When Rice Shakes The World

<p>For millennia rice has sealed the fate of dynasties and kingdoms in Asia but has <br> only remained a cultural curiosity to Western financial markets. Today the <br> food and agricultural markets of India and China are in motion. The history <br> of agricultural change is littered with hunger poverty and failure. Will <br> that curse pass itself on to this Asian generation? Or is there a brighter <br> future ahead of us? Now China is rapidly becoming the wealthiest country in <br> the world. China's water shortages and its rice market are fault lines that <br> finger their way beneath the surface of the world economy. These fault lines <br> are sending out tremors that could shake the entire world in the next few <br> years. Rice is a little grain but a big deal in Asia. The Great Wall of China <br> is cemented together with sticky rice. It uses up to 70% of the water <br> resources of China. Rice's 200000000 farms feed 3000000000 people. Yet <br> it is grown on an area the size of France. Rice is the social cement of Asia <br> and the rice farms of Asia may crack that ancient cement. This book explains <br> the ancient yet curiously modern story of rice that binds feudal farms to the <br> new super cities across China. At the center of this story is the rice <br> farmer whose backbreaking labor feeds millions. In the next 15 years <br> millions of farmers must transition from landless serfs into modern business <br> people skilled in all the technologies and versed in market risk. The rice <br> world lies on the dark side of this digital earth. But that world is turning <br> rapidly towards the light.</p>