Rice and environment

  • Acid water, hot mud, and damaged rice
    Two volcanic disasters in Indonesia’s East Java Province are destroying rice crops and making life tough, if not impossible, for thousands of people.
    By Duncan Graham
  • Prosperity, pollution, and the Green Revolution
     The Green Revolution in Indonesia delivered more rice but also brought social and ecological problems that, almost 40 years later, still affect people’s lives—but solutions are emerging.
    Story and photos by Greg Fanslow
  • Strength in diversity
    Biodiversity is more than just a nice green concept—farmers rely on it.
    By Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton
  • Thinking outside the box
    As society accepts the reality of global climate change and begins to prepare for it, we need the tools to predict the risks we should expect
    by Greg Fanslow
  • Balanced on a wing
    Although seemingly at odds rice production and biodiversity conservation can exist together—the trick is to find the right balance
    Story and photos by Greg Fanslow



July-September 2008
Vol. 7 No. 3
(15.2 MB, 37 mins at 56 kbps)

April-June 2008 e-book
(54 MB, 2 hrs at 56 kbps)

Rice Today archive




Rice Today cover inspires musician

Jay Maclean, a freelance writer, information specialist, and musician, was struck by the cover photo in the April-June 2007 issue of Rice Today, which depicts the Mekong River as it winds through northwestern Yunnan Province in China. He writes: “I was sitting at my piano, looking at the cover, seeing the rugged landscape rolling down onto a narrow river, a temple, shoals and mud, nevertheless the same river that later calms down on its voyage through Cambodia and beyond. So, I began to play an impression of the scene. It came together quite quickly and after an hour I had a piece that runs for nearly 4-1/2 minutes. I added a bass line and some percussion to enhance the mood.” He calls it, naturally, River of Rice (© Jay Maclean 2007).


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