Rice

Rice is one of the world's most labor intensive foods.Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima. As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East and South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West Indies. It is the grain with the second-highest worldwide production, after maize (corn).

Since a large portion of maize crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption, rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species.

Rice is normally grown as an annual plant, although in tropical areas it can survive as a perennial and can produce a ratoon crop for up to 30 years. The rice plant can grow to 1–1.8 m tall, occasionally more depending on the variety and soil fertility. It has long, slender leaves 50–100 cm long and 2–2.5 cm broad. The small wind-pollinated flowers are produced in a branched arching to pendulous inflorescence 30–50 cm long. The edible seed is a grain (caryopsis) 5–12 mm long and 2–3 mm thick.

Rice cultivation is well-suited to countries and regions with low labor costs and high rainfall, as it is labor-intensive to cultivate and requires ample water. Rice can be grown practically anywhere, even on a steep hill or mountain. Although its parent species are native to South Asia and certain parts of Africa, centuries of trade and exportation have made it commonplace in many cultures worldwide.

Planting and harvesting is done mostly with machines, but in much of the world these chores—along with weeding, and maintaining the paddies and irrigation canals—are still largely done by hand, with water buffalo helping with the plowing and preparing of the fields.

Planting Machine

Weeding Machine

Harvesting Machine

Wet rice is grown in paddies in lowlands and terraces on the slopes of hills and mountains. Most rice paddies and terraces are irrigated with water that originates above where the rice is grown. In most cases water from one paddy drains into another paddy. Rice has to be harvested when the soil is dry and consequently the water must be emptied from the paddy before the harvest and filled up again when the new crop is ready to plant.

Growing Crops

In Process

Can Be Harvest