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CULTURAL AND WILD PLANTS
Sowing rice. Legends, myths, symbolism, description, cultivation, methods of application
Directory / Cultivated and wild plants Content
Sowing rice, Oryza sativa. Photos of the plant, basic scientific information, legends, myths, symbolism
Basic scientific information, legends, myths, symbolism Sort by: Oryza Family: Cereals (Poaceae) Origin: Southeast Asia Area: Rice is a staple food in Southeast Asia, as well as in China, India and Japan. It is also grown in other regions of the world, including Africa, Latin America, the United States and Europe. Chemical composition: Rice contains carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber, vitamins (especially group B) and minerals (potassium, phosphorus, magnesium). In addition, lysine amino acids are present in rice, which are not found in other cereals. Economic value: Rice is widely used in cooking. It is used for a variety of dishes including pilaf, sushi, rice porridge, soups, and more. Rice has also found use as animal feed. Legends, myths, symbolism: In Chinese culture, rice is a symbol of prosperity, wealth and longevity. In an ancient Chinese legend, heroes achieved immortality by eating rice from a mountain spring. In Hindu mythology, rice is one of the symbols of the goddess Mahashakti, personifying the power of life and fertility. In Japan, rice is also considered a symbol of prosperity, and in Islamic culture, rice is considered a sacred food mentioned in the Koran. In ritual practice, rice is used in various religious ceremonies and rituals associated with the worship of ancestors and gods, for example, in Japanese Shintoism. In addition, rice is a symbol of knowledge, enlightenment and spirituality, for example, in traditional Chinese medicine, it is associated with the idea of balance and harmony in the body. In some cultures, rice is also associated with the idea of cleanliness and peace.
Sowing rice, Oryza sativa. Description, illustrations of the plant Rice. Myths, traditions, symbolism
A staple food in East Asia, materially and symbolically corresponding to bread in the West. In ancient China, its introduction was attributed to the mythical ruler of prehistoric times, Shen Nun, who also, according to legend, was the first to introduce the annual ritual of rice planting. In some provinces, it was believed that this useful plant was brought by a dog and a rat. Rice was placed in the mouth of the dead, and during sacrifices to the ancestors, the bowls were filled to the top with rice, which in other cases was considered indecent. It was also forbidden to throw away leftover rice. Whoever did this could be struck down by the god of thunder. In Japan, the introduction of rice cultivation was attributed to the sun goddess Amaterasu. When the god of the storm Susanoo devastated her zero, she, angry, hid in a cave, and only after a certain time she was able to be summoned so that, leaving the place of her voluntary exile, she again illuminated the world. In addition, the "dry rice" is the god Inari. According to legend, he appeared ca. 800 BC e. in the form of an elderly man with two bales of rice and became known as the patron saint of rice. Inari shrines are very common, it is said that there are about 40000 of them in Japan. They can be recognized by the many torii (gates) erected one after another. Nowadays, the ceremonial rice meal of a Buddhist priest is called upon to ensure well-being and happiness in personal and social life. Author: Biedermann G.
Sowing rice, Oryza sativa L. Botanical description, history of origin, nutritional value, cultivation, use in cooking, medicine, industry
An annual herbaceous plant up to 1,5 m high. The stem is erect, glabrous, branched at the base. The leaves are linear, green, purple or reddish. Inflorescences are multi-spike panicles, sprawling or compressed, often drooping. The fruit is a caryopsis enclosed in silver-white, red or black scales. Blooms in June - August. The birthplace of cultivated rice is the tropical countries of Southeast Asia. The ancestor of cultivated rice, apparently, is wild perennial rice, which can still be found in the tropics of Asia, Africa, and America. Archaeological evidence suggests that rice was cultivated in India and China 4000 years ago. In Central Asia, it began to grow 2500 years ago. Several thousand varieties of rice are known. Most of them have a vitreous, hard, indigestible grain. However, there are varieties of glutinous, floury rice, which is easily boiled and turns into a thick mass. Rice is a spring heat-loving crop. Seeds germinate at a temperature of 10-12 ° C, and with the slightest frost, the plants die. Along with rice varieties that need a lot of water, there are mountain (upland) varieties. But the bulk of the grain of rice in the world comes from high-yielding irrigated varieties, although the taste of upland rice is better. Rice is grown under constant and intermittent irrigation. The sown areas are concentrated mainly in areas where cotton is cultivated. On those lands where cotton does not grow due to the high level of groundwater (lower reaches of the Volga, Kuban, Terek), rice feels great. The grain is harvested when 70-80% of the grains reach full ripeness. In terms of nutritional value, rice is almost twice as superior to cereals. Its grain contains a lot of starch, a small amount of proteins, fats, fiber. At the expense of rice in some countries, 60% of the need for protein and 80% for calories is satisfied. And although bread is not baked from it (there is no gluten), for the majority of the population of our planet, rice, especially in combination with soy, is the main food. Vitamins B1, B2, PP, pangamic acid and choline are concentrated in the surface layers of grains. Since ancient times, doctors, especially Indian ones, consider rice an excellent tool for maintaining health and prolonging life. It is noticed that rice promotes good sleep, eliminates thirst, and stops diarrhea. Rice broth is recommended for gastrointestinal diseases; it is useful in diseases of the kidneys and bladder. Rice protein has a high content of essential amino acids and is close to animal protein. Due to its high nutritional value and digestibility, rice groats are highly valued as a dietary product. It is used in baby food, as well as in cases where high-calorie foods are needed. Rice porridge is also recommended for the elderly. Rice starch powder and powder are widely used in medicine. In the extract and infusion of rice grain shells, along with vitamins and minerals, very valuable organic substances, momilactones A and B, were found. Studies of their properties have shown that they are able to retard the growth of certain malignant tumors. Rice is the main component of many oriental dishes: it is eaten with meat (pilaf), fish, vegetables, fruits, various spices, pumpkin, nuts, raisins and candied fruits. Flour and confectionery products are made from special varieties of rice. Proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals concentrated in the shell and germ of the grain, when it is polished, end up in waste. Therefore, rice processed products are excellent animal feed. Used as feed and straw. She also goes to the manufacture of ropes, ropes, raincoats, mats, mats, baskets, is used in folk crafts; furniture is woven from it, paper and cardboard of the highest grades are produced. Authors: Kretsu L.G., Domashenko L.G., Sokolov M.D.
Sowing rice, Oryza sativa. Methods of application, origin of the plant, range, botanical description, cultivation
Rice is the main food crop in the tropical monsoon climate, where vast areas are filled with water for a long time and become unsuitable for growing other crops. Translated from Sanskrit, "rice" means - "the basis of human nutrition." Modern statistics confirm this, proving that in the main rice-growing regions, on average, 100-150 kg of grain per inhabitant per year. Here, each person gets half or much more of the total calories from rice. Moreover, the calorie content of its grain is the highest among other grains (360 cal / 100 g). The composition of the grain includes: carbohydrates - 73-81%, protein - 6-9, fat - 0,6-2,6, ash - 0,8-2,0, fiber - 0,2-1,0%, vitamins (mainly BT). Compared to other cereals, rice protein contains an increased amount of such essential amino acids as lysine, valine, meteonine, due to which it is better digested and absorbed by the human body. On the world market, both unrefined (grain) and refined, or white rice (groats) are sold. The latter is more expensive and in high demand. However, the predominant consumption of such cereals in some peoples of Asia causes a very dangerous, sometimes fatal disease of the nervous and vascular systems - beriberi. This is due to the fact that in the process of making cereals from the grain, in addition to the shells, the germ and the aleurone (protein) layer, rich in vitamins and minerals, are removed. Some European and American markets are supplied with glazed cereals enriched with these substances. Rice groats are used to prepare a large number of different food dishes and delicacies. Flour is used to prepare confectionery, baby food, starch, which is used in perfumery and medicine. Straw is used for animal feed, construction, paper production and various household items. The area under rice is 145,6 million hectares with the predominant (88,2%) placement in Asia. Accordingly, the main grain production is also concentrated here - 91,3% of the world gross harvest, which is 443,5 million tons per year. The average yield is relatively low - 2,8-3,4 t / ha. Especially a lot of rice in Asia is produced by China and India, where its main crops are concentrated, and the harvest is 4,2-5,4 and 1,8-2,5 t/ha, respectively. In addition, rice as the main agricultural crop is grown in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Japan, the Republic of Korea, North Korea, and the Philippines. In America, 9,2 million hectares are occupied under it (including 7,4 million hectares in South America). Here the main grain producers are Brazil, Colombia, USA, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic. In total, 26,5 million tons of grain are produced in the New World, with a yield in South America of 1,8-2,3 t/ha, in North America - 4,4-5,1 t/ha. Africa produces 9,5 million tons of grain on an area of 5,4 million hectares, but the yield here is the lowest - 1,7-1,8 t/ha. Production is concentrated in Madagascar, Nigeria, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Zaire. Rice belongs to the genus Oryza, which includes 28 species, of which only 2 are introduced into cultivation. Oryza glaberrima Steud. - African rice (cultivated, naked), comes from West Africa, cultivated mainly in Guinea and other countries along the river. Niger. This is an annual herbaceous plant with awnless or short-awned panicles and red-brown, sometimes white caryopses. African rice is disease resistant but very sensitive to drought. It is grown mainly in areas flooded with flood water, where its level is not regulated. The soil for it is prepared 4-5 weeks before flooding, the seeds are sown randomly at the beginning of the rainy season. They are removed by hand from boats or after the water is gone. The ubiquitous cultivated species of Oryza sativa L. - sowing rice - comes from Southeast Asia and has a very ancient history. Until the middle of the XX century. It was believed that rice culture originated in Asia in the 2nd millennium BC. e. However, excavations in Thailand have yielded unexpected and stunning results. Traces of an ancient civilization that cultivated rice for 7 thousand years BC were found. e. The appearance of rice in China is attributed to about the 3rd, and in India - to the 2nd millennium BC. e. Rice is mentioned in the ancient manuscripts of these countries. He is given a lot of space in legends, customs, sayings, proverbs common in the villages of the rice-growing zone of Asia, he is deified and sung. Rice is called the aristocrat among cereals, the son of water and the sun, the food of the gods. In Indonesia, there is a legend about a young man who once went to the gods in heaven and saw some unfamiliar seeds drying in the sun. "What it is?" - he asked. Then the good god Pua Lamoa treated the young man to boiled rice. The food was to his taste, and he decided to take a handful of seeds with him to Earth. But the guardian spirits took away the seeds, saying that rice is the food of the gods and should not be given to people. Returning to Earth, the young man sat down and began to think about how to deceive the gods. Suddenly he looked at his crossed legs and saw that large cracks had formed on his heels from walking barefoot. Then he again went to the gods and walked through the seeds. Separate grains fell into cracks, and the spirits did not notice them. So rice appeared on Earth, and people who eat it enough become strong and smart, becoming like gods. Sowing rice as a result of a long evolution was divided into 3 geographical races, which received the status of subspecies. The japonica subspecies - Japanese rice, or gen-dao - is ecologically adapted to the climatic conditions of the south of the temperate zone, isolated in northern China, Japan and the Korea Peninsula. Grown in the subtropics and temperate zone on all continents. Plants are undersized (50-100 cm), slightly bushy (3-5 shoots per plant), early maturing (90-120 days), resistant to lodging and shedding. They react poorly to day length and are less sensitive to temperature drops than other rice subspecies. The optimum temperature for growth and development is 22-26 °C, the minimum is 12-15 °C. To obtain a good harvest, the sum of active temperatures of 2200-3200 ° is sufficient. Modern varieties respond well to fertilizers and use water sparingly. In Japanese rice, the leaves are narrow, dark green, hairless, the panicles are short, dense, heavy, spinous or awnless. Floral scales are covered with thick and long hairs. Caryopses are short, wide (1,4-2,9:1), rounded with glassy or opaque (powdery) endosperm. Yield and grain quality are lower than those of Indian rice. Among the Japanese subspecies, 2 groups of varieties are distinguished. Rice ordinary (utilissima) has a completely or partially vitreous endosperm. When cooking, it retains its shape and does not stick together. Sticky rice (glutinosa) has a matte endosperm; when cooked, it is a sticky, sticky, sweetish mass. Among the inhabitants of Southeast Asia is very popular. On long trips, they take boiled rice with them in special bamboo tubes. Subspecies indica - Indian rice, or xian-dao is most adapted to the monsoonal climate of Southeast Asia. It is widely distributed in the tropical zone of all continents. This is a tall (above 100 cm), strongly bushy (up to 15 shoots per plant), late-ripening (130-180 days) rice, prone to lodging and shedding. A typical short day plant, very heat demanding. The optimal temperature for growth and development is 25-30 °C, the minimum is 18 °C, cooling during flowering and ripening is especially dangerous, the sum of active temperatures (above 10 °C) during the growing season should not be lower than 3500-4500 °. Plants of the subspecies are distinguished by wide light green densely pubescent leaves. They have light panicles of medium length and density, glumes with sparse short pubescence and long, thin (3-3,5:1) glassy grains. The yield and grain quality are high. The javanica subspecies - Javanese rice - has been isolated recently, cultivated in the equatorial zone, mainly in Indonesia. Plants are distinguished by tall stature, low bushiness, resistance to lodging and shedding of seeds. They are very late-ripening and demanding to heat, not resistant to any adverse conditions. Relatively weakly react to changes in day length and fertilizers. Plants are characterized by light green, wide, slightly pubescent, erect leaves and long, strongly branched, heavy panicles with awns. The grains are coarse, thick, wide. The yield is relatively low, the grain quality is average. The proverb of the peoples of South Asia "Water is the soul of rice" very accurately reflects the main feature of its cultivation - placement in areas covered with a layer of water. According to the International Rice Research Institute (Philippines), only 9-10% of the area under cultivation is not flooded with water. Permanent placement in water or in very moist soil has led to the formation of vegetative organs in rice, different from other cereals. The secondary root system is shallow, penetrating to a depth of 20, rarely 30 cm, spreading mainly in a horizontal direction. To supply oxygen and normal mineral nutrition in the roots, stems and leaves of plants, a loose parenchyma with air-conducting cavities (aerenchyma) is formed. Atmospheric air through the stomata of the leaves enters the plants and supplies them with oxygen necessary for respiration. Released through the roots into the water, it creates an oxidizing microzone in the rhizosphere, which contributes to the rapid transition of sparingly soluble compounds into easily soluble ones, which are well absorbed by plants. Under conditions of flooding, soil phosphorus is rapidly mineralized and absorbed by rice, which explains the poor responsiveness of the crop to phosphorus fertilizers. Nitrogen fertilizers are best applied under rice in the ammonium form (NH4), as it lasts longer in flooded soil. The nitrate form of nitrogen (NO3) quickly turns into the nitrite form (NO2), which is reduced to a gaseous form and volatilizes (the process of denitrification). Soil is a very important factor in rice cultivation. The main thing is that it be fertile, coherent and have good water-holding capacity. For rice, acidic (pH 3,5-4) and even saline soils are acceptable, but sandy or waterlogged soils are not recommended. Soil properties are taken into account when selecting predecessors in crop rotation, developing a fertilizer system, and controlled irrigation. On poor soils, good predecessors are legumes - beans, soybeans, cowpea, guar, chickpeas, cajanus, which are often used as green manures (green fertilizers), growing them in the dry season, and rice in the rainy season. On rich soils, rice in crop rotations is placed after wheat, barley, sweet potato, vegetables (Japan), jute, cotton, tobacco, corn (India, Sri Lanka). In America, Europe, Australia and West Africa, rice is sown on a layer of two-year-old clover. However, much more often in small peasant farms it is grown permanently, on the same fields, which leads to severe soil depletion, the massive spread of diseases, pests, weeds and a decrease in grain yield. Soil preparation and all rice cultivation activities are primarily related to irrigation. Features of cultivation of different varieties. In the process of long-term cultivation, 4 main types of rice culture were distinguished: floating, flooded, irrigated, upland. Floating (deep water) rice is probably the most ancient origin. This is the simplest type of crop, occupying less than 10% of the rice area. It is practiced in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, China, Thailand (in the flood plains of the Mekong), India and Bangladesh, along the Ganges, and also in West Africa along the banks of the Niger. Field preparation is very simple - in the dry season, straw and vegetation residues are burned, and the soil is loosened with hoes or local plows. At the very beginning of the rainy season, seeds are scattered or seedlings are planted. If the water rises quickly and does not allow planting in a slope with your hands, then use a stick with a fork tip or plant by holding the seedlings between your toes. The planted rice is left until the river floods, when the water floods the fields and begins to rise rapidly. The depth of flooding can be from 1 to 6 m. Together with the water, rice also rises, being constantly above its surface. It tolerates well even complete flooding for up to 3 days, then it begins to suffer and dies on the 7th day.
There are special guidelines for the selection of floating rice, according to which varieties must have:
Most often, floating rice ripens when there is still a deep layer of water on the field. They take him off the boat. Usually the boat is driven by a man, and the women cut the panicles. The yield of floating crops is low (from 0,8 to 1,2 t/ha). In some countries (Thailand, Guinea, Egypt) from a very long time on a floating rice culture, the water depth is regulated. To do this, several rows of high dams are built along the rivers, and between them - transverse shafts that divide the floodplain into basins. Water enters them during the flood, it is regulated by special water intake holes. Dams and ramparts keep the water in the basins after it subsides in the river, allowing the rice vegetation to prolong. Flooded rice is also a very ancient and most widespread type of crop. Under it, more than 70% of all rice areas are occupied in those countries of the tropics where the annual precipitation is above 2000 mm. It is due to them that a layer of water is created on the fields. No wonder the culture cultivated in these places is called "heavenly rice". It is grown both in the valleys and on the hills and even in the mountains at an altitude of up to 2000-2500 m above sea level. seas. High-mountain rice in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Japan is placed on specially poured terraces, limited by strong shafts that do not allow water to pass through. Fertile land is brought to the terraces by hand from the valleys. Mountain streams help to accumulate soil, which carry fertile silt from the higher slopes. They serve as an additional source of irrigation. Sometimes local residents direct water from distant streams to the upper terraces through channels or bamboo pipes. Soil cultivation and sowing of flooded rice on terraces is carried out manually. In the valleys and on the high plains, depending on economic possibilities, soil preparation is carried out both manually and with the help of animals or tractors. The traditional processing of permanent rice is done by the peasants of Southeast Asia with homemade plows, which are harnessed to livestock. The plowing of checks is carried out in shallow water, since in the dry season the rice soil is not amenable to such processing. Checks are sections of the field, fenced with earthen ramparts that hold water. The main requirement is that the surface of the checks must be even, which ensures the same depth of rice flooding. Therefore, plowing is carried out several times along and across the check. Then weeds are combed out with harrows, the soil is loosened and partially leveled. They complete the preparation of checks with the obligatory planning of the surface with a wooden beam or board. As a result, the soil comes to a paste-like state, which ensures good contact with it of the rice roots, devoid of root hairs. In some countries of Asia and America, the same technology for preparing flooded soil is carried out by more modern means. They use tractors equipped with special devices on wheels, which make it possible to work in very viscous soil, and metal levels. Soil preparation in the dry season is carried out on large farms that grow rice in crop rotation with other crops and are provided with tractors and agricultural machines. Following the harvesting of the predecessor, the field is plowed to a depth of 20-30 cm, then the soil is cut with disc cultivators and harrows. After that, repeated shallow plowing and cutting of the soil is carried out. The preparation of the field is completed by leveling and forming checks. Sometimes the number of plowings is increased to 3-4. In Japan, China and some states of India, manure, grass composts, rice chaff and straw, oil cake, and fish waste are brought in for plowing. On poor soils, legume green manure crops or nitrogen-fixing algae (azella microfern) are used as organics. It has been proven that 25 to 60 kg/ha of mineral nitrogen can be saved by using Azella alone. In India and Bangladesh, it is recommended to apply all phosphorus and potassium (30-40 kg/ha) and half the nitrogen norm (20-40 kg/ha) for pre-sowing tillage. The rest of the nitrogen is given in the form of vegetative dressings. In ancient rice-growing areas, up to 2-4 rice crops per year are often obtained from one field, including up to 2 crops of flooded crops. This primarily depends on the total amount of precipitation and the frequency of their occurrence. In a high-yielding culture, when sowing rice with seeds, early-ripening varieties of the Japanese subspecies are used, ripening in 90-110 days. Seeds are scattered and lightly planted in very damp soil at the beginning of the rainy season, or sown later when a little water has accumulated. In the latter case, they are pre-soaked so that they do not float, and are sown immediately after the last treatment, until the silt settles, since, as it settles, it tightens and covers the seeds. The number of sown seeds (seeding rate) can be different - from 40 to 100 kg/ha and more. The seeding rate is increased when sown during heavy rains, as under these conditions the light intensity decreases and the varieties are weakly bushy, as well as on coastal saline (mangrove) soils. The calendar dates for sowing flooded rice in Asia and West Africa are from May - June to September - October. Despite the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of seed sowing of rice, in a flooded and especially high-yielding crop, the transplanted, or seedling, method of cultivating it is more widespread. It consists in obtaining seedlings from seeds in special nurseries, transplanting and growing them on the main rice fields. This allows better use of seasonal rains and heat by reducing the cultivation time on the main plantation, cultivating more productive and highly productive mid- and late-ripening varieties of the Indian subspecies. In addition, water and seeds are saved, and time is freed up for better field preparation. Seedlings on the plantation receive an optimal feeding area, and since the most robust and healthy plants are selected, they are better able to resist diseases, pests and weeds. But this method is more expensive and laborious. Nurseries in the form of small checks are arranged near fields and water sources, from where water can be supplied before the onset of rains. First, the soil is soaked and loosened several times to a depth of 12-15 cm, bringing it to a pasty state. Under the first loosening, 10-20 t / ha of manure or compost are applied. If the soil is very poor, then mineral fertilizers are used at the rate of: nitrogen - from 2 to 5 kg, phosphorus and potassium - 2-2,5 kg per 400-500 m2 of the nursery. If there is not enough water for complete flooding, then seedlings are grown from 40 to 60 days in upland (dry) nurseries, where soil moisture is maintained by regular watering. Dry seeds are sown on beds 10-13 cm high and covered with a 2-3 cm layer of earth on top. Sometimes several small checks are made in nurseries with 3-4 sowing dates, the interval between which is from 6 to 10 days. This allows you to get non-overgrown seedlings and transplant them into the field as the seeds are prepared and flooded on the main plantation. For transplantation, the best plants are selected and tied into bunches, tearing off the tops of the leaves and cutting the roots. Planted in mud or a small layer of water, 2-4 plants per nest so that the upper part of the leaves is above the water. Planting is carried out with row spacing from 10-15 (early-ripening varieties) to 22,5-30 cm (mid- and late-ripening). In rows, the distances are about the same or somewhat smaller. The care of flooded rice is manual. It is weeded several times, larvae of pests are collected from plants, and when ripe, they are protected from birds. In India, shallow water is used to fertilize with nitrogen during tillering and panicle ejection. If too much water is accumulated, it is diverted to neighboring checks or through ditches into storage tanks. When rice ripens, water is released from the checks. Cleaning is manual, sometimes with the use of simple local devices. Harvesting calendar dates in the main flooded rice areas (Southeast Asia) are from October to January. Irrigated rice occupies small areas (approximately 4-5% of world crops) both in the ancient centers of rice cultivation (India, China) and in relatively young ones located in Africa, Asia, Europe and America. The history of this type of culture is associated with the construction of the first irrigation facilities, with the help of which the farmer could, to one degree or another, regulate the supply, level and discharge of water in the fields. This includes the simplest water reservoirs in the form of ponds, deep irrigation channels with makeshift hand or foot water lifts, overhead distribution channels, retaining dams, water yards, wells, etc. The limited distribution and weak growth of areas under irrigated rice are explained by the fact that modern irrigation systems are expensive engineering structures, the construction of which is beyond the power of individual peasants and even entire villages. This is the task of the state, and where it is solved, rice growing is very profitable. For example, in Japan, where the area is almost completely irrigated, grain yields are more than 6 t/ha. The same can be said about Australia (5,8-6,6 t/ha), USA (5,1-6,2 t/ha), Western European countries (5-6 t/ha), Russia (4,0. 4,4-XNUMX t/ha). But in India, despite the relatively high percentage of irrigated areas under rice, the yield is low. This suggests that irrigation alone is not enough without appropriate agricultural technology. An irrigated crop requires intensive type varieties with high productivity (8-10 t/ha), high quality grain, short, strong stem, vigorous tillering and high productive tillering, neutral photoperiod response, resistant to diseases and pests, with good responsiveness to nitrogen . Among them there are varieties of Indian and Japanese subspecies. Several hundred varieties are currently cultivated in India, but they are generally not very productive. Most peasants, due to low agricultural technology, receive no more than 50-60% of the potential harvest. Soil preparation for irrigated rice should be carried out in a timely manner, immediately after harvesting the predecessor. For example, in the subtropics in the fall, after mowing perennial grasses, the soil is plowed with mouldboard plows to a depth of 20-30 cm. When re-sowing rice in fields littered with tubers or rhizomatous weeds, shallow plowing is done, and in spring 2 deep cultivations are carried out, followed by leveling the soil surface. The last treatment is done 1-2 days before sowing, which is carried out no earlier than the soil warms up to 12-14 ° C. In the tropics, irrigated rice is cultivated during the dry season, so soil preparation begins at the end of the wet season with the last little rain. For example, in Cuba, soil preparation begins with deep (25-30 cm) plowing with disc plows. When the soil settles, it is disked several times and again plowed to a shallower depth (15-20 cm) in the transverse direction. Then, repeated harrowing and leveling are carried out, earthen rollers are poured, limiting the checks. In all countries where varieties of intensive type are grown, mineral fertilizers are used. Organics and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers (60-80 kg/ha) are applied under plowing. Nitrogen at a dose of 40-60 kg / ha, or 50-60% of the total, is applied at the same time or under the last cultivation, if it is deep enough. The rest of the nitrogen fertilizers are given in the form of foliar top dressings. Irrigated rice is more often propagated by seed, but transplant crops are found in some Asian countries. Sowing is carried out until the soil is flooded to a depth of 2-4 cm with seeders with row spacing from 7,5 to 15 cm. From 1 to 80 kg of dry seeds are spent per 120 ha in the tropics, and 170-260 kg in the subtropics. Water regimes for irrigated rice are different. The most common is constant flooding during the entire growing season of plants. With the described dry sowing, water is given immediately after it. But in places where weedy red-grain rice is distributed, it is served in checks before sowing and sown with germinated seeds in water, based on the fact that red rice cannot germinate under water. In small and medium-sized peasant farms, sowing is manual, and in large agricultural enterprises, rice is sown from aircraft (Cuba, the USA, the countries of Southern Europe). After 2-3 days, the water layer is lowered to 5-7 cm and left at this level until the rice bushes. At the end of tillering, the water is raised to 12-15 cm and this layer is kept until ripening. In some countries, the water layer is lower. With the mass appearance of millet weeds (millet) on the field, the water is raised to a level of 7-8 cm for 20-25 days, which gives a high effect of their destruction. The constant irrigation regime is the simplest and most common, but it has many disadvantages. These include excessive water consumption, lodging of rice, thinning of crops and lengthening of the growing season. There are more economical irrigation regimes, such as short and intermittent flooding, especially the latter, which is also used for seedlings. In this mode, the water layer is absent or significantly reduced in certain periods of rice vegetation. This regime is used in a number of countries where rice is sown in moist soil, after which water is supplied until the check is flooded to a depth of 6-8 cm. As soon as the seeds hatch, the water is discarded and wetting watering is done until 2 leaves appear. Then they give a layer of water up to 5-7 cm, having previously made nitrogen fertilizing and introducing the herbicide propanide (against cereal weeds). If the tillering is good and the sowing density is high, then the water is raised to 10-12 cm. At the end of tillering, its layer is increased to 20-25 cm and kept until it goes into the tube (against the millet), then reduced to 10-12 cm. Before heading the water level is lowered, herbicides are applied and a second top dressing is done with nitrogen, and, if necessary, with potassium. In the future, a layer of water 10-12 cm is on the field until the milky-wax ripeness of the seeds, when the water supply is stopped and the water is gradually discharged. 20 days before harvesting, it is completely removed. Irrigated rice is harvested on dry fields, where harvesters are widely used in intensive rice cultivation. One-time harvesting with grain threshing is done by combine harvesters on uniformly ripened non-lost sowing. In other cases, separate, or two-phase, cleaning is carried out. First, rice plants are cut into windrows with harvesters, and after 3-5 days, grain is picked up and threshed by combines. If the yield is high, threshing is done twice. Dry rice occupies a relatively small part of the area in the world rice growing - about 20 million hectares. However, in some regions it is the main type of culture. In the total area under cultivation, the share of dry rice in South and Southeast Asia is 8%, in West Africa - 62, and in Latin America - 72%. The volume of grain production does not exceed 5% of the world harvest. Groats from this grain are of poor quality and are used for local consumption. Indeed, this is the most primitive way of rice cultivation, based on the use of precipitation, the amount of which (1200-2000 mm per year) is not enough to flood the rice fields. Dryland rice is sometimes called mountain rice, since many areas under it are located in the mountains at an altitude of 1000 to 2000 m above sea level. seas. Here, farmers choose a hillside, sometimes very steep, for their future field, and prepare it for sowing. Shrubs, small trees are cut down, branches and tops are cut off from large ones, dried wood is burned and ashes are scattered. Sow rice in the holes with pointed stakes. The grain harvest in the first year barely reaches 1,5 t / ha, and in the second it drops by half. Sites quickly fall into disrepair as tropical rains wash away the fertile layer and cause severe soil erosion. Thus, mountain rice cultivation is unproductive and economically detrimental due to deforestation. Upland rice is more promising in areas with normal relief and in flood-free lowlands near rivers. In Brazil, where 75% of this crop is grown in normal terrain, it accounts for about 60% of the country's total grain harvest. However, the yield is low - 1,2-2,5 t/ha. This is due to the placement on soils poor in organic matter and phosphorus, the lack of good varieties that are immune to blast, the most dangerous rice disease. But it is here that the highest level of intensification of upland rice is found. On large farms, modern equipment is used, fertilizers and herbicides are applied. New varieties are needed, and not only high-yielding and resistant to diseases and pests, but above all drought-resistant, insensitive to excess aluminum and lack of phosphorus in the soil. These qualities are possessed by 2 new varieties of the International Rice Institute - IR-43 and IR-45, which are suitable for intensive production conditions. In West Africa, dry rice is cultivated both in mountainous areas and in lowlands and swamps. It is placed on new cleared plots or after fallow land (cultivated plots of land abandoned for several years), sowing in a row for 2-3 years. Soil preparation and sowing is carried out manually or with local primitive plows at the beginning of the rainy season. This type of culture is characterized by the seed method of cultivation. Sowing under stake in nests of 6-10 seeds, scattered or in prepared rows. Cultivation is primitive, without machinery, fertilizers and plant protection products, the only way to care is hand weeding. Panicle harvesting and threshing is carried out manually. Authors: Baranov V.D., Ustimenko G.V.
Rice. The history of growing a plant, economic importance, cultivation, use in cooking
What is rice plant? Sowing rice (Oryza sativa L.) has been known to mankind since the Stone Age. The birthplace of this cereal is considered South Asia. It is popular in tropical and subtropical countries with a monsoon climate, in which the arable land is flooded with water for a long time: it becomes unsuitable for other plants, and rice grows quietly in water from sowing to ripening. In fact, he does not need so much moisture, but the layer of water covering the fields protects the plants from overheating and weeds. In the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries, the Arab conquerors brought rice to Spain, and since the XNUMXth century, they have learned about it in other European countries. However, malaria-carrying mosquitoes thrive in the stagnant water of rice fields. Therefore, in Italy, France and Spain, special laws were issued prohibiting the cultivation of rice, so as not to multiply the centers of marsh fever. In Rus', rice appeared in the XNUMXth century, but they called it Saracen grain or Saracen wheat, and in Ukraine the word "Saracen" was changed into "Sorochinsky". The name "rice" in Russia began to be used only in the XNUMXth century. (It is interesting that in some countries buckwheat is still called Saracen grain.) What is the benefit of rice? The undoubted advantage of rice is the absence of gluten in it. This protein, characteristic of "most cereals, causes an allergic reaction in many people, and rice can be for everyone. In addition, rice contains little sodium, therefore, does not retain fluid in the body, so it is recommended for those who want to lose weight and remove toxins. And now about what is in rice. It is a source of potassium and phosphorus, zinc, iron, calcium and iodine, as well as B vitamins. Rice contains fiber, carotene and the essential amino acids valine, lysine and methionine. Alas, all this usefulness lies in the rice shell, and white polished rice is devoid of it and consists mainly of starch. But on the other hand, such rice is nutritious (100 g of the product contains 360 kcal) and is perfectly digestible, since it does not contain coarse dietary fiber. Starchy rice is useful for hyperacidity of gastric juice. In addition, it is a good fixative. How is rice processed? Rice grain is multi-layered. The embryo and its surrounding supply of nutrients (white rice) are covered with a brown bran shell, which, in turn, is wrapped in a tough yellow husk. Rice is brought from the field in this husk and is called paddy or paddy. The grains are dried, separated from straw and weeds, and the outer rice husk is removed. We have brown rice. The bran shell, which contains most of the nutrients, gives it its color. Then this shell is also removed and polished rice is obtained, white, smooth and starchy. Stores also sell parboiled rice. To obtain it, the uncrushed grains are soaked in water, then treated with hot steam under pressure, dried and polished like ordinary rice. After steaming, up to 80% of vitamins and minerals pass from the bran shell into the grain, which acquires a yellowish tint. Brown rice is the most useful, but it is worse stored and cooked longer, and when cooked it is harder than white. It is followed in terms of usefulness by steamed, but the most consumed rice is still white. Rice "instant" has already been cooked, then dried and packaged. In taste and aroma, it is inferior to ordinary white rice; experts advise mixing it with brown. What are the varieties of rice? Varieties of rice, according to connoisseurs, more than 40 thousand. Some are known only in the area where they are grown, while others are famous all over the world. But all this wealth can be divided into two groups: indica and japonica. Indica rice is the common name for varieties of long grain rice. They are grown in India, Vietnam, Thailand, as well as in North and South America and Australia. Long-grain rice does not swell too much when cooked, does not stick together and does not boil soft. It is used to prepare a great variety of dishes of European and Oriental cuisine: salads, side dishes for any meat or fish dish, as well as seafood dishes. Long grains include such famous fragrant varieties of rice as Basmati and Jasmine. Japonica - round-grain varieties that are grown in China, Japan, Italy and Russia. Round-grain rice contains more starch than long-grain rice, so it swells and sticks when cooked. It is used to make rice balls for sushi, as well as cereals, casseroles and puddings. There is also medium grain rice. By its properties, it resembles round-grain (it sticks together slightly during cooking) and absorbs the aromas of foods that are cooked with it. What is wild rice? We have already said that a layer of water reliably protects rice fields from weeds. But there are plants that even in such conditions maliciously clog crops. These are wild types of rice. They do not represent "cultural" value, because their spikelets fall off. And the oblong black grains sold under the name "wild rice" belong to a plant of a different genus - Zizania aquatica. This is a North American aquatic grass, the seeds of which are distinguished by a high content of fiber, proteins and trace elements: magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and manganese. Folic acid in wild rice is five times more than in brown: one glass of grains contains a daily requirement of the vitamin. Wild rice grains are very tough, they are even soaked before cooking for several hours and boiled for 40-60 minutes. It is not uncommon for wild rice to be sold mixed with long grain rice, in which case it is pre-cooked to make it cook faster. This mixture is used as a side dish for fish. How to cook rice? There are a great many varieties of rice, and experts know exactly which one how to cook: whether to pre-soak, and if so, for how long and in what water (salt or fresh). Whether to wash rice before and after cooking, and if so, how many times ... A brief article will not contain this wisdom, so we will limit ourselves to general recommendations. After processing, starch powder remains on the polished rice grains. To get friable rice, this powder must first be thoroughly washed off. It is better to soak unpolished rice before cooking, so it will cook faster and be tastier. There are two main ways to cook rice: boiling (or dipping) and soaking. When boiling, rice is poured into a large volume of boiling salted water and cooked without closing the lid for 1015-XNUMX minutes until the grains become soft. After that, the water is drained and the hot rice is washed with boiling water from the kettle so that it does not stick together. But when immersed, the nutrients go into the water, so it makes more sense to cook rice by soaking. Water with this method should be twice as much as rice. Rice with the necessary seasonings and spices is brought to a boil, then tightly closed with a lid and boiled over low heat for 10-15 minutes. In this case, all the liquid is absorbed into the rice. During cooking, it is better not to lift the lid, otherwise steam will leave the pan and the grains will stick together. Before serving, fluff the rice with a fork. There are special glutinous varieties of rice: no matter how you cook them, they stick together. Therefore, carefully read the labels on the packaging, it often indicates which rice dishes this variety is intended for. What is golden rice? The poor population of Asian countries, which eats mainly cheap polished rice, suffers from a lack of vitamins. To make rice healthier, experts from the International Rice Institute have genetically modified this product so that not only its shell, but also the grains contain beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. Because of the carotene, the grains of such rice have a golden yellow color. The product is under development and is not yet available to farmers.
What is the use of rice bran? The Japanese believe that rice bran perfectly removes impurities and gives the skin gloss and elasticity. To do this, a bag of bran is lowered into the bath. From the shells and germs of rice grains, oil is squeezed out or extracted, which is extremely appreciated by cosmetologists, since it contains three natural antioxidants at once: tocopherol, tocotrienol and oryzanol, as well as squalene, a natural component of sebum, which is quickly absorbed by the skin. Thanks to the combination of these components, rice oil is ideal for dry and aging skin care, and does not clog pores. Rice oil contains all the useful minerals and vitamins of the rice shell, you can cook on it. It practically does not smoke or fry, so it is ideal for cooking meat dishes, stewing vegetables, dressing salads and baking, and the complex of fatty acids found in rice oil helps prevent cardiovascular diseases and lower blood cholesterol levels. What is sake? Who hasn't heard of sake rice vodka? In fact, sake is not vodka, but a special alcoholic drink that is made from polished rice, rice yeast and water. First, the rice is steamed for a long time, then the water is drained, fresh water is added, and rice yeast, or koji, the mold fungus Aspergillus oryzae, is added. As a result of fermentation, which lasts 20-30 days at a temperature not exceeding 15 ° C, a liquid with a strength of 10-20 degrees is obtained. Ordinary yeast ceases to develop already in 16-degree alcohol, therefore they are not suitable for the production of sake. The resulting liquid is filtered, pasteurized, bottled and aged in cellars for a year, and sometimes longer. Sake doesn't have to be hot, but the warmer it is, the quicker it hits the head. Author: Ruchkina N.
Rice. The birthplace of the plant, the history of distribution and cultivation
Perhaps no grain culture has brought people so much grief and suffering as rice. A hundred years ago, monarchs issued decrees prohibiting the cultivation of rice. Cities and villages were fenced off from the ill-fated plantations, like from the plague, with kilometer-long sanitary barriers. But, despite innumerable troubles, people could not give up their favorite plant. They feed half of humanity. After all, it is this crop that gives the highest yield among grain crops. And sometimes even two or three crops. To this it must be added that there is more starch in a grain of rice than in any cereal. Rice itself was blamed, of course, completely in vain. The rice sowers were to blame for not following safety precautions in the fields. Rice is an aquatic crop. Many wild relatives of rice are inhabitants of river banks, islands and even swamps. Cultivated rice has to be flooded with water, and the field turns into shallow water. The water warms up well, and ideal conditions are created for the malarial mosquito. If you let water into the rice field without the norm, it spills over the surrounding lands, and they turn into swamps. And there is also malaria. Italy is especially famous for its malarial breeding grounds. It was there that the most severe decrees against rice cultivation were issued. But in 1909, they tried to compare how much higher the death rate of Italians in rice-growing areas than in the rest of Italy. The numbers were staggering: everything turned out to be the other way around. "That terrible rice" did not increase the incidence, but reduced it. In the rice province of Navarre itself, only two people per hundred thousand died of malaria, and throughout Italy - fourteen! 70 years ago, when little rice was sown in Navarre, one in ten had malaria, and in 1911 there were almost no such patients left! So, with careful, competent handling of water, rice does not bring any troubles. However, growing it is also not an easy task. On this occasion, in Vietnam they still tell one story that happened in ancient times. 50 miles from Hanoi, in the village of La Van, suddenly began to receive fabulous harvests of rice. The Lavanians did not disclose their secret, but they themselves knew that they owed their well-being to the peasant woman Ba-Khen. The same method of enriching the fields was very simple. She threw the Azollu water fern into the water. It grew in the rice shallow water. Azolla's cohabitant anabena algae assimilated atmospheric nitrogen, enriching the reservoir with it. Now the secret of the azolla has already been revealed." It was also found in the rice fields of Italy. Moreover, the Italians did not deliberately throw anything into the water. They fertilized them with guano - bird droppings. The birds picked up the azolla somewhere, it mixed with the droppings and got to the plantation. The peasants noticed this connection with the rice crop and called azolla guano grass. In general, birds take the most active part in the life of rice. Especially wild snow geese. They arrive from the north, from the Canadian Arctic, and stop for the winter on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, on the plains of Texas and Louisiana. Even before the thirties, the prairies spread here, swamps gleamed, and oaks towered along the banks of the rivers, entwined with Spanish moss - tillandsia. Now everything is gone. And the prairie. And with them wild herbs. The prairies were plowed up, watered and planted with rice. It's been a tough time for snow geese. There is no tasty feather grass, no wild millet, no duck potato tubers. However, the geese found a way out. They switched to Fig. One can imagine the sad consequences of such a transition. Farmers would hardly be pleased with goose freeloading. And they would have taken measures to protect the rice plantations, if not for one compelling circumstance. The geese do not harm the rice. Only as an exception, shoots are pulled out. They feed on carrion. And since carrion causes a lot of unnecessary trouble for farmers, the help of geese is very useful for them. Ornithologists, in turn, tried to protect snow geese from criticism. Rice is specially sown in one of the reserves. And a lot. They occupy about ten percent of the area. It is said that farmers begin to take offense at ornithologists, that they distract geese from collecting carrion. Tree ducks have not been able to fit as naturally into the rice world as geese. They feed on rice sprouts and die from poisoning by pesticides that farmers pour over their crops. For rice itself, ducks, however, also do more good than harm. Rice growers in Uzbekistan have found out that if there are not too many ducks, no more than 25 ducks per hectare, then they even increase the yield. It is not necessary to fertilize the soil and loosen it after the ducks. They do it themselves. In North Vietnam, Antigone cranes like to settle in rice fields. Local residents do not interfere with the cranes and do not expel them from the fields. Those, in turn, get used to the owners so much that they act as guard dogs in neighboring gardens. Let's be objective, though. There are examples to the contrary. In India, weaver birds flock to the rice fields, similar to the house sparrow, only the beak is thicker and the tail is shorter. Weavers nest on palm trees that grow along the edges of the fields. From there they fly in flocks. They tried to shoot, but the weavers quickly got used to the shooting and stopped paying attention to it. The only thing that scares them is the sound of empty cans. The baby mouse was especially successful in collecting rice. Freely climbs the stem, like a fitter on a telegraph pole. The stem does not bend. The mouse weighs only six grams, a little more than a copper penny. Having reached the panicle, it holds on to the support with its hind legs, helps with its tail. The front legs are free. They support the grain so that it does not wake up. The workpiece is quiet, without noise. Another thing is rats. When they began to sow rice in Primorye, rats ran out of nowhere. Previously, they did not exist either on Lake Khanka or in the swamps of Santaheza. Now all the dams have been populated. As soon as the sun sets, a nasty squeak immediately begins. They splash into the water noisily. Rice is their main food. If not enough, candles, paper, young goslings and chickens are added to dinner.
Rice feeds half the world. And all the same, in some countries they are too fond of him. In Japan, for example, in some villages during the bad summer season, the inhabitants sometimes eat four kilos of rice. On holidays, and especially during New Year's celebrations, in the most prominent, most honorable place in the house there is a hill of rice cakes - kagamimoti. They are considered a symbol of prosperity and good luck. The writer-diplomat N. Fedorenko says that by the end of the New Year celebrations, by January 11, the cakes dry out so much that they have to be crushed with a hammer. Pieces are collected and boiled again with ... rice! The consequences of such a preference are not immediately apparent, but the sadder the result. Professor Emeritus of Tohoku University M. Kondo said this at a conference on longevity. Preferential, and even more plentiful consumption of rice in all cases, without exception, prevents longevity. Premature aging sets in. This conclusion was made by the professor after he thoroughly studied the life of peasants from 700 Japanese villages. Those Japanese who preferred vegetables to rice had much better health. And now about a completely different rice - water. To avoid confusion, I will make a reservation. Our usual sowing rice is also an aquatic inhabitant, although there are also upland varieties that grow without water. During floods, seed rice has time to grow with the rise of water. Sometimes it rushes up at a speed of one centimeter per hour and yields a crop with a three-meter layer of water! Then you have to mow it with sickles, sailing in boats. Approximately the same way they remove the quotation. Originally a chit from Canada. Canadians love their wild rice much more than ordinary rice. It is served in the best hotels. On the menu, this dish is listed as a Canadian breakfast. Boiled grains of tsitsania are piled on a plate, covered with fruits and poured over with sour cream and honey. When the rumor about Canadian rice reached Russia, the first to decide to breed it, back in the 70s of the last century, was the classic of hunting L. Sabaneev. However, no matter how much he sowed, nothing came up. And the water game, which he dreamed of feeding, was left without refreshments. Other connoisseurs have also tried. Not relying on random seeds, they ordered from the world famous company Vilmorin in France. Vilmorin sent seeds with a guarantee. Alas, this time the guarantee did not work. Wilmoren's seeds did not sprout either. Probably they just dried up, the correspondent who wrote to Vilmorin decided, because the zitsia is an aquatic plant, and its seeds are stored in water. In 1908, he wrote to his fellow writer F. Kryshtafovich, who collected information for the agronomic journal in the New World: "Get at least a few grains, but only from the bottom of the lake. And send them to me in the water. Maybe they will survive." Kryshtafovich imagined how much work this request would cost. Drive across the entire continent 25 to Canada, find a pool of zest, gouge ice holes and look for grains buried in the silt under the ice! He thought and did not dare ... And he wrote about this whole story in his journal. The note was read by zoologist Professor V. Generozov. Got excited. So much free food under the ice! You can breed in the lakes and feed the hungry waterfowl! And at the first opportunity he went to Canada. Collected seeds. Poured into a bottle. Filled with water. And sent it to the magazine "Our Hunt". They gave the seeds to the students of the Petrograd Forestry Institute. They went to practice on Lake Velje and made the first sowing there. The lake was far from the capital - 130 kilometers away. Couldn't get there for the second time. And Lake Velie was forgotten for many years. Only the huntsman, who was entrusted with looking after the crops, knew what wealth came to the northern lands. In the first year, rice rose in a dense wall. The huntsman collected two pounds of heavy grains and fattened a huge pig on them. They remembered the chit-chat for the second time thirty years later. It turned out that the chitsia not only did not freeze out, but greatly expanded its positions. Occupied now already 100 hectares. The commission collected the seeds and sent them to the hunting grounds of the Moscow region, Kostroma, and Bashkiria. Water rice firmly established itself even near Irkutsk. Author: Smirnov A.
Rice. Legends, the birthplace of the plant, the history of distribution
During the harvest, a rice field is no different from other grain fields. But you will visit here when the rice ripens, and you will be surprised: "Where is the field?" Instead, there are endless ponds, separated from each other by narrow ribbons of earth. So, is rice grown here? Yes here. Has it always been raised this way? No not always. Many thousands of years ago, the inhabitants of ancient India discovered an amazing cereal - wild rice. Its roots are located at the very surface of the earth. Such roots do not extract much moisture from the soil. Yes, rice is not suitable for this. Torrential monsoon rains coming from the ocean are what feed the rice. Monsoons bring down whole streams of water to the earth. The earth turns into a swamp. Neither wheat nor millet can live in water. But rice can! Moreover, he likes to grow up like that. It is no coincidence that in the East they say: "Water is the soul of rice." But the monsoons are capricious. Either they flood the ground beyond measure, or they pass by. Rice withers without water. So people had to look at the sky with hope for a long time - to persuade the lost "soul of rice" to return to earth. Gradually, farmers learned to create dams to keep monsoon moisture in the fields. Then they began to dig canals and supply river water to the fields. So man taught rice to grow in artificial ponds. Creating rice farms on new lands is a troublesome business. We have to break through channels, make numerous branches from them, so that the fields are evenly flooded with water, build pumping stations. But all the costs pay off: after all, rice is two to three times more productive than wheat, and in terms of nutritional value it will not yield. That is why in many Asian countries ordinary cereal plants are not sown - they are replaced by rice there. Author: Osipov N.F.
Rice. Interesting plant facts
Half of the world's population eats rice. China, India, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Korea - these are the countries where rice is grown in large quantities. Rice is a marsh plant. Its seeds are sown or seedlings are planted in fields flooded with water. The fields have clay walls and boards on the sides. The inhabitants of the mountains adapted to cultivate rice on the mountains, placing the fields in terraces - steps. The edges of the fields also have walls that retain water. The peasants of China, Japan, India, Indonesia have had very little land for a long time. On a small plot, you need to get a big harvest in order to feed your family and pay off the landowner. The botanist A. N. Krasnov in his travel essays "Across the Islands of the Far East" gives a figurative description of rice culture: "This is a cereal that has been telling a person for centuries: the more labor you spend on me, the better I will reward you. One grain of mine will give you more than a thousand grains scattered over tens of square sazhens, if you are not too lazy to look after me. Therefore, rice culture has brought up all the agriculture of the Far East. " The industrious farmer watches the development of each sprout, watering the soil with fertilizer, giving the earth all the garbage of his farm. In Southeast Asia, 2-3 rice crops are harvested during the year. Rice is the oldest bread crop in Southeast Asia. Since ancient times, rice has been cultivated in Central Asia, in the basin of the Syr Darya River, and in Transcaucasia, where a large number of its varieties are found. Wild rice grows in the Himalayas, the grains of which, brought from the mountains by water that irrigates the fields, litter crops of cultivated rice, and cultivated rice quickly runs wild. Rice is cultivated not only in the Far East, Transcaucasia and Central Asia, but also in the lower reaches of the Volga, in southern Ukraine. The Arabs (Moors) introduced the culture of rice in Spain, and at the end of the XNUMXth century, rice began to be cultivated with great success in Italy. The fields of Italy quickly turned into artificial swamps. Along with rich rice harvests, malaria spread among the population. As early as the XNUMXth century, decrees were issued prohibiting the establishment of rice plantations closer than a few miles from cities, towns and highways. As a result of the same bans, the cultivation of rice was reduced in Spain and completely disappeared in France. In America, rice began to be cultivated after the second voyage of Columbus (1493), who brought it from Spain. Not only cereals, flour and starch are obtained from rice. Powder, alcohol, beer are made from grain. Rice straw is used to make summer hats, handbags, and the best tissue paper in terms of strength and fineness. A grain of rice has an exceptional property - it germinates in water. If the reader is lucky enough to find whole grains covered with a film in rice groats, sow them. To do this, fill the bottom of the vessel with good soil, put rice grains in it and fill it with water. Author: Verzilin N.
Sowing rice, Oryza sativa. Recipes for use in traditional medicine and cosmetology
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Sowing rice, Oryza sativa. Tips for growing, harvesting and storing
Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the main food sources worldwide. Tips for growing, harvesting and storing rice: Cultivation:
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