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Rice for Life!
For more than half of humanity, rice is life. It is the grain that has shaped the cultures, diets, and economies of billions of people in Asia. For them, life without rice is simply unthinkable.

Rice reality
Between now and 2020, 1.2 billion new rice consumers will be added in Asia. Feeding these people will require the greatest effort in the history of agriculture: rice production must be increased by one third from today’s 320 million tons to 420 million tons. Farmers will have to grow an extra 3.7 million tons every year—at the very time that rice land is decreasing and the remaining fields seem to be wearing out.

Today, there is barely enough rice for everyone. And in some places, because of political and economic turmoil, there is not enough—and people are going hungry.

What about tomorrow?
If we do not begin to respond to today’s cries for help, Asia’s future will be bleak.
Environmental woes
Growing more and more rice from less and less land, however, may simply not be sustainable. Chemical pesticides are already polluting the lakes, rivers, and groundwater. Genetic biodiversity is eroding, salinity is encroaching farther inland, and there is less water for irrigation. Air and water pollution are already problems in many places.

What kind of environment will our children inherit?

Rhythm of life
Grown in Asia for at least 10,000 years, rice has richly influenced the cultures and lives of billions of people. In the old societies of Asia, rice dictates the rhythm of life. It is the grain that links Heaven and Earth, gods and mortals. Throughout the region, rice dominates customs, beliefs, rituals, and celebrations.



But as societies become affluent, they are slowly becoming less attached to rice. And the death of an elder often means the loss of age-old traditions and legends.

Who will preserve the priceless rice heritage?
Teetering on the edge
In much of Asia, where rice is the essence of survival, poor people in both cities and rural areas spend half to three fourths of their incomes on rice—and only rice. Keeping rice prices within their means is an absolute must for social, economic, and political stability—and for promoting development and reducing poverty. The current Asian economic crisis is a sobering reminder that rice cannot be taken for granted.

For Asia, rice sufficiency is the foundation of a healthy and vibrant society. Asia will be prosperous only if it can feed itself.
source:http://www.asiarice.org/sections/learnrice/riceislife.html

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