China , China Although China's agricultural output is the largest in the world, only about 15% of its total land area can be cultivated. About 75% of the cultivated area is used for food crops. Rice is China's most important crop, raised on about 25% of the cultivated area. Most rice is grown south of the
Huai River, in the Yangtze valley, the
Zhu Jiang delta, and in
Yunnan,
Guizhou, and
Sichuan provinces. Rice appears to have been used by the Early
Neolithic populations of Lijiacun and Yunchanyan in China. Evidence of possible rice cultivation from ca. 11,500 BC has been found, however it is still questioned whether the rice was indeed being cultivated, or instead being
gathered as wild rice. Bruce Smith, an archaeologist at the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., who has written on the origins of agriculture, says that evidence has been mounting that the Yangtze was probably the site of the earliest rice cultivation. In 1998, Crawford & Shen reported that the earliest of 14 AMS or radiocarbon dates on rice from at least nine Early to Middle Neolithic sites is no older than 7000 BC, that rice from the
Hemudu and Luojiajiao sites indicates that rice domestication likely began before 5000 BC, but that most sites in China from which rice remains have been recovered are younger than 5000 BC. These developments were widely spread during the ensuing
Warring States period (403–221 BC), culminating in the enormous
Du Jiang Yan Irrigation System engineered by
Li Bing by 256 BC for the
State of Qin in ancient
Sichuan. During the
Eastern Jin (317–420) and the
Northern and Southern Dynasties (420–589), land-use became more intensive and efficient, rice was grown twice a year and cattle began to be used for
plowing and
fertilization. By about 750, 75% of China's population lived north of the Yangtze, but by 1250, 75% of China's population lived south of it. Such large-scale internal migration was possible due to introduction of quick-ripening strains of rice from Vietnam suitable for multi-cropping. Famous rice paddies in China include the
Longsheng Rice Terraces and the fields of
Yuanyang County, Yunnan.
India ,
Andhra Pradesh, India India has the largest paddy output in the world and in 2020 was the largest exporter of rice in the world. In India,
West Bengal is the largest rice producing state. Paddy fields are a common sight throughout India, both in the northern
Gangetic Plains and the southern peninsular plateaus. Paddy is cultivated at least twice a year in most parts of India, the two seasons being known as
Rabi and
Kharif respectively. The former cultivation is dependent on irrigation, while the latter depends on
the Monsoon. The paddy cultivation plays a major role in socio-cultural life of rural India. Many regional festivals celebrate the harvest, such as
Onam,
Bihu,
Thai Pongal,
Makar Sankranti, and
Nabanna. The
Kaveri delta region of
Thanjavur is historically known as the rice bowl of
Tamil Nadu, and
Kuttanadu is called the rice bowl of
Kerala.
Gangavathi is known as the rice bowl of
Karnataka.
Indonesia were formerly used to plough muddy paddy fields in Indonesia although the use of mechanised methods, such as small powered ploughs, has become much more common in recent years. In the island of
Java, prime paddies yield roughly 6 metric tons of unmilled rice (2.5 metric tons of milled rice) per
hectare. When irrigation is available, rice farmers typically plant
Green Revolution rice varieties allowing three growing seasons per year. Since fertilizer and pesticide are relatively expensive inputs, farmers typically plant seeds in a very small plot. Three weeks following germination, the 15-20 centimetre (6–8 in) stalks are picked and replanted at greater separation, in a backbreaking manual procedure. Rice harvesting in
Central Java is often performed not by owners or
sharecroppers of paddies, but rather by itinerant middlemen, whose small firms specialize in the harvest, transport, milling, and distribution of rice. The fertile volcanic soil of much of the Indonesian archipelago—particularly the islands of Java and Bali—has made rice a central dietary staple. Steep terrain on Bali resulted in complex irrigation systems, locally called
subak, to manage water storage and drainage for rice terraces.
Italy Rice is grown in Northern Italy, especially in the valley of the
Po River. The paddy fields are irrigated by fast-flowing streams descending from the
Alps. In the 19th century and much of the 20th century, the paddy fields were farmed by the
mondine, a subculture of seasonal rice paddy workers composed mostly of poor women.
Japan s in Japan The acidic soil conditions common in Japan due to volcanic eruptions have made the paddy field the most productive farming method. Paddy fields are represented by the
kanji (commonly read as
ta or as
den) that has had a strong influence on Japanese culture. In fact, the character , which originally meant 'field' in general, is used in Japan exclusively to refer to paddy fields. One of the oldest samples of writing in Japan is widely credited to the kanji found on pottery at the archaeological site of
Matsutaka in
Mie Prefecture that dates to the late 2nd century.
Ta () is used as a part of many
place names as well as in many family names. Most of these places are somehow related to the paddy field and, in many cases, are based on the history of a particular location. For example, where a river runs through a village, the place east of the river may be called
Higashida (), literally "east paddy field." A place with a newly irrigated paddy field, especially those made during or after the
Edo period, may be called
Nitta or
Shinden (both ), "new paddy field." In some places, lakes and marshes were likened to a paddy field and were named with
ta, like
Hakkōda (). Today, many family names have
ta as a component, a practice which can be largely attributed to a government edict in the early
Meiji Period which required all citizens to have a family name. Many chose a name based on some geographical feature associated with their residence or occupation, and as nearly three-fourths of the population were farmers, many made family names using
ta. Some common examples are
Tanaka (), literally meaning "in the paddy field;"
Nakata (), "middle paddy field;"
Kawada (川田), "river paddy field;" and
Furuta (), "old paddy field." In recent years, rice consumption in Japan has fallen and many rice farmers are increasingly elderly. The government has subsidized rice production since the 1970s, and favors
protectionist policies regarding cheaper imported rice.
Korea , South Korea, early June Arable land in small alluvial flats of most rural river valleys in South Korea are dedicated to paddy-field farming. Farmers assess paddy fields for any necessary repairs in February. Fields may be rebuilt, and
bund breaches are repaired. This work is carried out until mid-March, when warmer spring weather allows the farmer to buy or grow rice seedlings. They are transplanted (usually by
rice transplanter) from the indoors into freshly flooded paddy fields in May. Farmers tend and weed their paddy fields through the summer until around the time of
Chuseok, a traditional holiday held on 15 August of the
Lunar Calendar (circa mid-September on the Solar Calendar). The harvest begins in October. Coordinating the harvest can be challenging because many Korean farmers have small paddy fields in a number of locations around their villages, and modern harvesting machines are sometimes shared between extended family members. Farmers usually dry the harvested grains in the sun before bringing them to market. The
Hanja character for 'field',
jeon (), is found in some place names, especially small farming townships and villages. However, the specific Korean term for 'paddy' is a purely Korean word, "non" ().
Madagascar and rice field near
Morondava, Madagascar In
Madagascar, the average annual consumption of rice is 130 kg per person, one of the largest in the world. According to a 1999 study of UPDRS/FAO: The majority of rice is related to irrigation (1,054,381 ha). The choice of methods conditioning performance is determined by the variety and quality control of water. The
tavy is traditionally the culture of flooded
upland rice on burning of cleared natural rain forest (135,966 ha). Criticized as being the cause of deforestation,
tavy is still widely practiced by farmers in Madagascar, who find a good compromise between climate risks, availability of labour and food security. By extension, the
tanety, which literally means "hill," grows upland rice, on the grassy slopes that have been deforested for the production of charcoal (139,337ha). Among the many varieties, rice of Madagascar includes:
Vary lava - a translucent long and large grain rice, considered a luxury rice;
Vary Makalioka - a translucent long and thin grain rice;
Vary Rojofotsy - a half-long grain rice; and
Vary mena, or red rice, exclusive to Madagascar.
Malaysia , Malaysia Paddy fields can be found in most states on the
Malay Peninsula, with most of the fields being located in the northern states such as
Kedah,
Perlis,
Perak, and
Penang. Paddy fields can be found on the east coast region including states of
Kelantan and
Terengganu, their growth relies on seasonal rainfall from the northeast monsoon winds of the South China Sea. The state of
Selangor on further south has its fair share of paddy fields, especially in the districts of
Kuala Selangor and
Sabak Bernam. Before the regions that formed Malaysia became heavily reliant on its industrial output, people were mainly involved in agriculture, especially in the production of rice. It was for that reason, that people usually built their houses next to paddy fields. Some research pertaining to Rainfed lowland rice in
Sarawak has been reported. Up until the later 1960s, Myanmar was the main exporter of rice. Termed the rice basket of Southeast Asia, much of the rice grown in Myanmar does not rely on fertilizers and pesticides, thus, although "organic" in a sense, it has been unable to cope with population growth and other rice economies which utilized fertilizers. Rice is now grown in all the three seasons of Myanmar, though primarily in the
Monsoon season – from June to October. Rice grown in the delta areas relies heavily on the river water and sedimented minerals from the northern mountains, whilst the rice grown in the central regions require irrigation from the
Irrawaddy River. The fields are tilled when the first rains arrive – traditionally measured at 40 days after
Thingyan, the
Burmese New Year – around the beginning of June. In modern times, tractors are used, but traditionally, buffalos were employed. The rice plants are planted in nurseries and then transplanted by hand into the prepared fields. The rice is then harvested in late November – "when the rice bends with age". Most of the rice planting and harvesting is done by hand. The rice is then threshed and stored, ready for the mills.
Nepal In Nepal, rice (Nepali: धान, Dhaan) is grown in the
Terai and hilly regions. It is mainly grown during the
summer monsoon in Nepal.
Philippines , Philippines Paddy fields are a common sight in the Philippines. Several vast paddy fields exist in the
provinces of
Ifugao,
Nueva Ecija,
Isabela,
Cagayan,
Bulacan,
Quezon, and other provinces.
Nueva Ecija is considered the main rice growing province of the
Philippines. The
Banaue Rice Terraces are an example of paddy fields in the country. They are located in
Banaue in Northern
Luzon, Philippines and were built by the
Ifugaos 2,000 years ago. Streams and springs found in the mountains were tapped and channeled into irrigation canals that run downhill through the rice terraces. Other notable
Philippine paddy fields are the Batad Rice Terraces, the Bangaan Rice Terraces, the Mayoyao Rice Terraces and the Hapao Rice Terraces. Located at Barangay Batad in Banaue, the Batad Rice Terraces are shaped like an
amphitheatre, and can be reached by a 12-kilometer ride from Banaue Hotel and a 2-hour hike uphill through mountain trails. The Bangaan Rice Terraces portray the typical Ifugao community, where the livelihood activities are within the village and its surroundings. The Bangaan Rice Terraces are accessible by a one-hour ride from Poblacion, Banaue, then a 20-minute trek down to the village. It can be viewed best from the road to
Mayoyao. The Mayoyao Rice Terraces are located at Mayoyao, 44 kilometers away from Poblacion, Banaue. The town of
Mayoyao lies in the midst of these rice terraces. All dikes are tiered with flat stones. The Hapao Rice Terraces are within 55 kilometers from the capital town of
Lagawe. Other
Ifugao stone-walled rice terraces are located in the municipality of
Hungduan. Sri Lanka sometimes exports rice to its neighboring countries. Around 1.5 million hectares of land are cultivated in Sri Lanka for paddy in 2008/2009 maha: 64% of which is cultivated during the dry season and 35% cultivated during the wet season. Around 879,000 farmer families are engaged in paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka. They make up 20% of the country's population and 32% of the employment.
Thailand Rice production in Thailand represents a significant portion of the
Thai economy. It uses over half of the farmable land area and labor force in Thailand. Thailand has a strong tradition of rice production. It has the fifth-largest amount of land used for rice
cultivation in the world and is the world's largest exporter of rice. Thailand has plans to further increase its land available for rice production, with a goal of adding 500,000
hectares to the 9.2 million hectares of rice-growing areas already cultivated. The
Thai Ministry of Agriculture expected rice production to yield around 30 million tons of rice for 2008. The most produced strain of rice in Thailand is
jasmine rice, which has a significantly lower
yield rate than other types of rice, but normally fetches more than double the price of other
strains in a global market.
Vietnam Rice fields in Vietnam (
ruộng or
cánh đồng in Vietnamese) are the predominant land use in the valley of the
Red River and the
Mekong Delta. In the
Red River Delta of northern Vietnam, control of seasonal river flooding is achieved by an extensive network of
dykes which over the centuries total some 3000 km. In the
Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam, there is an interlacing drainage and irrigation canal system that has become the symbol of this area. The canals additionally serve as transportation routes, allowing farmers to bring their produce to market. In Northwestern Vietnam,
Thai people built their
"valley culture" based on the cultivation of
glutinous rice planted in upland fields, requiring terracing of the slopes. The primary festival related to the agrarian cycle is
"lễ hạ điền" (literally "descent into the fields") held as the start of the planting season in hope of a bountiful harvest. Traditionally, the event was officiated with much pomp. The monarch carried out the ritual plowing of the first furrow while local dignitaries and farmers followed suit.
Thổ địa (deities of the earth),
thành hoàng làng (the village patron spirit),
Thần Nông (god of agriculture), and
thần lúa (god of rice plants) were all venerated with prayers and offerings. In colloquial
Vietnamese, wealth is frequently associated with the vastness of the individual's land holdings. Paddy fields so large as for "storks to fly with their wings out-stretched" ("
đồng lúa thẳng cánh cò bay") can be heard as a common metaphor. Wind-blown undulating rice plants across a paddy field in literary Vietnamese is termed figuratively "waves of rice plants" ("
sóng lúa"). == Ecology ==