3. Introduction
• Rice originated from Ancient Wild Rice Species
• Many species are known but commonly
cultivated ones are from type Oryza
• Predominant findings:
O. sativa (Asian rice)
O. glaberimma (West Africa)
• Gondwana Supercontinent Theory
• Rice species can adapt to various parts of the
world
4. Shifting cultivation
• During ancient civilization, rice believed to
have been grown by direct seeding without
standing water
• Evidences of rice cultivation were found in the
dry uplands of the South East Asian region
5. Wet-Rice Cultivation
• Dominant method used in today’s rice production
• Believed to have originated in lower Yangtze river
valley
- Swampy marshes
- River systems
- Monsoon rainfall
- High temperatures
• Ancient Chinese development of puddling and
transplanting domesticated rice species
6. Archaeological Evidences
• Carbonized rice remains of over 10, 000 years
old and rice glumes in burnt clay
• Large number of wild rice varieties found in
the region
• 130 ancient sites with 100 situated along the
Yangtze river
7. Archaeological Evidences
• Clay with paddy impressions and husk
remnants in Gujarat (expansion of Indus valley
since 2300 BC)
• Unearthed pottery shards bearing the imprint
of both grains and husks of O. sativa -> earlier
in 4000 B.C. at Non Nok Tha in the Korat area
of Thailand
8. Culture/ Religion
• Ancient Indian name for rice is dhanya which
means ‘sustainer of the human race’
• King of Nepal- Suddhodana which means
‘Pure Rice’
• Japan, it is linked to the Sun-Goddess who is
believed to be the mythological ancestor of
the Japanese Imperial family
9. Culture/ Religion
• The first authentic record of irrigation for
paddy cultivation is to be found in the Book of
Poetry supposed to have been written in the
Chow Dynasty about 781-771 B.C.
• Historian Ssu-ma Ch’ien in 148 B.C.
Wrote of conditions in the Yangtze Valley
which refer to the burning off of trees and
undergrowth, flooding the land and planting
paddy.
12. Introduction
• Four types of rice traded globally;
indica, japonica, aromatic and glutinous
• Traded according to: fully milled, brown or rough
rice
• Main rice consuming:
India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Myanmar
• Main rice producing:
China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Vietnam
• Top exporters: Thailand, Vietnam, China and
United States of America (U.S.A.)
13. Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Policy
• Implemented by World Trade Organisation (WTO)
• Safeguard domestic interests in pests and disease
problems involved while importing plants and
plant products
• Some of the principals behind the regulations
enforced are not clear or wrongly used
• Example: Mexico and Central America banned
Asian rice imports through SPS measures such as
poor quality of gains, pest infestation and
pesticide residue.
14. Implications
• Difficult for Asian exporters to enter into the
regions’ rice market
• South American countries, seem to be taking
on a protectionist measure
• Brazil which are using unscientific legal
phytosanitary policies as a barrier to
safeguard national interests
15. MERCOSUR Trade Agreement
• MERCOSUR: Common Market of the South
• Allows for free trans-boundary movement of
goods between full member state-
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay
• Largest trading bloc in South America, their
interest is to counter restrictions to regional
trade
16. Implications
• Regional exchange of rice would have to
compete against imported rice
• Rice is a food component largely traded
among MERCOSUR countries
• Imposing a high tariff on non-members
• Tariff levied by China, Egypt
Iran, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia and USA
averages to about 11 per cent and a maximum
of 18 per cent
17. South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
• Economic strategies: self-sufficient and self-
reliant
• Self sufficient: Food consumption to be from
domestically produced food
• Self reliant: Advocate cheap imports to
supplement food supplies
18. Implications
• As staple food, sale of rice unlikely to suffer
drastic fall
• Major exporters Thailand and Vietnam have
an agricultural based economy therefore
ASEAN needs to safeguard their interest
• 107,867,551 tons of rice are circulated and
sold within the region versus 16,624,056 tons
of exports
