WHAT IS RICE?

• Defined by Webster’s Dictionary, rice (Oryza sativa) is an annual cereal grass widely cultivated for its seed, used for human food. It is one of the world’s most important food crops.
• One seed of rice yields more than 3,000 grains. It is the highest yielding cereal grain and can grow in many kinds of environments and soils.

RICE IN CANADA

• Canada produces no rice of its own. Canadian wild rice is not a true rice but the seed of an aquatic grass.
• Nearly 70 per cent of rice consumed in Canada is grown in the U.S.

RICE AROUND THE WORLD

• Every year, rice is the principal cereal and significant calorie source for one-half to two-thirds of the world’s population.
• Worldwide, rice supplies mankind with 20 per cent of its total energy and 13 per cent of its required protein.
• Rice is currently cultivated in more than 100 countries. In many of these countries, entire populations rely on rice as their principal form of nourishment.
• There are thousands of rice varieties. At the International Rice Research Institute Genetic Resources Centre in the Philippines, there are 80,000 rice samples in cold storage.
• The United States is one of the largest exporters of rice, supplying about 14 per cent of the rice that enters world trade. American rice continues to be renowned for its consistency, cleanliness and high quality.
• Rice is grown on every continent except Antarctica.

RICE PRODUCTION

STEP 1 – Cultivation:

• Rice is significantly different from other cereals because its cultivation requires the controlled flooding and draining of large tracts of land. If rice fields are not flooded or drained at the proper time, entire rice crops can be lost.
• Rice cultivation begins by flooding a rice field to a depth of 2 to 3 inches. Rice is then either broadcast over the flooded field or immature rice plants are individually transplanted into the muddy water.
• Once the rice seed has germinated, it will take 3 to 7 months for it to reach maturity. The colour of the rice plant then turns from green to beige, signaling harvest time.

STEP 2 – Milling:

• The outer most layer or hull encasing the paddy rice is inedible. Removing the hull (also called husk) is the first step in milling.
• All rice destined for consumption is subject to this initial milling step in which “sheller” machines strip away the hull. What remains is brown rice, with the bran layers still surrounding the kernel.
• Grains of brown rice can then be milled by machines that rub the grains together under pressure. This abrasion process removes the bran layer, revealing white or “polished” rice.
• Parboiling is a steam pressure process in which rough rice is soaked, steamed and dried before milling. This procedure gelatinizes the starch in the grain, and ensures a firmer, more separate grain. Parboiled rice is favoured by consumers and chefs who desire an extra fluffy rice.
• Precooked rice is white or brown rice that has been completely cooked and dehydrated after milling. This process reduces time required for cooking.

The milling process produces 5 different forms of rice:

1. Rough (paddy) – Inedible
2. Brown
3. Regular – Milled “polished” White
4. Parboiled
5. Precooked

HISTORY OF RICE

• Archeological evidence suggests rice has been feeding mankind for more than 5,000 years. The first documented account is found in a decree on rice planting authorized by a Chinese emperor about 2,800 BC. From China to ancient Greece, from Persia to the Nile Delta, rice migrated across the continents, eventually finding its way to the Western Hemisphere.
• Enterprising colonists were the first to cultivate rice in America. It began quite by accident when, in 1685, a storm-battered ship sailing from Madagascar limped into the Charles Towne harbor. To repay the kindness of the colonists for repairs to the ship, the captain made a gift of a small quantity of “Golde Seede Rice” (named for its colour) to a local planter.
• The low-lying marshlands bordered by fresh tidal water rivers of the Carolinas and Georgia proved to be ideal for rice production. The soils were rich, reasonably flat and highly fertile. They were also so soft a man could hardly stand on them, with tides pushing fresh river waters onto the flood plains twice a day, nothing else could be grown there.
• Present-day rice production is concentrated in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas.