Rice

The most widely represented commodity within the Vallis countries of operation, 3.5 million tonnes of rice have been managed since 2006.

Rice has been found under contracts in: Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, and Uganda.

It is the second most produced grain in the world after maize, provides one fifth of the calories consumed by humankind and can be found in several forms:

• Paddy rice: When the rice has been dried but has undergone no further processing. If stored in this form it will protect against insects and quality deterioration.
• Brown rice: When the paddy rice has been milled to remove the hard outer husk. Storing as brown rice requires 20% less storage space but will last for a shorter time period.
• White rice: The bran is milled off the brown rice and the grain may be polished.

Further to this there are three classifications of rice:

• Short grain: softest texture, used in risotto or puddings e.g. Arborio
• Medium grain: absorbs flavours and moisture well, used in paella e.g. Bomba
• Long grain: firmer, more typical rice e.g. Basmati

Broken grains are also generally traded as animal feed.

A Vallis research report on rice, published in October 2015, is available below:

Vallis Report on Rice