This fourth edition of the Rice Almanac continues the tradition of the first three editions by showcasing rice as the most important staple food in the world and all that is involved in maintaining rice production. It also breaks new ground in its coverage of issues related to rice production, both environmental--including climate change--and its importance for food security and the global economy. It also further expands coverage of the world’s rice production area by featuring 80 rice-producing countries around the world.

Agricultural history has enjoyed a rebirth in recent years, in part because the agricultural enterprise promotes economic and cultural connections in an era that has become ever more globally focused, but also because of agriculture's potential to lead to conflicts over precious resources. The Oxford Handbook of Agricultural History reflects this rebirth and examines the wide-reaching implications of agricultural issues, featuring essays that touch on the green revolution, the development of the Atlantic slave plantation, the agricultural impact of the American Civil War, the rise of scientific and corporate agriculture, and modern exploitation of agricultural labor.

This book sheds new light on the remote sensing of agriculture in South/Southeast Asian (S/SEA) countries. S/SEA countries are growing rapidly in terms of population, industrialization, and urbanization. One of the critical challenges in the region is food security. In S/SEA, although total food production and productivity have increased in previous decades, in recent years, the growth rate of food production has slowed down, mostly due to land use change, market forces and policy interventions. Further, the weather and climate systems in the region driven primarily by monsoon variability are resulting in droughts or flooding, impacting agricultural production. Therefore, monitoring crops, including agricultural land cover changes at regular intervals, is essential to predict and prepare for disruptions in the food supply in the S/SEA countries. The current book captures the latest research on the remote sensing of agricultural land cover/ land use changes, including mapping and monitoring crops, crop yields, biophysical parameter retrievals, multi-source data fusion for agricultural applications, and chapters on decision making and early warning systems for food security. The authors of this book are international experts in the field, and their contributions highlight the use of remote sensing and geospatial technologies for agricultural research and applications in South/Southeast Asia.

FAO’s best-selling 2011 publication, Save and Grow, proposed a new paradigm of agriculture, one that is both highly productive and environmentally sustainable. This new book looks at the application of “Save and Grow” practices and technologies to production of the world’s key food security crops – maize, rice and wheat. With examples drawn from developing countries worldwide, it shows how eco-friendly farming systems are helping smallholder producers to boost cereal yields, improve their incomes and livelihoods, conserve natural resources, reduce negative impacts on the environment, and build resilience to climate change. The book will be a valuable reference for policymakers and development practitioners guiding the transition to sustainable food and agriculture.

This book shows the importance of rice for human consumption. It focuses on the rice panicle, its morphology and characteristics. High genetic diversity of rice has been economically profitable for mankind; the crop provides food calories to half of the human race on earth and because of its adaptability to diversified and unstable ecological conditions, the plant has an asynchronous flowering system in the panicle. The International Rice Research Institute has a collection of panicles with numerous branching phenotypes and lengths varying from 10 to 43 cm. Due to the heterogeneous architecture, grain filling depends on the position of the spikelet within a panicle. Spikelets on apical branches fertilize early and fill faster compared to their basal counterparts and therefore, individual grain weights of panicle vary widely. The discrepancy in grain filling between spikelets changes with panicle architecture but the relationship of variation in individual grain weight with panicle architecture has not been studied. Spikelet number has increased highly in the newly developed rice cultivars, but it has no benefit accrued on grain filling and yield. This book is recommended for students, researchers and teachers working in this field of expertise.

This book highlights rice and water resources security in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam – countries that share the international Mekong River, which is a source of both regional cooperation and conflict. It discusses the topography, population, economy, rice production and rice trade of these four riparian countries, and analyses the impacts of climate change, El Nino and La Nina, and the construction of Mekong mainstream dams on water resources and rice productivity. Further, this publication assesses the role of the Mekong River Commission, a river basin organization responsible for the sustainable development and water resource management of the Mekong, and examines regional cooperation frameworks such as the Lower Mekong Initiative, and the Mekong-Japan Summit. The book then explores the emerging role of China in promoting the Lancang-Mekong cooperation between China and Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam in developing the Mekong River Basin, which could determine the future water and rice security of the region.

Plant Breeding Reviews presents state-of-the-art reviews on plant genetics and the breeding of all types of crops by both traditional means and molecular methods. Many of the crops widely grown today stem from a very narrow genetic base; understanding and preserving crop genetic resources is vital to the security of food systems worldwide. The emphasis of the series is on methodology, a fundamental understanding of crop genetics, and applications to major crops. It is a serial title that appears in the form of one or two volumes per year.

Rice is a staple crop in many coastal and non-coastal areas of the globe and requires a large production area. With the increasing trends in population , it is pivotal to increase the production of this important crop for sustainability. The introduction of high-yielding rice cultivars through molecular breeding is one of the possibilities that can ensure sustainability. Additionally, development of new biotic and abiotic stress-resistant cultivars with higher nutritional value can revolutionize the rice industry.

This volume addresses three important agricultural aspects of rice: physical characteristics, physico-chemical characteristics, and the organoleptic aspects. Divided into sections, the book first examines recent trends and advances for higher production and quality improvement, focusing on the effects of climate on rice cultivation and climate-resilient agricultural practices in rice. The volume goes on to cover nutrient management for rice production and quality improvement. Chapters also address weed management and postharvest processing practices for improved rice production. With chapters from renowned scientists, researchers, and professors, this book will be a useful reference for rice researchers working in the area of agronomic practices, postharvest processing, and quality improvement in rice.

Volume 9 of the Series compiles the biosafety consensus documents developed by the OECD Working Party on the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology from 2019 to 2021. It deals with the biology of APPLE, SAFFLOWER and RICE, three important crops for agriculture and consumption worldwide.