Australia and the World Past and Present

Rice can be found growing throughout equatorial and southern Africa.

There are a smattering of rice growing areas in Europe. Rice is grown in parts of Spain and France.

The Middle East is a veritable desert when it comes to rice production.

India produces a huge amount of rice. Production in very intensive in the south of India and in Bangladesh.

Rice production as also very intensive in China.

Rice growing is very common throughout southeast Asia.

Rice growing in Australia only occurs in one very small region. It is a tiny speck on the continent.

In the Americas, Mexico and Brazil stand out as rice producing nations.

The U.S. experience is interesting. Important locations exist in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas.

Like growing rice in Australia, growing rice in California would appear, on the face of it, an unwise undertaking.

California is a very dry place.

However, rice is not grown all over the state. Almost all Californian rice is grown in the Sacramento Valley, which receives reliable snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada.

The soil is unusually well-suited for rice. It is clay-rich and therefore holds water incredibly well.

The hot, dry summers benefit rice growing. Days are hot and the nights are warm. The dry climate means less disease.

California is famous for its “Calrose” rice, a medium-grain rice.

In the Early 1900s, state and federal governments built irrigation infrastructure.

Commercial rice production was introduced in 1912-1914, perhaps a decade earlier than in Australia. World War I disrupted Asian rice imports and the demand for a domestic supply grew stronger.

I thought that the existence of a Japanese diaspora in the state in the early 1900s may have had a significant impact on the development of an emerging commercial rice industry there. However, it seems to have less of a factor than I initially thought.

The Alien Lands Acts (1913 and 1920), restricted ownership and leasing. This was not dissimilar to the legislative situation in Australia.

On the face of it, Australia and California don’t seem like ideal candidates for rice growing. However, in both places, local environments with the right access to water and suitable soils have been found.

In the U.S., early state support for irrigation infrastructure was key for the emergence of a commercial rice industry.