Top 10 facts about rice

There are over 40,000 rice varieties

THE librettist and Oscar-winning songwriter Tim Rice was 71 yesterday. Happy birthday Sir Tim, and here are some facts about rice and Rice.

 

1. There are over 40,000 varieties of rice of which around 4,000 are grown commercially.

2. In 2013 the world production of rice amounted to 745,710,000 tonnes. The only foods of which more is produced are sugarcane and maize.

3. The average person in the UK eats 6kg of rice a year. The average Asian eats about 50kg.

4. In Japanese legend, Ninigi-no-mikoto was the god of the ripened rice plant and is said to be the direct ancestor of all Japanese emperors.

5. In Japanese, Toyota means "bountiful rice field" and Honda means "main rice field".

 

Tim Rice celebrates his 71st birthday today

6. RICE was introduced in 1978 as a mnemonic for coaches treating sports injuries. It stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

7. In 1907 in the USA Julia B Rice founded the Society for the Suppression of Unnecessary Noise.

8. Analysis of the composition of ancient Chinese walls shows that rice was added to the mortar to increase its strength.

9. The Winter's Tale is the only Shakespeare play that mentions rice?

10. ?and Tim Rice wrote the lyrics to the David Essex hit song A Winter's Tale in 1982.