Rice
hideRice is the seed of the monocot plant Oryza sativa, of the grass family (Poaceae). As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, the West Indies, East, South and Southeast Asia. It is the grain with the second highest worldwide production, after maize ("corn").. Since a large portion of maize crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption, rice is probably the most important grain with regards to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species. A traditional food plant in Africa, rice has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare. In early 2008, some governments and retailers began rationing supplies of the grain due to fears of a global rice shortage.
The name wild rice is usually used for species of the grass genus Zizania, both wild and domesticated, although the term may also be used for primitive or uncultivated varieties of Oryza.
Rice is normally grown as an annual plant, although in tropical areas it can survive as a perennial and can produce a ratoon crop for up to 20 years. The rice plant can grow to 1–1.8 m tall, occasionally more depending on the variety and soil fertility. The grass has long, slender leaves 50–100 cm long and 2–2.5 cm broad. The small wind-pollinated flowers are produced in a branched arching to pendulous inflorescence 30–50 cm long. The edible seed is a grain (caryopsis) 5–12 mm long and 2–3 mm thick.
Rice cultivation 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. Rice can be grown practically anywhere, even on a steep hill or mountain. Although its parent species are native to South Asia and certain parts of Africa, centuries of trade and exportation have made it commonplace in many cultures worldwide.
The traditional method for cultivating rice is flooding the fields while, 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.
For more information about Rice, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with rice
Rice research gets a leg up on understanding plant reactions to environment
Nov 02, 2009 |
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One might say plants don't have a leg to stand on, but that may actually give them a leg up on the animal kingdom when it comes to environmental adaptability.
Climate change threatens rice production
Oct 16, 2009 |
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Once-in-a-lifetime floods in the Philippines, India's delayed monsoon, and extensive drought in Australia are taking their toll on this year's rice crops, demonstrating the vulnerability of rice to extreme weather.
Day care next frontier in fighting kids' obesity
Oct 12, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Grilled chicken replaced the hot dogs. Strawberries instead of cookies at snack time. No more fruit juice - water or low-fat milk only. This is the new menu at a Delaware day care center, part of ...
Taiwan scientists identify flood-tolerant gene in rice
Oct 11, 2009 |
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A Taiwanese scientist has said her research team has found the gene that allows rice to grow under water and believes the breakthrough could help develop other flood-resistant crops.
Novel research to root out how microbes affect rice plants
Sep 08, 2009 |
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Plants that live in the soil don't live alone -- a mere teaspoon of soil teems with an estimated billion microscopic organisms.
Researchers uncover genetic origins of rice fragrance
Sep 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new Cornell study reports that the gene that gives rice its highly valued fragrance stems from an ancestor of basmati rice and dispels other long-held assumptions about the origins of basmati. ...
Scientists develop high-yield deep water rice
Aug 20, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A team of Japanese scientists has discovered genes that enable rice to survive high water, providing hope for better rice production in lowland areas that are affected by flooding.
See no weevil: Researcher tracks rice bugs to help farmers, consumers (w/ Podcast)
Aug 12, 2009 |
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When there's something bugging rice farmers, a large segment of the world's population is likely to find out.
Traditional Thai hill farmers help preserve genetic diversity of rice
Jul 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Rice is one of the most important crops worldwide, as it feeds over half of the world's population. Domesticated rice is an important supply of the world's rice. However, these strains are ...
Getting to the bottom of rice
Jul 23, 2009 |
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Rice is the world's most important food crop. Understanding its valuable genetic diversity and using it to breed new rice varieties will provide the foundation for improving rice production into the future ...
Green Ideas: Making Concrete from Rice
Jul 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Concrete accounts for about 5% of all human-related CO2 emissions. The fact that we use so much cement in building could mean that the issue becomes even more pronounced in the future. Bu ...
Arizona researchers to sequence West African rice strain
Jul 13, 2009 |
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A $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow University of Arizona researchers to unlock the genetic code of West African cultivated rice - and along the way to gain knowledge that could help commercial ...
Successful initial safety tests for genetically-modified rice that fights allergy
Jun 24, 2009 |
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In a first-of-its-kind advance toward the next generation of genetically modified foods -- intended to improve consumers’ health -- researchers in Japan are reporting that a new transgenic rice designed to ...
Red yeast rice may lower cholesterol
Jun 22, 2009 |
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Two years ago, Chuck Jones of Yardley, Pa., had high cholesterol, but his medicine caused severe leg cramps that routinely ruined his sleep.
New discovery could help feed millions (w/Video)
May 27, 2009 |
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When scientist Loretta Mayer set out to alleviate diseases associated with menopause, she didn't realize her work could lead to addressing world hunger and feeding hundreds of millions of people.
