Rice is the staple food for half the people of the world and is grown on about 146 million hectares. It is especially important in Asia where 97 percent of the world's rice is grown. Rice is the most important food crop in Asia, where 60 percent of the world's population is dependent on it as a staple food.
Rice is the primary source of human energy in the humid and semihumid tropics.
Asian farmers till about 89 percent of the world's harvested rice area, accounting for 91 percent of global rice production. In Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, rice provides 56 to 80 percent of the total calories consumed. In most of Africa and Latin America, rice is less important. Rice and poverty Rice production and consumption are often associated with low income and poverty. In most of the rice world, rice is not only the staple food, but also a major economic activity and hence the source of employment and income for the rural population.