Rice

"RICE, Oryza sativa, 米 Mi, grown in all the provinces south of the , and by dry cultivation to a small extent in South . ... In two crops are obtained annually, further north only one. ... Glutinous-rice dumplings are made at the time of the and consumed in large quantities. is eaten by persons with weak digestions, and sweetmeats are also made from this rice ..."

"There are two species of cultivated rice, ' and ' The former is a common rice widely grown in the tropical and temperate zones, and the latter is endemic to West Africa. Besides these cultivated species, the genus ' comprises about twenty wild species. Classification of the genus is primarily due to Roschevicz (1931), (1932), and (1948). But the nomenclature for wild species has been an issue of controversy."

"Throughout its history, the cultivation, trade, and consumption of rice has affected vast parts of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. In China rice started to be cultivated more than 10,000 years ago; it was also domesticate very early in South and Southeast Asia, where its cultivation spread widely through antiquity. It was grown in Europe by the tenth century CE and was introduced to the Americas in the early sixteenth century as part of the so-called . By the precolonial period, rice cultivation was widespread in West Africa. Italians like their ' and the Japanese their ; is famous for its coconut rice with beans; and any Indian meal is incomplete without rice."

"As we emerge from the twilight zone of the , it is clear that they established something like a cultural unity in northern India. The valley was by the seventh century the great centre of Indian population. It may be the cultivation of rice made this possible."

"The integrated (IRDF), in which ducks feed on insects and weeds in paddies and fertilise rice plants, has been a flagship of Asian sustainable-agriculture movements. ... Asia accounted for about 90% of 672 million metric tonnes of rice produced in the world as of 2010 (FAO, 2012b). Rice farming in Asia used to be characterised by small scale, labour-intensiveness and on-site recycling of green and animal manures. Although rice farming is still labour-intensive in remote areas of Asian developing countries, it has rapidly been mechanised and agrochemicals-intensive in the name of agricultural modernisation and . In fact, the so-called green revolution has largely resulted from industrial monoculture, genetically modified crops and the overuse of s, which caused agricultural land degradation globally (Roberts, 2008). ... In the IRDF system, ducks are released into rice fields after seedling transplantation. The most recognised strength of IRDF is the synergy of co-producing rice and ducks on the same track of land. Expectably, ducks peck at insects, control the germination of weeds by stirring up paddy water, and provide organic matters for the growth of rice plants. Thus, IRDF makes it possible to fatten ducks, economising on weeds and insects in rice paddies, and obtain greater rice yields."