Rice has been feeding mankind for more than 5,000 years. Colonists were the first to cultivate rice in America. Arkansas is the leading rice producing state, followed by California, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Missouri and Florida. There is also research on growing rice that is packed with vitamins. This could help feed many people who live in countries with little food.
Rice can germinate and thrive in flooded fields.
Rice is sometimes planted by broadcasting seeds from an airplane. Most of the rice grown in Arkansas is classified as long grain rice. The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status, and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The mention of any commercial product in this web site does not imply its endorsement by the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service over other products not named, nor does the omission imply that they are not satisfactory.