An Introduction to the History of the Culture of Rice

Rice is intimately in the culture as well as the food ways and economy of many societies. (www.riceweb.org p.1). For example, folklore tells us that when the Kachins of northern Myanmar (Burma) were sent forth from the center of the Earth, they were given the seeds of rice and were directed to a wondrous country where everything was perfect and where rice grew well. Also in Bali, it is believed that the Lord Vishnu caused the Earth to give birth to rice, and the God Indra taught the people how to raise it. In Chinese myths, by contrast, tells of rice being a gift of animals rather than of gods. China had been visited by an especially severe period of floods. When the land had finally drained, people came down from the hills where had taken refuge, only to discover that all the plants had been destroyed and there was little to eat. Due to hunting, animals become scarce. On a particular day, the people say a dog coming across a field, and hanging on the dogs tail were bunches of long yellow seeds. The people then planted the seeds and rice eventually grew.

The origins of rice have been a major debate for some period of time now. The earliest settlements of those persons responsible for domestication were in areas offering a wide range of plant and animal associations within a limit geographical areas. Some sites offered a variety of food sources over a p of seasons to societies dependent on hunting and gathering for their food supply. These early settlements were near the edge of the uplands but on gently rolling topography and close to small rivers that provided a reliable water supply. The earliest agriculture may have been developed by accident when women settlement recognized that the mix of plant life growing around he midden was especially rich in edible forms. Early agriculture focused on plants that reproduced vegetatively, but the seeds of easily shattering varieties of wild rice such as Oryza fatua may have found their way to the gardens at an early date.

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Price Fluctuations between Seasons
Prices on free markets reflect the balancing of demand and supply.(FAO Marketing Guide No.6, Rice Marketing, Abbott, Barter, Kelly, p. 132). In most countries rice is harvested by definite seasons. Supplies are plentiful at farm level and prices tend to very low. Normally they could be expected to rise during subsequent months to meet the costs of holding and storage. Storage costs include the provision of storage facilities, the risk of loss through deterioration or insect damage, and the cost of locking up the capital value of the product. As well as the seasonlity of harvesting, the quantity harvested can vary considerable from season to season. A combination of factors bear on rice supplies-the area planted, natural and irrigated water supplies, the climate for the season, and producers ability to control and disease. (Abbott, Barter, Kelly p.134)

Fluctuations in short run market supply mainly reflect differing growing conditions. In areas where rice is grown as an alternative to other crops, relative prospects of a secure market outlet and favorable prices on the basis of recent experience can also influence supply. Favorable market conditions are likely to result in a larger area being planted with rice for the following seasons.
Marketing
Size of a production unit is another critical determinant; whether the farmer sells only occasional surpluses, whether he sells small quantities regularly but is dependent on outside financing, or whether he is commercially independent and can make sales decisions without reference to his own finance. Some farms may be large enough to justify installing their own milling facilities, which enables the farmer to sell milled rice wholesale. However, those who hand over part of their crop to a landlord as rent and they may relatively large quantities for sale and correspondingly greater and bargaining power. Four systems of marketing from farms were distinguished; 1.Traditional bartering of paddy by farmers in the relatively undeveloped Choco region. 2. Sale of the crop in the field before harvest. 3. Sale as paddy with financing through mills or otherwise. 4. Sales of white rice from paddy milled on the farmers account.(Abott, Barter, Kelly p. 100).

Rice is export is likely to go to wholesalers who have special knowledge of export markets and procedures. They may act on their own account if they have the financial strength, or as agents for miller importing country. Subsequent stages of the marketing channel are very much influenced by the ultimate market. To supply a large number of retailers serving domestic consumers will call for a structure of wholesale distributors who are able to hold supplies in store either as paddy or rice intervals. The upper limit to the margin obtained for providing marketing services is normally set by competition.

Reference

1. Abbott, J.C., P.G.H. Barter, R.W. Kelly and G.R. Spinks. Rice Marketing FAO Marketing Guide, Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. (6) 1972, pp.100-150.
2. Bell, Clive, Peter Hazell, and Roger Slade. Project Evaluation in Regional Perspective: A Study of an Irrigation Project in Northwest Malaysia. Baltimore, Maryland and London, Jones Hopkins University Press. 1982, pp. 189-200.
3. Gomez, Kwanchai A. and Arturo A. Gomex. Statistical Procedures For Agriculture Research 2 ed. An International Rice Research Institute Book. New York, Chichester, Brisbane, Toronto, Singapore. Wiley-lntersecience Publication, 1984.
4. Jacks, Graham and M. Kathleen Milme. An Annotated Bibliography of Rice Soils and Fertilizers. Chapter 2. Hapenden, England: Commonwealth Bureau of Soil Science, 1954.
5. Luh, PH.d, and Bor S. Rice: Rice and Utilization. Westport, Connecticut. AVI Publishing Company, inc. 1980.
6. Pratt, Parley M. Rice: Domestic Consumption in the United States. Chapters 1 and 2, Bureau of Business Research. Austin, Texas, University of Texas Press, 1960, pp. 1-33.
7. A Brief History of Rice Rice: Then and Now by R.E. Huke and E.H. Huke, International Rice Research Institute, 1990. http://www.riceweb.org/history.htm.
8. Traditional Rice Farming Implements http://www.cgiar.org/irri/Riceworld/fixed/tradrice.winotool.html.

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