The Colour of Rice: Rice Production Policies and Agrodiversity Loss in Colonial Brazil
In: e-Journal of Portuguese HistorySearch for other papers by Joana Sousa in
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Abstract
Rice has been classified according to biophysical, ecological, and, more recently, genetic characteristics. When combined with historical documentation and social memory, this information has rendered the history of rice in the Atlantic increasingly complex. Evidence of rice seed circulation establishes connections between West Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas. In Brazil, rice diversity has historically been understood, utilised, and contested in multiple ways. During the eighteenth century, Portuguese colonial authorities sought to simplify this diversity into two categories: Carolina rice, a prototype for export to meet European consumption demands, described as ‘white rice’, and a group of varieties referred to as ‘homeland rice’ (arroz da terra) or ‘red rice’, which were deemed inferior and subsequently prohibited. This prohibition eroded rice agroecological diversity and livelihoods in late colonial Brazil, yet it failed to eradicate red rice varieties entirely, which continue to persist to this day.
Resumo
O arroz tem sido descrito e classificado com base em caraterísticas biofísicas, ecológicas e, mais recentemente, genéticas. Esta informação, juntamente com a documentação histórica e a memória social, vieram complexificar a história do arroz no Atlântico. Múltiplas evidências da circulação de sementes de arroz ligam a África Ocidental, a Europa, as Caraíbas e as Américas. No Brasil, a diversidade do arroz foi entendida, utilizada e disputada de diversas formas ao longo do tempo. No século XVIII, as autoridades coloniais portuguesas procuraram simplificar a diversidade do arroz em duas categorias. De um lado, o protótipo de um arroz moderno, adequado ao mercado internacional de exportação para a Europa – o arroz Carolina, descrito como ‘arroz branco’ –, de outro, as restantes variedades de arroz, então descritas como ‘arroz da terra’ ou ‘arroz vermelho’, retratadas como sendo de pior qualidade e, como tal, proibidas. Esta proibição silenciou e erodiu a diversidade agroecológica do arroz e os meios de subsistência no Brasil colonial, mas não conseguiu suprimir as variedades de arroz vermelho que perduram até hoje.
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The Colour of Rice: Rice Production Policies and Agrodiversity Loss in Colonial Brazil
In: e-Journal of Portuguese HistorySearch for other papers by Joana Sousa in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Ricardo Ventura in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Miguel Carmo in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Rice has been classified according to biophysical, ecological, and, more recently, genetic characteristics. When combined with historical documentation and social memory, this information has rendered the history of rice in the Atlantic increasingly complex. Evidence of rice seed circulation establishes connections between West Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas. In Brazil, rice diversity has historically been understood, utilised, and contested in multiple ways. During the eighteenth century, Portuguese colonial authorities sought to simplify this diversity into two categories: Carolina rice, a prototype for export to meet European consumption demands, described as ‘white rice’, and a group of varieties referred to as ‘homeland rice’ (arroz da terra) or ‘red rice’, which were deemed inferior and subsequently prohibited. This prohibition eroded rice agroecological diversity and livelihoods in late colonial Brazil, yet it failed to eradicate red rice varieties entirely, which continue to persist to this day.
Resumo
O arroz tem sido descrito e classificado com base em caraterísticas biofísicas, ecológicas e, mais recentemente, genéticas. Esta informação, juntamente com a documentação histórica e a memória social, vieram complexificar a história do arroz no Atlântico. Múltiplas evidências da circulação de sementes de arroz ligam a África Ocidental, a Europa, as Caraíbas e as Américas. No Brasil, a diversidade do arroz foi entendida, utilizada e disputada de diversas formas ao longo do tempo. No século XVIII, as autoridades coloniais portuguesas procuraram simplificar a diversidade do arroz em duas categorias. De um lado, o protótipo de um arroz moderno, adequado ao mercado internacional de exportação para a Europa – o arroz Carolina, descrito como ‘arroz branco’ –, de outro, as restantes variedades de arroz, então descritas como ‘arroz da terra’ ou ‘arroz vermelho’, retratadas como sendo de pior qualidade e, como tal, proibidas. Esta proibição silenciou e erodiu a diversidade agroecológica do arroz e os meios de subsistência no Brasil colonial, mas não conseguiu suprimir as variedades de arroz vermelho que perduram até hoje.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 125 | 125 | 19 |
| Full Text Views | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 34 | 34 | 6 |
