Its cultivation began in tropical and subtropical Asia. Rice (Oryza sativa) is a monocotyledon of the family Poaceae.
It presents secondary seminal and adventitious roots, cylindrical and glabrous stalks, sheathing leaves with long limbs and green-whitish flowers in spikelets that form a large panicle.
It is the staple food for practically the entire world population and is widely cultivated in Asia, Africa and America, and intensively in southern Europe, and most of China, India and Indonesia.
