HISTORY OF RICE
Rice sustains two-thirds of the world's populations today. But rice is far from
a new food source. This ancient food dates back more than 5,000 years when a Chinese
emperor documented the first recording of rice planting in 2800 BC. After that time,
rice migrated across the continents from China to ancient Greece and beyond.
But rice cultivation in North America happened quite by accident when a storm-battered
ship sailing from Madagascar limped into the Charleston South Carolina harbour.
The ship's Captain made a gift of "Golde Seed Rice" to a local planter. As it turned
out, the highly fertile, flat soil of the Carolinas and Georgia plantations were
ideal for rice production. So much so, that by 1726 the Port of Charleston was exporting
about 4,500 metric tons of rice. By the time the United States gained independence,
rice had become a major agricultural business.
But it wasn't until 1884, during the Machine Age, that rice harvesting production
expanded. With this revolution of mechanization, today's major Southern rice growing
states—Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas—were established. Learn more about where rice is grown.