1993 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A STUDY OF RICE-CULTURE IN WEST ASIA AND MEDITERRAENAN REGION
| Project/Area Number |
03041076
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for international Scientific Research
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | Field Research |
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| Research Institution | DAITO BUNKA UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
HARA Ryuichi Professor, Faculty of International Relations, Daito Bunka University, 国際関係学部, 教授 (70198901)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
NAGABA Hiroshi Senior officer, Information Service office, Institute of Developing Economies, 国際交流室, 次長
TSUNO Yukindo Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, 農学部, 教授 (00036287)
ONO Morio Director, Middle East Culture Center, 理事 (90012963)
NIINO Yutaka Associate Professor, Faculty of International Relations, Daito Bunka University, 国際関係学部, 助教授 (10189235)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1991 – 1993
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| Keywords | Rice Road / Paddy / Peasants / Africa / Central Asia / West Asia / Cooking of Rice / Rice growing country |
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| Research Abstract |
Japanese people have always thought that the most important rice was grown in East Asia or South east Asia in the Monsoon weather. They believed that Japan produced one of the best kinds of rice in the world. We should not emphasize that rice should come from only the Monsoon area. Rice is consumed as staple but in many ways and styles around the world. We started studying wet-land rice culture in the area of West Africa where the land is very dry, quite opposite from Monsoon area, along toward the Mediterranean area and to west Africa.
In the first year, we studied wet-land rice and eating habits in the area of the Meric River in European Turkey, on the Kizilirmak river in the middle of Anatolia, on the Po river of Italy, on the Ebro river in the northeast of Spain and in North Tunisia. In the second year, we worked in Turkey, Egypt, Portugal, West Africa, Ghana, Cote d'lvore and Sierra Leone. As result, we found a kind of wide Rice Road from Turkey towards the eastern Mediterranean to west Africa.
We were told that the rice cultivation started in China and moved to India. It is necessary to further study those two connections. In the third year, we followed the northern rice cultivation road from Pamir to the west, toward middle Asia, to the Caucasus along the Black Sea area of Turkey. We visited Kazakistan, Kirgistan and Uzbekistan.
In the so called roof of the world, the Pamir plateau, the two big rivers, Sirdairiya and Amdariya, start to the north of the area. Along these two big rivers rice is cultivated. Particularly, along the upper stream of the Sirdariya east of Uzbekistan in the Fergana basin, Japonica rice is cultivated using river water. People in this area call rice or bran shali. In the upper stream Fergana basin the Uzgen of Kirgistan cultivate red rice. Uzgen rice is very precious and it is sold at twice the price of other rice. The Uzgen rice polof is very similar to the polou of Iran, the pilav of Turkey and the paella of Spain.
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