Rice / en New origins for farmed rice discovered by U of T, Chinese experts /news/new-origins-farmed-rice-discovered-u-t-chinese-experts <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">New origins for farmed rice discovered by U of T, Chinese experts</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>krisha</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-06-27T09:46:55-04:00" title="Monday, June 27, 2016 - 09:46" class="datetime">Mon, 06/27/2016 - 09:46</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">(photo by John Isaac/United Nations Photo via flickr)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/sharon-aschaiek" hreflang="en">Sharon Aschaiek</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Sharon Aschaiek</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/utm" hreflang="en">UTM</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research" hreflang="en">Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/rice" hreflang="en">Rice</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/farming" hreflang="en">Farming</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/china" hreflang="en">China</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/collaboration" hreflang="en">Collaboration</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/international" hreflang="en">International</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">“This gives us another clue about how humans became farmers” </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Rice farming is a far older practice than we knew –&nbsp;the oldest evidence of domesticated rice has just been found in China, and it’s about 9,000 years old.</p> <p>The discovery, made by a team of archaeologists that includes University of Toronto anthropology professor <strong>Gary Crawford</strong>, sheds new light on the origins of rice domestication and on the history of human agricultural practices.</p> <p>“Today, rice is one of most important grains in the world’s economy, yet at one time, it was a wild plant…how did people bring rice into their world? This gives us another clue about how humans became farmers,” says οMississauga's&nbsp;Crawford, an anthropological archaeologist who studies the relationships between people and plants in prehistory.</p> <p>Working with researchers from the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in Zhejiang Province, China and Fudan University in Shanghai, Crawford found the ancient domesticated rice fragments in a probable ditch in the lower Yangtze valley. They observed that about 30 per cent of the rice plant material – primarily bases, husks and leaf epidermis – were not wild, but showed signs of being purposely cultivated to produce rice plants that were durable and suitable for human consumption.</p> <p>Crawford says this finding indicates that the domestication of rice has been going on for much longer than originally thought. The rice plant remains also had characteristics of japonica rice, the short grain rice used in sushi that today is cultivated in Japan and Korea. Crawford says this finding clarifies the lineage of this specific rice crop, and confirms for the first time that it grew in this region of China.</p> <p><img alt="photo of Crawford in a cave" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__1356 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/2016-06-27-rice-explorer-sized.jpg" style="width: 361px; height: 260px; margin: 10px; float: right;" typeof="foaf:Image">Crawford (pictured at right) and his colleagues spent about three years exploring the five-hectare archaeological dig site, called Huxi, which is situated in a flat basin about 100 metres above sea level.</p> <p>Their investigations were supported by other οMississauga participants – anthropology professor <strong>David Smith</strong> and graduate students <strong>Daniel Kwan</strong> and <strong>Nattha Cheunwattana</strong>.</p> <p>They worked mostly&nbsp;in early spring, fall and winter in order to avoid the late-spring wet season and excruciatingly hot summer months. Digging 1.5 metres below the ground, the team also unearthed artifacts such as sophisticated pottery and stone tools, as well as animal bones, charcoal and other plant seeds.</p> <p>This study builds on Crawford’s previous research into early agriculture in China, in which he has examined the ancient settlements, tools, and plant and animal management efforts that occurred in different regions of the country. He is interested in better understanding the forces that compelled our human ancestors to transition from hunters and gatherers to farmers.</p> <p>“The question I ultimately want to answer is, what pushed them to move wholeheartedly into the farming regime? Why did they reduce their emphasis on hunting and expand into crop production?” Crawford says. “People did what they needed to do to make their lives more manageable and sustainable, and the unintended consequence was farming. With this rice discovery, we’re seeing the first stages of that shift.”</p> <p>Funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Crawford’s study is published today in <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep28136"><em>Scientific Reports</em></a>, an online open-access journal from the publishers of <em>Nature</em>.</p> <p>(<em><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/5029930234/in/photolist-8EtH25-oapEkd-a3mmV1-6UrraZ-zH44v4-pxVpFy-pkCR2c-pkmBS4-8GgHUj-3LkFA1-8QmrJc-8Gdy8e-dkDSRf-p48VDs-5yGA6q-bTwp2k-c2QGEQ-dkDW87-62NRj9-pmxraH-7oYupk-4VgnuT-8KoXdB-aWBaCg-5pSP21-gw4fPg-3qKPfM-dp47D6-3qM1k2-qKUwb2-tbrNe6-9HY82p-3Lgoyg-a3ZXyz-5H1u25-5xNrvH-gw2xxH-5DwjGG-8NTdWh-bzCTUb-6MwgEo-dTvWDA-9Z6ypq-4RPQDg-6TqfPT-7G2Kx2-4vNbhd-kBFqBv-9UDzdV-7J92KC">Visit flickr to see the original of the photo used at top of article</a></em>)</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 27 Jun 2016 13:46:55 +0000 krisha 14503 at