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Rice from India was spread south to Malaysia and taken to Indonesia in about 1500 BC. It was taken to the Philippines by immigrants from southern China in the 2nd millennium BC. Alexander the Great first brought rice to Europe after his conquest of India in 320 BC. Some time between 400 and 300 BC, rice spread westwards into Iran and was reported in Babylon and lower Syria around 285 BC, but was not cultivated there until the Arab conquests, after 632 AD. The Moors took it along the southern Mediterranean to Spain and it was first reported in northern Italy in 1475. The Malays probably took rice to Madagascar in the first millennium AD.
The Portuguese introduced rice to Brazil soon after their occupation, and the Spanish took it to Central America. It is thought that Columbus had rice on board his ships when he went to the Americas. Oryza sativa was taken to West Africa; it was first grown in the USA, along the coast of South Carolina, in 1685, although the first commercial production was not until 1912.
It is considered the best crop for cultivating in areas having low labour power and the highest quantity of rainwater as the peak rainfall is much essential for the maximum output. Although China and India are the largest producers, the biggest exporter is Thailand
Most UK long grained rice is imported from USA (followed by Italy, Spain, Surinam Guyana and Thailand)). USA? Don't they need paddy fields? It is a famous crop in Cajun country of Louisiana.
Rice traveled to USA in 1694 in a British ship bound for Madagascar, that was blown off course into Charleston. The captain gave friendly colonialists rice seed for helping them mend their ship. Some years later 'the British unfortunately blotted their copybook" when during the American Revolution they occupied Charleston and sent home the entire quantity of harvested rice, so there was no seed for the next year's crop. "
Skullduggery 1
Skullduggery 1
The American rice industry survived this set back and cultivation continued thanks to President Thomas Jefferson who broke an Italian law (that prohibited exportation of rough rice on plain of death) by smuggling rice seed out of Italy during a diplomatic mission in 1787. The rice industry then transplanted itself from Carolina to the Southern States surrounding the Mississippi basin" (More). Mississippi rice. Is the USA going to pay royalties or make any reparations to Italy under the Plant Breeders Rights for all the rice they have grown in US since?
Skullduggery 2
Skullduggery 2
Come to think of it, the UK never paid Brazil for rubber seeds that they stole, deliberately to wreck Brazil's control of rubber.. See 1876 Rubber heist for details
The 1876 Rubber Heist
The event is widely condemned in Brazil as a devastating act of historical "bio-piracy", but there are no formal state claims for compensation. [1, 2]
The "Bio-Pirate": In 1876, a British explorer named Henry Wickham took about 70,000 rubber tree seeds from the Amazon in Brazil. [1, 2, 3]
The Deception: Wickham tricked Brazilian customs officials. He told them his bags were full of "delicate botanical specimens" for London's Kew Gardens. [1]
They were planted in seedbeds the day after their arrival and within a few weeks over 2,000 had germinated (not the 10% claimed by Wickham). 1919 of these seedlings were sent to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) under the charge of a Kew gardener, William Chapman; there were three days of panic as no-one had arranged for the harbour dues to be paid. However, the seedlings were eventually released and 1700 survived to be planted at the Heneratgoda gardens. Only 300 survived.
At the same time, 2 further tcases, containing 50 seedlings, were sent to Singapore, off-loaded and left in a shed for a month before being collected – dead.
The Consequence: The British grew these seeds into massive plantations in Southeast Asia. This broke Brazil's global rubber monopoly and caused a severe economic crash in the Amazon. [, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Read 'The Devil's Milk' for the social consequences of these moves.
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