I sincerely thank all people who had responded to my rice queries posted
on 21 January. This posting is a long one but I hope that some
researchers find the information useful.
Sincerely,
Ancha Srinivasan
Query 1: Northernmost place in the world with commerical rice
cultivation
Table: Areas with commercial rice cultivation beyond 40oN and 30oS
Northern Hemisphere
Country Region Area in ha. Latitude Longitude
China Mohe ?? 53o33' N 122o30'E
Aihwei ?? 50o N ??
Italy Novara 70000 45o25' N 8o35' E
Vercelli 78506 (1986) 45o18' N 8o27' E
Pavia 62064 (1986) 45o12' N 9o11' E
Lomellina ?? 45o?? N
France Camargue > 20,000 ?? ??
Romania Braila 3,848 (1995) 45o15' N 27o58' E
Lalomita 544 (1995) 44o37' N 26o42' E
Calarasi 1,240 (1995) 44o09' N 8o27' E
Dolj 1,240 (1995) ' N ' E
Timis 250 (1995) 45o28' N 21o06' E
Russia Krasnodar 140000 (1995) 45o03' N 38o55' E
Rostov 35000 (1995) 47o38' N 39o15' E
Hungary ? 4200 (1995) 46o44' N 17o55' E
Slovakia ? ? 48o30' N 17o E
Japan Hokkaido175800(1994) 41-44o30'N 139-145 E
Southern Hemisphere
Chile Del Maule 19438 35o45' S 70o50' W
Del Libertador Gral
Bernado O'Higgins 7089 ?? ??
Australia New South Wales ?? 32o45' S 146o14' E
======================================================
Reply 1: There is commercial rice growing near Milano, Italy at latitude
45
degrees 30' north, longitude 9 degrees east. Graham Russell
<g.russell@ed.ac.uk>
Reply 2: As to the latitude of rice cultivation, is it relevant ? The
fact that someone has bred a variety that grows further north in Japan
than anyone else's variety does elsewhere is surely not a useful
comparison. Conditions in your part of Japan may be particularly mild
for your latititude due to proximity to warm ocean currents. Perhaps
varieties from less favourable parts of the world, even if at
considerably lower latititudes, would grow even further north in Japan
? Mike McDowall<MM@skull.dcn.ed.ac.uk>
Reply 3: The most important area for rice production in Italy is located
in the North of the Country. In the '80s more than 160,000 hectars were
cultivated with rice between 45,30 N and 45,52N in the provinces of
Novara, Vercelli and Pavia. If you require more information, do not
hesitate to contact me. Franco Miglietta
<migliet@sunserver.iata.fi.cnr.it>
Reply 4: Italy has about 200.000 ha of commercially grown rice (it is
the 6th world rice exporting country). 86% of Italy's rice is grown in
the area of Novara (lat.45(I0(JNorth 25'; long.8(I0(JEast 35') Vercelli and
Pavia. -Raffaele Casa <rcasa@unitus.it>
Reply 5: Please try to contact the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) at e-mail: IRRI@cgnet.com Ulf.Carlsson@unep.org
Reply 6: It's not my area of research but I do know that rice is being
cultivated commercially in the South of France at Latitudes of 44
degrees (around Avignon area). If you want to enquire further on this,
contact my colleague, Ruth Butterfield who's email is:
ruth.butterfield@ecu.ox.ac.uk -- Terry Dawson
<terry.dawson@ecu.ox.ac.uk>
Reply 7: I suggest you contact the International Rice Research Institute
in the
Philippines. Bob Huggan should be able to assist. His email is
B.Huggan@cgnet.com - Barbara Alison Rose <Brose@worldbank.org>
Reply 8: Rice Is grown in the Po plane of Northern Italy (45'N).
Couldn't the
quality perception in Japan on the opening of the Japanese market to
foreign rice imports? For more detail you may also contact one of the
European research networks on rice, The coordinator's name is: Mr. J.
Chataigner; Email: JEAN.CHATAIGNER@WANNATOO.FR --- Krell, Rainer
(REUS) <Rainer.Krell@fao.org>
Reply 9: With respect to the first question, I do not have knowledge of
rice
being cultivated further north than the 44 degrees North. In South
America, the Southernmost rice cultivation ocurs at 37 degrees South
(Chile). One third (7 million tons) of all rice produced in Latin
America is found South of the 25th parallel. -Luis R. Sanint
l.sanint@cgnet.com
Reply 10: I am not sure of the lat and long, but if it is of interest to
you, you may wish to consider wild rice, which grows in northern lakes
in Ontario and some other provinces in Canada. There is commercial
harvesting and I believe it sells for a bit more than domesticated
rice. Steve Munger -- munger.s@atomcon.gc.ca
Reply 11: It might be by a matter of inches, but I think Lomellina, in
Northern
Italy, is further north. I tried to find out the exact
latitude/longitude datas, without success. Anyway, the Lomellina rice
production centers around the town of Vigevano, some twenty kilometers
northwest of Pavia, where the 45(I0(J N line passes by (as also shown by a
sign on the highway). "franco cavalleri" <francocavalleri@hotmail.com>
Reply 12: In the southern hemisphere rice is grown in southern NSW on
the
Murray River and it is beginning to move south of this. If you are
interested I could get information on the latitude. But it would be
higher than 40 degrees I think Mr Tony Dunn <adunn@CSU.edu.au>
Reply 13: I believe, that the Po Valley in Italy for centuries have been
the European centre for rice production, and this is further north than
44 degree. About 45-46 I believe. Europe is situated in the west side of
the continent, and the climate is therefore likely to be warmer than
equivalent latitude in Japan. Your new varieties is therefor likely to
be able to grow further north in Europe than in Japan. If you are
interested, I should be happy to try your varieties at the experimental
station at the Agricultural University of Denmark. We are
situated 53 degree north, and rice have never been cultivated here. Even
it may never be of real commercial interest it may be of agronomic
interest. And there could be a market for home production even the
yield may be poor.
Anders.Borgen@.tele.dk
Reply 14: This question should be addressed directly to K.Fischer
@cgnet.com
He is the director of Research at IRRI, International Rice Research
Institute in Philippines. We have been doing research on rice with
many of the IRRI scientists. I do not know the specific person who
can provide information, but I believe they can help to answer your
question. Noreen Dowling <nrmoini@earthlink.net>
Reply 15: Upland rice has been (I don't know whether it still is)
successfully
grown in former Czeckoslovakia (probably in the part that today is
Slovakia), but I don't know on what scale. The location would be about
48 30' N and 17 E. If there is still substantial and commercial
production today, you should be able to find it in a production
yearbook, at least in a Slovak one, if not in one of the FAO. Peter
Hietz -- hietz@edv1.boku.ac.at
Reply 16: 1. The main rice production areas in Italy, of course in a
commercial scale, are located around Po river at around 45 degrees N.
I would like to draw to your attention, however, that the climate
in this area is much warmer than in Hokkaido, in other words, the
climate in the North-East Asia is cooler for the latitude due to the
cool sea currents in the North Pacific Ocean. I would like to suggest
therefore, if you are interested in rice production under cool climate,
that categorising areas by climate (e.g. average temperature during the
growing season) rather than latitude be more useful. Some trials to grow
rice are being carried out under cool/cold conditions in Mongolia, but
to my knowledge it is still at a trial stage. For the details of this
matter, I would like to suggest that you contact the village office of
Shariki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, which participates in the trials, and
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Rice is also produced in
Hungary, Romania and Russia, but I know neither the exact place nor
climate conditions.
Seiichi Yokoi ---- seiichi.yokoi@oecd.org
My response to the above comment: Of late, I have been compiling
information on rice production in different countries with temperate
climates, using mainly the FAO Production Yearbook. The main objective
is to account for advances in breeding for cold tolerance in rice, and
relate them with success
stories in the field. As you may be aware already, there are some
genotypes developed under glasshouse conditions which can tolerate even
up to 8oC during daytime, without any adverse effects on grain set or
quality traits. However, most of these varieties never made it to the
field. I wish to find out the reasons for failure of such varieties
while objectively looking at the progress made during the past 2
decades. - Ancha Srinivasan - ancha@vtt.co.jp
Reply 17: Following is an extract from S.K. De Datta's book "Principles
and Practices of Rice Production" published by John Wiley & Sons in
1981. "A report by Moomaw and Vergara (1965) suggested that rice
cultivation is limited to as far north as 49o in Czechslovakia and as
far south as 35o in New South Wales, Australia. There is evidence that
rice once grew at 53o N in Moho, northeastern China. In fact, rice is
still grown in China's Aihwei county at about 50oN, which is considered
the northen most rice-growing area in the world (IRRI, 1978)".
In addition to the above-information and that provided Raffaele
Casa, you may be interested to know that commercial rice production has
been carried out at the following places:
Northern Hemisphere, above 40oN
Italy Vercelli
78,506 ha in 1986
Pavia
62,064 ha in 1986
France Camargue > 20,000
ha
Romania Braila 3,848 ha in 1995
Ialomita
544 ha in 1995
Calarasi
1,240 ha in 1995
Dolj
1,240 ha in 1995
Timis
250 ha in 1995
Russia Fed Drasnodar 140,000 ha in
1995
Rostov
35,000 ha in 1995
Hungary ?
4,200 ha in 1995
Southern Hemisphere
Chile Del Maule 19,438ha
Del Libertador Gral Bernado O'Higgins
7,089ha
I do not have information on the Latitude and Longitude
of the
above sites, but I am sure that you could get the needed information,
perhaps, by consulting the Geographcal Atlas. It appears, however, that
the Southernmost border of Hungary is well above 45o N.
V.N. Nguyen, AGPC, FAO --<Nguu.Nguyen@fao.org>
Query 2: Quality concerns
Reply 1: I have no knowledge of rice but I have been told repeatedly in
Malawi that hybrid maize tastes horrible compared with local maize. When
hybrids were introduced in Malawi national yield increased sharply. Now
national yield has fallen again as people revert to local varieties
whose taste they prefer. It is hardly surprising that breeding
programmes concentrating on a specific set of traits (such as yield and
pest resistance) have a detrimental effect on traits that are ignored by
breeders. Breeders minimise the number of traits selected for, hastening
advances in the areas they feel important. Mike McDowall
<MM@skull.dcn.ed.ac.uk>
Reply 2: I don't have access to any studies but it has been
"conventional wisdom" since IR8 in the middle 1960's, and becoming even
more obvious in places like Vietnam where "improved varieties" have been
pushed so strongly, that the "improved varieties," which are always
"improved" to increase productivity, have poorer consumer acceptance.
Hence, one would expect a negative correlation between productivity and
consumer preference. Of course in temperate climates the ag industry's
"tomato" is the prime example.It still sells, is ubiquitous in salads,
etc., but has no taste whatsoever. I just returned from Vietnam where
I say, especially in the environs of Hochiminh City (Saigon) large areas
of traditional varieties being grown, varieties which are frequently
tall and lodge badly. The reason I was given was that they sell for as
much as three times as much in the local markets as the "improved"
varieties because of taste preferences. Donald Voth
<dvoth@comp.uark.edu>
Reply 3: The point is very debatable as quality is confused with
acceptability. The new semidwarf varieties, strating with IR8 in the
1960's, had (generally) shorter grains. This was considered as lower
quality. Longer grains command a higher price. But in terms of more
"objective" quality parameters, amylose content, white belly, protein
quality, etc. there is no evidence that older varieties are superior to
the new ones. You may try to contact Dr. Robert Zeigler, Head of
Irrigated Rice program at IRRI (r.zeiglr@cgnet.com) for bibliographic
references from that Institute on this topic. Luis R. Sanint
l.sanint@cgnet.com
Reply 4: As far as taste is concerned, it sounds very strange to me that
the
proportion of poor quality rice has increased during the past 2 decades.
First of all, there should be no data on proportions of good/bad-taste
rice for 2 decades, at least at national level. No official grading
system for taste exists in Japan, and although some private companies
offer their own taste grading systems based on chemical analysis and
they sell "taste-meters", these grading systems were developed only at
late 80s. Secondly, if you classify rice by varieties, it is clear
that share of so-called "good taste varieties", i.e. mainly
Koshihikari and derivative varieties, has increased considerably, having
started in Hokuriku and Tohoku Region and now prevailing nation-wide,
including Hokkaido.
Regarding proportion of poor quality rice in terms of physical
appearance, it sounds possible that it is increasing, partly due to lack
of labour forces to carry out proper management during the growing
season. However, although data availability on this matter should be
better than that of taste data, careful analysis would be required.
For example, the proportion of good/poor quality rice produced and that
of shipped are different two things. Furthermore, I would like to draw
your attention that there used to be a large amount of "illegally
distributed" rice, i.e., those rice which was distributed without
authorisation by nor report to the Food Agency, while today you need no
authorisation by the government. It would be difficult to know the
quality, even exact quantity, of those illegally traded rice.
For experiences in other countries, it might be useful to contact Korean
researchers, since it is said that rice production has been shifted from
quantity-oriented to quality-oriented also in Korea. Seiichi Yokoi
---- seiichi.yokoi@oecd.org
My response to the above comment: You are right in mentioning that
there would be no data on proportions of good and bad taste rice at a
national level, because there is no official grading system for taste.
The term "quality", as
you know, is very broad with varied interpretation in various circles.
In marketing circles, physical appearance of the produce probably
commands more value than the taste per se. Our discussions with JA
staff, and local statistics on the amount of rice in various grades
gathered by groups such as Hokuren suggest that the proportion of poor
quality rice has been increasing. They say that it has been happening
despite an increase in the area under improved varieties with a better
taste. When I asked whether this was partly because of an increased
quality consciousness on the part of consumers over many years, the
staff could not reply.
As you may be aware, in testing quality traits of new lines, we always
compare with old varieties as the controls. While there has been an
increase in proportion of cultivated area under improved varieties, the
grain quality of these improved varieties has often been found to be
less than satisfactory especially in seasons with erratic rainfall and
temperature conditions. During my 4-year stay at the research institutes
attached to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, I
participated in rice quality (including taste, appearance, feeling in
mouth, whiteness, texture, etc.) surveys and it is always difficult to
categorize which variety is tastier than others. If the perception
that quality deterioration in modern varieties grown under intensive
management systems is much faster than in traditional varieties grown
under less intensively managed (i.e., lower amounts of fertilizer,
pesticides, etc.) conditions is indeed true, further research on this
seems essential.
Reply 5: Regarding grain quality of rice varieties Following
are
suggested references:
1. Grain quality evaluation of world rice, B.O. Juliano and
C.P.
Villareal, IRRI 1993 205 pp
2. Porspect for rice consumption in Europe, Ed. by P. Berni,
Villa
Pindemonte, Isola Della Scala, Italy, 1995?
3. Rice quality criteria and the European market, j. Faure and
F.
Mazaud, 1994, pp.121-131 in Proceedings of the 18th Session of the
International Rice Commission, FAO, 1996.
Nguyen, Nguu (AGPC)" <Nguu.Nguyen@fao.org>
My response to the above comment: We have the first reference in our
library but it unfortunately does not address the issue of deterioration
of physical quality of grain in rice varieties released over time.
The disturbing feature, which clearly needs further research, is that
the overall proportion of rice with low quality rating seems to have
increased in Hokkaido, despite an increase in area under the so called
"improved, tasty" varieties. This is especially seen in seasons with
erratic rainfall and temperature, and in intensively managed (fields
supplied with lots of fertilizers and pesticides) farms. I wish to
examine the possible relationships between intensive crop management,
soil quality, and potential impact on physical quality of rice.
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