Rice feeds more people than any other crop. More than half the world's population depends on it as a staple, and it is grown on every continent except Antarctica. Asia produces and consumes the vast majority, with China and India alone accounting for more than half the global harvest.

The plant, Oryza sativa, was domesticated in the Yangtze Valley of China around 9,000 years ago, with a separate domestication of African rice in the Niger River basin. It grows best in flooded paddies, where standing water suppresses weeds and supplies nutrients, though upland rice is also grown in drier conditions. Transplanting seedlings into puddled fields is the traditional method; direct seeding is increasingly common.

Major types

• Indica: long-grain, grown in tropical Asia
• Japonica: short-grain, grown in temperate regions
• Aromatic: basmati, jasmine, and similar varieties
• Glutinous: sticky rice used in East and Southeast Asia

Rice paddies are also a major source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Alternate wetting and drying, where fields are drained periodically, cuts emissions without hurting yield in many systems.