Allotments 4 All

Due to the vast amounts of rain (& flooding) we have had,
is it now possible to grow rice in this country?

Has anybody tried it, where would you get the seeds and is it worth doing?

Nice thinking. But, you might need an acre to get a few pounds??

Ha, I would love to see the look on our allotment manager's face when he turned up & saw a paddy field! Nice idea dtw but our climate hasn't (overall) changed (much) yet, rice is only grown where labour is free(ish), and er.... no, nothing else. I'm intrigued to know how you get on...

I think the seeds are grains of rice?

If you go to a health food shop and buy a small bag of brown rice you should get viable seeds.

Rice needs damp soil, it is not essential to have a flooded field. This is just the easiest method for primitives to irrigate land. I have grown it successfully in pots but it requires hot conditions. As for it being labour intensive, it's probably no more so than cabbages.

This site tells you how to grow rice in a greenhouse in the UK.
http://www.plantcultures.org/plants/rice_grow_it.html

Wife had a good laugh, seems her family have been doing it wrong for fifty years, the family in Thailand are waiting for rain at the moment before they can plant the rice fields. the rice fields at the back of our house were growing in water when we were out there in 2006, when the fields are planted they have to be weeded and land crabs got rid of, all the time looking out for snakes (for eating) when harvested the rice fetches about 30p per 5 kilo's which we pay £8.00 for in England,  you should stick to growing cabbages in pots ;D (kidding)

It's high-yielding compared to other grains, which is why traditional rice-growing areas can support very high populations. Not all of it requires flooding, but it all needs damp soil. Different varieties can cope with conditions ranging from dampness to water 2 metres deep. It needs tropical conditions, but that being said, yields are likely to fall drastically with global warming.