the circle of rice

i was studying Geography today, the module on People and Economic Activity. And I found me and shaz's RICE poem!! haha i've probably posted it up before, but i'll do it again today... it really is quite a good poem- makes me remember all my statistics =D

The Circle Of Rice (chant while eating fried rice)

1 We love Rice, oh yes we do,
2 Koshi, Quest and Amaroo,
3 Temperatures, sunlight and rainfall
4 Subsistence farming by the poor

5 Randall's farm in the MIA
6 Canola, barley, oats and hay
7 Diversification, not just rice
8 Higher yields lead to better price

9 NIR and HYV's
10 Increased use of technologies,
11 Managing pests with IPM
12 From the panicle to the stem.

13 Feeding more than half the earth
14 Rice is more than you think its worth
15 It is grown here and there,
16 The need for Rice is everywhere!

*

2: three different rice varieties that are grown
3: temperatures for rice around 21 degrees, sunlight around 1200 hours annually, rainfall around 1800mm annually
4: 600 million tonnes of rice are produced annually around the world, but most is subsistence agriculture; only 6% is exported
5: Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area- extensive irrigation network allowing Randall to have 3400 ML of water per year
6: Cash cropping- he also plants subclover to put nitrogen back into the soil and owns 1400 fat lambs which eat the stubble and also fertilise the soil
7: the nature of his farm is a mixed commercial farm, large-scale (840 ha), capital intensive and high technology.
8: Australia has the highest yield of 16 tonnes/ha in the world! average yields are around 9 tn/ha whereas Madagascar has the lowest yield of 1 tn/ha
9: Near Infra Red testing: allows to test for nitrogen in the rice plant to determine whether more fertiliser is needed. High Yielding Varieties allow 3 crops of rice to be planted instead of just 1; however requires 9 times more fertilisers and 3 times more pesticides
10: Technology such as laser levelling to manipulate the biophysical environment
11: Integrated Pest Management is more ecologically sustainable
13: over 90% of the worlds rice is grown and consumed in Asia (between 10 degrees North and South)
15: Rice growing has spread to every continent on earth except Antarctica, it is grown in over 100 countries
16: As the second most important crop in the world after wheat, boosting rice yields is vital for the worlds rapidly expanding populations: thus changing the spatial and ecological dimensions of rice growing and its future in the global context.

(haha... does this count as "studying"?)