Rice_The Most Important Grain

RICE

The Most Important Grain History

Journey

Uses

Part 1: Understanding the PalayCheck System

Can you guess where and when rice was first planted?

History

Many believe that rice was first grown in Asia, probably in China, about 12,000 years ago.

Now, rice is grown in almost all continents, with about 90 percent produced and consumed in Asia.

Without rice, life is simply unthinkable for us Asians, not only because it is an integral part of our diet, but of our culture and economies as well.

Here in the Philippines, rice may have been planted as early as 3,200 B.C. The oldest evidence of the use of rice was said to have been found at the Andarayan plains of Cagayan.

But it was in the higher areas of the Philippines where rice was grown and developed.

Rice – plain and steaming hot – is what most of us look forward to at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Do you know how long it takes for rice to get to your plate?

12

YEARS !

And the long journey starts from the minds of our rice breeders.

Breeders, such as those from IRRI,PhilRic and UPLB, e, set objectives for developing a rice variety, usually in terms of yield, resistance to pests, as well as grain and eating qualities.

Journey

BREEDING OBJECTIVES Hybridization Hybridizationof of Selected Selected parents parents

Segregating Segregating population population Year 2-3

Year 1

Performance PerformanceTrial Trial Year 4-6

NCT Phase I (on-station) Year 7-8.5 NSIC

MAT (on-farm)

Seed Increase (Breeding Institution)

Year 9 New variety for release

Gene bank

Year 9.5-11 Farmers Year 12

Grain millers & retailers

Basic Seed Production (PBBD) Breeder/Foundation SP (IGO)

Consumers Foundation/Registered SP (IGO/SeedNet/ Seed Growers)

Breeders work with experts from different fields such as rice chemists, entomologists, agronomists, and, most importantly, with farmers to produce varieties for different rice growing conditions.

BIOTECHNOLOGY • Can cut the conventional breeding process by 2yrs • At PhilRice, biotech is used to complement conventional breeding.

When seeds of rice varieties become available, farmers begin their selection process.

They select seeds of varieties suited to their growing conditions.

Then, they prepare their land for cultivation either using a tractor or a carabao, doing repeated plowing and harrowing, and then leveling of the soil.

Did you know?

A farmer and his carabao can walk 60-80 km/day to plow 1 ha of land.

Journey But, this can be done in half the time using the Ride-on Tillage Implement!

Journey

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In the process of land preparation, farmers also prepare their seeds for planting – either for direct seeding or transplanting.

In direct seeding, germinated seeds are sown directly onto the field.

While in transplanting, seedlings are first raised in seedbeds before they are planted in the field.

How does one transplant seedlings?

1. Hold a bundle of seedlings in one hand 2. Bend about forty-five degrees, knees bent a bit.

3. Using the thumb and index fingers of the other hand, push in a couple of seedlings into the mud neatly in rows.

Journey Now, farmers wait for the rice crop to mature in about four months.

In the meantime, they have to mind things like the weather, pests, and crops’ nutrient and water needs.

When the grains at the tip of the panicles are hard and yellow, farmers can now harvest the rice.

Journey Harvesting can be done manually or mechanically.

Then, threshing is done to separate the grains from the shaft.

It can also be done manually or using a thresher machine.

Newly harvested rice must be dried immediately and evenly to avoid deterioration and for better buying price.

Rice can be dried under the sun or using a mechanical dryer.

The millers and traders then buy the harvest from the farmers and mill it.

They sort, pack, transport, and sell the rice to wholesalers and retailers.

Finally, consumers buy, cook, serve, and eat the rice!

Many of our celebrations and rituals include rice.

Its straw is used as bedding for livestock .

Uses Oil extracted from rice bran is used in livestock feed and cosmetics.

Uses The hulls are used to produce mulch that can recondition farm soil.

PhilRice makes wine out of rice called Tapuy.

CREDITS Instructional presentation designer:

Mr. Alfred Franco Caballero and Dr. Karen Eloisa Barroga

For more information, visit: You may use, remix, tweak, & build upon this presentation non-commercially. However, always use with acknowledgment.

Unless otherwise stated, the names listed are PhilRice staffers.

Produced in 2011

Text: 0920-911-1398