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FACTBOX: Rice

by Thin Lei Win | @thinink | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Friday, 26 March 2010 17:36 GMT

MANILA (AlertNet) Â? Demand for rice, a staple crop for half of the world's 6.3 billion population, is expected to grow in the future, while climate change, continuing shortage of land and water and population growth are putting pressure on its production.

Here are 10 facts about rice and how it is produced.

- Asia is the biggest producer and consumer of rice. In 2007, 140 million out of a total of 156 million hectares of rice fields were in Asia.

- A member of the grass family, rice was first farmed about 10,000 years ago. Thought to be native to deltas around such Asian rivers as the Ganges and Yangtze, rice now grows on every continent except Antarctica.

- On average, it takes 3,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of rice. The majority of rice is grown in flooded (irrigated or rain-fed) fields and is known as lowland rice.

- The world needs an extra eight to 10 million tonnes of rice each year to meet needs and keep rice affordable.

- The worldÂ?s biggest rice exporters in 2008/ 2009 were Thailand, Vietnam and United States, while the biggest importers were the Philippines, Nigeria and Iran.

- Only 7 to 8 percent of the global production of rice (around 650 million tonnes in 2007) is traded in the world market. An overwhelming majority of rice is consumed in the country of production.

- Critics say rice paddies, especially irrigated ones, are a major source of methane, a green house gas 23 times more potent than CO2. Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute said rice paddies account for around 10 percent of global methane emissions and said it is morally wrong for developed countries with a high carbon footprint to ask poor farmers in Asia to cut back on their emissions.

- Even with the latest technology, it takes an average of 10 to 15 years to breed new varieties of rice that can respond to changes in the climate and environment, though some existing and little-used historical varieties already have traits like drought tolerance or flood resistance.

- In Southeast Asia, up to 15 percent of rice is lost due to post-harvest handling. Most harvesting and threshing is done by hand, and rice is dried on roadsides and stored in containers that are not durable or insect-proof.

- Rice and its by-products are used for making straw and rope, paper, wine, crackers, beer, cosmetics, packing material and even toothpaste.

Source: Reuters, International Rice Research Institute, Food & Agricultural Organisation

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