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{{Short description|Cereal grain and staple food}}
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[[File:20201102.Hengnan.Hybrid rice Sanyou-1.6.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Rice plant (''[[Oryza sativa]]'') with branched [[panicle]]s containing many grains on each stem]]
[[File:Rice grains (IRRI).jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Rice grains of different [[Variety (botany)|varieties]] at the [[International Rice Research Institute]]]]

'''Rice''' is a [[cereal grain]] and in its [[Domestication|domesticated]] form is the [[staple food]] of over half of the [[world's population]], particularly in [[Asia]] and [[Africa]].<!--'Food security' --> Rice is the seed of the grass species ''[[Oryza sativa]]'' (Asian rice)—or, much less commonly, ''[[Oryza glaberrima]]'' (African rice). 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.<!--'Phylogeny', 'History'--> Rice has become commonplace in many cultures worldwide; in 2023, 800 million tons were produced, placing it third after [[sugarcane]] and [[maize]].<!--<ref name="faostat16">--> Only some 8% of rice is traded internationally.<!--'Trade'--> China, India, and Indonesia are the largest consumers of rice.<!--'Worldwide consumption'--> A substantial amount of the rice produced in developing nations is lost after harvest through factors such as poor transport and storage.<!--'Food security' --> Rice yields can be reduced by pests including [[insect]]s, [[rodent]]s, and [[bird]]s, as well as by [[weed]]s, and by [[List of rice diseases|diseases]] such as [[rice blast]].<!--'Pests, weeds, and diseases'--> Traditional [[rice polyculture]]s such as [[rice-duck farming]], and modern [[integrated pest management]] seek to control damage from pests in a [[Sustainable agriculture|sustainable]] way.<!--'Integrated pest management'-->

Dry rice grain is milled to remove the outer layers; depending on how much is removed, products range from [[brown rice]] to [[rice with germ]] and [[white rice]]. Some is [[parboiled rice|parboiled]] to make it easy to cook. Rice contains no [[gluten]]; it provides [[protein]] but not all the [[essential amino acids]] needed for good health.<!--'Processing'--> Rice of different types is eaten around the world. The composition of starch components within the grain, [[amylose]] and [[amylopectin]], gives it different texture properties.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Rosell | first1=Cristina M. | last2=Marco | first2=Cristina | title=Gluten-Free Cereal Products and Beverages | chapter=Rice | publisher=Elsevier | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-12-373739-7 | doi=10.1016/b978-012373739-7.50006-x}}</ref> Long-grain rice, from the ''Indica'' cultivar, tends to stay intact on cooking, and is dry and fluffy. The [[aromatic rice]] varieties, such as [[basmati rice|basmati]] and [[jasmine rice|jasmine]], are widely used in Asian cooking, and distinguished by their bold and nutty flavor profile.<ref name="pro">{{cite web|url=https://www.theculinarypro.com/rice-varieties|title=Rice varieties|website=The Culinery Pro}}</ref> Medium-grain rice, from either the ''Japonica'' or ''Indica'' cultivar, or a hybrid of both, is moist and tender and tends to stick together.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theperfectrice.com/medium-grain-rice/ |title=Exploring Medium-Grain Rice Varieties |website=The Perfect Rice |date=March 28, 2024 }}</ref> Its varieties include [[calrose rice|Calrose]], which founded the [[Rice production in the United States|Californian rice industry]], [[Carnaroli]], attributed as the ''king of Italian rice'' due to its excellent cooking properties,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Paolini |first1=David |last2=Vuga |first2=Michela |title=From Rice to Risotto |date=1999 |publisher=Cartago |isbn=978-1-900826-29-7}}</ref> and [[black rice]], which looks dark purple due to high levels of [[Anthocyanin|anthocyanins]], and is also known as ''forbidden rice'' as it was reserved for the consumption of the royal family in ancient China.<ref name="v161">{{cite journal | last1=Oikawa | first1=Tetsuo | last2=Maeda | first2=Hiroaki | last3=Oguchi | first3=Taichi | last4=Yamaguchi | first4=Takuya | last5=Tanabe | first5=Noriko | last6=Ebana | first6=Kaworu | last7=Yano | first7=Masahiro | last8=Ebitani | first8=Takeshi | last9=Izawa | first9=Takeshi | title=The Birth of a Black Rice Gene and Its Local Spread by Introgression | journal=The Plant Cell | publisher=Oxford University Press (OUP) | volume=27 | issue=9 | year=2015 | issn=1040-4651 | doi=10.1105/tpc.15.00310 | doi-access=free | pages=2401–2414| pmid=26362607 | pmc=4815089 | bibcode=2015PlanC..27.2401O }}</ref> Short-grain rice, primarily from the ''Japonica'' cultivar, has an oval appearance and sticky texture. It is featured heavily in Japanese cooking such as sushi (with rice such as ''[[Koshihikari]]'', ''Hatsushimo'', and ''[[Sasanishiki]]'', unique to different regions of climate and geography in Japan),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sushiuniversity.jp/basicknowledge/rice|title=What rice to use for sushi?|publisher=Tabimori Incorporated, Japan}}</ref> as it keeps its shape when cooked. It is also used for sweet dishes such as [[mochi]] (with [[glutinous rice]]), and in [[European cuisine]] such as [[risotto]] (with [[arborio rice]]) and [[paella]] (with [[bomba rice]], which is actually an ''Indica'' variety).<ref name="pro"/><!--'Food'--> Cooked white rice contains 29% [[carbohydrate]] and 2% protein, with some [[manganese]].<!--'Nutrition'--> [[Golden rice]] is a variety produced by [[genetic engineering]] to contain [[vitamin A]].<!--'Golden rice'-->

Production of rice is estimated to have caused over 1% of global [[greenhouse gas emissions]] in 2022. Predictions of how rice yields will be affected by climate change vary across geographies and socioeconomic contexts. In human culture, rice plays a role in various religions and traditions, such as in [[wedding]]s.<!--'In human culture'-->

== Description ==

The rice plant can grow to over {{cvt|1|m|ft|0}} tall; if in deep water, it can reach a length of {{cvt|5|m|ft|0}}. From seed to harvest, it takes about six months.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/easy-ways-enjoy-whole-grains/grain-month-calendar/wild-rice-september-grain-month-0|title=Types of rice|website=Oldways Whole Grains Council|access-date=April 17, 2025|archive-date=January 17, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117165613/https://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/easy-ways-enjoy-whole-grains/grain-month-calendar/wild-rice-september-grain-month-0|url-status=live}}</ref> A single plant may have several leafy stems or [[Tiller (botany)|tillers]]. The upright stem is jointed with [[Node (botany)|nodes]] along its length; a long slender leaf arises from each node.<ref name="RBG Kew botany">{{Cite web |title=Oryza sativa L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:316812-2/general-information |access-date=December 6, 2023 |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] |archive-date=December 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207180149/https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:316812-2/general-information |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Autogamy|self-fertile]] flowers are produced in a [[panicle]], a branched [[inflorescence]] which arises from the last internode on the stem. There can be up to 350 [[spikelet]]s in a panicle, each containing male and female flower parts ([[anther]]s and [[ovule]]). A fertilised ovule develops into the edible grain or [[caryopsis]].<ref name="Rice Hub">{{cite web |title=The Rice Plant |url=http://www.ricehub.org/RT/crop-establishment/-the-rice-plant/ |website=Rice Hub |access-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-date=December 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205124935/http://www.ricehub.org/RT/crop-establishment/-the-rice-plant/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rice is a cereal belonging to the family [[Poaceae]]. As a [[Tropics|tropical]] crop, it can be grown during the two distinct seasons (dry and wet) of the year provided that sufficient water is made available.<ref name="Kawure Garba Fagam 2022">{{cite journal |last1=Kawure |first1=S. |last2=Garba |first2=A.A. |last3=Fagam |first3=A.S. |last4=Shuaibu |first4=Y.M. |last5=Sabo |first5=M.U. |last6=Bala |first6=R.A. |title=Performance of Lowland Rice (Oryza sativa L.) as Influenced by Combine Effect of Season and Sowing Pattern in Zigau |journal=Journal of Rice Research and Developments |date=31 December 2022 |volume=5 |issue=2 |doi=10.36959/973/440 |doi-access=free }}</ref> It is normally an annual, but in the tropics it can survive as a [[perennial]], producing a [[ratoon]] crop.<ref name="IRRI rice plant">{{Cite web |title=The Rice Plant and How it Grows |url=http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/riceIPM/IPM_Information/PestEcologyBasics/CropGrowthAndPestDamage/RicePlantHowItGrows/The_Rice_plant_and_How_it_Grows.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106224427/http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/riceIPM/IPM_Information/PestEcologyBasics/CropGrowthAndPestDamage/RicePlantHowItGrows/The_Rice_plant_and_How_it_Grows.htm |archive-date=January 6, 2009 |website=[[International Rice Research Institute]]}}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed widths=200 heights=200>
File:Koeh-232.jpg|Anatomy of rice flowers: [[spikelet]] (left), plant with [[Tiller (botany)|tillers]] (centre), [[caryopsis]] (top right), [[panicle]] (right)
File:Oryza sativa of Kadavoor.jpg|Detail of rice plant showing flowers grouped in panicle. Male [[anther]]s protrude into the air where they can disperse their [[pollen]].
</gallery>

== Agronomy ==

=== Growing ===

Like all crops, rice depends for its growth on both biotic and abiotic environmental factors. The principal biotic factors are crop variety, [[Pest (organism)|pests]], and [[plant disease]]s. Abiotic factors include the soil type, whether lowland or upland, amount of rain or irrigation water, temperature, [[Photoperiodism|day length]], and intensity of sunlight.<ref name="Verheye 2010">{{cite book |last=Beighley |first=Donn H. |title=Soils, Plant Growth and Crop Production Volume II |chapter=Growth and Production of Rice |editor-last=Verheye |editor-first=Willy H. |date=2010 |publisher=[[EOLSS]] Publishers |isbn=978-1-84826-368-0 |url=https://www.eolss.net/ebooklib/bookinfo/soils-plant-growth-crop-production.aspx |page=49 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |access-date=November 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511044506/https://www.eolss.net/ebooklib/bookinfo/soils-plant-growth-crop-production.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rice grains can be planted directly into the field where they will grow, or seedlings can be grown in a seedbed and transplanted into the field. Direct seeding needs some 60 to 80&nbsp;kg of grain per hectare, while transplanting needs less, around 40&nbsp;kg per hectare, but requires far more labour.<ref name="IRRI planting">{{cite web |url=http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/growth/planting |title=How to plant rice |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |access-date=December 29, 2023 |archive-date=December 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229153536/http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/growth/planting }}</ref> Most rice in Asia is transplanted by hand. Mechanical transplanting takes less time but requires a carefully prepared field and seedlings raised on mats or in trays to fit the machine.<ref name="IRRI transplanting">{{cite web |url=http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/growth/planting/transplanting |title=Transplanting |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |access-date=December 29, 2023 |archive-date=December 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229153537/http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/growth/planting/transplanting }}</ref> Rice does not thrive if continuously submerged.<ref name="Cornell 2011">{{cite web |last=Uphoff |first=Norman |url=https://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/extmats/philmanual.pdf |title=More rice with less water through SRI - the System of Rice Intensification |publisher=[[Cornell University]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226111455/https://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/extmats/philmanual.pdf |archive-date=December 26, 2011 |access-date=May 13, 2012 }}</ref> Rice can be grown in different environments, depending upon water availability. The usual arrangement is for lowland fields to be surrounded by [[Bunding|bunds]] and flooded to a depth of a few centimetres until around a week before harvest time; this requires a large amount of water. The "alternate wetting and drying" technique uses less water. One form of this is to flood the field to a depth of 5&nbsp;cm (2&nbsp;in), then to let the water level drop to 15&nbsp;cm (6&nbsp;in) below surface level, as measured by looking into a perforated field water tube sunk into the soil, and then repeating the cycle.<ref name="IRRI water mgmt">{{cite web |url=http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/growth/water-management |title=Water Management |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |access-date=November 4, 2023 |archive-date=November 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104113412/http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/growth/water-management |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Deepwater rice]] varieties tolerate flooding to a depth of over 50 centimetres for at least a month.<ref>{{cite book |last=Catling |first=David |chapter=Deepwater Rice Cultures in the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin |title=Rice in Deep Water |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |year=1992 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5JxwKx1RAgC&pg=PA230 |isbn=978-971-22-0005-2 |page=2}}</ref> [[Upland rice]] is grown without flooding, in hilly or mountainous regions; it is [[rainfed]] like wheat or maize.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Phool Chand |last2=O'Toole |first2=J. C. O'Toole |year=1986 |title=Upland Rice: A Global Perspective |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |isbn=978-971-10-4172-4}}</ref>

{{multiple image |align=center |caption_align=center |total_width=840 |image_gap=10 |image_style=border:none;
|image1=Kerbau Jawa.jpg |caption1=Ploughing a rice terrace with [[Domestic buffalo|water buffaloes]] in [[Java]]
|image2=Cambodian farmers planting rice.jpg |caption2=Farmers planting rice by hand in [[Cambodia]]
|image3=Rice-planting-machine 2,katori-city,japan.JPG |caption3=Mechanised rice planting in Japan
|image4=Pana Banaue Rice Terraces (Cropped).jpg |caption4=Ancient mountainside [[Banaue Rice Terraces|rice terraces at Banaue]], Philippines
}}

=== Harvesting ===

Across Asia, unmilled rice or "paddy" (Indonesian and Malay {{lang|id|padi}}), was traditionally the product of [[smallholder]] agriculture, with manual [[harvest]]ing. Larger farms make use of machines such as [[combine harvester]]s to reduce the input of labour.<ref name="IRRI Harvesting systems">{{cite web |title=Harvesting systems |url=http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/postharvest/harvesting/harvesting-systems |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |access-date=January 3, 2024 |archive-date=January 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103095241/http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/postharvest/harvesting/harvesting-systems |url-status=live }}</ref> The grain is ready to harvest when the moisture content is 20–25%. Harvesting involves [[reaping]], stacking the cut stalks, [[threshing]] to separate the grain, and cleaning by [[winnowing]] or [[sieve|screening]].<ref name="IRRI Harvesting">{{cite web |title=Harvesting |url=http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/postharvest/harvesting#guidelines-on-proper-harvesting |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |access-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206070736/http://knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/postharvest/harvesting#guidelines-on-proper-harvesting |url-status=live }}</ref> The rice grain is dried as soon as possible to bring the moisture content down to a level that is safe from mould fungi. Traditional drying relies on the heat of the sun, with the grain spread out on mats or on pavements.<ref name="IRRI Drying">{{cite web |title=Drying |url=http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/postharvest/drying |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |access-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206081123/http://knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/postharvest/drying }}</ref>

{{multiple image |align=center |caption_align=center |total_width=840 |image_gap=10 |image_style=border:none; 
|image1=Rice-combine-harvester, Katori-city, Japan.jpg |caption1=Rice [[combine harvester]] in [[Chiba Prefecture]], Japan 
|image2=Rice farmers Mae Wang Chiang Mai Province.jpg |caption2=After the harvest, rice straw is gathered in the traditional way from small paddy fields in [[Mae Wang]], Thailand
|image3=NP India burning 48 (6315309342).jpg |caption3=Burning of rice residues to prepare the land for [[wheat]] planting in [[Sangrur]], India
|image4=Nellu.JPG |caption4=Drying rice in [[Peravoor]], India
}}

== Evolution ==

=== Phylogeny ===

{{further|Oryza sativa}}

The edible rice species are members of the [[BOP clade]] within the grass family, the [[Poaceae]]. The rice subfamily, [[Oryzoideae]], is sister to the bamboos, [[Bambusoideae]], and the cereal subfamily [[Pooideae]]. The rice genus ''Oryza'' is one of eleven in the Oryzeae; it is sister to the [[Phyllorachideae]]. The edible rice species ''O. sativa'' and ''O. glaberrima'' are among some 300 species or subspecies in the genus.<ref name="Soreng Peterson 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Soreng |first1=Robert J. |last2=Peterson |first2=Paul M. |last3=Romaschenko |first3=Konstantin |last4=Davidse |first4=Gerrit |last5=Teisher |first5=Jordan K. |last6=Clark |first6=Lynn G. |last7=Barberá |first7=Patricia |last8=Gillespie |first8=Lynn J. |last9=Zuloaga |first9=Fernando O. |title=A worldwide phylogenetic classification of the Poaceae (Gramineae) II: An update and a comparison of two 2015 classifications |journal=[[Journal of Systematics and Evolution]] |volume=55 |issue=4 |year=2017 |pages=259–290 |doi=10.1111/jse.12262 |bibcode=2017JSyEv..55..259S |doi-access=free |hdl=10261/240149 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

{{clade
|label1=[[Poaceae]]
|1={{clade
   |1=other grasses
   |2={{clade
      |label1=[[PACMAD clade]]
      |1=(inc. the [[C4 carbon fixation|C4 grasses]], [[maize]], [[sorghum]])
      |label2=[[BOP clade]]
      |2={{clade
         |label1=[[Oryzoideae]]
         |1={{clade
            |1=[[Streptogyneae]]
            |2={{clade
               |1=[[Ehrharteae]]
               |2={{clade
                  |1=[[Phyllorachideae]]
                  |label2=[[Oryzeae]]
                  |2={{clade
                     |1=Wild rices inc. ''[[Zizania]]''
                     |label2=''[[Oryza]]''
                     |2={{clade
                        |1=other rice species and subspecies
                        |2='''''[[Oryza sativa|O. sativa]]''''' (Asian rice)
                        |3='''''[[Oryza glaberrima|O. glaberrima]]''''' (African rice)
                        }}
                     }}
                  }}
               }}
            }}
         |2={{clade
            |1=[[Bambusoideae]] (bamboos)
               |2=[[Pooideae]] (grasses and cereals inc. [[wheat]], [[barley]])
            }}
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}

{{Anchor|Domestication}}

=== History ===

{{main |History of rice cultivation}}

[[File:KITLV_40091_-_Kassian_Céphas_-_Relief_of_the_hidden_base_of_Borobudur_-_1890-1891.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Bas-relief of 9th century [[Borobudur]] in Indonesia describes [[rice barn]]s and rice plants infested by mice.]]

''[[Oryza sativa]]'' rice was first [[Domestication|domesticated]] in [[Neolithic China|China]] 9,000 years ago,<ref name="Fornasiero Wing Ronald 2022">{{cite journal |last1=Fornasiero |first1=Alice |last2=Wing |first2=Rod A. |last3=Ronald |first3=Pamela |title=Rice domestication |journal=[[Current Biology]] |date=January 2022 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=R20–R24 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2021.11.025 |pmid=35015986 |bibcode=2022CBio...32..R20F |hdl=10754/674966 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> by people of [[Neolithic]] cultures in the [[Upper Yangtze|Upper]] and [[Lower Yangtze]], associated with [[Hmong–Mien]] speakers and [[pre-Austronesians]], respectively.<ref name="Bellwood2011">{{cite journal |last1=Bellwood |first1=Peter |title=The Checkered Prehistory of Rice Movement Southwards as a Domesticated Cereal—from the Yangzi to the Equator |journal=Rice |date=December 2011 |volume=4 |issue=3–4 |pages=93–103 |doi=10.1007/s12284-011-9068-9 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2011Rice....4...93B |hdl=1885/58842 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="He2017">{{cite journal |last1=He |first1=Keyang |last2=Lu |first2=Houyuan |last3=Zhang |first3=Jianping |last4=Wang |first4=Can |last5=Huan |first5=Xiujia |title=Prehistoric evolution of the dualistic structure mixed rice and millet farming in China |journal=[[The Holocene]] |date=December 2017 |volume=27 |issue=12 |pages=1885–1898 |doi=10.1177/0959683617708455 |bibcode=2017Holoc..27.1885H }}</ref><ref name="Hsieh2011">{{cite journal |last1=Hsieh |first1=Jaw-shu |last2=Hsing |first2=Yue-ie Caroline |last3=Hsu |first3=Tze-fu |last4=Li |first4=Paul Jen-kuei |last5=Li |first5=Kuang-ti |last6=Tsang |first6=Cheng-hwa |date=December 24, 2011 |title=Studies on Ancient Rice—Where Botanists, Agronomists, Archeologists, Linguists, and Ethnologists Meet |journal=Rice |volume=4 |issue=3–4 |pages=178–183 |doi=10.1007/s12284-011-9075-x |doi-access=free |bibcode=2011Rice....4..178H }}</ref><ref name="Zhang2008">{{cite journal |last1=Chi |first1=Zhang |last2=Hung |first2=Hsiao-Chun |title=The Neolithic of Southern China—Origin, Development, and Dispersal |journal=[[Asian Perspectives]] |date=2008 |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=299–329 |id={{Gale|A191316867}} {{Project MUSE|257900}} |jstor=42928744 |doi=10.1353/asi.0.0004 |hdl=10125/17291 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The functional [[allele]] for [[Shattering (agriculture)|nonshattering]], the critical indicator of domestication in grains, as well as five other [[single-nucleotide polymorphism]]s, is identical in both ''indica'' and ''[[Japonica rice|japonica]]''. This implies a single domestication event for ''O. sativa''.<ref name="Vaughan Lu Tomooka 2008"/> Both ''indica'' and ''[[Japonica rice|japonica]]'' forms of Asian rice sprang from a single domestication event in China from the wild rice ''[[Oryza rufipogon]]''.<ref name="Molina Sikora Garud 2011">{{Cite journal |last1=Molina |first1=J. |last2=Sikora |first2=M. |last3=Garud |first3=N. |last4=Flowers |first4=J. M. |last5=Rubinstein |first5=S. |last6=Reynolds |first6=A. |last7=Huang |first7=P. |last8=Jackson |first8=S. |last9=Schaal |first9=B. A. |last10=Bustamante |first10=C. D. |last11=Boyko |first11=A. R. |display-authors=5 |year=2011 |title=Molecular evidence for a single evolutionary origin of domesticated rice |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=108 |issue=20 |pages=8351–8356 |bibcode=2011PNAS..108.8351M |doi=10.1073/pnas.1104686108 |pmc=3101000 |pmid=21536870 |last12=Purugganan |first12=M. D. |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Vaughan Lu Tomooka 2008">{{cite journal |last1=Vaughan |first1=Duncan A. |last2=Lu |first2=Bao-Rong |last3=Tomooka |first3=Norihiko |title=The evolving story of rice evolution |journal=Plant Science |date=April 2008 |volume=174 |issue=4 |pages=394–408 |doi=10.1016/j.plantsci.2008.01.016 |bibcode=2008PlnSc.174..394V }}</ref> Despite this evidence, it appears that ''indica'' rice arose when ''japonica'' arrived in India about 4,500 years ago and hybridised with another rice, whether an undomesticated proto-''indica'' or wild ''[[Oryza nivara|O. nivara]]''.<ref name="Choi 2017">{{cite journal |last=Choi |first=Jae |display-authors=etal |year=2017 |title=The Rice Paradox: Multiple Origins but Single Domestication in Asian Rice |journal=[[Molecular Biology and Evolution]] |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=969–979 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msx049 |pmc=5400379 |pmid=28087768}}</ref>

Rice was introduced early into [[Sino-Tibetan]] cultures in northern China by around 6000 to 5600 years ago,<ref name="Zhang2012">{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Jianping |last2=Lu |first2=Houyuan |last3=Gu |first3=Wanfa |last4=Wu |first4=Naiqin |last5=Zhou |first5=Kunshu |last6=Hu |first6=Yayi |last7=Xin |first7=Yingjun |last8=Wang |first8=Can |last9=Kashkush |first9=Khalil |display-authors=5 |date=December 17, 2012 |title=Early Mixed Farming of Millet and Rice 7800 Years Ago in the Middle Yellow River Region, China |journal=[[PLOS One]] |volume=7 |issue=12 |article-number=e52146 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...752146Z |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0052146 |pmc=3524165 |pmid=23284907 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Fuller2011">{{cite journal |last1=Fuller |first1=Dorian Q. |title=Pathways to Asian Civilizations: Tracing the Origins and Spread of Rice and Rice Cultures |journal=Rice |date=December 2011 |volume=4 |issue=3–4 |pages=78–92 |doi=10.1007/s12284-011-9078-7 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2011Rice....4...78F }}</ref><ref name="He2017"/> and to the [[Korea]]n peninsula and [[Japan]] by around 5500 to 3200 years ago.<ref name="Crawford and Shen 1998">{{cite journal |last1=Crawford |last2=Shen |year=1998 |title=The Origins of rice agriculture: recent progress in East Asia |journal=Antiquity |volume=72 |issue=278 |pages=858–866 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00087494 |s2cid=162486123 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Crawford |first1=G. W. |last2=Lee |first2=G.-A. |date=March 2003 |title=Agricultural Origins in the Korean Peninsula |journal=Antiquity |volume=77 |issue=295 |pages=87–95 |doi=10.1017/s0003598x00061378 |s2cid=163060564 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref> It was also carried into [[Taiwan]] by the [[Dapenkeng]] culture by 5500 to 4000 years ago, before spreading southwards via the [[Austronesian expansion|Austronesian migrations]] to [[Island Southeast Asia]], [[Madagascar]], and [[Guam]], but did not survive the voyage to the rest of the Pacific.<ref name="Bellwood2011"/><ref name="Beaujard2011">{{cite journal |last1=Beaujard |first1=Philippe |title=The first migrants to Madagascar and their introduction of plants: linguistic and ethnological evidence |journal=Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa |date=August 2011 |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=169–189 |doi=10.1080/0067270X.2011.580142 |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00706173/file/Beaujard.azania2.pdf |archive-date=July 31, 2019 |access-date=June 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731163547/https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00706173/file/Beaujard.azania2.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Carson2012">{{cite journal |last1=Carson |first1=Mike T. |date=2012 |title=An overview of latte period archaeology |url=https://micronesica.org/sites/default/files/1_carson1-79sm.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Micronesica |volume=42 |issue=1/2 |pages=1–79 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412090641/https://micronesica.org/sites/default/files/1_carson1-79sm.pdf |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |access-date=January 25, 2019}}</ref> It reached [[Austroasiatic]] and [[Kra-Dai]] speakers in [[Mainland Southeast Asia]] and southern China by 5000 years ago.<ref name="Bellwood2011" /><ref name="Higham2015">{{cite journal |last1=Higham |first1=Charles F. W. |last2=Douka |first2=Katerina |last3=Higham |first3=Thomas F. G. |last4=Hart |first4=John P. |date=September 18, 2015 |title=A New Chronology for the Bronze Age of Northeastern Thailand and Its Implications for Southeast Asian Prehistory |journal=[[PLOS One]] |volume=10 |issue=9 |article-number=e0137542 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1037542H |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0137542 |pmc=4575132 |pmid=26384011 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Rice spread around the rest of the world through cultivation, migration and trade, eventually to the Americas as part of the [[Columbian exchange]] after 1492.<ref name="Choi 2019"/> The now less common ''[[Oryza glaberrima]]'' (African rice) was independently domesticated in Africa around 3,000 years ago,<ref name="Choi 2019">{{Cite journal |last=Choi |first=Jae Young |date=March 7, 2019 |title=The complex geography of domestication of the African rice Oryza glaberrima |journal=[[PLOS Genetics]] |volume=15 |issue=3 |article-number=e1007414 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1007414 |pmc=6424484 |pmid=30845217 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and introduced to the Americas by the Spanish.<ref name="National Academies Press 1996">{{cite book |author=National Research Council |url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2305 |title=Lost Crops of Africa: Volume I: Grains |publisher=[[National Academies Press]] |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-309-04990-0 |volume=1 |chapter=African Rice |doi=10.17226/2305 | bibcode=1996nap..book.2305N |access-date=July 18, 2008 |chapter-url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2305&page=17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122104044/http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2305 |archive-date=January 22, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> In [[British North America]] by the time of the start of the [[American War of Independence]], rice had become the fourth most valuable export commodity behind only tobacco, wheat, and fish.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morgan |first=Kenneth |date=July 1995 |title=The Organization of the Colonial American Rice Trade |journal=[[The William and Mary Quarterly]] |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=433–452 |doi=10.2307/2947294 |jstor=2947294 }}</ref>

== Commerce ==
{{owidslider
|start        = 2023
|list         = Template:OWID/rice production#gallery
|location      = commons
|caption      =
|title        =
|language     =
|file         = [[File:rice production, World, 2023 (cropped).svg|link=|thumb|upright=1.6|Rice production]]
|startingView = World
}}

{{Table alignment}}
{| class="wikitable floatright col2right" 
! colspan=2|Rice production – 2023
|-
|{{IND}}||[[Rice production in India|207]]
|-
|{{CHN}}||[[Rice production in China|207]]
|-
|{{BGD}} ||[[Rice production in Bangladesh|59]]
|-
|{{IDN}} ||[[Rice production in Indonesia|54]]
|-
|{{VNM}} ||[[Rice production in Vietnam|43]]
|-
|{{THA}} ||[[Rice production in Thailand|33]]
|-
|'''World''' ||'''800'''<ref name="faostat">{{cite web |date=2023 |title=Rice production in 2023; Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity/Year (from pick lists) |url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC |access-date=October 27, 2025 |publisher=[[FAOSTAT]], UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database}}</ref>
|}

=== Production ===

{{ See also|List of countries by rice production }}

In 2023, world production of rice was 800 million [[tonne]]s, led by China and India with a combined 52% of the total.<ref name="faostat"/> This placed rice third in the list of crops by production, after [[sugarcane]] and [[maize]].<ref name="faostat"/> Other major producers were [[Bangladesh]], [[Indonesia]] and [[Vietnam]].<ref name="faostat"/> 90% of world production is from Asia.<ref name="Fukagawa Ziska 2019 pp. S2–S3"/>

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" heights="300" widths="450">
File:World production of primary crops by main commodities.svg|World production of primary crops by main commodities<ref>{{Cite book |last=FAO |url=https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cd4313en |title=World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2025 |date=2025 |publisher=FAO |isbn=978-92-5-140174-3 |language=English |doi=10.4060/cd4313en}}</ref>
File:Production of rice (2023).svg|Production of rice<ref>{{Cite book |last=FAO |url=https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cd4313en |title=World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2025 |date=2025 |publisher=FAO |isbn=978-92-5-140174-3 |language=English |doi=10.4060/cd4313en}}</ref>
</gallery>

=== Yield records ===

The average world yield for rice was {{convert|4.7|MT/ha|ST/acre|abbr=off}}, in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=FAOSTAT: Production-Crops, 2022 data |publisher=United Nations [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |year=2022 |url=http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=567#ancor |access-date=January 12, 2012 |archive-date=June 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619130038/http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=567#ancor }}</ref> [[Yuan Longping]] of China's National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center set a world record for rice yield in 1999<!--do not change this, it was a record at the time, see source--> at {{convert|17.1<!--historic record, top page of Yuan 2010-->|MT/ha|ST/acre|abbr=off}} on a demonstration plot. This employed specially developed hybrid rice and the [[System of Rice Intensification]] (SRI), an innovation in rice farming.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Scientist's Perspective on Experience with SRI in China for Raising the Yields of Super Hybrid Rice |year=2010 |last=Yuan |first=Longping |author-link=Yuan Longping |publisher=[[Cornell University]] |url=https://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/proc1/sri_06.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120010557/http://ciifad.cornell.edu/sri/proc1/sri_06.pdf |archive-date=November 20, 2011}}</ref>

=== Food security ===

Rice is a major food staple in Asia, Latin America, and some parts of Africa,<ref name="Nat Geog Food Staple">{{cite web |title=Food Staple |url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/food-staple/ |publisher=[[National Geographic]] Education |access-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-date=August 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831171422/https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/food-staple/ |url-status=live }}</ref> feeding over half the world's population.<ref name="Fukagawa Ziska 2019 pp. S2–S3">{{cite journal |last1=Fukagawa |first1=Naomi K. |last2=Ziska |first2=Lewis H. |title=Rice: Importance for Global Nutrition |journal=Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology |volume=65 |issue=Supplement |date=October 11, 2019 |doi=10.3177/jnsv.65.S2 |pages=S2–S3 |pmid=31619630 |doi-access=free }}</ref> However, a substantial part of the crop can be lost post-harvest through inefficient transportation, storage, and milling. A quarter of the crop in Nigeria is lost after harvest. Storage losses include damage by [[Mold|mould]] fungi if the rice is not dried sufficiently. In China, losses in modern metal [[silo]]s were just 0.2%, compared to 7–13% when rice was stored by rural households.<ref name="Kumar Kalita 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Deepak |last2=Kalita |first2=Prasanta |title=Reducing Postharvest Losses during Storage of Grain Crops to Strengthen Food Security in Developing Countries |journal=[[Foods (journal)|Foods]] |volume=6 |issue=1 |date=January 15, 2017 |pmid=28231087 |pmc=5296677 |doi=10.3390/foods6010008 |doi-access=free |page=8}}</ref>

=== Processing === <!-- This section is linked from [[Polished rice]] -->

{|class="wikitable floatright" style="font-size:85%;text-align:left;width:25em;"
|-style="text-align:center;"
| colspan=2 | [[File:Rice Animation.gif|frameless|upright=1.15|alt=Five-step animation showing the removal of successive layers from raw rice grains, starting with the grain with its inedible hull and ending with polished white rice.]]<br/>[[#Processing|Rice processing]] removes one or more layers to create marketable products. 
|-
|<ol style="list-style-type:upper-alpha;">
<li>Rice with [[chaff]]</li>
<li>[[Brown rice]]</li>
<li>Rice with [[Cereal germ|germ]]</li>
<li>[[White rice]] with [[bran]] [[Crop residue|residue]]</li>
<li>Polished</li>
</ol>
|<ol>
<li>[[Chaff]]</li>
<li>[[Bran]]</li>
<li>Bran [[Crop residue|residue]]</li>
<li>[[Cereal germ]]</li>
<li>[[Endosperm]]</li>
</ol>
|}

The dry grain is milled to remove the outer layers, namely the [[husk]] and [[bran]]. These can be removed in a single step, in two steps, or as in commercial milling in a multi-step process of cleaning, dehusking, separation, polishing, grading, and weighing.<ref name="IRRI Milling">{{cite web |title=Milling |url=http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/postharvest/milling |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |access-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-date=December 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215150726/http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/postharvest/milling |url-status=live }}</ref> Brown rice only has the inedible husk removed.<ref name="RA varieties"/> Further milling removes bran and the germ to create successively whiter products.<ref name="RA varieties"/> [[Parboiled rice]] is subjected to a steaming process before it is milled. This makes the grain harder, and moves some of the grain's [[vitamin]]s and [[Mineral (nutrient)|minerals]] into the white part of the rice so these are retained after milling.<ref name="RA varieties">{{cite web |title=Types of rice |publisher=Rice Association |url=http://www.riceassociation.org.uk/content/1/10/varieties.html |access-date=August 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802162740/http://www.riceassociation.org.uk/content/1/10/varieties.html |archive-date=August 2, 2018 }}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed heights=150>
File:Stages of rice milling.jpg|Unmilled to milled [[Japanese rice]], from left to right, [[brown rice]], rice with [[Cereal germ|germ]], [[white rice]]
</gallery>

=== Trade ===

World trade figures are much smaller than those for production, as less than 8% of rice produced is traded internationally. China, an exporter of rice in the early 2000s, had become the world's largest importer of rice by 2013.<ref name="Cendrowski 2013">{{cite web |last=Cendrowski |first=Scott |date=July 25, 2013 |title=The Rice Rush |website=Fortune |url=https://fortune.com/2013/07/25/the-rice-rush/ |access-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104154303/https://fortune.com/2013/07/25/the-rice-rush/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Developing countries are the main players in the world rice trade; by 2012, India was the largest exporter of rice, with Thailand and Vietnam the other largest exporters.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/10/30/india-and-the-price-of-rice/#axzz2d3SGzLpN |last=Chilkoti |first=A. |title=India and the Price of Rice |newspaper=[[Financial Times]] |location=London |date=October 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120052047/http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/10/30/india-and-the-price-of-rice/#axzz2d3SGzLpN |archive-date=January 20, 2013 }}</ref>

=== Worldwide consumption ===

As of 2016, the countries that consumed the most rice were China (29% of total), India, and Indonesia.<ref name="Grain Central">{{cite web |title=Global rice consumption continues to grow |url=https://www.graincentral.com/cropping/global-rice-consumption-continues-to-grow/ |publisher=Grain Central |access-date=December 5, 2023 |date=March 26, 2018}}</ref> By 2020, Bangladesh had taken third place from Indonesia. On an annual average from 2020 to 2023, China consumed 154 million tonnes of rice, India consumed 109 million tonnes, and Bangladesh and Indonesia consumed about 36 million tonnes each. Across the world, rice consumption per capita fell in the 21st century as people in Asia and elsewhere ate less grain and more meat. An exception is Sub-Saharan Africa, where both per capita consumption of rice and population are increasing.<ref name="usda">{{cite web |title=Rice Sector at a Glance |url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/rice/rice-sector-at-a-glance |publisher=Economic Research Service, [[US Department of Agriculture]] |access-date=December 5, 2023 |date=September 27, 2023 |archive-date=December 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204155014/https://ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/rice/rice-sector-at-a-glance/#Global |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Food ==

{{main|Rice as food}}

=== Eating qualities ===

Rice is a commonly-eaten food around the world. The [[List of rice varieties|varieties of rice]] are typically classified as short-, medium-, and long-grained. ''Oryza sativa indica'' varieties are usually long-grained; ''Oryza sativa japonica'' varieties are usually short- or medium-grained. Short-grain rice, with the exception of Spanish Bomba, is usually sticky when cooked, and is suitable for puddings. Thai [[Jasmine rice]] is aromatic, and unusually for a long-grain rice has some stickiness, with a soft texture. Indian [[Basmati|Basmati rice]] is very long-grained and aromatic. Italian [[Arborio rice]], used for [[risotto]], is of medium length, oval, and quite sticky. Japanese [[sushi]] rice is a sticky short-grain variety.<ref name="Rice Association">{{cite web |title=Types of rice |url=https://www.riceassociation.org.uk/types-of-rice |publisher=The Rice Association |access-date=March 24, 2024 |archive-date=March 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324115843/https://www.riceassociation.org.uk/types-of-rice |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Nutrition ===

{{Infobox nutritional value
| name=Cooked white rice, medium-grain, unenriched
| water=69 g
| kJ=544
| protein=2.4 g
| fat=0.2 g
| carbs=28.6 g
| calcium_mg=3
| iron_mg=0.2
| magnesium_mg=13
| phosphorus_mg=37
| potassium_mg=29
| sodium_mg=0
| zinc_mg=0.4
| manganese_mg=0.38
| thiamin_mg=0.02
| riboflavin_mg=0.02
| niacin_mg=0.4
| pantothenic_mg=0.41
| vitB6_mg=0.05
| folate_ug=2
| note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168930/nutrients FoodData Central  entry]}}

Cooked white rice is 69% water, 29% [[carbohydrate]]s, 2% [[protein (nutrient)|protein]], and contains negligible [[fat]] (table). In a reference serving of {{convert|100|g}}, cooked white rice provides 130 [[calorie]]s of [[food energy]], and contains moderate levels of [[Manganese in biology|manganese]] (18% DV), with no other [[micronutrient]]s in significant content (all less than 10% of the [[Daily Value]]).<ref name="USDA FoodData Central">{{cite web |title=FoodData Central: Rice, white, medium-grain, cooked, unenriched |url=https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168930/nutrients |publisher=[[US Department of Agriculture]] |access-date=December 5, 2023 |date=April 2018 |archive-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523232832/https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/168930/nutrients |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2018, the [[World Health Organization]] strongly recommended [[food fortification|fortifying]] rice with [[iron]], and conditionally recommended fortifying it with [[vitamin A]] and with [[folic acid]].<ref name="whoguide">{{cite book |last1=L. M. |first1=De-Regil |last2=J. P. |first2=Peña-Rosas |last3=A. |first3=Laillou |last4=R. |first4=Moench-Pfanner |last5=L. A. |first5=Mejia |last6=A. M. |first6=Bower |last7=S. |first7=de Pee |last8=L. M. |first8=De-Regil |last9=P. S. |first9=Suchdev |last10=G. E. |first10=Vist |last11=S. |first11=Walleser |last12=J. P. |first12=Peña-Rosas |last13=N. B. |first13=Piccoli |last14=N. |first14=Grede |last15=S. |first15=de Pee |last16=A. |first16=Singhkumarwong |last17=E. |first17=Roks |last18=R. |first18=Moench-Pfanner |last19=M. W. |first19=Bloem |display-authors=5 |title=Guideline: Fortification of Rice with Vitamins and Minerals as a Public Health Strategy |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] |date=2018 |pmid=30307723 |isbn=978-92-4-155029-1 |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK531762/ |access-date=December 5, 2023 |archive-date=March 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321173909/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK531762/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rice does not contain [[gluten]], so is suitable for people on a [[gluten-free diet]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Niewinski |first1=Mary M. |title=Advances in Celiac Disease and Gluten-Free Diet |journal=Journal of the American Dietetic Association |date=April 2008 |volume=108 |issue=4 |pages=661–672 |doi=10.1016/j.jada.2008.01.011 |pmid=18375224 }}</ref> Rice is a good source of protein and a staple food in many parts of the world, but it is not a [[complete protein]] as it does not contain all of the [[essential amino acids]] in sufficient amounts for good health.<ref name="Wu Shi Zhang 2002">{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Jianguo G. |last2=Shi |first2=Chunhai |last3=Zhang |first3=Xiaoming |title=Estimating the amino acid composition in milled rice by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy |journal=Field Crops Research |date=March 2002 |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=1–7 |doi=10.1016/s0378-4290(02)00006-0 |bibcode=2002FCrRe..75....1W }}</ref>

=== Golden rice ===

{{main|Golden rice}}

Golden rice is a variety produced through [[genetic engineering]] to synthesize [[beta-carotene]], a precursor of vitamin A, in the [[endosperm]] of the rice grain. It is intended to be grown and eaten in parts of the world where [[Vitamin A deficiency]] is prevalent.<ref name="Golden Rice">{{cite web |title=Golden Rice Q&A |url=http://www.goldenrice.org/Content3-Why/why3_FAQ.php#Solution |publisher=Golden Rice Project |access-date=January 3, 2024 |archive-date=February 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214011041/https://www.goldenrice.org/Content3-Why/why3_FAQ.php#Solution |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Ye Al-Babili Klöti Zhang 2000 pp. 303–305">{{cite journal |last1=Ye |first1=Xudong |last2=Al-Babili |first2=Salim |last3=Klöti |first3=Andreas |last4=Zhang |first4=Jing |last5=Lucca |first5=Paola |last6=Beyer |first6=Peter |last7=Potrykus |first7=Ingo |author7-link=Ingo Potrykus |display-authors=5 |title=Engineering the Provitamin A (β-Carotene) Biosynthetic Pathway into (Carotenoid-Free) Rice Endosperm |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=287 |issue=5451 |date=January 14, 2000 |doi=10.1126/science.287.5451.303 |pages=303–305 |pmid=10634784 |bibcode=2000Sci...287..303Y |s2cid=40258379 }}</ref> Golden rice has been opposed by anti-GMO activists, such as in the [[Philippines]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Lynas |first=Mark |date=August 26, 2013 |title=Anti-GMO Activists Lie About Attack on Rice Crop (and About So Many Other Things) |url=https://slate.com/technology/2013/08/golden-rice-attack-in-philippines-anti-gmo-activists-lie-about-protest-and-safety.html |access-date=August 21, 2021 |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate Magazine]] |archive-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901014927/https://slate.com/technology/2013/08/golden-rice-attack-in-philippines-anti-gmo-activists-lie-about-protest-and-safety.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2016 more than 100 [[Nobel laureate]]s encouraged the use of [[genetically modified organism]]s, such as golden rice, for the benefits these could bring.<ref name="Roberts 2018">{{cite journal |last=Roberts |first=Richard J. |title=The Nobel Laureates' Campaign Supporting GMOs |journal=Journal of Innovation & Knowledge |volume=3 |issue=2 |date=2018 |doi=10.1016/j.jik.2017.12.006 |pages=61–65 |doi-access=free |hdl=10419/190730 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

== Rice and climate change ==

<!--- The first section is transcribed to [[greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture]], the second section is transcribed to [[effects of climate change on agriculture]]. -->
=== Greenhouse gases from rice production ===

[[File:NP Rice Emissions18 (5687953086).jpg|thumb|Scientists measuring the greenhouse gas emissions of rice]]

In 2022, [[greenhouse gas emissions]] from rice cultivation were estimated at 5.7 billion tonnes CO2eq, representing 1.2% of total emissions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sectors: Rice cultivation |url=https://climatetrace.org/sectors |access-date=December 7, 2023 |website=climatetrace.org |archive-date=December 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206062151/https://climatetrace.org/sectors |url-status=live }}</ref> Within the agriculture sector, rice produces almost half the greenhouse gas emissions from [[croplands]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Qian |first1=Haoyu |last2=Zhu |first2=Xiangchen |last3=Huang |first3=Shan |last4=Linquist |first4=Bruce |last5=Kuzyakov |first5=Yakov |last6=Wassmann |first6=Reiner |last7=Minamikawa |first7=Kazunori |last8=Martinez-Eixarch |first8=Maite |last9=Yan |first9=Xiaoyuan |last10=Zhou |first10=Feng |last11=Sander |first11=Bjoern Ole |last12=Zhang |first12=Weijian |last13=Shang |first13=Ziyin |last14=Zou |first14=Jianwen |last15=Zheng |first15=Xunhua |display-authors=5 |date=October 2023 |title=Greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation in rice agriculture |journal=[[Nature Reviews Earth & Environment]] |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=716–732 |doi=10.1038/s43017-023-00482-1 |bibcode=2023NRvEE...4..716Q |s2cid=263197017 |quote=Rice paddies ... account for ≈48% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from croplands.|hdl=20.500.12327/2431 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> some 30% of agricultural [[methane emissions]], and 11% of agricultural [[nitrous oxide]] emissions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gupta |first1=Khushboo |last2=Kumar |first2=Raushan |last3=Baruah |first3=Kushal Kumar |last4=Hazarika |first4=Samarendra |last5=Karmakar |first5=Susmita |last6=Bordoloi |first6=Nirmali |title=Greenhouse gas emission from rice fields: a review from Indian context |journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research International |volume=28 |issue=24 |pages=30551–30572 |date=June 2021 |pmid=33905059 |doi=10.1007/s11356-021-13935-1 |bibcode=2021ESPR...2830551G |s2cid=233403787 }}</ref> [[Methane]] is released from rice fields subject to long-term flooding, as this inhibits the soil from absorbing atmospheric oxygen, resulting in [[anaerobic fermentation]] of organic matter in the soil.<ref name="heinz">{{cite journal |last1=Neue |first1=Heinz-Ulrich |title=Methane Emission from Rice Fields |journal=[[BioScience]] |date=1993 |volume=43 |issue=7 |pages=466–474 |doi=10.2307/1311906 |jstor=1311906 }}</ref> Emissions can be limited by planting new varieties, not flooding continuously, and removing straw.<ref name="Qian Zhu Huang 2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Qian |first1=Haoyu |last2=Zhu |first2=Xiangchen |last3=Huang |first3=Shan |last4=Linquist |first4=Bruce |last5=Kuzyakov |first5=Yakov |last6=Wassmann |first6=Reiner |last7=Minamikawa |first7=Kazunori |last8=Martinez-Eixarch |first8=Maite |last9=Yan |first9=Xiaoyuan |last10=Zhou |first10=Feng |last11=Sander |first11=Bjoern Ole |last12=Zhang |first12=Weijian |last13=Shang |first13=Ziyin |last14=Zou |first14=Jianwen |last15=Zheng |first15=Xunhua |display-authors=5 |date=October 2023 |title=Greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation in rice agriculture |journal=Nature Reviews Earth & Environment |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=716–732 |doi=10.1038/s43017-023-00482-1 |bibcode=2023NRvEE...4..716Q |s2cid=263197017 |hdl=20.500.12327/2431 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

It is possible to cut methane emissions in rice cultivation by improved water management, combining dry seeding and one drawdown, or executing [[alternate wetting and drying|a sequence of wetting and drying]]. This results in emission reductions of up to 90% compared to full flooding and even increased yields.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Searchinger |first1=Tim |last2=Adhya |first2=Tapan K. |year=2014 |title=Wetting and Drying: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Saving Water from Rice Production |url=https://www.wri.org/research/wetting-and-drying-reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-saving-water-rice-production |publisher=[[World Resources Institute]] |access-date=May 3, 2024 |archive-date=June 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619223001/https://www.wri.org/research/wetting-and-drying-reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-saving-water-rice-production |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Effects of climate change on rice production ===

Predictions of climate change's effects on rice cultivation vary. Global rice yield has been projected to decrease by around 3.2% with each 1°C increase in global average temperature<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhao |first1=Chuang |last2=Liu |first2=Bing |last3=Piao |first3=Shilong |last4=Wang |first4=Xuhui |last5=Lobell |first5=David B. |last6=Huang |first6=Yao |last7=Huang |first7=Mengtian |last8=Yao |first8=Yitong |last9=Bassu |first9=Simona |last10=Ciais |first10=Philippe |last11=Durand |first11=Jean-Louis |last12=Elliott |first12=Joshua |last13=Ewert |first13=Frank |last14=Janssens |first14=Ivan A. |last15=Li |first15=Tao |display-authors=5 |date=August 29, 2017 |title=Temperature increase reduces global yields of major crops in four independent estimates |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=114 |issue=35 |pages=9326–9331 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1701762114 |doi-access=free |pmc=5584412 |pmid=28811375 |bibcode=2017PNAS..114.9326Z }}</ref> while another study predicts global rice cultivation will increase initially, plateauing at about 3°C warming (2091–2100 relative to 1850–1900).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Iizumi |first1=Toshichika |last2=Furuya |first2=Jun |last3=Shen |first3=Zhihong |last4=Kim |first4=Wonsik |last5=Okada |first5=Masashi |last6=Fujimori |first6=Shinichiro |last7=Hasegawa |first7=Tomoko |last8=Nishimori |first8=Motoki |display-authors=5 |date=August 10, 2017 |title=Responses of crop yield growth to global temperature and socioeconomic changes |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=7800 |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-08214-4 |pmid=28798370 |pmc=5552729 |bibcode=2017NatSR...7.7800I}}</ref><!--<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1017/9781009157988.007 |chapter=Food security |title=Climate Change and Land |date=2022 |pages=437–550 |isbn=978-1-009-15798-8 |author=Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change }}</ref>-->

The impacts of climate change on rice cultivation vary across geographic location and socioeconomic context. For example, rising temperatures and decreasing solar radiation during the later years of the 20th century decreased rice yield by between 10% and 20% across 200 farms in seven Asian countries. This may have been caused by increased night-time respiration.<ref name="Welch Vincent Auffhammer Moya 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Welch |first1=Jarrod R. |last2=Vincent |first2=Jeffrey R. |last3=Auffhammer |first3=Maximilian |last4=Moya |first4=Piedad F. |last5=Dobermann |first5=Achim |last6=Dawe |first6=David |title=Rice yields in tropical/subtropical Asia exhibit large but opposing sensitivities to minimum and maximum temperatures |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=107 |issue=33 |date=August 9, 2010 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1001222107 |pages=14562–14567 |pmid=20696908 |pmc=2930450 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Black 2010">{{cite web |last=Black |first=Richard |date=August 9, 2010 |title=Rice yields falling under global warming |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10918591 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405034821/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10918591 |archive-date=April 5, 2018 |access-date=August 9, 2010 |work=[[BBC News]]: Science & Environment}}</ref> IRRI has predicted that Asian rice yields will fall by some 20% per 1°C rise in global mean temperature. Further, rice is unable to yield grain if the flowers experience a temperature of 35°C or more for over one hour, so the crop would be lost under these conditions.<ref name="Singh 2016">{{cite journal |last=Singh |first=S.K. |date=2016 |title=Climate Change: Impact on Indian Agriculture & its Mitigation |journal=Journal of Basic and Applied Engineering Research |volume=3 |issue=10 |pages=857–859}}</ref><ref name="Rao Patil 2017">{{cite book |last1=Rao |first1=Prakash |last2=Patil |first2=Y. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=st52DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA330 |title=Reconsidering the Impact of Climate Change on Global Water Supply, Use, and Management |publisher=IGI Global |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-5225-1047-5 |page=330}}</ref>

In the [[Po Valley]] in Italy, the [[Arborio rice|arborio]] and [[carnaroli]] risotto rice varieties have suffered poor harvests through drought in the 21st century. The {{ill|Ente Nazionale Risi|it}} <!--(Italian rice research institute)--> is developing drought-resistant varieties; its ''nuovo prometeo'' variety has deep roots that enable it to tolerate drought, but is not suitable for risotto.<ref name="Spaggiari 2024">{{cite news |last=Spaggiari |first=Ottavia |title=Risotto crisis: the fight to save Italy's beloved dish from extinction |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/29/risotto-crisis-the-fight-to-save-italys-beloved-dish-from-extinction-aoe |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=February 29, 2024}}</ref>

{{Anchor|Pests}}

== Pests, weeds, and diseases ==

=== Pests and weeds ===

[[File:Chinese rice grasshopper (Oxya chinensis).jpg|thumb|Chinese rice grasshopper (''[[Oxya chinensis]]'')]]

Rice yield can be reduced by weed growth, and a wide variety of pests including insects, nematodes, rodents such as rats, snails, and birds.<ref name="IRRI Pests and diseases">{{cite web |title=Pests and diseases management |url=http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/training/fact-sheets/pest-management |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |access-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104145204/http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/training/fact-sheets/pest-management }}</ref> Major rice insect pests include armyworms, [[rice bug]]s, [[Scotinophara|black bugs]], cutworms, field crickets, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, mealybugs, and planthoppers.<ref name="IRRI Insects">{{cite web |title=Insects |url=http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/training/fact-sheets/pest-management/insects |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |access-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104145205/http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/training/fact-sheets/pest-management/insects }}</ref> High rates of [[nitrogen fertiliser]] application may worsen aphid outbreaks.<ref name="Jahn Almazan 2005">{{cite journal |last1=Jahn |first1=Gary C. |last2=Almazan |first2=Liberty P. |last3=Pacia |first3=Jocelyn B. |doi=10.1603/0046-225X-34.4.938 |title=Effect of Nitrogen Fertilizer on the Intrinsic Rate of Increase of ''Hysteroneura setariae'' (Thomas) (Homoptera: Aphididae) on Rice (''Oryza sativa'' L.) |year=2005 |s2cid=1941852 |journal=[[Environmental Entomology]] |volume=34 |issue=4 |page=938 |doi-access=free}}</ref> 
Weather conditions can contribute to pest outbreaks: [[Orseolia oryzae|rice gall midge]] outbreaks are worsened by high rainfall in the wet season, while [[Stenchaetothrips biformis|thrips]] outbreaks are associated with drought.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Douangboupha |first1=B. |last2=Khamphoukeo |first2=K. |last3=Inthavong |first3=S. |last4=Schiller |first4=J.M. |last5=Jahn |first5=G.C. |date=2006 |chapter-url=http://aciar.gov.au/files/node/756/Rice%20In%20Laos%20chapter%2016-25.pdf |chapter=Chapter 17: Pests and diseases of the rice production systems of Laos |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403052249/http://aciar.gov.au/files/node/756/Rice%20In%20Laos%20chapter%2016-25.pdf |archive-date=April 3, 2012 |pages=265–281 |editor-last=Schiller |editor-first=J.M. |editor2=Chanphengxay, M.B. |editor3=Linquist, B. |editor4=Rao, S.A. |title=Rice in Laos |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |location=[[Los Baños, Philippines]] |isbn=978-971-22-0211-7 }}</ref>

{{main|:Category:Insect pests of rice}}

=== Diseases ===

{{main|List of rice diseases}}

[[File:Rice blast.jpg|thumb|upright|Healthy rice (left) and rice with [[Magnaporthe grisea|rice blast]] ]]

[[Magnaporthe grisea|Rice blast]], caused by the fungus ''Magnaporthe grisea'', is the most serious disease of growing rice.<ref name="Dean Talbot Ebbole 2005">{{cite journal |display-authors=3 |last1=Dean |first1=Ralph A. |last2=Talbot |first2=Nicholas J. |last3=Ebbole |first3=Daniel J. |last4=Farman |first4=Mark L. |last5=Mitchell |first5=Thomas K. |last6=Orbach |first6=Marc J. |last7=Thon |first7=Michael |last8=Kulkarni |first8=Resham |last9=Xu |first9=Jin-Rong |last10=Pan |first10=Huaqin |title=The genome sequence of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=434 |issue=7036 |pages=980–986 |date=April 2005 |pmid=15846337 |doi=10.1038/nature03449 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2005Natur.434..980D }}</ref> 
It and [[bacterial leaf streak]] (caused by [[Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae|''Xanthomonas oryzae'' pv. ''oryzae'']]) are perennially the two worst rice diseases worldwide; they are both among the ten most important diseases of all crop plants.<ref name="Liu Liu Triplett Leach 2014">{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Wende |last2=Liu |first2=Jinling |last3=Triplett |first3=Lindsay |last4=Leach |first4=Jan E. |last5=Wang |first5=Guo-Liang |title=Novel Insights into Rice Innate Immunity Against Bacterial and Fungal Pathogens |journal=Annual Review of Phytopathology |volume=52 |issue=1 |date=August 4, 2014 |doi=10.1146/annurev-phyto-102313-045926 |pages=213–241|pmid=24906128 |bibcode=2014AnRvP..52..213L }}</ref> Other major rice diseases include [[sheath blight]] (caused by ''[[Rhizoctonia solani]]''), false smut (''[[Ustilaginoidea virens]]''), and bacterial panicle blight (''[[Burkholderia glumae]]'').<ref name="Liu Liu Triplett Leach 2014"/> Viral diseases include rice bunchy stunt, rice dwarf, rice [[tungro]], and rice yellow mottle.<ref name="Hibino-1996">{{cite journal |last=Hibino |first=H. |title=Biology and epidemiology of rice viruses |journal=[[Annual Review of Phytopathology]]|volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=249–274 |year=1996 |pmid=15012543 |doi=10.1146/annurev.phyto.34.1.249 |publisher=[[Annual Reviews (publisher)|Annual Reviews]] |bibcode=1996AnRvP..34..249H }}</ref>

Rice plants resist disease by mounting a defence with [[reactive oxygen species]] molecules at the site where pathogens are entering. The defence is launched when a [[pathogen-associated molecular pattern]] (PAMP) is detected, triggring a natural immune response (both PAMP-triggered immunity and [[effector-triggered immunity]]). Such immunity requires the gene Os-NADP-ME2. Rice blast fungus ''Magnaporthe oryzae'' uses its [[avirulence]] effector AVR-Pii<!--redirects here--> to inhibit the rice plant's [[NADP-malic enzyme]]. The effect is to suppress the plant's ability to create reactive oxygen species, which means that its innate immunity fails.<ref name="Singh Dangol Chen 2016">{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Raksha |last2=Dangol |first2=Sarmina |last3=Chen |first3=Yafei |last4=Choi |first4=Jihyun |last5=Cho |first5=Yoon-Seong |last6=Lee |first6=Jea-Eun |last7=Choi |first7=Mi-Ok |last8=Jwa |first8=Nam-Soo |title=Magnaporthe oryzae Effector AVR-Pii Helps to Establish Compatibility by Inhibition of the Rice NADP-Malic Enzyme Resulting in Disruption of Oxidative Burst and Host Innate Immunity |journal=Molecules and Cells |volume=39 |issue=5 |date=31 May 2016 |pmid=27126515 |pmc=4870191 |doi=10.14348/molcells.2016.0094 |doi-access=free |pages=426–438}}</ref>

=== Pest management ===

{{further|Integrated pest management|rice-duck farming}}

[[Crop protection]] scientists are developing [[Sustainable agriculture|sustainable]] techniques for managing rice pests.<ref name="Jahn Khiev Pol 2001">{{cite book |last1=Jahn |first1=Gary C. |author2=Khiev, B.  |author3=Pol, C. |author4=Chhorn, N. |author5=Pheng, S. |author6=Preap, V. |date=2001 |chapter=Developing sustainable pest management for rice in Cambodia |pages=243–258 |editor1=Suthipradit, S. |editor2=Kuntha, C. |editor3=Lorlowhakarn, S. |editor4=Rakngan, J. |title=Sustainable Agriculture: Possibility and Direction |location=Bangkok (Thailand) |publisher=National Science and Technology Development Agency }}</ref> Sustainable pest management is based on four principles: biodiversity, host plant resistance, landscape ecology, and hierarchies in a landscape—from biological to social.<ref name="Savary Horgan Willocquet 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Savary |first1=S. |last2=Horgan |first2=F. |last3=Willocquet |first3=L. |last4=Heong |title=A review of principles for sustainable pest management in rice |year=2012 |journal=[[Crop Protection (journal)|Crop Protection]] |volume=32 |page=54 |doi=10.1016/j.cropro.2011.10.012|bibcode=2012CrPro..32...54S }}</ref> Farmers' pesticide applications are often unnecessary,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scidev.net/Features/index.cfm?fuseaction=readfeatures&itemid=306&language=1 |title=Bangladeshi farmers banish insecticides |work=SCIDEV.net |date=July 30, 2004 |access-date=May 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080126115934/http://www.scidev.net/Features/index.cfm?fuseaction=readfeatures&itemid=306&language=1 |archive-date=January 26, 2008 }}</ref> and pesticides may actually induce [[resurgence (pest)|resurgence]] of populations of rice pests such as the [[brown planthopper]], both by destroying beneficial insects and by enhancing the pest's reproduction.<ref name="Wu Ge Liu Song 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Jincai |last2=Ge |first2=Linquan |last3=Liu |first3=Fang |last4=Song |first4=Qisheng |last5=Stanley |first5=David |title=Pesticide-Induced Planthopper Population Resurgence in Rice Cropping Systems |journal=[[Annual Review of Entomology]] |volume=65 |issue=1 |date=January 7, 2020 |doi=10.1146/annurev-ento-011019-025215 |pages=409–429 |pmid=31610135 |s2cid=204702698 }}</ref> The [[International Rice Research Institute]] (IRRI) demonstrated in 1993 that an 87.5% reduction in pesticide use can lead to an overall drop in pest numbers.<ref name="Hamilton 2008">{{cite web |title=The pesticide paradox |last=Hamilton |first=Henry Sackville |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |date=January 18, 2008 |url=http://irri.org/knowledge/publications/rice-today/special-reports/science-shorts/the-pesticide-paradox |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119053923/http://irri.org/knowledge/publications/rice-today/special-reports/science-shorts/the-pesticide-paradox |archive-date=January 19, 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Penggembala Bebek.jpg|thumb|left|A farmer [[Rice-duck farming|grazes his ducks]] in [[paddy field]]s, Central Java]]

Farmers in China, Indonesia and the Philippines have traditionally managed weeds and pests by the [[polyculture|polycultural]] practice of [[Rice-duck farming|raising ducks]] and [[Rice-fish system|sometimes fish]] in their rice paddies. These produce valuable additional crops, eat small pest animals, manure the rice, and in the case of ducks also control weeds.<ref name="Bezemer 2022">{{cite web |last=Bezemer |first=Marjolein |date=October 23, 2022 |title=Mixed farming increases rice yield |url=https://www.renature.co/articles/mixed-farming-increase-rice-yield/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011124422/https://renaturefoundation.nl/2018/12/12/mixed-farming-increase-rice-yield/ |archive-date=October 11, 2019 |access-date=January 2, 2024 |website=reNature Foundation}}</ref><ref name="Cagauan Branckaert Van Hove 2000">{{cite journal |last1=Cagauan |first1=A. G. |last2=Branckaert |first2=R. D. |last3=Van Hove |first3=C. |title=Integrating fish and azolla into rice-duck farming in Asia |journal=Naga (ICLARM Quarterly) |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=4–10 |year=2000 |url=https://aquadocs.org/bitstream/handle/1834/25720/na_2359.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=March 14, 2024 |access-date=January 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240314081726/https://aquadocs.org/bitstream/handle/1834/25720/na_2359.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rice plants produce their own chemical defences to protect themselves from pest attacks. Some synthetic chemicals, such as the herbicide [[2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid|2,4-D]], cause the plant to increase the production of certain defensive chemicals and thereby increase the plant's resistance to some types of pests.<ref name="Xin Yu Erb 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Xin |first1=Zhaojun |last2=Yu |first2=Zhaonan |last3=Erb |first3=Matthias |last4=Turlings |first4=Ted C. J. |last5=Wang |first5=Baohui |last6=Qi |first6=Jinfeng |last7=Liu |first7=Shengning |last8=Lou |first8=Yonggen |display-authors=5 |title=The broad-leaf herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid turns rice into a living trap for a major insect pest and a parasitic wasp |journal=[[New Phytologist]] |volume=194 |issue=2 |pages=498–510 |date=April 2012 |pmid=22313362 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04057.x |bibcode=2012NewPh.194..498X |doi-access= }}</ref> Conversely, other chemicals, such as the insecticide [[imidacloprid]], appear to induce changes in the gene expression of the rice that make the plant more susceptible to certain pests.<ref name="Cheng Shi Jiang 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Cheng |first1=Yao |last2=Shi |first2=Zhao-Peng |last3=Jiang |first3=Li-Ben |last4=Ge |first4=Lin-Quan |last5=Wu |first5=Jin-Cai |last6=Jahn |first6=Gary C. |title=Possible connection between imidacloprid-induced changes in rice gene transcription profiles and susceptibility to the brown plant hopper Nilaparvatalugens Stål (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) |journal=Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology |volume=102 |issue=3 |pages=213–219 |date=March 2012 |pmid=22544984 |pmc=3334832 |doi=10.1016/j.pestbp.2012.01.003 |bibcode=2012PBioP.102..213C }}</ref>

Plant breeders have created rice cultivars incorporating [[plant resistance to insects|resistance to various insect pests]]. Conventional plant breeding of resistant varieties has been limited by challenges such as rearing insect pests for testing, and the great diversity and continuous evolution of pests. Resistance genes are being sought from wild species of rice, and genetic engineering techniques are being applied.<ref name="Makkar Bhatia Suri Kaur 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Makkar |first1=Gurpreet Singh |last2=Bhatia |first2=Dharminder |last3=Suri |first3=K.S. |last4=Kaur |first4=Simranjeet |title=Insect resistance in Rice (Oryza sativa L.): overview on current breeding interventions |journal=International Journal of Tropical Insect Science |volume=39 |issue=4 |date=2019 |doi=10.1007/s42690-019-00038-1 |pages=259–272|bibcode=2019IJTIS..39..259M |s2cid=202011174 }}</ref>

{{Anchor|Ecotypes|Ecotype|Cultivars|Cultivar}}

==Ecotypes and cultivars==

{{ Main |List of rice cultivars }}

[[File:Rice diversity.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|A few of the many cultivars in [[IRRI]]'s rice seed collection ]]

The [[International Rice Research Institute]] maintains the International Rice Genebank, which holds over 100,000 rice varieties.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://irri.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=9960&lang=en |title=The International Rice Genebank – conserving rice |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023054703/http://irri.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=9960&lang=en |archive-date=October 23, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Jackson |first=M. T. |title=Conservation of rice genetic resources: the role of the International Rice Genebank at IRRI |journal=[[Plant Molecular Biology]] |volume=35 |issue=1–2 |pages=61–67 |date=September 1997 |pmid=9291960 |doi=10.1023/A:1005709332130 |bibcode=1997PMolB..35...61J |s2cid=3360337 }}</ref>

Much of southeast Asia grows [[sticky rice|sticky]] or glutinous rice varieties.<ref name="Sattaka 2016">{{Cite journal |last=Sattaka |first=Patcha |date=December 27, 2016 |title=Geographical Distribution of Glutinous Rice in the Greater Mekong Sub-region |url=https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/mekongjournal/article/view/73311 |journal=Journal of Mekong Societies |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=27–48 |archive-date=November 8, 2021 |access-date=November 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108105756/https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/mekongjournal/article/view/73311 |url-status=live }}</ref> High-yield cultivars of rice suitable for cultivation in Africa, called the [[New Rice for Africa]] (NERICA), have been developed to improve [[food security]] and alleviate poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.<ref>{{cite web |title=NERICA: Rice for Life |publisher=[[Africa Rice Center]] (WARDA) |year=2001 |url=http://www.warda.cgiar.org/publications/NERICA8.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031204153208/http://www.warda.cgiar.org/publications/NERICA8.pdf |archive-date=December 4, 2003 |access-date=July 7, 2008}}</ref>

Rice cultivars also fall into groups according to environmental conditions, season of planting, and season of harvest, called ecotypes. Some major groups are the Japan-type (grown in Japan), "bulu" and "tjereh" types (Indonesia); "aman" (main winter crop), "aus" ("aush", summer), and "boro" (spring) (Bengal and Assam).<ref>{{citation| author=T. Morinaga |year=1968 |title=Origin and geographical distribution of Japanese rice |journal=Trop. Agric. Res. Ser. |volume=3 |pages=1–15 |url=https://www.jircas.go.jp/sites/default/files/publication/jarq/03-2-001-005_0.pdf}}</ref><ref name=Banglapedia>{{cite book |author=SM Humayun Kabir |chapter=Rice |url=http://www.banglapedia.org/HT/R_0254.htm |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |editor=Sirajul Islam and Ahmed A. Jamal |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]] |year=2012 |edition=Second}}</ref> Cultivars exist that are adapted to deep flooding, and these are generally called "floating rice".<ref>[http://www.cgiar.org/impact/research/rice.html Rice]. Cgiar.org. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.</ref> 

The complete [[genome]] of rice was [[Whole genome sequencing|sequenced]] in 2005, making it the first crop plant to reach this status.<ref name="Gillis 2005">{{cite news |last=Gillis |first=Justin |date=August 11, 2005 |title=Rice Genome Fully Mapped |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/10/AR2005081001054.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330212346/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/10/AR2005081001054.html |archive-date=March 30, 2017 |access-date=September 10, 2017 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> 
Since then, the genomes of hundreds of types of rice, both wild and cultivated, and including both Asian and African rice species, have been sequenced.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shang |first1=Lianguang |last2=Li |first2=Xiaoxia |last3=He |first3=Huiying |last4=Yuan |first4=Qiaoling |last5=Song |first5=Yanni |last6=Wei |first6=Zhaoran |last7=Lin |first7=Hai |last8=Hu |first8=Min |last9=Zhao |first9=Fengli |last10=Zhang |first10=Chao |last11=Li |first11=Yuhua |last12=Gao |first12=Hongsheng |last13=Wang |first13=Tianyi |last14=Liu |first14=Xiangpei |last15=Zhang |first15=Hong |display-authors=5 |date=2022 |title=A super pan-genomic landscape of rice |journal=[[Cell Research]] |volume=32 |issue=10 |pages=878–896 |doi=10.1038/s41422-022-00685-z |pmc=9525306 |pmid=35821092}}</ref>

== Biotechnology ==

=== High-yielding varieties ===

{{main|Green revolution}}

The high-yielding varieties are a group of crops created during the [[Green Revolution]] to increase global food production radically. The first Green Revolution rice variety, [[IR8]], was produced in 1966 at the [[International Rice Research Institute]] through a cross between an Indonesian variety named "Peta" and a Chinese variety named "Dee Geo Woo Gen".<ref name="Hettel 2016">{{cite web |last=Hettel |first=Gene |title=IR8—a rice variety for the ages |url=https://ricetoday.irri.org/ir8-a-rice-variety-for-the-ages/ |website=Rice Today |access-date=December 29, 2023 |date=November 18, 2016 |archive-date=December 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229205451/https://ricetoday.irri.org/ir8-a-rice-variety-for-the-ages/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Green Revolution varieties were bred to have short strong stems so that the rice would not lodge or fall over. This enabled them to stay upright and productive even with heavy applications of fertiliser.<ref name="Hettel 2016"/>

=== Expression of human proteins ===

[[Ventria Bioscience]] has [[genetically modified]] rice to [[gene expression|express]] [[lactoferrin]] and [[lysozyme]] which are [[proteins]] usually found in [[breast milk]], and [[human serum albumin]]. These proteins have [[Antiviral protein|antiviral]], [[antibacterial]], and [[Antifungal protein|antifungal]] effects.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Marris |first=E. |title=Rice with human proteins to take root in Kansas |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |date=May 18, 2007 |s2cid=84688423 |doi=10.1038/news070514-17}}</ref> Rice containing these added proteins can be used as a component in [[oral rehydration solution]]s to treat [[diarrhea]]l diseases, thereby shortening their duration and reducing recurrence. Such supplements may also help reverse [[anemia]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bethell |first1=D.R. |last2=Huang |first2=J. |title=Recombinant human lactoferrin treatment for global health issues: iron deficiency and acute diarrhea |journal=[[BioMetals (journal)|BioMetals]] |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=337–342 |date=June 2004 |pmid=15222487 |doi=10.1023/B:BIOM.0000027714.56331.b8 |s2cid=3106602 }}</ref>

=== Flood-tolerance ===

{{Main|Deepwater rice}}

[[File:Researchers checking deep water rice.jpg|thumb|International Rice Research Institute researchers checking [[deepwater rice]] in the Philippines ]]

In areas subject to [[flooding]], farmers have long planted flood tolerant varieties known as [[deepwater rice]]. In South and [[South East Asia]], flooding affects some {{convert|20|e6ha|e6acre|abbr=off}} each year.<ref name="Debrata-2012">{{cite journal |last1=Debrata |first1=Panda |last2=Sarkar |first2=Ramani Kumar |year=2012 |title=Role of Non-Structural Carbohydrate and its Catabolism Associated with Sub 1 QTL in Rice Subjected to Complete Submergence |journal=Experimental Agriculture |volume=48 |issue=4|pages=502–512 |doi=10.1017/S0014479712000397 |s2cid=86192842 }}</ref> 
Flooding has historically led to massive losses in yields, such as in the Philippines, where in 2006, rice crops worth $65&nbsp;million were lost to flooding.<ref name="IRRI-2012">"{{cite web |url=http://irri.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=9148&lang=en |title=Climate change-ready rice |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028234824/http://irri.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=9148&lang=en |archive-date=October 28, 2012 |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |access-date=October 31, 2013 }}</ref>

Standard rice varieties cannot withstand stagnant flooding for more than about a week, since it disallows the plant access to necessary requirements such as sunlight and gas exchange. The Swarna Sub1 cultivar can tolerate week-long submergence, consuming carbohydrates efficiently and continuing to grow.<ref name="Debrata-2012"/> So-called "[[Scuba diving|scuba]] rice"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gautam |first1=Priyanka |display-authors=etal |title=Nutrient Management for Enhancing Submergence Tolerance in Rice |url=https://krishi.icar.gov.in/jspui/bitstream/123456789/8940/1/Research%20Bulletin-13.pdf |publisher=National Rice Research Institute |location=Cuttack, Odisha, India |page=3 |date=2017 |quote=NRRI Research Bulletin No. 13 |access-date=May 13, 2024 |archive-date=June 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603200729/https://krishi.icar.gov.in/jspui/bitstream/123456789/8940/1/Research%20Bulletin-13.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> with the Sub1A [[transgene]] is robustly tolerant of submergence for as long as two weeks, offering much improved flood survival for farmers' crops. IRRI has created Sub1A varieties and distributed them to Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines.<ref name="Emerick Ronald 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Emerick |first1=Kyle |last2=Ronald |first2=Pamela C. |title=Sub1 Rice: Engineering Rice for Climate Change |journal=[[Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology]] |volume=11 |issue=12 |date=2019 |pmid=31182543 |pmc=6886445 |doi=10.1101/cshperspect.a034637 |article-number=a034637}}</ref>

===Drought-tolerance===

[[Drought]] represents a significant environmental stress for rice production, with {{convert|19-23|e6ha|e6acre|abbr=off}} of rainfed rice production in South and South East Asia often at risk.<ref name="irri.org">{{cite web |url=http://irri.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=9952:drought-submergence-an |title=Drought, submergence and salinity management |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101131821/http://irri.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=9952%3Adrought-submergence-an |archive-date=November 1, 2013 |work=International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) |access-date=September 29, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="IRRI-2014">"{{cite web |url=http://irri.org/our-work/research/better-rice-varieties/climate-change-ready-rice |title=Climate change-ready rice |work=International Rice Research Institute |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314033307/http://irri.org/our-work/research/better-rice-varieties/climate-change-ready-rice |archive-date=March 14, 2014 |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] (IRRI) |access-date=September 29, 2013 }}</ref> Under drought conditions, without sufficient water to afford them the ability to obtain the required levels of [[nutrients]] from the soil, conventional commercial rice varieties can be severely affected—as happened for example in India early in the 21st century.<ref name="Palmer-2013">{{cite web |url=http://www.ciatnews.cgiar.org/2013/08/06/newly-discovered-rice-gene-goes-to-the-root-of-drought-resistance/ |title=Newly-discovered rice gene goes to the root of drought resistance |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103182251/http://www.ciatnews.cgiar.org/2013/08/06/newly-discovered-rice-gene-goes-to-the-root-of-drought-resistance/ |archive-date=November 3, 2013 |last=Palmer |first=Neil |work=CIAT Blog |date=2013 |publisher=[[International Center for Tropical Agriculture]] |access-date=September 29, 2013 }}</ref>

The [[International Rice Research Institute]] conducts research into developing drought-tolerant rice varieties, including the varieties Sahbhagi Dhan, Sahod Ulan, and Sookha dhan, currently being employed by farmers in India, the Philippines, and Nepal respectively.<ref name="IRRI-2014" /> In addition, in 2013 the Japanese National Institute for Agrobiological Sciences led a team which successfully inserted the ''DEEPER ROOTING 1'' (''DRO1'') gene, from the Philippine [[Upland and lowland (freshwater ecology)|upland]] rice variety Kinandang Patong, into the popular commercial rice variety IR64, giving rise to a far deeper root system in the resulting plants.<ref name="Palmer-2013" /> This facilitates an improved ability for the rice plant to derive its required nutrients in times of drought via accessing deeper layers of [[soil]], a feature demonstrated by trials which saw the IR64 + DRO1 rice yields drop by 10% under moderate drought conditions, compared to 60% for the unmodified IR64 variety.<ref name="Palmer-2013"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://phys.org/news/2013-08-roots-breakthrough-drought-resistant-rice.html |title=Roots breakthrough for drought resistant rice |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102113839/http://phys.org/news/2013-08-roots-breakthrough-drought-resistant-rice.html |archive-date=November 2, 2013 |work=Phys.org |date=2013 |access-date=September 30, 2013 }}</ref>

=== Salt-tolerance ===

{{further|Crop tolerance to seawater}}

[[File:Agriculture in Bangladesh 12.jpg|thumb|Much of Bangladesh's rice is grown in low-lying coastal areas where [[soil salinity]] is an issue.]]

[[Soil salinity]] poses a major threat to rice crop productivity, particularly along low-lying coastal areas during the dry season.<ref name="irri.org"/><ref>{{cite web |work=[[International Rice Research Institute]] |title=Rice Breeding Course, Breeding for salt tolerance in rice, on line |url= http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/ricebreedingcourse/Breeding_for_salt_tolerance.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505220950/http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/ricebreedingcourse/Breeding_for_salt_tolerance.htm |archive-date=May 5, 2017 }}</ref> For example, roughly {{convert|1|e6ha|e6acre|abbr=off}} of the coastal areas of [[Bangladesh]] are affected by saline soils.<ref>"{{cite web |url=http://irri.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=10379&Itemid=100242&lang=en |title=Less salt, please |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101133710/http://irri.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=10379&Itemid=100242&lang=en |archive-date= 1 November 2013 |last=Fredenburg |first=P. |date=2007 |access-date=30 September 2013 |publisher=[[International Rice Research Institute]] }}</ref> These high concentrations of salt can severely affect rice plants' [[physiology]], especially during early stages of growth, and as such farmers are often forced to abandon these areas.<ref name="IRRI-2013">"{{cite web |url=https://ricetoday.irri.org/wild-parent-spawns-super-salt-tolerant-rice/ |title=Wild parent spawns super salt tolerant rice | last = Barona-Edna | first = Liz | date = April 15, 2013 | access-date = January 3, 2024 | work=Rice Today }}</ref>

Progress has been made in developing rice varieties capable of tolerating such conditions; the hybrid created from the cross between the commercial rice variety IR56 and the wild rice species ''Oryza coarctata'' is one example.<ref name="Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP)-2013">"{{cite web |url=https://www.integratedbreeding.net/news/breakthrough-salt-resistant-rice-research-single-baby-rice-plant-may-hold-future-extending-rice |title=Breakthrough in salt-resistant rice research—single baby rice plant may hold the future to extending rice farming |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102081913/https://www.integratedbreeding.net/news/breakthrough-salt-resistant-rice-research-single-baby-rice-plant-may-hold-future-extending-rice |archive-date=November 2, 2013 |work=Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP) |date=2013 |access-date=October 6, 2013 }}</ref> ''O. coarctata'' can grow in soils with double the limit of salinity of normal varieties, but does not produce edible rice.<ref name="Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP)-2013"/> Developed by the [[International Rice Research Institute]], the [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] variety utilises specialised leaf glands that remove salt into the atmosphere. It was produced from one successful [[embryo]] out of 34,000 crosses between the two species; this was then [[Backcrossing|backcrossed]] to IR56 with the aim of preserving the genes responsible for salt tolerance that were inherited from ''O. coarctata''.<ref name="IRRI-2013"/>

=== Cold tolerance ===

Rice is sensitive to temperatures below 12°C. Sowing takes place once the daily average temperature is reliably above this limit. Average temperatures below that reduce growth; if sustained for over four days, germination and seedling growth are harmed and seedlings may die. In larger plants subjected to cold, rice blast is encouraged, seriously reducing yield. As of 2022, researchers continue to study the mechanisms of chilling tolerance in rice and its genetic basis.<ref name="Li Zhang Chong 2022">{{cite journal | last1=Li | first1=Junhua | last2=Zhang | first2=Zeyong | last3=Chong | first3=Kang | last4=Xu | first4=Yunyuan | title=Chilling tolerance in rice: Past and present | journal=[[Journal of Plant Physiology]] | volume=268 | date=2022 | doi=10.1016/j.jplph.2021.153576 | article-number=153576| pmid=34875419 | bibcode=2022JPPhy.26853576L }}</ref> Cold-tolerant varieties including of risotto rice and basmati rice have been trialled successfully on peaty soil in England in 2025. If, as is probable, global warming raises the temperature by 2°C or more<!--from pre-industrial level-->, rice could be grown across the country.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rannard |first=Georgina |title=Dismissed as a joke, UK's first rice crop ripe for picking after hot summer |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1wgeq702dyo |work=[[BBC News]] |date=28 September 2025}}</ref>

=== Reducing methane emissions ===

Producing rice in [[Paddy field|paddies]] is harmful for the environment due to the release of methane by [[Methanogen|methanogenic bacteria]]. These bacteria live in the anaerobic waterlogged soil, consuming nutrients released by rice roots. Putting the [[barley]] gene ''SUSIBA2'' into rice creates a shift in biomass production from root to shoot, decreasing the methanogen population, and resulting in a reduction of methane emissions of up to 97%. Further, the modification increases the amount of rice grains<!-- by 43%-->.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Su |first1=J. |last2=Hu |first2=C. |last3=Yan |first3=X. |last4=Jin |first4=Y. |last5=Chen |first5=Z. |last6=Guan |first6=Q. |last7=Wang |first7=Y. |last8=Zhong |first8=D. |last9=Jansson |first9=C. |last10=Wang |first10=F. |last11=Schnürer |first11=A. |last12=Sun |first12=C. |display-authors=5 |title=Expression of barley SUSIBA2 transcription factor yields high-starch low-methane rice |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=523 |issue=7562 |pages=602–606 |date=July 2015 |pmid=26200336 |doi=10.1038/nature14673 |s2cid=4454200 |bibcode=2015Natur.523..602S }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Gerry |first=C. |title=Feeding the World One Genetically Modified Tomato at a Time: A Scientific Perspective |url=http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/feeding-the-world/ |publisher=[[Harvard University]] |access-date=September 11, 2015 |date=August 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910164510/http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/feeding-the-world/ |archive-date=September 10, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===C4 rice===

'''C4 rice''' is a proposed rice that uses [[C4 photosynthesis]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The C4 Rice Project |url=https://c4rice.com |website=c4rice.com |language=en}}</ref> It is currently in development by the C4 Rice Consortium.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1220177|title=The Development of C4 Rice: Current Progress and Future Challenges|first1=Susanne|last1=von Caemmerer|first2=W. Paul|last2=Quick|first3=Robert T.|last3=Furbank|date=June 29, 2012|journal=Science|volume=336|issue=6089|pages=1671–1672|via=science.org (Atypon)|doi=10.1126/science.1220177|pmid=22745421 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/is-hacking-photosynthesis-the-key-to-increasing-crop-yields-180981144/|title=Is Hacking Photosynthesis the Key to Increasing Crop Yields?|first=Kurt|last=Kleiner|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

=== Model organism ===

Rice is used as a [[model organism]] for investigating the mechanisms of [[meiosis]] and [[DNA repair]] in higher plants.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Luo |first1=Qiong |last2=Li |first2=Yafei |last3=Shen |first3=Yi |last4=Cheng |first4=Zhukuan |title=Ten years of gene discovery for meiotic event control in rice |journal=[[Journal of Genetics and Genomics]] |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=125–137 |date=March 2014 |pmid=24656233 |doi=10.1016/j.jgg.2014.02.002 |doi-access=free }}</ref> For example, study using rice has shown that the gene ''OsRAD51C'' is necessary for the accurate repair of DNA double-strand breaks during meiosis.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tang |first1=Ding |last2=Miao |first2=Chunbo |last3=Li |first3=Yafei |last4=Wang |first4=Hongjun |last5=Liu |first5=Xiaofei |last6=Yu |first6=Hengxiu |last7=Cheng |first7=Zhukuan |title=OsRAD51C is essential for double-strand break repair in rice meiosis |journal=[[Frontiers in Plant Science]] |volume=5 |page=167 |year=2014 |pmid=24847337 |pmc=4019848 |doi=10.3389/fpls.2014.00167 |bibcode=2014FrPS....5..167T |doi-access=free }}</ref>

{{Anchor|Culture}}

== In human culture ==

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Beeld van Dewi Sri de rijstgodin TMnr 60016918.jpg|thumb|upright|Ancient statue of the rice goddess [[Dewi Sri]]<ref name="Kompas.id-Sri">{{Cite web |author=Agus Dermawan T |date=2021-09-25 |title=Menjumpai Dewi Sri pada Hari Tani |url=https://www.kompas.id/baca/opini/2021/09/26/menjumpai-dewi-sri-pada-hari-tani |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=kompas.id |language=id |archive-date=February 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214161521/https://www.kompas.id/baca/opini/2021/09/26/menjumpai-dewi-sri-pada-hari-tani |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Wessing 1990"/> from Java ({{Circa|9th century}}) ]]

Rice plays an important role in certain religions and popular beliefs. In Hindu wedding ceremonies, rice, denoting fertility, prosperity, and purity, is thrown into the sacred fire, a custom modified in Western weddings, where people throw rice over the wedded couple.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ahuja |first1=Subhash C. |last2=Ahuja |first2=Uma |title=Rice in religion and tradition |journal=2nd International Rice Congress, October 9–13, 2006 |year=2006 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321334487 |location=New Delhi |pages=45–52 }}</ref> In Malay weddings, rice features in multiple special wedding foods such as sweet glutinous rice.<ref name="Muhammad Zahari Ramly Ahmad 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Muhammad |first1=Rosmaliza |last2=Zahari |first2=Mohd Salehuddin Mohd |last3=Ramly |first3=Alina Shuhaida Muhammad |last4=Ahmad |first4=Roslina |title=The Roles and Symbolism of Foods in Malay Wedding Ceremony |journal=Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences |volume=101 |year=2013 |doi=10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.07.200 |pages=268–276 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In Japan and the Philippines, rice wine is used for weddings and other celebrations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ahuja |first1=Uma |last2=Thakrar |first2=Rashmi |last3=Ahuja |first3=S. C. |year=2001 |title=Alcoholic rice beverages |journal=Asian Agri-History |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=309–319 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301948904}}</ref> [[Dewi Sri]] is a goddess of the Indo-Malaysian archipelago, who in myth is transformed into rice or other crops.<ref name="Wessing 1990">{{cite journal |last=Wessing |first=Robert |title=Sri and Sedana and Sita and Rama: Myths of Fertility and Generation |journal=[[Asian Folklore Studies]] |volume=49 |issue=2 |date=1990 |pages=235–257 |doi=10.2307/1178035 |jstor=1178035 }}</ref> The start of the rice planting season is marked in Asian countries including Nepal and Cambodia with a [[Royal Ploughing Ceremony]].<ref name="Xinhua-Camb-plough-2017">{{cite news |title=Cambodia marks beginning of farming season with royal ploughing ceremony |work=Xinhua |date=March 21, 2017 |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/03/c_137153698.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503130501/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/03/c_137153698.htm |archive-date=May 3, 2018 |language=en |access-date=December 6, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Khmer-Times">{{cite web |title=Ceremony Predicts Good Year |website=[[Khmer Times]] |date=May 23, 2016 |url=http://www.khmertimeskh.com/24156/ceremony-predicts-good-year/ |access-date=December 6, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Sen-2019">{{cite web |last=Sen |first=S. |title=Ancient royal paddy planting ceremony marked |website=The Himalayan Times |date=July 2, 2019 |url=http://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/ancient-royal-paddy-planting-ceremony-marked |access-date=December 6, 2021 |archive-date=December 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206222219/https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/ancient-royal-paddy-planting-ceremony-marked |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==

<!-- alphabetical order -->
* [[Artificial rice]]
* [[Direct seeded rice]]
* [[List of rice dishes]]
* [[Rice Belt]]
<!-- alphabetical order! -->{{Clear}}<!--needed to avoid having images running into reflist-->

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Wende |last2=Liu |first2=Jinling |last3=Triplett |first3=Lindsay |last4=Leach |first4=Jan E. |last5=Wang |first5=Guo-Liang |title=Novel insights into rice innate immunity against bacterial and fungal pathogens |journal=[[Annual Review of Phytopathology]] |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=213–241 |date=August 4, 2014 |pmid=24906128 |doi=10.1146/annurev-phyto-102313-045926 |publisher=[[Annual Reviews (publisher)|Annual Reviews]] |bibcode=2014AnRvP..52..213L |s2cid=9244874 |ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last=Deb |first=D. |title=Restoring Rice Biodiversity |journal=[[Scientific American]] |volume=321 |issue=4 |date=October 2019 |pages=54–61 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican1019-54 |pmid=39010400 |quote=India originally possessed some 110,000 [[landrace]]s of rice with diverse and valuable properties. These include enrichment in vital nutrients and the ability to withstand flood, drought, salinity or pest infestations. The [[Green Revolution]] covered fields with a few high-yielding varieties, so that roughly 90 percent of the landraces vanished from farmers' collections. High-yielding varieties require expensive inputs. They perform abysmally on marginal farms or in adverse environmental conditions, forcing poor farmers into debt.  |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Singh |first=B. N. |date=2018 |title=Global Rice Cultivation & Cultivars |url=http://www.studiumpress.in/global-rice-cultivation-cultivars.html |location=New Delhi |publisher=Studium Press |isbn= 978-1-62699-107-1 |access-date=March 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314175208/http://www.studiumpress.in/global-rice-cultivation-cultivars.html |archive-date=March 14, 2018 |ref=none}}

{{Cookbook}}
{{Varieties of rice}}
{{Rice production}}
{{Cereals}}
{{Rice dishes}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rice|Rice]]
[[Category:Crops originating from China]]
[[Category:Grasses of Asia]]
[[Category:Plant models]]
[[Category:Types of food]]
[[Category:Tropical agriculture]]