Global Rice Production Models - Assignment Example

Atlas of Ingredients: Global Patterns of Production Atlas of Ingredients: Global Patterns of Production Rice is the most common food ingredient that is consumed world wide. It is produced in rich quantities to feed large number of population. It is rich in starch that is a type of carbohydrate. Rice is utilized as major ingredients in India, Spain, Mexico, USA, Bangladesh, Italy, Myanmar, European countries, and rest of the world. It is used in nearly every part of the world. In some countries meat or chicken is also added to the rice as the sub ingredient to enhance the nutritional value of the dish. It comes in a variety of shapes and colors. Rice is a seed of a monocot plant that is generally named as paddy and specifically named as “Oryza sativa”. It is the world’s third highest agricultural production, Sugarcane and maize are the first and second. Most rice fields are first filled with a half foot of water and then small rice plants are grown in rows. It is mostly produced on yearly production basis. Some rice types do not require immense amount of water to grow; these can be harvested on normal fields without water dispense (Juliano & Hicks, 1996). Rice is characterized according to color, size of rice grain and specific taste and texture. A rice grain contains about 90% of carbohydrate, 8% proteins and only 2% fats as macro nutrients; while it also contains magnesium, folic, calcium, iron and vitamin A as the micro nutrients in different amounts according to the type of rice. The following nutritional chart for a serving of one cup or 158 grams of rice illustrates the macro and micro nutrients. Various beer brands utilize the rice to make beer. It is due to the fact that rice is packed with 90% of the carbohydrate (Smith, 1998). Rice porridge is made in the similar way as that of the wheat porridge. “Chelo” is a rice dish in Persia that is famous due to golden rice. Rice is used in various sweets dishes also. Paella is the Spain’s national dish that makes use of rice as the major ingredient. Per capita rice consumption is some counties exceed more than 200 kg annually. Countries like Myanmar, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India and Japan consume rice at massive level. China, India and Indonesia are the three biggest rice producers in the world. The three major rice exporters are Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan with exporting capacity of about 8500, 6500 and 3800 thousand metric tons accordingly (Juliano & Hicks, 1996). Rice is cooked by boiling or steaming it at low or high flame. The amount of water to boil rice depends on the type and amount of rice. In risotto, rice is first glossed first in oil and then boiled after that. The process makes the rice comparatively less sticky as generally cooked. Similar procedures are followed in Iran (pilaf), India (dam-pukhtak) and Pakistan (Biryani) to cook the rice. Long grain rice are comparative less sticky as compared to that of the short and medium grained rice. Medium grain rice is sticky and used in dishes like “sushi” and Thai sticky rice. Brown rice is first soaked in water to activate germination in the rice (Smith, 1998). Maps of the countries that produce the Rice most in the world Rice is produced in most of the regions as it the major food ingredient of the world. In tropical regions, rice is the major production. In most regions it is yielded once a year. Some regions including Canada, Sweden, Finland, Mongolia, New Zealand, Norway and Libya have no rice production. These countries usually depend on the import of rice from rice exporting countries. Asia is the highest production zone of rice with a total capacity of more than 415550 thousand metric tons annually. Asia produces about 95% of the world’s rice. Asia also produces most types of rice from small grain to long grain and from white rice to brown rice. Other rice producing regions are United States of America and Africa. North America does not produce rice. All the rice produced in USA is produced in South America. Nigeria is the highest rice producing country in the Africa. East Asia produces most amount of rice with China, Japan and South Korea as the major rice producing countries. South Asia produces rice as the second highest production with India, Pakistan and Bangladesh as major rice producing countries. South East Asia Also produces rice on massive scale with Malaysia and Thailand as major rice producing countries (Mapsofworld.com, 2014). China Produces most amount of rice with the production rate that exceeds 143000 thousand metric tons annually. India also produces rice on massive scale with production rate of more than 99000 thousand metric tons. Indonesia comes in the third rank of rice producing countries; it produces more than 36900 thousand metric tons of rice. Besides being a small country, Bangladesh produces 33800 thousand metric tons of rice each year and comes in the fourth rank of rice producing countries. Vietnam produces 27100 thousand metric tons of rice every year and comes in the fifth rank. Thailand comes in the sixth rank with an annual production of more than 20500 thousand metric tons. Philippines come in seventh rank in the world’s rice producing nations and produce about 11000 thousand metric tons of rice annually. Myanmar is ranked as the eighth highest producing country with a production rate of 10750 thousand metric tons of rice annually. Brazil produces 78020 thousand metric tons of rice each year and comes in ninth rank. Japanese love rice and thus Japan produces about 7500 thousand metric tons of rice each year and ranked as tenth highest rice producing country (Thecountriesof.com, 2014). The Map illustrates regions that produce rice on massive amounts. Long grains, Short grains and mid sized grains production regions South Asian countries including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh produces long grains rice as well as mid sized grains rice. Most of the produced rice yield is white grains but brown rice is also produced specifically. East Asia produces short and mid sized rice grains. South west Asia, central Asia, Africa and South America all produce small and mid sized rice grains. The below map illustrates the facts (Rediff, 2014). Most of the rice is produced in Asia due to the tropical regions in the Asia. Rice needs water to grow; Asian regions are blessed with good adequate amount of yearly rains. In addition to the adequate amount of rains, Asia is also blessed with humid and warm weather that make it a perfect region to harvest rice. However, desert regions lack water that makes them less likely to produce more amounts of rice. In the similar manner, the regions with cold weather like Iceland Norway and Sweden also lack the necessity of warm and humid weather. Some regions like Brazil have similar weather conditions as that of Asia that is why these countries are producing rice. References Juliano, B., & Hicks, P. (1996). Rice functional properties and rice food products. Food Reviews International, 12(1), 71-103. doi:10.1080/87559129609541068 Mapsofworld.com,. (2014). Countries With Most Rice Producing Countries - World Top Ten. Retrieved 9 November 2014, from http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/rice-producing-countries.html Rediff,. (2014). Worlds top 20 rice producing nations. Retrieved 9 November 2014, from http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-worlds-top-20-agricultural-producers/20111024.htm#12 Smith, B. (1998). The emergence of agriculture. New York: Scientific American Library. Thecountriesof.com,. (2014). Top 10 Largest Producers of Rice in the World | Top 10 Rice Producing Countries in the World | Countries of the World. Retrieved 9 November 2014, from http://www.thecountriesof.com/top-10-largest-producers-of-rice-in-the-world/ Read More