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

Oryzanivara. This led to the local development that mixed wet- and dry-land production of the local Oryzasativa variation, indica, before the pure wet-land rice Oryzasativa variation,

japonica, arrived in India.

TODAY

Rice is the most important human food crop in the world, directly feeding more people than any other crop. In 2012, nearly half of the world’s population – more than 3 billion people – relied on rice every day. It is also the staple food across Asia where around half of the world’s poorest people live and is becoming increasingly important in Africa and Latin America. There are a variety of rice types to suit every occasion, dish and taste bud: short, medium and long grains, brown, red and white varieties, and a range of sticky and dry textures.

3500–2000 BC

The spread of japonica rice cultivation arrived in Southeast Asia, beginning with the migrations of the Austronesian Dapenkeng culture into Taiwan.

300 BC

Rice reaches West Asia and Greece via the Silk Road. The Greek word for rice comes from the Indian word, vrihi, and all the other European words for rice come from the Greek word ryzi.

3500–1200 BC

Mainstream archaeological evidence derived from paleoethnobotanical investigations indicate that dry-land rice was introduced to Korea and Japan at this point. Rice was cultivated on a small scale, where fields were impermanent plots, and evidence shows that in some cases domesticated and wild grains were planted together. However, there are no archaeological data proving the technological, subsistence, and social impact of rice and grain cultivation until after 1500 BC.

500 BC

There is evidence of intensive wetland rice agriculture established in Java and Bali, especially near fertile volcanic islands.

1400 BC

Cultivation appears in southern India after its domestication in the north.

3000–2500 BC

There was a rapid expansion of rice cultivation into mainland Southeast Asia and westwards across India and Nepal.

2000–1500 BC

The Austronesian expansion began, with settlers from Taiwan moving south to Luzon in the Philippines, bringing rice cultivation technologies with them. The earliest evidence of rice cultivation in mainland Southeast Asia came from the Ban Chiang site in northern Thailand (2000–1500 BC); and the An Sơn site in southern Vietnam (2000–1200 BC).