What is the history of rice?

Answer 1

Rice originated in the Yangtze River valley in China, and rapidly expanded across Southeast Asia, India, and Nepal more than 4,200 years ago. Rice has been cultivated in Africa for 3,500 years. The Moors brought rice to Spain in the 10th century. Muslims also brought rice to Sicily. After the 15th century, rice spread throughout Italy and then France. In the 1520s, the Spanish introduced rice to Mexico and the Portuguese and enslaved Africans introduced it to Brazil. In 1694, rice arrived in South Carolina. Plantation owners sought out enslaved Africans from the Senegambia area of West Africa and from coastal Sierra Leone for their knowledge of rice cultivation. After 1849, an estimated 40,000 Chinese laborers immigrated to California and began growing rice there.