|The relationship between rice and people has inspired songs, paintings, stories and other modes of communication|
Thousands of years ago, people from East
to South Asia settled throughout river deltas and domesticated wild rice. The
productivity of wetland rice crops led to population growth and to the
development of society and civilization.
Both in ancient times and today, the
intense labour needed for rice cultivation - to reclaim land, to build and
maintain terrace systems, to synchronize cropping patterns against soil erosion,
landslides and flooding - has required villages to work together.
effect of rice on people is particularly evident in the vast Mekong River
Delta, where villages with distinct cultures joined to tame the land and
cultivate their staple crop. Furthermore, the need for standing water in
rice-based systems has widely shaped the landscapes of rural areas and
villages. In these ways, the struggle to cultivate and harvest rice has moulded
community structures and a corresponding culture of rice.
The relationship between rice and people
has inspired songs, paintings, stories and other modes of communication.
Festivals have been dedicated to rice and rice cultivation - for example, the
Land Opening Festival in China, which marks the beginning of the rice season.
Rice was considered divine by many Asian emperors and kings in ancient times.
The Japanese, even today, refer to rice as their "mother" and regard
rice farmers as the guardian of their culture and the countryside.
Over the centuries, rice has shaped the
cultures and dietary habits of its cultivators and consumers. Thanks to its
numerous varieties, rice provides a wide range of flavours, even when simply
boiled or steamed. Depending on the region, rice is traditionally coupled with
fish or meat, or with legumes such as beans, lentils and chickpeas. The
combination of rice and fish in Asian countries has generated the term
"rice-fish societies", and the strong relationship between wet rice production
and fisheries is reflected in many proverbs from the ancient Tai and Angkor Wat
civilizations ("in the fields there is rice and in its water there is fish").
The combination of rice and legumes characterizes cuisines from Cajun to
Mexican to Middle Eastern to Southern European. In Columbia, "rice and beans"
is acclaimed as the national food. This basic dish continues to be the
sustenance of the poor in many countries.
It is significant that almost every
culture has its own way of eating rice and that these different recipes are
part of the world's cultural heritage. The importance of rice to villagers in
Senegal is evident in that special guests are honoured with a rice meal. From a
relatively unknown crop a hundred years ago, rice today dominates the cultural
- and even political - landscape in Sacramento, California.
Cultivation of rice has shaped social
habits and landscape across the globe. In the intense summer heat of the Nile
Delta, people seek refuge from the heat in the cool air of the rice fields. A
panoramic view of flat rice fields in the footlands of the snow-capped European
Alps a delight for visitors to northern Italy, home of world-renowned risotto
and other rice dishes.