» Guess how many kinds of rice are kept in a bank (called genebank) at IRRI? 108,000 varieties!
» It takes 5,000 liters of water to produce 1 kilo of rice.
» A farmer must walk 80 kilometers to plow 1 hectare of rice land using a water buffalo (carabao).
» Rice is eaten by nearly half of the world’s population.
» Thailand, Vietnam, India, and the USA are the top 4 countries in the world that export rice
» Science has helped more than double world rice production from 260 to 600 million tons over the past 40 years.
» Rice is the single largest food source for the poor.
» Almost half of the world’s population eats rice — about 3 billion people.
» After a farmer plants rice, it takes about 105 days before he can harvest it! Imagine if you and your family actually had to wait that long before you could eat rice?
» It takes 5,000 liters of water to produce just 1 kilo of rice — enough to fill up half of a small swimming pool!
» Rice farming is older than the great, great grandmother of your great, great grandfather. It is about 10,000 years old!
» Do you like sushi and norimaki? These are only two of the many rice-based Japanese dishes. Did you know that two Japanese car brands were named after rice? Toyota means ‘bountiful rice field’, while Honda means ‘the main rice field’.
» Rice is part of many religious rituals and customs, especially in Asia