African Crops For The Future E07: African Rice (Oryza glaberrima)

There are only two species of rice in the world, Asian (Oryza sativa) and African (Oryza glaberrima). One of them is really healthy and good for you, but not many people eat it. The other's not quite so healthy but everyone loves it. No prizes for guessing which is which! In this episode of his ongoing series on underutilised African crops, Gus (the African Plant Hunter) delves deeper into African rice, and shares some of the many reasons he believes it should be (and hopefully soon will be!) more popular and widespread once again. Did you know, for example, that much of of the southern US State of South Carolina was once covered in fields of African rice, brought over by slaves? Or that it was first cultivated in Mali several thousand years ago? For these, and other tantalising titbits of knowledge, check out this absorbing series on African Crops for the Future.

To see some of Gus’ other work on underutilised plants, see:

https://www.bio-innovation.org/

To see more videos of Gus in action, please subscribe to this channel or check the following links:

https://africanplanthunter.com/
https://guslebreton.com/
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To support Gus in his mission to bring more awareness of African plants and wild places to the world, please go to his Patreon page:

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#cropsforthefuture #Africanrice #oryzaglaberrima