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Rice was thought rice is native to India and descended from a wild Indian Grass called newaree. But recent discoveries in Thailand date rice to 3500 BC
Next to wheat it is the largest food crop in the world.
Staple
diet to one third of the worlds population is nourished exclusively on
rice
Recorded in
China 2800 BC, came to Japan before the first century BC, India has
recorded rice dating back to 3000 BC
Introduced to Greece by Arab travelers and brought to Spain by the Moors in 700AD -the Spanish brought it to South America at beginning of 17th century
First
cultivated in Virginia in the US
in 1647 but the Carolinas became the production center and exported more
than 60 tons of rice to England
7,000+ varieties exist and are either grown aquatically ("paddy-grown") or
"hill- grown" (most is paddy grown)
After the
American Revolution Thomas Jefferson smuggled rice seed out of Italy and
brought it back to the Carolinas in 1787 to revive the rice industry
US now produces more than 10 billion pounds of rice. Eaten as whole grain or used as basis for rice flour used in rice noodles, rice paper; also rice vinegar, rice wine
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