Modern Rice Growth Practices that Help the Planet and Humanity

Modern rice growing should not harm the planet. We now know about practices we can implement that will allow future generations rice-producing capabilities. Rice has existed for a long time, but we continue refining our farming techniques.

We will talk about modern rice-growing practices in the following article. We have definitely come a long way in this area, but we’re still working to protect the planet while bringing in this crop that so many cultures use daily.

What Are Sustainable Rice Production Methods?

Innovative, sustainable rice production methods for a greener future can help the planet while feeding millions. These practices might look different depending on where farmers produce their rice.

What works in one region may not in another. One practice might work well due to natural land features in Asia, but it might not work for American rice farmers.

Sustainable practices, though, regardless of where the farmers live and work, should never harm the planet. They should make the world better for future farmers and anyone living nearby.

Rice’s Origin

To learn about original rice cultivation methods, you must look at the Yangtze River from around 13,500 to 8,200 years ago. From there, rice spread to East Asia. Migration and trade then brought it gradually around the world.

There are over 40,000 distinct rice types, though you probably can’t tell them apart with the naked eye unless you are a rice farmer. The original rice farmers regarded the crop as a staple. They also ate water chestnuts and acorns. They had domesticated pigs they used as a food source as well.

In the past, farmers needed lots of water for rice production. They would keep the rice fields flooded in 6-to-8-inch water puddles that sometimes spread for many miles. If you think about some wetlands and deltas, you can easily see how they’d fit early rice cultivation techniques perfectly.   

In the past, the farmers did not have the herbicides and pesticides we do now. Because of this, they could easily lose a crop. The earliest rice growers would periodically beseech their gods for healthy crops.

China’s First Rice Crops

In China in bygone days, you would see flooded paddy fields marking a rice farmer’s territory. The farmers, if they worked hard, might produce two or possibly three crops per year. If the land grew arid that year, and they didn’t have a water source, the crop could die.

Some Chinese farmers grew rice on terraces. They would dig them on steep slopes. This allowed them to farm more land in areas resembling steps.

In China, you can still sometimes see these terraces. This technique still works there, but not in some other places that grow rice, including Africa and the US.

What About Rice Growing Today?

These days, rice growth practices vary widely. Some harm the planet a great deal, while others do not. Most farmers these days use herbicides and pesticides. They try using ones that won’t harm humans, but you still can expect some ingestion.

A harvester or combine harvests the rice in most instances. It cuts the rice and then separates it. Most consumers don’t realize that rice comes in several parts, including the husk, kernel, and stem. You’re eating the plant’s kernels.   

Airplanes and Grain Drills

Modern rice farming, at least in America, does not much resemble the old ways you’d see in China. American rice farmers now use tools they call grain drills to plant the seeds. They might also employ small airplanes.

In the modern world, you can grow rice in four basic ways. You can use what farmers call the transplantation method. You can use the drilling method that typically employs a grain drill.

You might also use what farmers call the broadcast method. That means you scatter the seed, either by hand or using a machine, over a wide area. It works well, but it takes up many acres.

The final way involves the Japanese system. That is the paddy method we mentioned earlier. It’s also pretty useful, except you can only set it up in mountainous regions. The farmers build tiny, terraced paddies into mountain inclines. You can’t do that if you have flat fields like you’d find in the American South.

What Modern Rice Growing Methods Help the Environment?

Ideally, you should buy rice in today’s grocery stores that conscientious farmers grow. How can you tell you’re buying rice that farmers grew so that they didn’t harm the planet, though?

You might check out a rice producer’s website and learn more about them. The best ones use techniques that help the Earth and promote sustainability.

The best rice-growing techniques in 2023 produce as little methane as possible. Rice growers can do that by only growing specific rice varieties and reducing tillage.

They can also reduce field flooding time. This saves water. Alternate wetting and drying periods work well. These farmers can also use furrow irrigation methods that get the most use from as little water as possible.

Flooding rice fields might work well, but it also creates a home where microbes can reproduce and spread. This releases greenhouse gases that pollute the atmosphere.

The Best Rice Farmers Don’t Use These Techniques

If you buy rice, find out whether the farmers use flooded rice fields. You can ask their websites how much water they use. Less water helps the planet, and that’s the biggest factor regarding how farmers grow rice in the modern era.

Alternate wetting and drying don’t produce as much rice, but it’s better for the planet. Fertility management helps too. Direct seeding is good, as is the no-tillage method. Farmers can also use aerobic cultivars.

If you learn the rice you have on your table got there through sustainable practices, you can keep buying it. If you discover a company uses outdated methods that pollute the environment, look into a different brand. You can find many rice brands, so buy one that promotes sustainable growth practices.