ABSTRACT
This book is intended to be an introduction to rice-grain technology. The processes or the systems that are required to be applied to the rice grain after or from the time the grain is harvested in the field up to the time it reaches the consumer household is the subject matter of the proposed discussion. However, an awareness of the background situation to start with may not be out of place here. Questions like what is rice, where does it grow, who grows it, who eats it, what is their lifestyle – these are not entirely irrelevant to the intended processes. The same is true of the genetics, botany, agronomy and trade of rice. An awareness of these issues as a background would help to provide perspective to the actions. It is these background issues that are presented as a preliminary to the descriptions of the technologies to follow. Some thoughts on the geographical, historical and social background of rice are presented in this chapter. An outline of the agronomy and botany of the rice crop and its production and trade is presented in Chapter 2.
