Biggest hit is when you said 15 years ago... then I realized 2008 is indeed 15 years ago. Feels old, man

‘Thailand, the Saudi Arabia of Rice’ is not something I thought I would hear

here in indonesia, you can eat pizza, burger, or all different type of food and it will considered as snack. Eat it with rice, that what we will call it a proper luch/dinner

Summary: The rice price was not nice, so they rolled the dice and sold it thrice. Supply became a rare vice, nations striving to suffice, governments working to break the ice, averting disaster with effort precise. Also, there were lice and mice, but not in the rice.

While everyone was panic buying toilet paper, the smart people installed bidets.

You just can’t overrate the amount of research that goes into such a video, and how well the sources are documented. And on top of that, how well it is put together into a fluent story that is well narrated too. Top notch 👏👏👏👍! And the little grains of sarcasm (toilet paper hoarding 😂!) make them simply perfect for me! Never thought I would stay glued to a screen on a story that has absolutely nothing to do with my daily life here in Switzerland 🇨🇭 …

What has to be understood is that the amount of rice *traded* is minuscule compared to what is harvested and *consumed locally* Top rice *producers* in million of tons China 149 India 129 Bangladesh 35 Indonesia 34 Vietnam 27 Thailand 20 Top three rice *exporting* countries in millions of tons India 21 Thailand 8 Vietnam 7 So prices move sharply, not because of large scale crop failings, but because it is a very tight international market.

I can still remember long queues in rice stalls around the same year in the Philippines when I was a kid. I didn't know there was a rice crisis in 2008.

Lenin didn't say the quote about three rice bowls, Zhou Enlai supposedly did. The origin is disputed, but I can't imagine why would it be Lenin, considering that rice is not and was never a staple grain in russia, wheat is.

15:25 “The Saudi Arabia of Rice”🤣😭😭😭😭

I love how quiet,free of music, and relaxing your videos are. Very relaxing for my ears. This is an issue for me today because I have a flu or a cold. Noise and music makes headaches. Your video is like an ethics lectureat a mosque.

I live in Malaysia and I remember this. We weren't directly affected or rather not as much. I do remember however, that the minister back then told us to reduce rice consumption and eat potato instead. Like dude, potatoes were more expensive than rice!

Found your channel recently. Appreciate the stoic and professional approach to all the topics you cover. Keep it up.

Love your topics and neutral manner. I learn a lot from you and don't feel manipulated. Keep it up.

The upcoming El Nino might have disastrous effect on agricultural production in Asia. Previous droughts had forced China and other Mekong nations to withhold water on their dams. The first to fall this time would be the river delta nations which had suffered reduced soil nutrition due to lack of sediments, which also caused erosion and saltwater intrusion. The river delta had traditionally been the most productive land, the destruction of such area might bring about food crisis and then political instability as we have seen countless times before. Hopefully the weather would not be so extreme, or if it is, nations in the region would be prepared for the worst case scenario. The thing we want the least is another protracted conflict in the region.

“The rice must flow. He who controls the rice, controls the universe!”

It's funny that you call rice an _"inferior good-the richer you are, the less of it you eat."_ My observation has been different-at least in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka where I've lived. Here, the poor and lower middle-class people traditionally eat other food grains: finger millet _(ragi),_ sorghum _(jowar),_ and pearl millet _(bajra)._ But when they become upwardly mobile, they switch to polished white rice. And that has been disastrous for India. Paddy-rice crop-requires a lot of water compared to the other grains. Even 3 times as much. Paddy fields literally need to be flooded ankle-high while it's growing. It grows naturally only in places with abundant water that flood seasonally-lake and river banks, river deltas, rain catchment areas. But due to its prestige value, farmers have started growing it in more arid areas. Thereby displacing traditional crops, which are hardier and grow with far less water. Consequently, large amounts of water are being diverted from other places that also need water-creating scarcities elsewhere. It also requires large amounts of electricity or diesel for the irrigation pumps-which the well-meaning government supplies for free or at heavily-subsidized rates to the farmers. Leave alone the international markets. Even within India, we face wild price swings, panic buying and hoarding. That's because rice is _not_ traded on NCDEX, India's commodities market. You can only buy it in the spot market for immediate physical delivery. Other crops-including basmati rice-are traded on NCDEX. This allows futures, options, and other ways to plan and manage costs. More importantly, when farmers are deciding what to plant for the next sowing season, they get visibility into future prices, and hence, potential profits. But not with paddy. They only have historical and recent market data to guide them. So when they see that rice is currently commanding a high price in the spot market, they all plant paddy. Which, naturally, leads to a future glut, falling prices, and losses. Then, next season, they all avoid paddy-and guess what happens next. So how are the farmers faring? Well, the profits-if any-all go to middlemen, because of very poor infrastructure. But the losses-which can happen either due to a glut, or when crops fail-always accrue to the farmers. Crop failure is common, because paddy is very sensitive to weather conditions. Regardless, farmers then commit suicide-because they're unable to repay the usurious loans they took from loan sharks to buy seeds. That's right, most farmers can't access legitimate agriculture loans. Nor afford crop insurance. (Unfortunately, this is not limited to paddy farmers. All farmers-except the richest-suffer in these ways.) Politics aside, polished white rice isn't all that healthy either. It has a high glycemic index and is a known risk factor for type-2 diabetes. The first thing doctors tell diabetic and pre-diabetic patients is to lay off sugar and white rice. Sugar's easy to avoid, since there are many artificial sweeteners. But people who're used to eating white rice are unable to switch to other grains, including brown rice. It also has less fiber, protein, minerals, and other nutrients compared to the other grains. Hence my humble request: Instead of importing rice from India, please switch to any of the other healthier, more sustainably-grown grains, including ones that I've mentioned earlier. I myself would be very happy if rice production were banned in all but naturally-irrigated, water-rich portions of India, and those farmlands returned to the cultivation of traditional, healthier, hardier, water-saving crops.

Read a couple years ago that thailand rice production might decline from lack of workers (population aging and moving to cities) wonder if rice production has become less manual and more mechanical.

This is my most favourite 'so specific it's hard to recommend to a friend' channel out there. Cheers.

The basmati rice export means expensive rice is still available from India but cheaper varieties are banned. Wont make a difference in first world countries but poorer countries will either pay more or go without. I am in Australia and we use about 5kg basmati per month and price seems to be around $15-20/5kg depending on variety. There are cheaper basmati options for $10 though.

the cost of rise is about to rice

Heard that the flooding in northern China this month will contribute to rice shortages as well

There is some very tasty, high-quality Japanese rice. I can understand why the Japanese would not buy US rice, despite the low pricing.

DANG I could've been a Rice Pirate☠️. Sailing into India on my ship named the Jasmine Mistress 🛥. On a moonless night load up on illegal rice and running an Indian 👨‍✈️Navy blockade and selling it in the Philippines for them BANDS💸💸💸

my fav yt channel atm, keep up the great work

Great work. I love how much I learn from watching your videos.

Came back to give it a like and another view. Such a well made video essay

And the Philippines keep announcing how much rice they are going to import which is a real smoothbrain move, and always puts a smile on the face of rice cartels😅

Again an excellent video, covering a topic I knew next to nothing about, and now feel I can express a confident opinion.

Been listening to your channel since the early day. This is the first time I heard you mention about Cambodia. Hopefully, one day you make a video related to Cambodia 😊

I remember the Philippines as a rice exporter, but became an importer for numerous reasons: 1. Profit from rice production is very low. Thus, rice lands were turned into other profitable options 2. Adoption of newer technology to have higher rice yield is slow. And atbp.

at least 3.5 billion people Rice is a food staple for more than 3.5 billion people around the world, particularly in Asia, Latin America, and parts of Africa. not just 2B like in ur self claim vid . . ..

These videos are really good for me. I like many others hold a us-centric world view. These videos remind me just how big the world is.

Thank you for making this video……I lived in Hong Kong and this make me remember what happened those days. Hong Kong is almost entirely relay on Thailand for rice supplies, also we have a strict regulation on rice imports and reserve requirement since WWII, so there’s no shortage but the price still kept rising, the government tried to introduce Chinese suppliers into the market to reduce the price but doesn’t help much.

Babe wake up new Asianometryposting just dropped

I love your videos. These are always so interesting. I hope you make it to 1M subs.

It feels strange to think of rice as poverty food. This may be too general a claim as there are many tiers of quality, and price. The cheapest lowest quality rice is probably not that tasty and is merely to meet the caloric requirements of life, but even some inexpensive rice can be quite good and it's hard to think of alternatives that would be as satisfying regardless of income level. At the top end you have Japanese short grain rice which is expensive for good reason, it's not just a gimmick or the result of market manipulation.

I am Indian from South..we are stopping producing rice in millions of hectares because of poor returns.yes world is screwed.

I wonder if many of the uncredited photos of food Mr Asianometry is using in this video, are photos he has taken himself of his dinner. It's fascinating getting to see what he eats!

Basic foods shouldnt be at the whims of free market. That should be the biggest lesson. Japan is right to protect their local rice producers. As did India.

Why are people trading Hectors for rice?! I didn’t even know people kept Hectors as currency! 😱

You could say it was a... c-rice-is.

Great video, I am so grateful. I didnt realise how thin the rice market is. Only 3 bowls away from WW3

18:20 As a Japanese living a broad I can concur. Calrose is dirt cheap compared to rice in Japan, and taste quite well (a bit drier, but still sweet).

“rice is an inferior good” But rice is so tasty, though.

there is a big difference between long grain and short grain rice. no biggie if one doesn't eat rice daily. otherwise it is. short grain is very sticky. one can't wash it out of the rice. as a result all daily long grain eaters also consume short grain quite often but only as a dessert or specialty foods and in much smaller amount. the japanese people mainly eat short grain i believe. everyone else in Asia eats the long grain. i personally find short grain takes a long time to digest.

this was a really fascinating video. Could you please do a video covering the anti Chinese rioting in Indonesia?

Great presentation

Filipinos keep talking about how expensive rice is and then proceed to build subdivisions over rice fields.

Norman Borlaug, the guy who innovated dwarf/tall hybrids in wheat complained about how much shot he got from the Indian government in the 1960s.

PH 🇵🇭 was the biggest importer of rice at this time. A Western financial institution, I forgot which (Goldman, IMF?etc.,) released a statement that blamed the importation of the country as the one that kept causing the high prices. What's funny is that PH 🇵🇭 only imported 10% of its rice needs. And I could be mistaken but I don't recall food riots here at that time. also Iran 🇭🇺 was the 2nd biggest importer then iirc.

Should add the Europe expert controversial accusation that rice field create methane gas that causing global temperature rise, would love to hear Asian opinion on that...

Another great one. Ironically I am eating my bowl of rice as I watch this.

The TP got me! Why would Canadians buy extra TP....do they use rice TP? Then the JK. LOLed for a good bit :)

As coming from a country that rice is our basic food, when we see an increase of price, our menu start to suffer greatly.

It’s an eye opener as a Yank to see how much food security is a topic of coverage in Asia. CNA Insights covers the topic wit some regularity. For a part of a world that remembers.

How about a video exploring "rice cooker" technology and evolution?

I think China is smarter now, China has massive rice stockpiles which can last for years,and can help stabilise prices in times of crisis and sold to other countries at huge mark ups.

Très bonne vidéo. Vous savez les média français ne nous presque pas parler de cette crise du riz Les média français n'arrêter pas de parler des banques mondiale. Mais grâce à votre chaîne j'ai appris beaucoup de choses sur la crise du riz

As a ghanaian i am ashamed you showed nigerian jollof rice. 😂

8 months later, prices have been creeping back up but hasn't really broken out of the resistance at ~600.

Watching this while eating my bowl of rice really make it hit different

Just in time. History is repeating as we speak

Hey Asianometry, what's the Japanese woodblock print, with the rivers? Good video, though. This rice crisis apparently completely escaped my notice at the time, so it was interesting to learn about

Rice prices recently jumped up here in the Philippines. The timing of this is quite scary.

It still blows my mind that some people in the west cannot taste the difference between different rice.

This dropped right as i fired up the rice cooker 😂

Diseases and weather-based crop disruptions will only get more severe and common as time goes on from what I understand. Lot of countries are going to be securing their national food production/reserves soon enough, probably will shake up the markets as some countries realize they can no longer export as much as they used to.

The white rice - brown rice discussion is often fun, similar to oats, barley and various wheat varieties, hard, soft and red Durham etc. Farmers like to talk too. "Haven't met a Carbohydrate I couldn't love".

I'm guessing the problems with wheat exports from Ukraine might be part of it? If you can't get hold of wheat, rice is a reasonable substitute. At my local supermarket, 1kg of pasta is £1.39, up from about £0.75, 1kg of rice is £1.25

Just pledged my support on Patreon. Your videos are quite informative, but I recently noticed that you added a second commercial break. Seems a bit excessive.

I remember this event. We had to line up in schools to receive rice.

In English: the rice crisis In Finnish: riisikriisi

15 YEARS AGO?!?!?!?! you sure its not like 6?

Fantastic research... kudos. However, I'm missing a "thesis"... what's the overall conclusion(s) of this research? how do apply this knowledge to the current/future situations?

I think the Indian government wants to discourage the over-cultivation of low-value rice meant for exports. Rice is a water-intensive crop and in a water-stressed country like India, exporting low-value non-basmati rice is like exporting the country's precious water for pennies. That water can be used more productively.

Respect for great reporting. Mostly humans will get serious with food production once the hype of Technology gets over & even agriculture becomes computationally intensive. Norman Bourlaug & green revolution are equally important with wheat production

Wow 2008 really was a wild ride

I didn't know there was a rice crisis back in 2008.

Never noticed ANY difference here in the Philippines.

Lessons for the years to come.

You didn't mention how US requirements for 10% ethanol in gasoline caused maize prices to spike, causing rice to be preferred where possible for animal feed. That reduced US rice exports.

2:30 New rice just droped!!!

I love you cover wife variety of topics I enjoy watching your videos 👌👍

You make great videos. And you probably have some of the most interesting topics I see on YT. Great work, and please keep it up! 😊😊😊😊

I found out last year that the less carbohydrate (sugar and rice...etc) you eat, the less hungry feeling you have. I already eat a lot less rice & bread than before. In fact, I eat less food than before.

Thank you

I’m also left thinking those hillsides full of trees could be planted with orchard crops. Perhaps even avocados.

Great timing. The demons are now are announcing there will be rice crisis in the coming years in the Philippines.

This is extremely interesting. For the past half decade, here in Nigeria, the administration of former president Mohamadu Buhari has been seemingly obsessed with rice production. They would drop massive campaigns in northern Nigeria to promote rice production, using the historical "rice pyramids" of the past as motivation. This was strange, because they also banned the import of rice from across the border, leading customs officers to hoard them in warehouses. This practice became problematic during the pandemic, when food imports were low, the government seeked to solve the problem by distributing the ceased rice, only to find out that it had long since spoiled. This didnt stop them from distributing the moldy rice.

The japanese horse bit was hilarious

Just before going to bed 👌

Also, look up Emperor Norton. He got trashed by overpaying for a rice import and went mad.

This is crazy how SE and East Asia quarreling among themselves over rice. And also India saying O don't wanna sell anything and shut its shop abruptly

Rice price is going crazy right now in the Philippines.

The real rice was the friends we made along the way

You have no idea how important rice is to rice importing countries and how much misinformation is there in regards to the crisis. To this day, while rice has relatively stabilized - the panic caused by the sudden rice price hike still reverberates in our politics to this day.

Once went to Taco Bell and they were out of rice, but offered double beans, yuck!

How conected are the markeds for rice and wheat?

Every society is 3 rice bowls away from chaos. -Lenin