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
Antagonistic genes control rice growth
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Scientists at the Carnegie Institution, with colleagues, have found that a plant steroid prompts two genes to battle each other—one suppresses the other to ensure that leaves grow normally in rice and the ...
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Study reveals H1N1 unexpected weakness
Dec 10, 2009 |
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The H1N1 influenza virus has been keeping a secret that may be the key to defeating it and other flu viruses as well.
Multitasking may be Achilles heel for hepatitis C
Nov 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Hepatitis C, a formidable virus that affects 130 million people worldwide, is nursing some pretty impressive bruises. By knocking out sections and subsections of one of its proteins, scientists reveal weak ...
Rice physicists find reappearing quantum trios
Dec 11, 2009 |
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Using atoms at temperatures colder than deep space, Rice University physicists have delivered overwhelming proof for a once-scoffed-at theory that's become a hotbed for research some 40 years after it first ...
A see-through surprise: Scientists make solid material transparent to terahertz waves
Dec 07, 2009 |
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Very often in science, the unexpected discovery turns out to be the most significant. Rice University Professor Junichiro Kono and his team weren't looking for a breakthrough in the transmission of terahertz signals, but ...
Etiologic factors of gastric cardiac adenocarcinoma among men in Taiwan
Nov 25, 2009 |
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The gastric cardiac adenocarcinoma (GCA) is a very rare disease. In recent decades, however, the incidence of the GCA has increased dramatically in many Western countries. An increasing trend in GCA is also observed in municipal ...
Rice ties in race for atomic-scale breakthrough
Nov 17, 2009 |
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Everybody loves a race to the wire, even when the result is a tie. The great irony is the ultraprecise clocks that could result from this competition could probably break any tie.
Nanomedicine: ending 'hit and miss' design
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the promises of nanomedicine is the design of tiny particles that can home in on diseased cells and get inside them. Nanoparticles can carry drugs into cells and tag cells for MRI and other diagnostic ...
Researchers finds hidden sensory system in the skin
Dec 08, 2009 |
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Researchers report that the human body has an entirely unique and separate sensory system aside from the nerves that give most of us the ability to touch and feel. Surprisingly, this sensory network is located throughout ...
Tracking new cancer-killing particles with MRI
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 14, 2009 |
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Researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have created a single nanoparticle that can be tracked in real time with MRI as it homes in on cancer cells, tags them with a fluorescent ...
Scientists show that female fruit flies can be 'too attractive' to males
Dec 08, 2009 |
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Females can be too attractive to the opposite sex -- too attractive for their own good -- say biologists at UC Santa Barbara. They found that, among fruit flies, too much male attention directed toward attractive ...
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