Indica rice domestication
Domesticación del arroz índico (Oryza sativa indica)
- Date
- c. 2000 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Lahuradewa, Sant Kabir Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Credited to
- Middle Ganges farmers
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Indica-type rice arose in northern India when japonica rice arriving from China crossed with local populations of wild rice that were already being cultivated. It is today the most widely grown subspecies on the planet.
The hybrid model (Fuller and colleagues) is the most widely accepted, but some argue for a fully independent domestication; the Lahuradewa grains of c. 6000 BCE may be gathered wild rice.
What it led to
- flooded rice paddies in the Ganges and Bengal
- staple food of South and South-East Asia
- indica varieties used in the Green Revolution