Learning Objective: This is a discussion class. At the end of the session, the participants are expected to be able to be able to freely express their opinions about the topic.


1. Rice: How important is it?
2. Who are the major producers and consumers of rice worldwide?
3. Who are the major exporters and importers?
4. Will rice stay as the most important staple food for many? Why or Why not?

5. Where could we find rice?
Facts and Figures

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima. As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East and South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West Indies. It is the grain with the second-highest worldwide production, after maize (corn).[1]
Since a large portion of maize crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption, rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species.[2]







The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an autonomous, non-profit, agricultural research and training organization. Its main goal is to find sustainable ways to improve the well being of present and future generations of poor rice farmers and consumers while at the same time protecting the natural environment.
IRRI was established in 1959 with support from the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations and the Philippine government. It is Asia's largest non-profit agricultural research center.[1] cont....