Rice in Asia and the food supply organic red rice price is the main staple food in Asia, where about 90% of the world's rice is produced and consumed. China is the world's biggest manufacturer, growing one-third of Asia's total on 29 million ha (Table 1.1). India produces almost a quarter on 43 million ha. Other leading rice-producing nations in Asia are mentioned in table 1.1 too. Average yields in these states range from 2.6 to 6.5 t/ha*.* All of tonnage conditions in this novel are metric, unless otherwise indicated.Worldwide, around 79 million ha of rice is grown under irrigated conditions. While this is just half of the total rice area, it accounts for roughly 75% of the world's yearly rice production. In Asia, nearly 60 percent of the 138 million hectares dedicated to rice production yearly is irrigated, where rice is often grown in monoculture with two to three crops a year depending upon water availability. Other rice ecosystems include the rainfed lowland (35 percent of total organic arborio rice price area), characterized by an absence of water control, with flooding and drought being potential problems, and the upland and deepwater ecosystems (5 percent of total rice area), where yields are low and very variable.Thailand is the world's leading rice trader, constituting an average of 8 million tons of rice annually (Figure 1.1). Vietnam and India export a total of 7 million tons. A positive trade balance for rice was maintained by Asia, Australia and the USA.The demand for rice is expected to grow for several years to come largely because of population growth, particularly in Asia, where population is expected to increase 35 percent by 2025 (United Nations, 1999). An increase in total rice production can come from an increase in the area planted, increased yields, and increased cropping intensity. On the other hand, the scope for growth of rice-growing regions is limited due to loss of agricultural land to urbanization, land conversion, and industrialization. Therefore, future growth in rice distribution must come from increased yields and intensified cropping, especially in the irrigated rice ecosystem.There is substantial scope to boost current rice returns as farmers in Asia, normally, reach only about 60 percent of their yield possibly achievable with present varieties and climatic problems. The main limitation to achieving higher yields and related high profitability for rice farmers each unit of arable land is frequently the inefficient use of inputs (especially nutrients, seed( and pesticide) in an environmentally sustainable manner. If the demand for meals is to be fulfilled, rice production will have to become more effective in the use of increasingly scarce all-natural resources. Better crop, pest,long grain brown rice price and water management methods, along with using germplasm using a greater return potential, are needed in order for rice production to be profitable for manufacturers and also to furnish adequate affordable staple food for customers.Many historians believe that rice was grown as far back as 5000 B.C.Archaeologists excavating in India uncovered rice, they were convinced, could be dated to 4530 B.C. But, the earliest recorded mention originates from China in 2800 B.C. Around 500 B.C. cultivation spread to parts of India, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and finally to Japan. Though China, India or Thailand cannot be recognized as the house of the rice (indeed it might have been indigenous to all), it's relatively clear that rice was introduced to Europe and the Americas, by travellers that took with them the seeds of those plants that grew in their homes and in foreign lands.In the West, portions of America and specific regions of Europe, such as Italy and Spain, can provide the correct climate thereby giving rise to a thriving rice market. The first cultivation in the U.S., along coastal regions in S. Carolina to Texas, started in 1685. Some historians believe that rice travelled to America in 1694, in a British ship bound for Madagascar.1.3 Plant descriptionRice plant is an yearly warm-season grass (monocot plant) with round culms, horizontal leaves and terminal panicles.Rice is normally grown as an yearly plant, even though in tropical regions it can survive as a perennial and can generate a ratoon harvest up to 20 decades. The rice can increase to 1--1.8 m tall, occasionally more, based upon the variety and soil fertility. The grass has long, slim leaves 50--100 cm long and 2--2.5 cm wide. The edible seed is a grain (caryopsis) 5--12 mm long and 2--3 mm thick.The only seed is fused together with the wall, which is that the pericarp of the ripened ovary forming the grain. Each rice panicle (that is a determinate inflorescence on the terminal take ), when ripened, comprises on average 80-120 grains, depending upon varietal characteristics, ecological conditions and the level of crop management. The floral organs are altered shoots consisting of a panicle, on which are arranged a variety of spikelets. Each spikelet conveys a floret which, when fertilized, develops into a grain.Rice grain structureA kernel of rice is made up of hull and a bran coat, both of which are removed on polishing"white" rice. In general, each rice kernel is composed of the following layers:Bran Coat (coating ): a very thin layer of differentiated tissues. The layer contains fiber, vitamin B, vitamin B, fat and protein. The most nutritious part of rice resides within this layer.Embryo: The innermost aspect of a rice grain consists mainly of starch known as amylase and amylo pectin. The combination of these two starches determines the cooking texture of rice.A harvest producing on typical 300 panicles per m2 and 100 spikelets per panicle, using an average spikelet sterility of 15 percent at adulthood and a 1000-grain burden of 20 g is going to have an expected yield of 5.1 t/ha.Rice can grow in a wet (paddy) or a dry (field) setting. (Rice fields can also be called paddy fields or rice paddies).About 75 percent of the rice production comes from irrigated rice systems since most rice varieties express their entire yield potential when water supply is adequate.In cooler areas, throughout late spring, water serves also as a heat-holding moderate and creates a much milder environment for rice growing.A pond could maintain irrigation water to use in the summer, when demand for water is the greatest.The bulk of the rice in Asia is grown during the rainy season beginning in June-July, and dependence on rainfall is the most restricting production constraint for rain-fed culture. Rice regions in South and Southeast Asia can, generally speaking, be classified into irrigated, rain-fed upland, rain-fed shallow water lowland and rain-fed deep water lowland locations.The productivity of well-managed, irrigated rice is greatest, being in the variety of 5-8 t/ha throughout the rainy period and 7-10 t/ha during the dry season if well handled, but the average is often just in the variety of 3-5 t/ha. The productivity of rain-fed upland and heavy water lowland rice, nevertheless, continues to be low and is dormant about 1.0 t/ha. You'll find over 40,000 varieties of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.), however the specific figure is uncertain. More than 90,000 samples of wild and cultivated rice species have been saved at the International Rice Gene Bank and these are used by researchers all over the world.There are four main types of rice: Indica, Japonica, aromatic, and glutinous. Rice seeds change in shape, size, width, length, color and odor. There are many different types of ricedrought-resistant, pest-resistant, flood-resistant, saline-resistant, tall, short, aromatic, tacky, with red, violet, brown, or black; long and slim; or brief and round onions. Extensive research of the varieties have shown that they were independently derived from the wild rice species Oryza rufipogon. The domesticated varieties show much less variation (polymorphism) than the wild species.Rice cultivars (Oryza sativa L.) are divisible to the Indica and Japonica types, or subspecies indica and japonica, which vary in various morphophysiological traits. These two main types of domesticated rice (Oryza sativa), one variety, O. sativa indica can be found in India and Southeast Asia while the other, O. sativa japonica, is mostly cultivated in Southern China.Generally speaking, the rice household could be broken down to three Chief categories:Extended Grain: Approx. 6-8 mm long, about 3-4 times longer than thick. The endosperm is tough and vitreous. The very best long grain varieties include Thailand, Southern US, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Vietnam. The endosperm is soft and chalky. It releases roughly 15 percent starch into water through cooking.Short Grain or Round Grain: Approx. 4-5 mm long, just 1.5-2 times longer than thick. The endosperm is soft and chalky.