This special type of grain has very high nutritional value. Its formation can be considered a miracle in the field of agriculture.
Rice is a common grain in everyday life and the main food source for over 3.5 billion people (nearly half of the world’s population), according to the FAO. There are many types of rice worldwide, each with outstanding characteristics due to the continuous improvements made by research experts. However, there is one type of rice that has a very special formation and is quite expensive.
That is bamboo rice. This type of rice originates from China. Bamboo rice is harvested from bamboo rice plants.
Bamboo rice has many superior characteristics compared to other hybrid rice varieties.
According to experts at the Quality Testing Organization of the Ministry of Agriculture of China, bamboo rice has many superior characteristics compared to ordinary rice varieties. Among them, bamboo rice harvested from this type of rice contains many nutrients such as calcium, potassium, selenium, zinc, copper, iron… which are several times higher than regular rice and notably contains flavonoids from bamboo. This is an antioxidant that helps inhibit bacteria and combat aging.
Bamboo rice also has medicinal value as it helps cool the body, detoxify, and replenish energy. Additionally, bamboo rice not only has tall stems and large ears but also has a very high resistance to adverse conditions such as storms, droughts, and pests, thanks to inheriting the characteristics of bamboo plants.
How is bamboo rice created?
Mr. Chung Chang Mei is regarded as the “father of bamboo rice” in China.
This rare rice is harvested from bamboo rice plants. In 1969, after being encouraged by the success of creating hybrid rice by Professor Yuan Longping, known as the “father of hybrid rice,” a researcher named Chung Chang Mei at the Haiphong Agricultural Science Institute in Guangdong Province (China) discovered bamboo flowering and from there had the idea of crossbreeding rice and bamboo. Mr. Chung Chang Mei is referred to as the “father of bamboo rice” in China.
Researcher Chung Chang Mei accidentally observed the entire process of bamboo flowering until it died. During this process, he suddenly conceived an idea. Green bamboo has many superior characteristics such as less lodging, drought resistance, cold tolerance, high yield, and pest resistance. Therefore, he thought it would be wonderful to transfer these characteristics to rice plants.
Accordingly, this expert planted several rice varieties and bamboo next to each other. He noticed that these two species could naturally cross-pollinate.
Bamboo flowering is a very rare phenomenon. Some bamboo species take over 100 years to flower.
This is the flower of the Fargesia nitida bamboo species. It flowers after 120 years. (Photo: Shweeash Bamboo).
In fact, bamboo flowering is a very rare occurrence. Bamboo is considered one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth. According to Amusing Planet, a bamboo plant typically grows 10 cm high each day. Some bamboo species can even grow over 1 meter per day. Most bamboo species only require 5 to 8 years to mature.
However, bamboo is among the slowest flowering plants in the world. For most bamboo species, the time between each flowering is about 60 to 130 years. Even more strangely, after flowering and bearing fruit, the old bamboo plant dies, causing the entire bamboo grove or cluster to wither away in the following years. According to experts, the mother plant may die to make way for new shoots.
Each bamboo species has a different flowering cycle. Sometimes there are bamboo plants that flower every 10 to 20 years. But for some rare species, the flowering cycle can extend to several decades.
After nearly 40 years of persistent research and breeding, Mr. Chung Chang Mei has created a bamboo rice variety with many superior characteristics.
Bamboo flowers play an important role in the creation of bamboo rice. This is why Mr. Chung Chang Mei’s research project lasted nearly 40 years. It was not until 2007 that the scientific research on the hybridization between rice and bamboo was approved for publication by the Mai Chau Science and Technology Bureau in Guangdong Province (China). By 2011, a research project detailing the characteristics of bamboo rice was published.
Mr. Chung Chang Mei shared: “My long-held wish is that the world will be filled with crops and farmers will benefit from that.” This belief is also a significant motivation supporting Chung’s decades of perseverance in researching bamboo rice.
The successful creation of bamboo rice has attracted much attention when Guangdong Province showcased this rice variety at an international exhibition in Italy in 2015. Subsequently, in 2021 and 2022, bamboo rice was officially planted in Guangdong Province and was transferred into production by the Guangdong Bamboo Rice Science and Technology Company.
Why is bamboo rice expensive?
The successful creation of bamboo rice is regarded as a positive step in the process of improving hybrid rice varieties.
In China, due to its scarcity, bamboo rice is nicknamed “the food of the phoenix“. An encyclopedia on Chinese medicinal herbs also notes that this type of rice can help keep the mind sharp and the body energized.
However, due to its very limited quantity and many superior characteristics, bamboo rice is very expensive compared to other types of rice. Specifically, in China, bamboo rice typically costs between 200 and 600 RMB/kg (approximately 700,000 to 2,100,000 VND/kg). Additionally, rare bamboo rice harvested from bamboo plants that flower only once every several decades can be even more expensive.
Currently, the area for bamboo rice cultivation in China remains limited, primarily in Guangdong Province. However, experts believe that in the future, as the cultivation area for bamboo rice increases, the price of bamboo rice will decrease.
