Rice Through the Times

8000–5000 BC

Rice was first domesticated in the Yangtze River basin in China, and by 6000 BC Chinese farmers were already using rice paddies – a system of growing rice in man-made ponds, which saves water and kills weeds.

5000 BC

The early domestication of rice in ancient India was based around the wild grain species Oryza nivara. This led to the local development that mixed wet- and dry-land production of the localOryza sativa variation, indica, before the pure wet-land rice Oryza sativa variation, japonica, arrived in India.

TODAY

Rice is the most