The spread of rice farming throughout the world

Angela

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And thank goodness it did. :)

See:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-020-0659-6

"Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the world’s most important food crops, and is comprised largely of japonica and indica subspecies. Here, we reconstruct the history of rice dispersal in Asia using whole-genome sequences of more than 1,400 landraces, coupled with geographic, environmental, archaeobotanical and paleoclimate data. Originating around 9,000 yr ago in the Yangtze Valley, rice diversified into temperate and tropical japonica rice during a global cooling event about 4,200 yr ago. Soon after, tropical japonica rice reached Southeast Asia, where it rapidly diversified, starting about 2,500 yr BP. The history of indica rice dispersal appears more complicated, moving into China around 2,000 yr BP. We also identify extrinsic factors that influence genome diversity, with temperature being a leading abiotic factor. Reconstructing the dispersal history of rice and its climatic correlates may help identify genetic adaptations associated with the spread of a key domesticated species."

[FONT=Lora, Palatino, Times, Times New Roman, serif]"[/FONT]NEW YORK, NEW YORK—According to a statement released by New York University, researchers Michael D. Purugganan, Rafal M. Gutaker, and their colleagues combined information about the genomes of more than 1,400 varieties of rice with geographical, archaeological, and historical climate data to trace the spread of rice farming across northern and southern Asia. It had been previously thought that rice diversity was based upon the amount of available water, but the study suggests that temperature may have been the key factor. The researchers determined that the japonica subspecies of Asian rice, which was first cultivated in China some 9,000 years ago, was mainly farmed in China for some 4,000 years, until a global cooling event some 4,200 years ago. At that point, japonica rice split into temperate and tropical varieties. The temperate varieties were grown in northern China, Korea, and Japan, while the tropical varieties spread to Southeast Asia. The researchers explained that this change in varieties of rice some 4,200 years ago is reflected in the archaeological record. The genetic analysis and archaeological record also indicate that tropical japonica rice reached islands in Southeast Asia some 2,500 years ago through trade networks. The indica subspecies of rice, on the other hand, originated in India’s lower Ganges Valley some 4,000 years ago, and was probably first transported to China some 2,000 years ago. " (Archaeologynews.org)

Asia-Rice-Farming.jpg
[COLOR=#000000 !important](Rafal M. Gutaker, NYU)[/COLOR]
 

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