Agricultural Handbook 689 . National Agricultural Statistics Service. Track Records United States Crop Production . Rice is the world's most valuable cereal grain, being the principle food in more than half of the people in the world. It is nutritious, supplying the body with carbohydrates, B vitamins, minerals and little fat.
Rice grows from a plant that is part of the grass family.
The rice grains come from the head or panicle of the plant, where from 60 to 150 kernels of rive grains are found. Although the United States is not the top producer of rice, a large amount of rice is produced by the US for domestic consumption, export, and livestock feed. Rice grows best on coastal plains and in river valleys where temperature ranges from 21 to 38 degrees Celsius. It takes about eighteen weeks to grow and an average rainfall of 113 cm or an irrigation system. The changes in production in the 90's have been relatively slight despite an all time high in 1994.