Rice (Oryza sativa) is a type ofcereal andfood. In origin, it is aswamp grass. It is eaten asstaple food in many parts ofAsia. It is grown in warm parts of the world, mainlyIndia,Africa, northernItaly, and the west coast of North America.
Rice accounts for 80% of thecalories eaten inAsia, or one-fifth of the calories eaten worldwide by humans.[1] It is the agricultural commodity with the third-highest worldwide production (rice, 741.5 milliontonnes in 2014), aftersugarcane (1.9 billion tonnes) andmaize (1.0 billion tonnes).[2] However, judged by value, the world trade inwheat is greater than all other crops combined.[3] All thesecereals aregrasses.
Rice used to be the maindiet in many countries. Various kinds offood processing prepare rice for eating. It is usually cooked. In some areas, such asSpain, rice is first fried inolive oil orbutter, then cooked with water or soup. In other areas, such asIndia, rice is eaten with sauce,curry, or soup. Rice can also be used to makealcohol, such asJapanesesake rice wine.
Rice is believed to have been first grown in ancient southernChina andIndia around 2500BC. Rice-growing was brought to Japan possibly in the 1st century BC, and became popular during the2nd century and the3rd century. From India, rice spread to southernEurope and Africa.
Iran is also a producer of rice in Asia with a production of 2.4 MMT. The food consumption pattern of people in Iran shows that Iranians consume an average of 100 g of rice per day. Rice is the second most popular and favorite food in Iran after bread.
Rice is usually planted in a flat field filled with water. Before cropping, the water is drained from the field. Beforefarmers developed a good farming system andfertilizers, they used to let lands rest for 1 to 2 years while farming in other lands.
In some hot areas, close to theequator, farmers do double-cropping which means raising twocrops in one year.
Rice contains a lot ofcarbohydrates. There are different ways of milling rice. Brown rice has only had the outer layer removed. It contains morefibre than the completely milled white rice.
There are several grains called "rice": they have been cultivated for thousands of years.[4] There are a huge number of varieties.
Asian rice (Oryza sativa) is most widely known and most widely grown, with two major subspecies and over 40,000 varieties.[5] Also notable are varieties ofAfrican rice (Oryza glaberrima) andwild rice (genusZizania). Rice may vary ingenetics, grain length, color, thickness, stickiness,aroma, growing method, and other characteristics.
Rice can be divided into different categories on the basis of each of its major characteristics. The two subspecies of Asian rice,indica andjaponica have different length and stickiness. Indica rice is long-grained and unsticky, while japonica is short-grained and sticky.[6]
For instance, over nine major varieties of rice exist for the purpose of makingsake alone.[7]
A naturally occurring strain of rice,IR8, is believed to have saved many lives.[8]
"In the 1950s... you only needed to plot population growth against rice production to see that, within a few years, there would not be enough to go around. Something needed to be done, and in 1960 two Americancharities, the Ford and RockefellerFoundations, joined forces to found the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in thePhilippines. The new team began patiently cross-breeding the 10,000 different varieties they had collected.[8]
"Most crosses between rice strains give only 1% or 2% improvements, [but] IR8 was different. It married a tall high-yielding strain fromIndonesia (PETA) with a sturdy dwarf variety fromChina (DGWG). The results were astounding. There was never any instance in the history of the world where rice yields doubled in one step... In fact, according to some studies, IR8 yields in best conditions could be as much as 10 times that of traditional varieties".[8]
The new strain, part of theGreen Revolution, had defects. It lacked taste, and the team spent 20 years improving its quality, and its resistance tofungi andpests. The team's later work was to reduce its bad effect ondiabetes type 2 and on itsvitamin A content.[8]
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