Rice is a cereal grain and in its domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa —or, much less commonly, Oryza glaberrima. Asian rice was domesticated in China some 13,500 to 8,200 years ago; African rice was domesticated in Africa about 3,000 years ago. Rice has become commonplace in many cultures worldwide; in 2021, 787 million tons were produced, placing it fourth after sugarcane, maize, and wheat. Only some 8% of rice is traded internationally. China, India, and Indonesia are the largest consumers of rice. A substantial amount of the rice produced in developing nations is lost after harvest through factors such as poor transport and storage. Rice yields can be reduced by pests including insects, rodents, and birds, as well as by weeds, and by diseases such as rice blast. Traditional rice polycultures such as rice-duck farming, and modern integrated pest management seek to control damage from pests in a sustainable way.
Glutinous rice is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast East Asia, the northeastern regions of India and Bhutan which has opaque grains, very low amylose content, and is especially sticky when cooked. It is widely consumed across Asia.
Basmati is a variety of long, slender-grained aromatic rice which is traditionally grown in the Indian subcontinent, mainly India, and Pakistan, as well as some regions of Sri Lanka and Nepal. As of 2019, India accounted for 65% of the international trade in basmati rice, while Pakistan accounted for the remaining 35%. Many countries use domestically grown basmati rice crops; however, basmati is geographically exclusive to certain districts of India and Pakistan.
Japanese rice refers to a number of short-grain cultivars of Japonica rice including ordinary rice (uruchimai) and glutinous rice (mochigome).
Patna rice, a variety of the species Oryza sativa, and one of the varieties of long-grain white rice, is extensively cultivated in the Indo-Gangetic plains, in and around Patna, capital of Bihar state, India. Patna rice is known for its elongated kernel with grain length greater than 6 mm, and has been used as staple food by the local people for thousands of years. Sometimes, Patna rice is also called Parimal rice locally.
Jasmine rice is a long-grain variety of fragrant rice. Its fragrance, reminiscent of pandan and popcorn, results from the rice plant's natural production of aroma compounds, of which 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline is the most salient. A rapid loss of aromatic intensity leads many Southeast Asians and connoisseurs to prefer each year's freshly harvested "new crop" of jasmine rice. Jasmine rice is a variety of Oryza sativa.
Red rice is rice that is colored red due to natural anthocyanin content. It is usually eaten unpolished or partially polished, and has a red bran layer, rather than the more common pale brown. Red rice has a nutty flavor. It has the highest nutritional value among rices eaten with the bran intact.
Samba is a variety of rice grown in Tamil Nadu, some other parts of India and Sri Lanka, and has a small ovular grain, compared to the long grain of basmati rice.
Wehani rice, also known as California Red Jasmine Rice, is a variety of aromatic brown rice developed in the late 20th century by Lundberg Family Farms of Richvale, California. The name of the rice originates from the brothers of the family, Wendell, Eldon, Homer, Albert, and Harlan Lundberg.
Ambemohar is a fragrant rice variant grown in the foothills of the Western ghats region of the state of Maharashtra in India.
Cooked rice refers to rice that has been cooked either by steaming or boiling. The terms steamed rice or boiled rice are also commonly used. Any variant of Asian rice, African rice or wild rice, glutinous or non-glutinous, long-, medium-, or short-grain, of any colour, can be used. Rice for cooking can be whole grain or milled.
Aromatic rice is one of the major types of rice. It is a medium- to long-grained rice. It is known for its nutty aroma and taste, which is caused by the chemical compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline. Varieties of aromatic rice include Ambemohar, Basmati, Jasmine, Sona Masuri, Texmati, Tulaipanji, Tulshimala, Wehani, Kalijira, Chinigura, Gobindobhog, Kali Mooch and wild Pecan rice. When cooked, the grains have a light and fluffy texture except for Gobindobhog rice which is sticky in texture.
Pusa Basmati 1121 is an independently derived Basmati rice variety, evolved through the process of hybridization over a long breeding process. This variety of basmati rice was developed by Padma Shri awardee Dr Vijaipal Singh at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. It was released for commercial cultivation in Kharif season of 2003 as Pusa 1121. By 2007, the variety has become widely popular with farmers, and was renamed as Pusa Basmati 1121 in 2008. It holds the world record for highest kernel elongation on cooking.
Gobindobhog is a rice cultivated mostly in West Bengal in India. It is a short grain, white, aromatic, sticky rice having a sweet buttery flavor. It derives its name from its usage as the principal ingredient in the preparation of the offerings to Govindaji, the family deity of the Setts of Kolkata.
Improved Samba Mahsuri is a high yielding fine grain rice variety developed in a collaborative project between scientists from the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR). The variety was developed using Marker assisted selection and has three major bacterial blight resistance genes. The All India Coordinated Rice Improved Project (AICRIP) conducted trials involving this variety of rice in multiple locations across India, and found positive results for resistance to bacterial blight.
Tulaipanji is an Indian rice cultivar from West Bengal, India. It is an indigenous aromatic rice grown mainly in the Raiganj subdivision of Uttar Dinajpur district and some pockets of Dakshin Dinajpur district. In 2012, the Government of West Bengal sent Tulaipanji rice to the food festival at the London Olympics.
Paw san hmwe is a high-grade variety of aromatic rice grown in Myanmar. Paw hsan hmwe is known for its good cooking quality, fragrant aroma, texture, good milling recovery, and substantial grain elongation during the cooking process. The medium-length grains of this rice variety can elongate up to three times in length while cooking. Paw hsan hmwe has intermediate amylose content, higher than jasmine rice, contributing to its hardness quality in line with Burmese consumer preferences. Myanmar's Paw San rice is one of the world's most recognized high quality rice, it was awarded the world's best rice at the Rice Trader's World Rice Conference in 2011. Paw San rice has a similar aroma, grain quality and eating quality to the reputable aromatic rice varieties of the world, namely Basmati of India and Pakistan and Jasmine of Thailand. It has a strong aroma similar to Jasmine rice and
The history of rice cultivation is an interdisciplinary subject that studies archaeological and documentary evidence to explain how rice was first domesticated and cultivated by humans, the spread of cultivation to different regions of the planet, and the technological changes that have impacted cultivation over time.
Penglai rice, also called Ponglai or Hōrairice, is the most popular rice cultivar in Taiwan. It accounts for over 90% of local rice production, far more than the two other major types of rice planted and consumed in Taiwan, zailai rice and glutinous rice.
Kalonunia rice is a variety of non-Basmati, aromatic, black textured small rice mainly grown in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a common and widely cultivated crop in districts of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar along with some parts of Darjeeling & Kalimpong districts of West Bengal.
