Rice — Basic Food for One-third of the 

 Earth's People 



By Raymond E. Crist 



Research Professor of Geography, 

 University of Florida, Gainesville 



[With 6 platesj 



KiCE, cultivated since the dawn of history and symbol of prosperity 

 in many countries of the Far East, is the staff of life for over a billion 

 human beings. It has fed tlie teeming populations of India, Indo- 

 china, and south China since time immemorial, and was introduced 

 into the Near East by the Persians. From Babylonia and lower Syria 

 the Arabs spread its cultivation around the Mediterranean Sea, prob- 

 ably fii-st into Egypt, then in the 11th century into Spain, Italy, and 

 the Balkans. 



RICE IN THE NEW WORLD 



Rice was introduced into the New World by the Spaniards, prob- 

 ably by Columbus on his second voyage in 1493. He arrived in His- 

 paniola with citrus fruits, vegetables, and grains. In the early 16th 

 century rice cultivation spread all over those tropical lowlands where 

 the culture of sugarcane was introduced. In the early slave days it 

 was important as an easily preserved food for the slaves. 



However, the question of alternative starches soon arose. Both 

 sweet and bitter varieties of yuca — native to the New World — were 

 soon preferred to rice, perhaps because they were cheaper and easier 

 to grow. Further, yuca was a rootcrop, hence hurricane proof. In- 

 deed the sugar planters of Jamaica were required to furnish each 

 slave a plot of ground on which he could raise sufficient provisions 

 for his maintenance, and they were further required to plant upon 

 "their plantation in ground-provisions, at least one acre of land for 

 every ten negroes." ^ Yuca could be dug up as needed and did not 

 have to be stored. When necessary, bitter yuca could be made into a 

 meal (farinha or cassava) and kept for a long time. Although yuca 



» Edward, Bryan, History of the West Indies, vol. II, p. 152, London, 1793. 



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