RICE

Rice is a monocotyledonous plant in the Grass or Poaceae family. Cultivated rice belongs to two botanical species of the Oryza genus(Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima). The most widely cultivated species is Oryza sativa L, which is diploid, self-pollinating and native to South and Southeast Asia (Second, 1982). Its domestication fromOryza rufigon in India and China dates back over 10,000 years. Europeans introduced Asian rice to Africa from the fifteenth century and later to America. The Oryza glaberrima species, also known as African rice or Casamance rice, originated in Central Africa and has been domesticated in West Africa for 3,500 years. A third rice species, resulting from a cross between Oryza sativa L (Asian rice) and Oryza glaberrima (African rice), is cultivated in Africa and the rest of the world: the 'New African Rice' or NERICA. Its germplasm offers real hope for improving the productivity, profitability and sustainability of rice growing in Africa.