Rice cultivation and its environmental conditions in the mediterranean countries I. Climate and physiography in relation to rice cultivation

Abstract

In order to characterize the rice cultivation in the Mediterranean countries, climate and physiography of rice growing areas in Italy, Spain, and Portugal were studied. In northern Italy rice is extensively cultivated on terraces and fluvial plains of the Po and its tributaries, making use of the supply of water from Alpine glaciers in addition to the relatively abundant rainfalls of the area. In the Iberian peninsula summer climate is so dry that rice is cultivable only where the ratio of catchment area to rice land area is sufficiently large, thus rice lands are practically limited to the floodplains and deltas of the big rivers, such as the Sado and the Tejo in Portugal and the Guadalquivir and the Ebro in Spain. In order to characterize the rice cultivation in the Mediterranean countries, climate and physiography of rice growing areas in Italy, Spain, and Portugal were studied. In northern Italy rice is extensively cultivated on terraces and fluvial plains of the Po and its tributaries, making use of the supply of water from Alpine glaciers in addition to the relatively abundant rainfalls of the area. In the Iberian peninsula summer climate is so dry that rice is cultivable only where the ratio of catchment area to rice land area is sufficiently large, thus rice lands are practically limited to the floodplains and deltas of the big rivers, such as the Sado and the Tejo in Portugal and the Guadalquivir and the Ebro in Spain. © 1974 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.