Rice is a kind of corn. It is largely grown in India, Ceylon, China, Burma, Japan and Egypt. For the purpose of growing rice, the fields are manure with cowdung, ashes or some chemicals in order to increase the fertility of the soil. The fields are generally ploughed in April after the rainfall. If there is not much rainfall, the field has to be made wet with water by way of irrigation or otherwise. Then the husbandman harrows the land to level the soil.
After that, sowing of seeds is done. The crop during this time is known as Aus; and Aman crop starts from the month of May or June, when the husbandman ploughs the land and moist it and the seeds are sown. In a few days, young shoots come out. When they grow about a foot high, they are rooted out and planted in small batches in another wet land which is made ready beforehand for plantation.
When the corn ripens, it is cut with sickles. Stalks of corn are then bound into sheaves and carried home to be threshed. This consists in beating the stalks against wooden planks to separate the grains from stems.
The grains are then dried in the sun, husked, and sifted. The rice thus obtained is called Atapa. The Siddha rice can be obtained by slightly boiling the grains in water, and then by drying them in the sun, and after husking is done. This is done by means of a kind of husking pedal operated by foot, which is called Dhenki, or it can also be done in a rice-mill.
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Rice is the chief food of the people in India. It is also eaten in the West. The parched paddy is made into khai, muri and chira. Some kinds of cake are made from rice- flour, which are tasty.