Rice is the most important food crop of India covering about one-fourth of the total cropped area and providing food to about half of the Indian population. Punjab has made tremendous progress in rice productivity and production during the past 45 years. Due to use of high yielding varieties and new technology Punjab has given the title of "Rice Bowl of India".
Ready to eat products eg. popped and puffed rice, instant or rice flakes, canned rice and fermented products are produced
Rice husk is used as animal feed, for paper making and as fuel source.
Rice bran oil is used in soap industry. Refined oil can be used as a cooling medium like cotton seed oil / corn oil. Rice bran wax, a byproduct of rice bran oil is used in industries.
Rice is a nutritional staple food which provides instant energy as its most important component is carbohydrate (starch). On the other hand, rice is poor in nitrogenous substances with average composition of these substances being only 8per cent and fat content or lipids only negligible, i.e., 1per cent and due to this reason it is considered as a complete food for eating. Rice flour is rich in starch and is used for making various food materials. It is also used in some instances by brewers to make alcoholic malt. Likewise, rice straw mixed with other materials is used to produce porcelain, glass and pottery. Rice is also used in manufacturing of paper pulp and livestock bedding.
