Rice

Rice is an annual grass-family plant whose seeds can be eaten, a monocot like grasses. The rice plant has some outward features, such as leaves, leaf sheaths, stems and roots, similar to grass. In Thailand, Hom Mali rice has domestic varieties and is popular worldwide.

Rice varietiesThe ones commonly eaten are 2 main species:

• Oryza glaberrima is grown only in tropical Africa
• Oryza sativa is grown in every country. This species Oryza sativa  can be further divided into
  • indica  grown mainly in the tropics
  • japonica  grown mainly in temperate zones
  • Javanica

Rice grown in Thailand is of the Indica  type, which is divided into non-glutinous and glutinous rice. In addition, rice has been selected and bred by humans throughout the history of cultivation, so today there are many varieties worldwide with different flavors and uses. Thailand's world-famous rice variety is Hom Mali rice

General characteristics

The important characteristics of rice can be divided into those related to growth and those related to reproduction, as follows. 

Characteristics related to growth Characteristics related to the growth of the rice plant include the roots, stem and leaves

• Roots  The roots are the part below the soil surface, used to anchor the stem to the soil so the plant does not fall over, though sometimes special roots also form at nodes above the ground. The rice plant has no taproot but has fibrous roots branching out beneath the soil surface.
• Stem  It is hollow in the center and divided into internodes separated by nodes. Internode lengths differ, and the number of internodes equals the number of leaves of the rice plant, normally about 20–25.
• Leaves  The rice plant has leaves for photosynthesis, to convert minerals, nutrients, water and carbon dioxide into starch for the plant's growth and seed formation. The leaf consists of the leaf sheath and the leaf blade.

Characteristics related to reproduction

The rice plant reproduces by seed, which results from pollination between male and female parts. Important characteristics related to reproduction include the panicle, the rice flower and the rice grain.

• Panicle  The rice panicle means the inflorescence of rice, which arises at the node of the last internode of the rice plant. The section between the upper node of the last internode and the joint of the flag leaf is called the neck.
• Rice flower  means the part with the male and female parts for reproduction. The rice flower consists of two large outer husks joined together to enclose the inner parts. The large outer husk on the outside is called the lemma, and the large inner one is called the palea. The outside of these two husks may or may not have hairs.
• Rice grain  means the starchy part called the endosperm and the embryo, enclosed by the two large outer husks. The endosperm is the starch we eat, and the embryo is the living part that sprouts into a rice plant when planted.

Types of rice

They can be divided into 2 types: non-glutinous rice and glutinous rice  which are alike in almost every way but differ in the hard endosperm of the grain.

• Non-glutinous rice grains containamylose  starch, about 15–30 percent
• Glutinous rice grains contain mostlyamylopectin  starch and about 5–7 percent amylose

Rice trade

World demand for rice consumption is about 417.7 million tonsThailandis the world's largest rice exporter, with a 36 percent export share, followed by Vietnam at 20 percent, India at 18 percent, the United States at 14 percent and Pakistan at 12 percent respectively.

Source: Wikipedia