Name: 大米為何如此受歡迎？- 卡羅琳豆 (Why is rice so popular? - Carolyn Beans)
Uploaded: 2025-08-26T03:04:59.000Z
Duration: 4 min 53 s

If you were to place all the rice consumed each year on one side of a scale, and every person in the world on the other, the scale would tip heavily towards rice's favor.

如果把每年消耗的所有大米放在天平的一邊，而把世界上的每個人放在另一邊，那麼天平會嚴重傾向於大米。

This beloved crop contributes over 20% of the calories consumed by humans each year.

這種人見人愛的作物每年為人類提供 20% 以上的熱量。

Korean Bibimbap, Nigerian Jollof, Indian Biryani, Spanish Paella, and countless other culinary masterpieces all begin with rice.

韓國的拌飯，尼日利亞的 Jollof，印度的 Biryani，西班牙的西班牙海鮮飯，以及數不勝數的其他烹飪傑作，都是從米飯開始的。

So how did this humble grain end up in so many cuisines?

那麼，這種不起眼的穀物是如何出現在眾多美食中的呢？

The roots of rice go back thousands of years to when early farmers in Asia, Africa, and South America each independently domesticated the crop.

水稻的起源可以追溯到幾千年前，當時亞洲、非洲和南美洲的早期農民各自獨立馴化了這種作物。

First came Asian rice, which many plant geneticists believe originated in what's now China.

首先出現的是亞洲水稻，許多植物遺傳學家認為它起源於現在的中國。

Over 10,000 years ago, nomadic hunters in the region began gathering and eating seeds from a weedy grass.

一萬多年前，該地區的遊牧獵人開始採集和食用一種雜草的種子。

Then, around 9,000 years ago, they started planting these seeds, prompting nomadic hunters to settle into farming communities.

然後，大約在 9000 年前，他們開始種植這些種子，促使遊牧狩獵者定居為農耕社區。

With each harvest, growers selected and replanted seeds from the rice plants that pleased them most, like those with bigger and more plentiful grains or aromatic flavors.

每次收穫時，種植者都會從他們最滿意的稻株中挑選種子並重新種植，比如那些顆粒更大、更飽滿或香味更濃郁的稻株。

Over millennia, thousands of varieties of Asian rice emerged.

千百年來，亞洲水稻出現了數以千計的品種。

A relative of the same weedy grass was also domesticated in Africa around 3,000 years ago.

大約 3000 年前，非洲也馴化了同一種雜草的親戚。

Today, its growth is mostly limited to West Africa.

如今，它的發展主要侷限於西非。

South American growers also domesticated rice around 4,000 years ago, though the crop was lost after the arrival of Europeans.

大約 4000 年前，南美洲的種植者也馴化了水稻，不過歐洲人到來後，這種作物就失傳了。

Asian rice, however, spread widely and is now a cornerstone of diet and culture in Asia and beyond.

然而，亞洲大米得到了廣泛傳播，如今已成為亞洲和其他地區飲食和文化的基石。

In India and Nepal, many Hindus mark an infant's transition to solid foods with a ceremony known as anaprashan, where the baby tastes rice for the first time.

在印度和尼泊爾，許多印度教徒會在嬰兒第一次品嚐米飯時舉行一種名為 "anaprashan "的儀式，以此來紀念嬰兒向固體食物的過渡。

In Japan, rice is so central to diets that the word gohan means both cooked rice and meal.

在日本，米飯是飲食的核心，"gohan "一詞既指煮熟的米飯，也指飯菜。

The global expansion of rice cultivation was only possible because the plant can grow in many climates, from tropical to temperate.

水稻之所以能夠在全球範圍內推廣種植，是因為這種植物可以在從熱帶到溫帶的多種氣候條件下生長。

As a semi-aquatic plant, rice happily grows in submerged soils.

作為一種半水生植物，水稻喜歡在浸水土壤中生長。

Many other crops can't survive in standing water because their root cells rely on air within soil to access oxygen.

許多其他作物無法在積水中生存，因為它們的根細胞依賴土壤中的空氣獲取氧氣。

But rice plants have air channels in their roots that allow oxygen to travel from the leaves and stems to the submerged tissues.

但水稻的根部有空氣通道，可以將氧氣從葉子和莖輸送到水下組織。

Traditionally, growers plant rice in paddy fields, flatland submerged under as much as 10 centimeters of water throughout the growing season.

傳統上，種植者在水田裡種植水稻，平地在整個生長季節都浸泡在 10 釐米深的水中。

This practice returns high yields since many competing weeds can't hack it in the aquatic environment.

這種做法產量高，因為許多競爭雜草在水生環境中無法生存。

But the technique is also water-intensive.

Rice covers 11% of global cropland but uses over a third of the world's irrigation water.

水稻佔全球耕地面積的 11%，但卻使用了全球三分之一以上的灌溉用水。

This form of rice production also pumps out a surprising amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

這種形式的水稻生產也排放了大量溫室氣體，令人吃驚。

Flooded fields are the perfect breeding grounds for microorganisms known as methanogens.

被水淹沒的田地是被稱為甲烷菌的微生物的絕佳滋生地。

These microscopic lifeforms thrive in environments lacking oxygen because they evolved when the Earth contained little of this gas.

這些微小的生命形式在缺氧的環境中茁壯成長，因為它們是在地球上氧氣含量很少的情況下進化而來的。

Methanogens are the only organisms known to produce methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and trapping heat in the atmosphere.

甲烷是一種比二氧化碳強 25 倍的溫室氣體，會在大氣中釋放熱量。

Cows, for example, are infamous for burping out methane due to methanogens in their stomachs.

例如，奶牛因胃中的甲烷菌打嗝排出甲烷而臭名昭著。

In a flooded paddy field, methanogens set to work eating away at organic material in the submerged soil and multiplying rapidly, all the while releasing copious amounts of methane.

在被水淹沒的稻田裡，甲烷菌開始蠶食淹沒土壤中的有機物，並迅速繁殖，同時釋放出大量甲烷。

Rice cultivation contributes around 12% of human-caused methane emissions each year.

每年，水稻種植造成的甲烷排放量約佔人類排放總量的 12%。

Rice doesn't actually need to grow in continuously flooded paddies.

實際上，水稻並不需要在持續受淹的稻田裡生長。

Researchers and growers are exploring water management strategies that can cut the methane while keeping the yield.

研究人員和種植者正在探索既能減少甲烷，又能保持產量的水資源管理策略。

One promising technique is known as alternate wetting and drying.

一種很有前景的技術是交替溼潤和乾燥技術。

Growers periodically let the water level drop, which keeps methanogen growth in check.

種植者會定期讓水位下降，從而控制甲烷菌的生長。

Alternate wetting and drying can cut water use by 30% and methane emissions by 30 to 70% without impacting yield.

在不影響產量的情況下，交替潤溼和乾燥可減少 30% 的用水量和 30% 至 70% 的甲烷排放量。

Greenhouse gases come from many, sometimes unexpected, places.

溫室氣體來自許多地方，有時甚至是意想不到的地方。

Making rice growing more sustainable is just one of the many challenges we'll need to face to avoid catastrophic warming.

要避免災難性的氣候變暖，我們需要面對眾多挑戰，而讓水稻種植更具可持續性只是其中之一。

Today, many rice growers still flood fields all season long.

如今，許多水稻種植者仍在整季淹沒田地。

Changing millennia-old practices requires a major mindset shift.

要改變沿襲千年的做法，就必須轉變觀念。

But going against the grain could be just what we need to keep our planet healthy and our bowls full.

但是，為了讓我們的地球保持健康，為了讓我們的飯碗保持飽滿，我們可能需要反其道而行之。

Find out what role you can play, or watch this video to learn about the pros and cons of tree planting.

瞭解您可以發揮什麼作用，或觀看本視頻，瞭解植樹的利弊。