Rice is a grain.
It needs a lot of water as it grows.
In many places, rice is the main food.
Rice growing in Southeast Asian countries is a major farming job.
Fields where rice grows are called paddy fields.
Rice growing
Rice growing is a job for many people in Southeast Asian countries.
This woman is working in a rice paddy in Bali. The paddy has been cut into the side of the hill. ©iStock
Rice is the main crop grown in Thailand and Indonesia, and in other Southeast Asian countries. In many places in the world, rice is the staple, or main, food.
Rice is a plant that requires plenty of water and heat. It is well suited to the tropical climate of places like Indonesia and Thailand, where it grows well if the rains are plentiful. In Thailand, and in Bali in Indonesia, and on the island of Madagascar it is possible to grow two or more rice crops each year.
Ploughing paddy fields and planting rice
Rice fields are called paddy fields. They have low walls around them because they have to be flooded with water. In hilly areas, the paddy fields are terraced down the hillsides.
Before planting, the soil is ploughed in order to stir up the soil ready for planting the seedlings. In Indonesia, banteng, or native oxen, pull the wooden ploughs. In some other Asian countries, such as Thailand, water buffalo pull the ploughs through the muddy, flooded paddy field.
A farmer in China ploughing a paddy field with a buffalo pulling the plough. Photo©iStock
In small Asian farms, the rice seedlings are planted by hand. Photo©iStock
After ploughing, the paddies are flooded and the seedlings are planted by hand in neat rows about twelve centimetres apart. While the rice is growing in the paddy fields, rains keep the paddies flooded for about four months. In some places, water from rivers is run into the paddies through channels dug in the ground. This is called irrigation.
Harvesting rice
The plant has produces the grains of rice and are ready for harvesting ©iStock
Several weeks later, flowers appear on the plants and then the plants produce grains in husks (a coating over each grain). In late summer, watering is stopped and the rice is harvested.
In many small Asian farms like this one in Vietnam the rice is cut by hand and made into bundles. Photo©iStock
Workers each use a sharp knife and cut off the stalks at ground level. The rice is bundled and left to dry in the sun.
Threshing and winnowing rice
In many areas of Asia the threshing is done by hand. In this farm, bundles of rice are beaten onto the ground and the grains fall off. Photo©iStock
The rice is threshed to separate the grains from the stalks.
To separate the rice grains from the husks, the rice is winnowed. To winnow, workers toss rice grains on woven trays or baskets. The heavy grains fall back into the tray and the husks blow away. The rice is then dried and can then be stored.
Rice grains are tossed into the air to let the husk, or coating, fly away. These women are Thai. Photo©iStock
More facts about rice
Rice is a good food. It contains thiamin, iron, phosphorus, potassium and folic acid, all of which our bodies need for good health.
China grows the most rice in the world, followed by India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Thailand. Thailand is the biggest exporter of rice.
Brown, wild, basmati and red rice. ©iStock
Rice in Australia
Rice is grown in Australia using a different method from Asian countries. The first commercial rice crop in Australia was grown in the Murrumbidgee area of New South Wales in 1924.
It is always a good idea to use more than one source of information, so here are some others for you to investigate
Watch a video about Australian rice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQHjjmIVjTU
A bowl of steamed rice ©iStock