ABSTRACT
Rice came late to many parts of Asia, particularly Japan, the Malay Penisula and Java. The earliest remains of cultivated long-grain Indica rices were found in northern India and eastern China dating back about 7,000 years. The oldest round-grain Japonica-sinica rices found in China are dated to about 5,300 years ago (Swaminathan 1984:63-8). From linguistic and ethnographic
evidence it appears that the earliest staple foods grown in monsoon Asia were millets and tubers, which were then augmented and gradually replaced by rice.
