lucas was another step forward. Rice culture in the southeastern U.S. became less profitable with the loss of slave labor after the American Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
, and it finally died out just after the turn of the 20th century. Today, people can visit the only remaining rice plantation in South Carolina that still has the original winnowing barn
Winnowing barn

Winnowing barns were commonly found in South Carolina on antebellum rice plantations. A winnowing barn consists of a large shed on tall posts with a hole in the floor....
 and rice mill from the mid-1800s at the historic Mansfield Plantation
Mansfield Plantation

Established in 1718 on the banks of the Black River in historic Georgetown, South Carolina, Mansfield Plantation is widely recognized as one of the most well-preserved antebellum rice plantations in the United States....
 in Georgetown, SC. The predominant strain of rice in the Carolinas was from Africa and was known as "Carolina Gold." The cultivar
Cultivar

A cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of its decorative or useful characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when Plant propagation it retains those characteristics....
 has been preserved and there are current attempts to reintroduce it as a commercially grown crop.

Us Long Grain Rice
In the southern United States, rice has been grown in southern Arkansas
Arkansas

Arkansas is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River....
, Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
, and east Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
 since the mid 1800s. Many Cajun
Cajun

Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles and peoples of other ethnicities with whom the Acadians eventually intermarried on the semitropical frontier....
 farmers grew rice in wet marshes and low lying prairies. In recent years rice production has risen in North America, especially in the Mississippi River Delta
Mississippi River Delta

The Mississippi River Delta is the Holocene area of land built up by alluvium deposited by the Mississippi River as it slows down and enters the Gulf of Mexico....
 areas in the states of Arkansas
Arkansas

Arkansas is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River....
 and Mississippi
Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Deep South of the United States. Jackson, Mississippi is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Anishinaabe language word misi-ziibi ....
.

Rice cultivation began in California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
 during the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California, California....
, when an estimated 40,000 Chinese laborers immigrated to the state and grew small amounts of the grain for their own consumption. However, commercial production began only in 1912 in the town of Richvale
Richvale, California

Richvale is a small farming community in Butte County, California, California, United States, south of Chico, California and west of Oroville, California....
 in Butte County
Butte County, California

Butte County is a county located in the California Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, north of the state capital, Sacramento, California....
. By 2006, California produced the second largest rice crop in the United States, after Arkansas, with production concentrated in six counties north of Sacramento
Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the Capital of the United States U.S. state of California, and the county seat of Sacramento County, California. Located along the Sacramento River and just south of the American River's confluence in California's expansive California Central Valley, it is the seventh-largest city in California.....
. Unlike the Mississippi Delta region, California's production is dominated by short- and medium-grain japonica
Japanese rice

Japanese rice, or japonica, is a short-grain variety of rice which is characterized by its unique stickiness and texture. It also comes in a variety called mochigome which is used for making mochi....
 varieties, including cultivars developed for the local climate such as Calrose, which makes up as much as eighty five percent of the state's crop.

References to wild rice in the Americas are to the unrelated Zizania palustris
Wild rice

Wild rice is any of the four species of plants that make up the genus Zizania , a group of Poaceae that grow in shallow water in small lakes and slow-flowing streams; often, only the flowering head of wild rice rises above the water....


More than 100 varieties of rice are commercially produced primarily in six states (Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and California) in the U.S. According to estimates for the 2006 crop year, rice production in the U.S. is valued at $1.88 billion, approximately half of which is expected to be exported. The U.S. provides about 12% of world rice trade. The majority of domestic utilization of U.S. rice is direct food use (58%), while 16 percent is used in processed foods and beer
Beer

Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and Fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal?the most common of which is malted barley, although wheat, maize , and rice are widely used....
 respectively. The remaining 10 percent is found in pet food.

Australia

Although attempts to grow rice in the well-watered north of Australia have been made for many years, they have consistently failed because of inherent iron
Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
 and manganese
Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a Oxidation state in nature , and in many minerals....
 toxicities in the soils and destruction by pests.

In the 1920s it was seen as a possible irrigation
Irrigation in Australia

Irrigation in Australia is a widespread practice to supplement low rainfall levels in Australia with water from other sources to assist in the production of crop s or pasture....
 crop on soils within the Murray-Darling Basin
Murray-Darling Basin

The Murray-Darling Basin is 3,375 km long, drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass, and is currently by far the most significant agricultural area in Australia....
 that were too heavy for the cultivation of fruit and too infertile for wheat
Wheat

Wheat , is a worldwide cultivated Poaceae from the Levant region of the Middle East. Globally, after maize, wheat is the second most-produced food among the cereal just above rice....
.

Because irrigation water, despite the extremely low runoff of temperate Australia, was (and remains) very cheap, the growing of rice was taken up by agricultural groups over the following decades. Californian varieties of rice were found suitable for the climate in the Riverina
Riverina

The Riverina is an agricultural List of regions in Australia of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation....
, and the first mill opened at Leeton
Leeton, New South Wales

Leeton is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Leeton is situated approximately 550 km west of Sydney and 450 km north of Melbourne in the productive Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area....
 in 1951.

Even before this Australia's rice production greatly exceeded local needs, and rice exports to Japan have become a major source of foreign currency. Above-average rainfall from the 1950s to the middle 1990s encouraged the expansion of the Riverina rice industry, but its prodigious water use in a practically waterless region began to attract the attention of environmental scientists. These became severely concerned with declining flow in the Snowy River
Snowy River

While the river's course and surroundings have remained almost entirely unchanged, the majority of it being protected by the Snowy River National Park, its flow was drastically reduced in the mid 20th century, to less than 1%, after the construction of various dams and reservoirs at its headwaters in New South Wales, as part of the Snowy Mountains...
 and the lower Murray River
Murray River

The Murray River, or River Murray and sometimes informally referred to as the "Mighty Murray", is Australia's largest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between...
.

Although rice growing in Australia is exceedingly efficient and highly profitable due to the cheapness of land, several recent years of severe drought have led many to call for its elimination because of its effects on extremely fragile aquatic ecosystems. Politicians, however, have not made any plan to reduce rice growing in southern Australia.

World production and trade


Production and export

World production of rice has risen steadily from about 200 million tonnes of paddy rice in 1960 to 600 million tonnes in 2004. Milled rice is about 68% of paddy rice by weight. In the year 2004, the top four producers were China (26% of world production), India (20%), Indonesia (9%) and Bangladesh.

World trade figures are very different, as only about 5–6% of rice produced is traded internationally. The largest three exporting countries are Thailand
Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
 (26% of world exports), Vietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
 (15%), and the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 (11%), while the largest three importers are Indonesia (14%), Bangladesh (4%), and Brazil (3%). Although China and India are the top two largest producers of rice in the world, both of countries consume the majority of the rice produced domestically leaving little to be traded internationally.

Price

In March to May 2008, the price of rice rose greatly due to a rice shortage. In late April 2008, rice prices hit 24 cents a pound
Pound (mass)

The pound or pound-mass is a Units of measurement of massused in the Imperial unit, United States customary units and other systems of measurement....
, twice the price that it was seven months earlier.

On the 30th of April, 2008, Thailand
Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
 announced the project of the creation of the Organisation of Rice Exporting Countries (OREC) with the potential to develop into a price-fixing cartel
Cartel

A cartel is a formal agreement among firms. It is a formal organization of producers that agree to coordinate prices and production. Cartels usually occur in an Oligopoly, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products....
 for rice.

Worldwide consumption

Consumption of rice by country—2003/2004
(million metric ton)
135
85
39
37
37
26
18
10
10
9.7
8.7
8.1
5.0
3.9
Source:
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/homepage.do United States Department of Agriculture


Between 1961 and 2002, per capita
Per capita

Per capita is a Latin phrase meaning per head with per meaning "through" or "by" and capita meaning "heads." Both words together equate to the phrase "for each head."...
 consumption of rice increased by 40%. By 2007 annual world wide per capita rice consumption stood at 127 kg.

Rice consumption is highest in Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, where average per capita consumption is higher than 80 kg/person per year. In the subtropics such as South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, and the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, per capita consumption averages between 30 and 60 kg/person per year. People in the developed West, including Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, consume less than 10 kg/person per year.

Rice is the most important crop in Asia. In Cambodia, for example, 90% of the total agricultural area is used for rice production. See The Burning of the Rice by Don Puckridge for the story of rice production in Cambodia .

U.S. rice consumption has risen sharply over the past 25 years, fueled in part by commercial applications such as beer
Beer

Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and Fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal?the most common of which is malted barley, although wheat, maize , and rice are widely used....
 production. Almost one in five adult Americans now report eating at least half a serving of white or brown rice per day.

Environmental impacts

In many countries where rice is the main cereal crop
Cereal

Cereals, or cereal grains, are mostly Poaceae cultivated for their edible brans or fruit seeds . Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple foods....
, rice cultivation is responsible for most of the methane emissions. Farmers in some of the arid regions try to cultivate rice using groundwater
Groundwater

Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil porosity spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water....
 bored through pumps, thus increasing the chances of famine
Famine

A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any faunal species, which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased death....
 in the long run. Rice also requires much more water to produce than other grains.

As sea levels rise, rice will become more inclined to remain flooded for longer periods of time. Longer stays in water cuts the soil off from atmospheric oxygen and causes fermentation of organic matter in the soil. During the wet season, rice cannot hold the carbon in anaerobic conditions. The microbes in the soil convert the carbon into methane which is then released through the respiration of the rice plant or through diffusion
Diffusion

Molecular diffusion, often called simply diffusion, is a net transport of molecules from a region of higher concentration to one of lower concentration by random molecular motion....
 of water. Current contributions of methane from agriculture is ~15% of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, as estimated by the IPCC. Further rise in sea level of 10-85 centimeters would then stimulate the release of more methane into the air by rice plants. Methane
Methane

Methane is a chemical compound with the molecular formula . It is the simplest alkane, and the principal component of natural gas. Methane's bond angles are 109.5 degrees....
 is twenty times more effective as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
 is.

Pests and diseases

Rice pests are any organisms or microbes with the potential to reduce the yield or value of the rice crop (or of rice seeds) (Jahn et al. 2007). Rice pests include weed
WEED

WEED is a radio station broadcasting a Gospel format. Licensed to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA, it serves the area. The station is currently owned by Northstar Broadcasting Corporation....
s, pathogen
Pathogen

A pathogen , infectious agent, or germ, is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its Host .There are several substrates and pathways whereby pathogens can invade a host; the principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil contamination has the longest or most persistent potential for harboring...
s, insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s, rodent
Rodent

Rodentia is an Order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing Incisors#The_Rodent_incisor in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s, and bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s. A variety of factors can contribute to pest outbreaks, including the overuse of pesticides and high rates of nitrogen fertilizer application (e.g. Jahn et al. 2005) . Weather conditions also contribute to pest outbreaks. For example, rice gall midge and army worm outbreaks tend to follow high rainfall early in the wet season, while thrips outbreaks are associated with drought ().

One of the challenges facing crop protection specialists is to develop rice pest management techniques which are sustainable
Sustainable agriculture

Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals: natural environment stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming community. These goals have been defined by a variety of List of academic disciplines and may be looked at from the vantage point of the farmer or the consumer....
. In other words, to manage crop pests in such a manner that future crop production is not threatened (Jahn et al. 2001). Rice pests are managed by cultural techniques, pest-resistant rice varieties, and pesticide
Pesticide

A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest .A pesticide may be a chemical substance, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest ....
s (which include insecticide
Insecticide

An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects in all developmental forms. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the Egg and larvae of insects respectively....
). Increasingly, there is evidence that farmers' pesticide applications are often unnecessary (Jahn et al. , . By reducing the populations of natural enemies of rice pests (Jahn 1992), misuse of insecticides can actually lead to pest outbreaks (Cohen et al. 1994). Botanicals, so-called “natural pesticides”, are used by some farmers in an attempt to control rice pests, but in general the practice is not common. Upland rice is grown without standing water in the field. Some upland rice farmers in Cambodia spread chopped leaves of the bitter bush (Chromolaena odorata
Chromolaena odorata

Chromolaena odorata is a shrub of the Asteraceae native to North America, from Florida and Texas to Mexico and the West Indies. It is an invasive species weed of field crops in Africa and Asia where it has been introduced....
 (L.)) over the surface of fields after planting. The practice probably helps the soil retain moisture and thereby facilitates seed germination. Farmers also claim the leaves are a natural fertilizer and helps suppress weed and insect infestations (Jahn et al. 1999).

Among rice cultivars there are differences in the responses to, and recovery from, pest damage (, Khiev et al. 2000). Therefore, particular cultivars are recommended for areas prone to certain pest problems. The genetically based ability of a rice variety to withstand pest attacks is called . Three main types of plant resistance to pests are recognized (Painter 1951, Smith 2005): as nonpreference, antibiosis, and tolerance. Nonpreference (or antixenosis) (Kogan and Ortman 1978) describes host plants which insects prefer to avoid; antibiosis is where insect survival is reduced after the ingestion of host tissue; and tolerance is the capacity of a plant to produce high yield or retain high quality despite insect infestation
Home stored product entomology

Home stored product entomology is most commonly used in lawsuits over the contamination or infestation of foods by insects, usually in the commercial sector....
. Over time, the use of pest resistant rice varieties selects for pests that are able to overcome these mechanisms of resistance. When a rice variety is no longer able to resist pest infestations, resistance is said to have broken down. Rice varieties that can be widely grown for many years in the presence of pests, and retain their ability to withstand the pests are said to have durable resistance. Mutants of popular rice varieties are regularly screened by plant breeders to discover new sources of durable resistance (e.g. Liu et al. 2005, ).

Major rice pests include the brown (Preap et al. 2006), , the rice gall midge (Jahn and Khiev 2004), the , hispa (Murphy et al. 2006), , rats (Leung et al. 2002), and the weed Echinochloa crusgali (Pheng et al. 2001). Rice weevils are also known to be a threat to rice crops in the US, PR China and Taiwan.

Major rice diseases include , and Rice blast, caused by the fungus
Fungus

A fungus is a Eukaryote organism that is a member of the Kingdom Fungi . The fungi are a monophyletic group, also called the Eumycota , that is phylogeny distinct from the morphologically similar slime molds and water molds ....
 Magnaporthe grisea, is the most significant disease affecting rice cultivation.

Cultivars

While most breeding of rice is carried out for crop quality and productivity, there are varieties selected for other reasons. Cultivars exist that are adapted to deep flooding, and these are generally called 'floating rice' .

The largest collection of rice cultivars is at the International Rice Research Institute
International Rice Research Institute

The International Rice Research Institute is an autonomous, non-profit, agricultural research and training organization with offices in more than ten nations....
 (), with over 100,000 rice accessions held in the International Rice Genebank . Rice cultivar
Cultivar

A cultivar is a cultivated plant that has been selected and given a unique name because of its decorative or useful characteristics; it is usually distinct from similar plants and when Plant propagation it retains those characteristics....
s are often classified by their grain shapes and texture. For example, Thai Jasmine rice
Jasmine rice

Jasmine rice , sometimes known as Thai fragrant rice, is a long-grain variety of rice that has a nutty aroma and a subtle and pandan-like flavor caused by 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline....
 is long-grain and relatively less sticky, as long-grain rice contains less amylopectin
Amylopectin

Amylopectin is a highly branched polymer of glucose found in plants. It is one of the two components of starch, the other being amylose. It is soluble in water....
 than short-grain cultivars. Chinese restaurants usually serve long-grain as plain unseasoned steamed rice. Japanese mochi rice and Chinese sticky rice are short-grain. Chinese people use sticky rice which is properly known as "glutinous rice" (note: glutinous refer to the glue-like characteristic of rice; does not refer to "gluten") to make zongzi
Zongzi

Zong, or zongzi is a Cuisine of China, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling....
. The Japanese table rice
Japanese rice

Japanese rice, or japonica, is a short-grain variety of rice which is characterized by its unique stickiness and texture. It also comes in a variety called mochigome which is used for making mochi....
 is a sticky, short-grain rice. Japanese sake
Sake

Sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice.This beverage is called sake in English, but in Japanese language, sake or Honorific speech in Japanese refers to alcoholic drinks in general....
 rice is another kind as well.

Indian rice cultivars include long-grained and aromatic Basmati
Basmati

Basmati is a variety of long grain rice, notable for its fragrance and delicate flavor. Its name means "the fragrant one" in Sanskrit, but it can also mean the "soft rice." Pakistan and India are the largest cultivators and exporters of this rice - primarily grown through paddy field farming in the Punjab region....
 (grown in the North), long and medium-grained Patna rice
Patna rice

Patna rice, a variety of the species Oryza sativa, and one of the varieties of long-grain white rice, is extensively cultivated in the Gangetic plainss, in and around Patna, Capital city of Bihar States and territories of India, India....
 and short-grained Sona Masoori (also spelled Sona Masuri
Sona masuri

Sona Masuri is a medium-grain rice grown largely in the Indian states of Andra Pradesh and Karnataka. In Telugu, Sona Masuri rice is called Bangaru Theegalu.It is lightweight and aromatic, and considered to be of premium quality....
). In South India the most prized cultivar is ponni
Ponni Rice

Ponni Rice is a variety of rice developed by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in 1986. It is widely cultivated in India and is a hybrid variety of Taichung65 and Myang Ebos 6080/2...
 which is primarily grown in the delta regions of Kaveri River. Kaveri is also referred to as ponni in the South and the name reflects the geographic region where it is grown. In the Western Indian state of Maharashtra
Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a States and territories of India located on the western coast of India. Maharashtra is a part of Western India. It is India's List of states of India by area and List of states of India by population....
, a short grain variety called Ambemohar
Ambemohar

Ambemohar is a rice variant from Maharashtra in India. The short cooked grains have a tendency to break easily and stick together. It is popular in Maharashtra due to its strong fragrance reminiscent of mango blossoms, which is noticeable when the rice is cooked....
 is very popular. this rice has a characteristic fragrance of Mango blossom.
Sona Masuri
Aromatic rices have definite aromas and flavours; the most noted cultivars are Thai fragrant rice, Basmati, Patna rice, and a hybrid cultivar from America sold under the trade name, Texmati. Both Basmati and Texmati have a mild popcorn
Popcorn

Popcorn or popping corn is a type of maize, which explodes from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn popping was originally discovered by Native Americans in the United States, but became popular as a snack food during the United States Great Depression....
-like aroma and flavour. In Indonesia there are also red and black cultivars.

High-yield cultivars of rice suitable for cultivation in Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 and other dry ecosystem
Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
s called the new rice for Africa
New Rice for Africa

New Rice for Africa is an interspecific cultivar of rice developed by the West Africa Rice Development Association to improve the yield of African rice varieties....
 (NERICA) cultivars have been developed. It is hoped that their cultivation will improve food security
Food security

Food security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered food secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation....
 in West Africa
West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:...
.

Draft genome
Genome

In classical genetics, the genome of a diploid organism including eukarya refers to a full set of chromosomes or genes in a gamete; thereby, a regular somatic cell contains two full sets of genomes....
s for the two most common rice cultivars, indica and japonica, were published in April 2002. Rice was chosen as a model organism
Model organism

A model organism is a species that is extensively studied to understand particular biology phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the organism model will provide insight into the workings of other organisms....
 for the biology of grasses because of its relatively small genome (~430 megabase pair
Base pair

In molecular biology, two nucleotides on opposite complementarity DNA or RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds are called a base pair ....
s). Rice was the first crop with a complete genome sequence.

On December 16, 2002, the UN General Assembly declared the year 2004 the International Year of Rice. The declaration was sponsored by more than 40 countries.

Biotechnology


High-yielding varieties

The High Yielding Varieties are a group of crops created intentionally during the Green Revolution
Green Revolution

Green Revolution usually refers to the transformation of agriculture that began in 1945. One significant factor came at the request of the Mexican government to establish an agricultural research station to develop more varieties of wheat that could be used to feed the rapidly growing population of the country....
 to increase global food production. Rice, like corn and wheat, was genetically manipulated to increase its yield. This project enabled labor markets in Asia to shift away from agriculture, and into industrial sectors. The first "modern rice", IR8 was produced in 1966 at the International Rice Research Institute
International Rice Research Institute

The International Rice Research Institute is an autonomous, non-profit, agricultural research and training organization with offices in more than ten nations....
 which is based in the Philippines at the University of the Philippines' Los Banos site. IR8 was created through a cross between an Indonesian variety named "Peta" and a Chinese variety named "Dee Geo Woo Gen."

With advances in molecular genetics, the mutant genes responsible for reduced height(rht), gibberellin
Gibberellin

Gibberellins are plant hormones that regulate growth and influence various Biological process, including "stem elongation, germination, dormancy, flowering, sex gene expression, enzyme induction and leaf and fruit senescence."...
 insensitive (gai1) and slender rice (slr1) in Arabidopsis
Arabidopsis

Arabidopsis is a genus in the family Brassicaceae. They are small flowering plants related to cabbage and Mustard plant. This genus is of great interest since it contains thale cress , one of the model organisms used for studying plant biology and the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced....
 and rice were identified as cellular signaling components of gibberellic acid (a phytohormone involved in regulating stem growth via its effect on cell division) and subsequently cloned. Stem growth in the mutant background is significantly reduced leading to the dwarf phenotype. Photosynthetic investment in the stem is reduced dramatically as the shorter plants are inherently more stable mechanically. Assimilates become redirected to grain production, amplifying in particular the effect of chemical fertilizers on commercial yield. In the presence of nitrogen fertilizers, and intensive crop management, these varieties increase their yield two to three times.

Potentials for the future

As the UN Millennium Development project seeks to spread global economic development to Africa, the "Green Revolution" is cited as the model for economic development. With the intent of replicating the successful Asian boom in agronomic productivity, groups like the Earth Institute are doing research on African agricultural systems, hoping to increase productivity. An important way this can happen is the production of "New Rices for Africa" (NERICA). These rices, selected to tolerate the low input and harsh growing conditions of African agriculture are produced by the African Rice Center, and billed as technology from Africa, for Africa. The NERICA have appeared in The New York Times (October 10, 2007) and International Herald Tribune (October 9, 2007), trumpeted as miracle crops that will dramatically increase rice yield in Africa and enable an economic resurgence.

Golden rice

German and Swiss researchers have engineered rice to produce Beta-carotene
Beta-carotene

?-Carotene is an organic compound - a terpenoid, a red-orange pigment abundant in plants and fruits. As a carotene with ?-rings at both ends, it is the most common form of carotene....
, with the intent that it might someday be used to treat vitamin A deficiency
Vitamin A deficiency

Vitamin A deficiency is common in developing countries but rarely seen in developed countries. Night blindness is one of the first signs of vitamin A deficiency....
. Additional efforts are being made to improve the quantity and quality of other nutrients in golden rice. The addition of the carotene turns the rice gold.

Expression of human proteins

Ventria Bioscience
Ventria Bioscience

Ventria Bioscience is a biotech company with a focus on human nutrition and human therapeutics. The company's core technology is a Pharming protein protein expression system called ExpressTec....
 has genetically modified rice to express
Gene expression

Gene expression is the process by which inheritable information from a gene, such as the DNA sequence, is made into a functional gene product, such as protein or RNA....
 lactoferrin
Lactoferrin

Lactoferrin , also known as lactotransferrin , is a globular protein multifunctional protein with antimicrobial activity and is part of the innate defense, mainly at mucoses....
, lysozyme
Lysozyme

Lysozymes, also known as muramidase or N-acetylmuramide glycanhydrolase, are a family of enzymes which damage bacterial cell walls by catalyzing hydrolysis of 1,4-beta-linkages between N-acetylmuramic acid and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues in a peptidoglycan and between N-acetyl-D-glucosamine residues in chitodextrins....
, and human serum albumin
Human serum albumin

Human serum albumin is the most abundant protein in human blood plasma. It is produced in the liver. Albumin comprises about half of the blood serum protein....
 which are protein
Protein

Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid Residue ....
s usually found in breast milk
Breast milk

Breast milk refers to the milk produced by a mother to feed her baby. It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborns before they are able to eat and digest other foods; older infants and toddlers may continue to be breastfeeding....
. These proteins have antiviral
Antiviral

Antiviral may refer to:*Antiviral drug*Antiviral protein *Antivirus software*Antiviral Therapy, an academic journal...
, antibacterial, and antifungal effects.

Rice containing these added proteins can be used as a component in oral rehydration solutions which are used to treat diarrhea
Diarrhea

In medicine, diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea , is characterized by frequent loose or liquid bowel movements. The spelling of "diarrhea" is an appropriation of the Greek "diarrhoia" meaning "a flowing through." ....
l diseases, thereby shortening their duration and reducing recurrence. Such supplements may also help reverse anemia
Anemia

Anemia or an?mia/anaemia is defined as a qualitative or quantitative deficiency of hemoglobin, a protein found inside red blood cells ....
.

Others

In the Korean and Japanese language, the Chinese character
Chinese character

A Chinese character, also known as a Han character , is a logogram used in writing Chinese language ,'' Japanese language ,'' less frequently Korean language ,'' and formerly Vietnamese language .''...
 for the is composed by two and which is . A proverbial saying
Saying

A saying is something that is said, notable in one respect or another.Another definition: a saying ?is the simple, direct term for any pithy expression of wisdom or truth." From ?When is a Pig a Hog?: A Guide to Confoundingly Related English Words? by Bernice Randall ....
 in Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
 states: "The farmer spends eighty-eight efforts on rice from planting to crop." This teaches the sense of mottainai
MOTTAINAI

Mottainai is a Japanese language term meaning "a sense of regret concerning waste when the intrinsic value of an object or resource is not properly utilized." The expression "Mottainai!" can be uttered alone as an exclamation when something useful, such as food or time, is wasted....
 and gratitude
Gratitude

Gratitude, thankfulness, or appreciation is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive....
 for the farmer and for rice itself. Another Japanese proverb says: "Eat rice before battle, and you will be victorious."

American religious leader Brigham Young
Brigham Young

Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the President of the Church of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death....
 taught: "Don't give your children pork for breakfast. Give them rice and fruit instead."

See also


General References

  • Cohen, J. E., K. Schoenly, K. L. Heong, H. Justo, G. Arida, A. T. Barrion, J. A. Litsinger. 1994. A Food Web Approach to Evaluating the Effect of Insecticide Spraying on Insect Pest Population Dynamics in a Philippine Irrigated Rice Ecosystem. Journal of Applied Ecology, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 747–763. doi:10.2307/2404165
  • Crawford, G.W. and C. Shen. 1998. The Origins of Rice Agriculture: Recent Progress in East Asia. Antiquity 72:858–866.
  • Crawford, G.W. and G.-A. Lee. 2003. Agricultural Origins in the Korean Peninsula. Antiquity 77(295):87–95.
  • Douangboupha, B., K. Khamphoukeo, S. Inthavong, J. Schiller, and G. Jahn. 2006. Pests and diseases of the rice production systems of Laos. Pp. 265–281. In J.M. Schiller, M.B. Chanphengxay, B. Linquist, and S. Appa Rao, editors. Rice in Laos. Los Baños (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. 457 p. ISBN 978-971-22-0211-7.
  • Heong, KL, YH Chen, DE Johnson, GC Jahn, M Hossain, RS Hamilton. 2005. Debate Over a GM Rice Trial in China. Letters. Science, Vol 310, Issue 5746, 231–233 , 14 October 2005.
  • Huang, J., Ruifa Hu, Scott Rozelle, Carl Pray. 2005. Insect-Resistant GM Rice in Farmers' Fields: Assessing Productivity and Health Effects in China. Science (29 April 2005) Vol. 308. no. 5722, pp. 688–690. DOI: 10.1126/science.1108972
  • Jahn, G. C. 1992. Rice pest control and effects on predators in Thailand. Insecticide & Acaricide Tests 17:252–253.
  • Jahn, GC and B. Khiev. 2004. Gall midge in Cambodian lowland rice. pp. 71–76. In J. Benett, JS Bentur, IC Pasula, K. Krishnaiah, [eds]. New approaches to gall midge resistance in rice. Los Baños (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute and Indian Council of Agricultural Research. 195 p.
  • Jahn, G. C., S. Pheng, B. Khiev, and C. Pol. 1996. Farmers’ pest management and rice production practices in Cambodian lowland rice. Cambodia-IRRI-Australia Project (CIAP), Baseline Survey Report No. 6. CIAP Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 28 pages.
  • Jahn, G. C., B. Khiev, S. Pheng, and C. Pol. 1997. Pest management in rice. In H. J. Nesbitt [ed.] "Rice Production in Cambodia." Manila (Philippines): International Rice Research Institute. 83–91.
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  • Jahn, GC, B. Khiev, C. Pol, N. Chhorn, S. Pheng, and V. Preap. 2001. Developing sustainable pest management for rice in Cambodia. pp. 243–258, In S. Suthipradit, C. Kuntha, S. Lorlowhakarn, and J. Rakngan [eds.] “Sustainable Agriculture: Possibility and Direction” Proceedings of the 2nd Asia-Pacific Conference on Sustainable Agriculture 18–20 October 1999, Phitsanulok, Thailand. Bangkok (Thailand): National Science and Technology Development Agency. 386 p.
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    .
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External links


General

  • Historical Price of Rice according to U.S. CPI
  • (PDF)


Rice research & development



Rice in agriculture



Rice as food



Rice as fuel

  • .


Rice economics



Rice genome

  • n:Chinese authorities question genetically altered rice allegation
  • — Researchers have tracked down a gene that allows the plant to survive complete submersion