Rice production in China is the amount of rice planted, grown, and harvested for consumption in the mainland of China.

It is an important part of the national economy, where it is the world's largest producer of rice, making up 30% of global rice production. It produces the highest rice yields in Asia, at . Rice is produced throughout the nation and is believed to have been first domesticated in the surrounding regions of the Yangtze River and the Yunnan-Guizhou highlands of Southern China. Rice is believed to have been first cultivated around the Yangtze River Valley and Yellow River 11,000 years ago, found upon clustering in the middle of the Yangtze River in the provinces of Hubei and Hunan in central China according to archaeological records. The planting techniques of rice production in China encapsulates techniques such as water loss prevention such as turning soil into mud, and also seed transplantation.

The main variants of rice produced and grown in China encapsulates wild rice species of O. Mereriana, O. Officinalis, and O. Rufipogon and the main Chinese cultivated rice varieties are indica and japonica subspecies, with ongoing developments of rice breeding in hybrid rice established by the Ministry of Agriculture in China.

The subspecies of the Indica and Japonica rice are produced in different, and some in overlapping, regions across China with the hybrid rice predominantly growing in the region of Central China.

There are many geographical regions across China for rice production. The geographical setting in the rice production regions across China highlights different climates (subtropical, cold, and dry), growing periods, and soils which is what makes the rice varieties distinct from one another. The geographical setting is what delineates the different planting and harvesting seasons of rice variants in the regions.

Rice production in China is labour-intensive, and is dependent on a variety of cropping and planting methods. The processes of production in cropping systems vary across the regions of China due to the differences in climate in each growing region. The predominant processes of rice production in planting methods that are in use in China include transplanting, manual transplanting, mechanical transplanting, throwing seeding, direct seeding, as well as rice ratooning. Under differences and changes in the selection of rice varieties and cultivation techniques under various planting methods, this highlights the differences in terms of rice quality. Due to changes in recent decades in all aspects, this has led to the changes in planting areas across China for rice production.

In terms of exports, China has exported 4.56% of the world's rice in 2019, with a value of US$1.13 billion. As of 2020/2021, it is the sixth principal rice exporter in the world behind India, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, and the United States.

The rice production in China over recent years has faced challenges. These challenges encapsulate climate change that has brought increased frequencies of natural disasters, overuse of fertilisers that leads to a decline in the fertility of the land, as well as overuse of pesticides that promotes changes in biodiversity leading to increased pest outbreaks.

The future of rice production in China is one that encapsulates elite germaplasm, genetic diversity, and the super rice breeding programs to promote tolerance to the current challenges. The future prospects of integrated rice cultivation systems are to be further developed in assistance of current agricultural systems and databases to manage current challenges. Moreover, lowering water-usage is also a future prospect to be delved into.

Rice is highly prized by consumers as a food grain, making it a staple food for two-thirds of the nation. Produced rice grains that have numerous flavours, textures, and grains, each with unique differentiating forms and distinct qualities, can be made into a variety of foods that are prominent in China. Out of all, one type that is renowned across the world is cooked rice, which can encapsulate both rice porridge and fried rice. Rice grained and ground can be made into noodles. Glutinous sticky rice is also a form of rice that can be turned into a variety of dishes and desserts, as well as including alcoholic beverages and rice brans.

History

Wild rice and its domestication
China is among the bulk of significant domestication centres and originating rice regions worldwide. The surrounding regions of the Yangtze River and the Yunnan-Guizhou highland of Southern China are the domestication centres with varying evidence derived from the belief that wild rice is primarily found in Southern China, where the Yangtze River is predominantly situated. China's Yunnan-Guizhou highland consists of more than 10,000 rice landraces, and the three wild rice species (O. Rufipogon, O. Officinalis, and O. Mereriana) commonly exist and is identified as the site of the highest genetic diversity.  Over time, these varieties evolved under environmental and cropping conditions into O. Sativa and the subspecies of japonica and indica consumed today. Additionally, as more rice phytoliths are detected in the sites of Hemudu, Diaotonghuan, Xianrendong, and Shangshan – all parts surrounding the Yangtze River, it is these regions that are locations of the geographical domestication origin of wild rice in China.

According to archaeological records, rice was first domesticated in areas surrounding the Yangtze River Valley and the Yellow River around 7000 BC. These areas housed Neolithic sites like Hemudu (6800-5000 BC), Luojiajiao (5100-4000 BC), Caoxieshan (4200-3900 BC), and Songze (circa 4000 BC). Older rice remains have been found in Yuchanyan (13000-6000 BC), Xianrendong, and Diaotonghuan (12000-9000 BC).

The domestication of rice was observed through the loss of colour and seed shattering, lower rates of seed dormancy, and changes in seed shape. Cultivated forms of phuddi rice are of domestic origin, whilst indica rice appear to be of mixed origin, via domestication throughout South and Southeast Asia.

Wild rice in China is believed to have been harvested by individuals over millennia and then transitioned into domesticated rice. Early farmers employed fire, bones, and wooden spades to clear marshes of reeds in order to establish rice paddy fields.

Rice cultivation

Rice has been cultivated in China for over 10000 years. The first record of rice has been linked to mythological texts such as Guan Zi from the Shen-Nong era, part of the Xia dynasty in the 21st century BC. In antiquity, japonica rice was named Jing or Keng, indica rice was named Xian or Hsien, whilst glutinous rice was named Nuodao.

As modern researchers uncover archaeological records of rice, it is revealed that rice was first cultivated within the middle of the Yangtze River in central China. Archaeological evidence in this finding drew upon collecting “samples of radiocarbon data on rice grains, husks, plant remains, and impressions of rice grain in pottery drawn from more than one hundred sites along the 6300-kilometre Yangtze River.”  The oldest sample collected comprised a median age of 11,000 years, found upon clustering in the middle of the Yangtze River in the provinces of Hubei and Hunan in central China.  In comparison, samples collected from the upstream and downstream regions are ordinarily younger, ranging from 4000 to 10,000 years.  Researchers uncovered this pattern, suggesting that rice cultivation originated in the middle of the Yangtze River and has since spread from there.

Planting techniques

Techniques such as turning soil into mud to prevent water loss, as well as seed transplantation, have been traced back to China. Both techniques encouraged the domestication of phuddi and indica variants, and are still utilised in Chinese rice production today.

Rice variants

Wild rice
There are three species of wild rice in China, O. mereriana, O. officinalis, and O. rufipogon. The last is the most common, spanning from Taiwan and across China. Wild rice is commonly found in marshlands, hills, and low grasslands. Archaeological records note common variants of wild rice were planted in Central and Southern China in antiquity. Due to increased human activity over the years, there has been a 70% decrease of O. rufipogon across China compared to the 1950s.

Chinese cultivated varieties
Cultivated varieties are noted to have originated in areas near the Yangtze and Huai rivers. From these areas, wild, ancient varieties spread through environmental and cropping conditions. Over time, these varieties evolved and were domesticated into O. sativa subspecies japonica and indica.

Rice breeding
Hybrid rice breeding seeks to improve yield and adaptation in response to demand and environmental challenges and was introduced in the 1970s by Yuan Longping. In 1996, the Super Rice Project was spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture, combining japonica and indica subspecies. However, this breeding process is time-consuming and has affected the growth of the breeding program and available rice variants.

Subspecies throughout the regions

Japonica
Japonica plants are small and have dark green leaves. Its grains are round and short and do not break easily. Due to its high levels of amylopectin, the grains are moist and sticky when cooked. Japonica is found in cool and temperate climates.

Indica
Indica plants are tall and have light green leaves. Its grains can range from short to long, narrow and flat, and can break easily. Due to its lower levels of amylopectin, the grains are flakier and drier than japonica variants.

Subspecies and their growing regions
 Japonica subspecies are predominant throughout Regions 2, 3, 5, and 6.
 Indica subspecies are predominant throughout Regions 1, 2, 3, and 4
 Hybrid variants of Indica are grown in Region 2.

Geographical setting

Growing regions
Region 1: Southern China

This region includes southern areas of Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian and Hainan provinces, as well as Taiwan. This region is subtropical and predominantly grows indica rice.

Region 2: Central China

The largest region in terms of rice production, spanning from the Chengdu Plains in the west to the eastern coast, from the Huai River in the north to the Nanling Mountains in the south. It also includes parts or all of Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu provinces and suburbs of Chongqing and Shanghai. This region is subtropical and predominantly grows Indica and hybrid variants of indica and japonica rice.

Region 3: Southwestern plateau

Includes parts or all of Tibet, Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan, Guangxi, Hunan, and Guizhou provinces as well as the Qingzang and Yungui Plateaus. This region is subtropical and predominantly grows japonica and indica rice.

Region 4: Northern China

Bordered by the Qinling Mountains, the Yellow River in the south, the Great Wall in the north, and bordered in the west by the Shanxi Plains. It also includes the entirety of Beijing, Shandong, and Tianjin, and parts of Anhui, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei provinces. This region is subtropical and predominantly grows indica rice.

Region 5: Northeastern China

Includes Jilin and Heilongjiang, as well as Liaoning and Inner Mongolia. This region has the coldest climate out of all the growing regions, with temperatures averaging between . It predominantly grows indica rice

Region 6: Northwestern China

Includes Ningxia and Xinjiang, most of Inner Mongolia and Gansu, north-western sections of Liaoning as well as northern sections of Shaanxi, Qinghai, and Hebei provinces. This is the driest out of all the regions and predominantly grows japonica rice.

Climate, growing periods, and soils
Subtropical

This climate is characterised by humidity and warm monsoons, long periods of growth between 180 and 365 days, cumulative temperatures between 2900 and 800 °C, precipitation levels between , and 700–3000 hours of sunshine. Soil types within these regions include brown, red, and yellow soils as well as sedimentary and alluvial soils.

Cold

Crops are susceptible to frost damage. Its cumulative temperature ranges between 2000 and 3700 °C, 350-1100mm of precipitation, and 2200–3100 hours of sunshine. Soils in this region are fertile, which include variants such as meadow, down, black clod, and saline-alkaline soils.

Dry

Low rates () of precipitation and water shortages. Due to this, soils lack fertility and are situated near irrigated farms and rivers.

Growing seasons
Early rice crops grow primarily in provinces along the Yangtze River and in provinces in the south. It is planted in February to April and harvested in June and July. Intermediate and single-crop late rice grows in the southwest and along the Yangtze. It is planted in March to June and harvested in October and November. All three crop types contribute about 34 percent to China's total rice output. Double-crop late rice, planted after the early crop is reaped, is harvested in October to November and adds about 25 percent to total rice production. Rice grown in the north is planted from April to June and harvested from September to October and it contributes about 7 percent to total production. As the climate becomes warmer, it becomes possible for rice cultivation to advance further north.

Production

Processes
Cropping systems

Cropping systems vary across China due to differences in climate in each growing region. Single rice cropping is predominant in the North, accounting for 17% of the country's total rice production. Double rice cropping is mainly utilised in the South, accounting for 34% of the country's production rate. Annual rice-upland crop rotation systems are commonly used in Central regions such as Hubei, Sichuan, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces, as well as near the Yangtze River Valley. Rice-upland systems generate 49% of the nation's rice production.

Planting methods

Planting methods depend on the environmental and socioeconomic conditions of a growing region. Common methods of planting include manual, throwing, mechanical, direct seeding (manual and mechanic), and ratooning rice. Manual transplanting is declining in rural areas due to lack of skilled labour. It is common in areas with smaller land areas, high populations, and higher rates of available labour. Direct-seeded rice (dry and wet seeding) has increased since the 1990s, taking up 10% of China's rice planting area in provinces such as Guangdong and Xinjiang.

Transplanting is China's most common and elaborative rice crop establishment and production method. Transplanting is often done to achieve higher yields and more minor weeding fields, whilst ensuring a uniform rice plant stand.  Transplanting is where rice seedlings grown in a nursery are harvested and transplanted into puddled and levelled rice fields 15 to 20 days after the seedling,  some even for an extended incubation period. These rice seedlings can either be transplanted manually or mechanically.

Manual transplanting is a traditional rice production method across China. Manual transplantation does not require costly machinery and is often performed in minor rice patch fields in labour surplus. Manual transplanting is often performed in rice patch fields with substandard levelling and varying water levels.  Seedlings by this method can be raised and adapted under any condition, whether wet, dry, or modified.  Given the adaptability and flexibility of seedlings, manual transplanting tends to increase yields significantly in low fertility soils.

Mechanical transplantation of rice is transplanting young rice seedlings using a rice transplanter. As the name suggests, direct seeding is the process of sowing rice seeds directly into the rice fields, either mechanically or manually.  Both mechanical transplantation and direct seeding of rice are pioneering rice planting methods and are commonly used during the rice-wheat rotation system. The convenience of direct seeding and mechanical transplanting method can be manifested in the rice planting area of the Jiangsu Province in China, which comprises 2.249 million hectares of land, encapsulating 55.9% of fields that use these methods interchangeably.  These two methods increase yearly due to labour and time-saving reasons and quickly and cost-effectively provide area revegetation.

Throwing seedlings is an alternative planting method for rice production and is widespread due to savings on labour. This cultivation system provides another benefit of developing high-yield potential from reduced fertiliser inputs and has been predominantly used over the past few decades in Southern China to raise yields, as was tested by scientists in Southern China rice patches along the Yangtze River. The method of the experiment is through an “appropriate increase in seedling density, and a concomitant decrease in Nitrogen fertiliser input” that led to “problems with lodging, quality declines, and environmental pollution”. By increasing the seedling density by 32%, Nitrogen application can reduce by 18%.  As a result, an increase in seedling density created considerable amounts of effective panicles and glumous flowers on rice wheat whilst compensating for the decreased yield of individual plants from fertiliser. Hence, the method and experiment provide sustainable agriculture means in Southern China.

Rice production in China is severely constrained by “excessive water consumption, labour shortage, large environmental footprint, and low economic profit” – this makes rice ratooning a favourable practice for production. From the former, rice ratooning is acquiring new crops from renewed tillers of the first crop, saving water consumption by taking advantage of the remaining water content from the first crop. From the latter, rice ratooning increases farmers’ profitability with sustainable efficiency and fewer reconstruction efforts on environmental damage and footprints than other rice planting methods. In addition, rice ratooning provides higher grain yield stemming from selecting cultivated high-yielding varieties and improving crop management over time. Hence, rice ratooning gradually became favourable and forms the majority of the rice production system across China.

Quality
There are differences and changes in the selection of rice varieties and cultivation techniques under various planting methods. Therefore, selecting good-quality rice is "necessary to promote the development of high-quality rice industry and enhance the rice industry's comprehensive strength in China."

Rice quality comes from processing, appearance, consumption, and essential nutritional quality. Therefore, the formation of rice quality stems from a range of aftermath processing factors and not only from the inherent characteristics of the different varieties of rice grains.  However, factors in the natural environment in rice production regions, such as soil conditions, weather conditions, techniques and methods used in cultivation, rice grain purifying conditions, and storage conditions, also influence quality.

Given the factors in the natural environment influencing quality, the focus of temperature and weather conditions have been predominantly studied by researchers in China from the China National Rice Research Institute. It has been demonstrated that the temperature during the grain-filling stage is crucial and affects the chalkiness quality of grains. Rice filled under high temperatures increase chalkiness, which is considered an undesirable feature due to the adverse effects on the rice's appearance and milling quality.

Different rice planting methods in different regions across China with variances in times of dissemination, fertilisation, and water resources also affect rice quality. This is because the methods used have variances in temperature and light resources during the final stage of rice growth. Moreover, researchers in the China National Rice Research Institute conducted studies in rice fields and have found that an increase in potassium fertiliser used to improve root growth, plant vigour, lodging prevention, and enhance crop resistance to pests could reduce the chalkiness and improves rice quality, but have adverse effects on human consumption.

Changes to planting areas
There have been dramatic increases and decreases in arable land and production across China. Increases were found in Northeast provinces such as Jilin and Heilongjiang, whilst increasingly urbanised provinces such as Guangdong and Fujian saw decreases. This is due to more farmers and their families looking for a stable occupation in urban areas, as well as challenges to production due to climate change and lower grain production due to over-usage of fertilisers and pesticides. Consequently, prominent rice production areas have shifted to the northeast.

Exports

In 2019, China exported 4.56% of the world's rice with a value of US$1.13 billion. In 2020/2021, it was the sixth principal rice exporter in the world behind India, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, and the United States.

In the period of November 2020 and November 2021, China's Rice exports accounted for up to $75 million and imports that accounted for up to $202 million. It was a year that particularly resulted in a negative trade balance of $127 million.

In November 2021, rice mainly exported to Turkey accounted for $11.1 million, South Korea, for $9.54 million, Vietnam, for $7.49 million, Cameroon for $7.39 million, and Puerto Rico, making up $7.1M.

Imports were mainly from Thailand of $44.4 million, Vietnam for $40.9 million, Pakistan for $34 million, India for $31.5 million, and Myanmar for $30 million.

Challenges

Climate change
Rice is a prominent primary food staple for most of the world's population, and it is not limited to just China, despite its prominence. Rice production in China has grown increasingly during the past few decades, that is mainly due to increased yields of grain than to the increased planting areas across China, and demand for rice is predicted to increase by approximately 20% by 2030. Even so, because of rice yield stagnation that agronomists and scientists have observed during recent years, there have been limits in the capability to increase rice yields with the expectation that this is to continue into the near future. The challenge that has been causing this stagnation has been “attributed to reaching the biological yield ceiling for rice in which many studies have reported that climate change affects rice production”.

Climate change and its significant impacts on rice production in China present challenges in meeting China's future rice production requirements. Climate change and its impact on rice-wheat crop production and water resources are significant factors that rice production in China will have to address with the rise of climate change and resource scarcity. It is addressed by the agronomists and experts in the field of agriculture in China that as climate changes arise, the daily mean temperatures for rice of all kinds – including that of early rice (produced from March to July), late rice (produced during June to October), and single rice crops (produced during May to October) - are impacted. Due to the challenge of climate change, it has been observed that the daily mean temperatures for rice production over recent years have increased in a range between 0.8 and 4.1 °C. Given this challenge and the rise of climate change, this has altered the planting times of rice production in China. Regarding this challenge, it has been noted that early rice crops and single-crop rice-wheat crops should be planted at a much earlier period than usual, with late rice wheat-crops planting delayed. Given this response, the “predicted net effect would be to prolong the grain-filling period and optimise rice yield”.

Climate change has brought about increased frequencies of natural disasters such as floods and droughts. For rice crops, this does not generate grain growth, leading to decreased yields.  In 2003, crops in the province of Hubei experienced a 0.5-million-hectare loss due to rice crops experiencing heat stress. Grains remain empty in temperatures over . During the same period, Hubei lost 0.27 million hectares to low rates of rice grain production.

Overuse of fertilisers

The overuse of fertilisers in agricultural rice production in China is commonly used among risk-averse farmers. Fertilisers are often overused in order to avoid the impacts that are presented by the rise of climate change and risks that are present on wheat and rice production in China. Other factors that contribute to the farmers' overuse of fertilisers is similar to that of the overuse of pesticides where farmers have limited background knowledge behind the overuse of fertilisers, along with a lack of agricultural labour force and with the traditional prospects, experiences, and habits of the farmers themselves.

China consumes 30% of the world's nitrogen fertilisers, with 7% of this is employed for Chinese rice crops. Despite its excessive use, China's yield rates are comparably lower than other rice-growing nations who also utilise nitrogen fertilisers. Low amounts of fertiliser, around 20-30%, is absorbed by a plant, whilst the remaining amount pollutes surrounding ecosystems, leading to soil infertility.

The challengers and consequences that are imposed by the overuse of fertilisers accounts for a decline in the fertility of arable land mass, water pollution, as well as the erosion of the sustainable development of rice production agriculture. The aforementioned consequences serve as a challenge for the overuse of fertilisers where the actions that farmers have taken as a result of an attempt to tackle the challenge of climate change raises concerns on both the overuse of fertilisers and overuse of pesticides which lead to adverse effects on rice-wheat yields and the environment. The overuse of fertilisers and pesticides interchangeably are what the researchers and scientists in the agriculture field of rice production in China have recognised as "inefficient and excessive".

Overuse of pesticides

China is renowned as the largest producer and consumer of rice compared to the rest of the world. Compared to other agricultural production in the field such as corn and wheat, rice production consumes the most use of pesticides on its crops and plants. In rice production and the agricultural sector, pesticides are commonly used to “prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate pests, weeds, insect infestation, and diseases”. Chinese rice farmers are known to spray their crops on a weekly basis to avoid damage by pests and diseases.

The overuse of pesticides in rice production in China and the driving factor for farmers to overuse pesticides in agricultural production is the “imperative to increase farmer’s income, promote agricultural transformation, and agricultural sustainable development”. On occasion, the driving factor for the overuse of pesticides also comes from farmers that have a “lack of pest management knowledge, limited accessibility to high-quality governmental agricultural extensions system, misleading information, and the absence of pest prediction and forecast”. Pesticides, in this context, play a role in enhancing crop productivity, ensuring food stability, and to reduce a farmer's loss of income due to pest diseases. Data analysts and researchers have statistically analysed that the “loss of pests and recovery of weed losses by pesticide application worldwide account for one third of the total grain output”. Given the continuous growth of the world population as well as the demand for food safety, the use of pesticides is a crucial element in order to ensure a vast food security stance.

China is the largest developing country and is “now the largest manufacturer and consumer of pesticides in the world”, which is a reason why the challenge of the overuse of pesticides is expected in the agricultural field regions and rice production in China. The average amount of the chemical pesticides used “per unit area in China is 2.5 to 5 times higher than developed countries”. Inasmuch as the overuse of pesticides has provided benefits in terms of agricultural profitability, the overuse of pesticides can pose a number of risks and challenges to “human beings, animals, and the environment”. The risk and challenge of overuse of pesticides on the environment leads to the issue of sustainable land management that has arisen from the overuse of pesticides as the chemicals can “contaminate masses of soil, water, turf, and other vegetation”. It has been identified by the agricultural researchers in China that each year, more than 10 million mu, that is, a measure used for land area in China, of crops are contaminated by the overuse of pesticides and residues. In addition, it is reiterated by these researchers that only 30% of applied pesticides are used up on rice and wheat crops, with the remaining 70% of pesticides used dispersed into the mass environment.

Given the overuse use of pesticides in rice production in China, this has posed challenges to agriculture and human consumption. With the rising living standards in China, the demand for rice has shifted towards quality over quantity. The challenge of the overuse of pesticides has contributed to the growing undesirable effects of pesticide use on the ecology, the environment, and human health. Moreover, the excessive use of chemical pesticides that kill both natural pest enemies and beneficial pests in rice-wheat crop production leads to the evolution of resistance to crop pests. In addition, the overuse of pesticides also contributes to the adverse effects that impair human health, in which humans are exposed to the pesticides and pesticide residues present in foods that contain rice and rice-grain related crops.

Increased pesticide use has been linked to the overuse of nitrogen fertilisers and pesticides, which promotes changes in biodiversity and therefore, increased pest outbreaks. Crop losses for pesticide-treated crops were double that of non-pesticide-treated crops. Farmers have been reported to have experienced negative health effects on their nervous, digestive, and respiratory systems, leading to chronic diseases and deaths.

The future of Chinese rice production

Elite germaplasm, genetic diversity, and the super rice breeding program
The creation of elite germaplasms such as the indica-japonica hybrid has encouraged the research and development of new variants through studying elite genes and hybrid options. This, alongside the established super rice breeding program, has led researchers to aim to produce high quality rice which is tolerant to drought and grain infertility.

Integrated rice cultivation systems
Further developments have been made with the assistance of agriculture systems and databases to manage fertilisation, irrigation, field management, disease and pest management, as well as predictions to estimate rice yields.

Lowering water-usage
Aerobic rice utilises low rates of water due to its ability to grow in high altitudes. Studies are investigating its high tolerance to drought and low irrigation, in order to develop variants for rice fields in Northern and Central China with inadequate irrigation.

Consumption

Due to the abundance of rice grown within China, it is considered as a staple food for two-thirds of the nation. Over 149 million metric tons were consumed in 2020/2021, with an average of 76.8 kilograms milled per person annually.  However, there has been a pattern of decline in rice consumption, from 78 kilograms per person annually in 1995 to 76.3 kilograms in 2009.

Produced rice grains can have numerous flavours, textures, and grains, each differentiating one from another with distinct qualities. Each rice grain's distinct qualities correspond to the grain's length, stickiness once cooked, the aroma, the texture, and the flavour. This difference comes from the different grain terrains or regions used for rice production in China. Processed rice grains are rich in nutrients, vitamins, and healthy minerals, which is known as "an excellent source of complex carbohydrates".

It is prepared and consumed in a range of forms, including:

Cooked rice
Milled rice cooked with water by boiling, steaming, and braising. Rice can be flavoured by adding vegetables, meat, fish, and legumes. Rice porridge is a popular dish for individuals with health issues and children, as it is easy to digest.

Cooked rice is now served in a form that is common and popular in Chinese food that is derived from cooked rice, in the form of fried rice. Fried rice is the most common way of cooking the cereal crop, and it can be used to make both sweet and savoury dishes.

Noodles
Rice as wheat grains can be used and ground down to be turned to make rice flour which can then be used to make a variety of different dishes. Rice flour can be mixed with water into a dough-like paste that can be cut or hand-pulled into long strands to make another famous dish of noodles.

The noodle strands can be further processed in making further Chinese cuisine delicacies. The noodles, whether it is dried, fried, boiled, or frozen, can be used to produce various types of noodles based on individual choices and preferences.

Glutinous Rice and milled rice delicacies
Once cooked, a popular and common form of rice can be made into glutinous rice, which can be made into either sweet desserts or savoury dishes.

Glutinous rice is also known as sticky rice. It is sweet, has a waxy grain texture, and is an opaque grain with low amylose content, which creates a sticky texture when cooked. It is a type of rice that is mainly grown in the regions of Southeast and East Asia, and it is also included in both japonica and indica types of rice. This means that the glutinous rice grains can be short, medium, or long – essentially, it comes in all sizes.

Glutinous rice can be consumed by fermenting it to make rice wine. Also, it can be made into Jiuniang - fermented sweet rice serving as a critical ingredient and flavour for many famous Chinese dishes as a supplement or as a sugar alternative. Milled rice can be ground and processed into rice noodles, dumplings such as Tangyuan, Zongzi, and Yuanxiao, glutinous rice cakes such as Niangao, Maqiu, puddings, crackers, bread, and fermented food. Ground rice can range in colour when made out of red, purple, and brown types of rice.

Alcoholic beverages
Rice can be used as a base for alcoholic drinks such as rice wine like Jiafan and Nuerhong, both made out of japonica glutinous rice. Sweet rice wines are usually homemade and are made out of japonica or indica glutinous rice.

Rice alcohol, not only is it commonly used to make alcoholic beverages, but it is also used in the production process to make vinegar. Rice wine is predominantly in the Chinese cuisine, used for cooking, or it can be consumed as an alcoholic beverage itself.

Rice bran
Rice bran is made out of the by-products of rice milling, that is, the outer layer of the rice grain that is removed by polishing the rice in order for it to turn from brown rice to become white rice. It is a product of high nutrition, encapsulating a rich source of energy, protein, vitamins, mineral, high levels of oil, and fibre. Rice brans offer other beneficial alternatives, such as being used for "treating diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, alcoholism, obesity, and AIDS; for preventing stomach and colon cancer; for preventing heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) disease; for strengthening the immune system; for increasing energy and improving athletic performance".

References

Agricultural production in China by commodity
China
Oryza sativa


Euptoieta is a genus of butterflies in the subfamily Heliconiinae found in the Neotropical ecological zone.

Species
Listed alphabetically:
 Euptoieta bogotana (Staudinger, 1885)
 Euptoieta claudia (Cramer, 1775) – variegated fritillary
 Euptoieta hegesia (Cramer, 1779) – Mexican fritillary
 Euptoieta hortensia (Blanchard, 1852)
 Euptoieta perdistincta (Hall, 1930)
 Euptoieta poasina (Schaus, 1913)
 Euptoieta sunides (Hewitson, 1877)
 Euptoieta thekla (Hall, 1919)

References

Gerardo Lamas (edited by) (2004).  Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera.  Checklist: Part4A. Hesperioidea-Papilionoidea.  Scientific Publishers, Inc., Gainesville, FL.

Argynnini
Nymphalidae genera
Taxa named by Henry Doubleday


In architecture, sightlines are a particularly important consideration in the design of civic structures, such as a stage, arena, or monument. They determine the configuration of such items as theater and stadium design, road junction layout and urban planning. In cities such as London, construction within sightlines is restricted to protect the key views of famous landmarks

Subjects that have a line of sight with one another are said to be intervisible, where intervisibility is the ability of viewers at separate places to see each other without any landform blocking their view.

C-Value
Good sightlines allow spectators to see all areas of a venue stage or field of play. To ensure this designers utilize the C-value, defined as the vertical distance from a spectator's eyes to sightline of the spectator directly behind. The C-value is determined in part by the rake, that is, the upward slope of the seating.

The stadium bowl rake if based on consistent C-values will follow half of a parabola in section. The curvature will be greatest closest to the pitch and will become an increasingly flatter curve as it moves to the upper rows. As a general rule the rake or curve of the seating bowl will flatten as the first row of seats move away from the side-line for a constant C-value. It is impractical to make different step heights for every single row. In practice the riser height is the same for a set of 4 or 5 rows at the bottom of the bowl with the number of rows in each same height set increasing for higher up rows. The uppermost tier could have only 2 or even 1 different step heights.

It is the lowest rows of seats that are the most sensitive to the impact of the C-value because of the very flat view angle to the touch line. The higher seats can have a reduced C-value without impacting as seriously on the clear view of the field of play.

Green Guide Sightline Formula
The existing sightline formula in the Green Guide (Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds) can be traced back to the sightline section of the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds, also known as Green Guide. It is United Kingdom Government-funded guidance book on spectator safety at sports grounds. On Page 109 Green Guide Fifth Edition, the graphic reference does show the C-Value location.

Sightlines in theatres
Sightline criteria in theaters can include: the "isacoustic curve" defined by John Scott Russell in 1838 and applied at the Auditorium Building in Chicago and the Emery Theatre in Cincinnati; alternate row sightlines where each patron sees between the heads of patrons in the row in front and over the heads of patrons in the second row in front; next row sightlines where each patron sees over the heads of patrons in the row immediately in front; and basic considerations like pointing the chairs more or less toward the performance, being able to see the conductor in the pit, being able to see other patrons, being able to see actors on elevated scenery, and not being obstructed by a wall, railing, column, ceiling overhang, loudspeaker cluster, or any other obstruction. The design of sightlines includes considerations of how much of the stage and scenery each patron can see. For example, can each patron see the top of the scenery or not, and can each patron see the whole stage floor or not? Design of sightlines is divided into two related exercises, vertical sightlines and horizontal sightlines. Design of proper sightlines includes resolving both technical and aesthetic issues. At issue is the emotional response of the audience: whether a performer can hold the audience's attention or not; whether the patron feels they had a "good" seat and their ticket was fairly priced or not; whether the audience gets the emotional impact of the performance or not; and whether the patron wants to come back and see another performance in that theater or not. Building codes restrict the maximum and minimum rise per row, limit the minimum width per row, limit the maximum deviation in the size of steps from row to row to achieve the curvature of the rake, and limit other aspects of sightline design.

Books on theater planning that discuss the design of sightlines.

It is recommended that a spectator's eye height must not be lower than 800 mm above the stage. However, in larger theatres it is acceptable to locate the eye height of the first row on the level of the stage.

Sightlines in stadiums
The spectator view in modern stadia is optimised very carefully to balance the uninterrupted clear view to the field for every seat whilst not making the seating terraces any higher than necessary to satisfy structure, cost and safety considerations.  This is done with careful modelling utilizing the C-Value to ensure the ideal rake or curvature of the seating bowl. C-values are improved with a steeper slope or moving the seating rows away from the focus point. Inadequate views result in spectators jumping up for a better view during exciting play. This is an annoyance to others and can lead to fights and in the context of large crowds this can be a serious safety threat. The maximum step height between terraces or rows is usually limited to 540mm. If this is exceeded then a continuous guardrail is required as protection against falling. Even with a 540mm terrace step many spectators become uncomfortable and start to feel the impact of vertigo. An ideal maximum terrace step height that will avoid most people feeling insecure is 450mm.

Sightlines in plan

The C-Value considers the sightlines in the vertical plane. The sightlines in the horizontal plane need to be considered for the front row spectators in the instance where they look acutely sideways, typically adjacent far end corner flag. At the extreme end of the front row, spectators could have their view from one of their eyes blocked by the head of the adjacent spectator. During exciting play this can lead to spectators jumping up out of their seats to get a better view. A clear view for both eyes for all front row spectators can be achieved by the use of curved stands in plan. It can also be argued that with play that is already a long distance away a better view of the game is available on the big video screen.

Focus point
The touch-line (or side-line) and the goal-line are considered the C-Value focus point in stadiums.

Obstructed view seats
There should be a clear view of the playing field from all seats. Roof supports should be eliminated entirely from the seating area.
In calculating the sight lines it should be appreciated that advertising boards of 90–100 cm in height may be erected around the field at a distance of five metres from the touch lines and five metres behind the centre of the goal lines. FIFA ticketing carry out an assessment of all seats and those seats that have an obstructed view of the game will be classed obstructed view seats and will not be sold. Quite often these are the first few seats adjacent to the pitch with their view partially blocked by the advertising hoardings. This is an especially big problem with football stadiums that have running tracks around them. These seats are either covered with a fabric and not occupied during the game or the tickets are issued to non-paying spectators.

FIFA C-Value standards
 6 cm absolute minimum
 9 cm recommended minimum
 12 cm optimum

Research
The audience's sightline is an important aspect of the design of viewing venues. For theaters, an algorithm is used to check the sightline from a seat to determine if it is blocked. The development of better methods is the subject of continuing research. In 2011, Yeonhee Kim and Ghang Lee presented an algorithm to derive actual sight area in the early design stage of theater without producing a 3D model. The algorithm uses plan and cross sectional drawings to analyze view of audiences to resolve to address errors of the "sight area rate" algorithm which does not account for sightlines being blocked by the front-row seats in a theater.

References

Stage terminology
Parts of a theatre


Zoo Station (), formerly planned to be called "Guangzhou Zoo South Entrance Station" (), is a station on Line 5 of the Guangzhou Metro. It is located below the junction of Tianhe Road (), East Huanshi Road and Shuiyin Road in the Yuexiu District, near the south gate of  (). It opened on 28December 2009.

Zoo Station was not in the original plan but was added later, between Ouzhuang Station and Yangji Station after a request by Guangzhou citizens. Due to space limitations it is designed on three levels like Hong Kong MTR stations. The top underground floor is the concourse, below that is the platform for trains towards Wenchong Station and the lowest level is for trains towards Jiaokou Station. It is the first station in Guangzhou Metro system to have this Hong Kong-style multilevel design.

References

Railway stations in China opened in 2009
Guangzhou Metro stations in Yuexiu District


General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 30 March 1978 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly. The result was a victory for the Cook Islands Party (CIP) of Premier Albert Henry, which won 15 of the 22 seats. The Democratic Party won the remaining seven seats.

Following the elections, the Democratic Party challenged the results, claiming Henry had used public funds to subsidise flights that brought expatriate CIP supporters back to the Cook Islands to vote, which cost around $300,000. The election of nine CIP MPs was subsequently overturned by an electoral court, allowing Democratic Party leader Tom Davis – who had lost his seat before being reinstated as a result of the ruling – to become Premier. Henry was subsequently convicted of conspiracy and misuse of public money, and later stripped of his knighthood.

Background
Elections were called six months early by Henry, hoping to capitalise on divisions in the Democratic Party during a leadership challenge. Prior to the elections, three prominent CIP members, William Estall, Raui Pokoati and Joe Williams, left the party. Williams subsequently established the Unity Party.

As overseas voting was not possible, Cook Islanders had to return to the islands to vote. Special polling stations were set up at Rarotonga International Airport. Both the CIP and the Democratic Party persuaded supporters to fly from New Zealand, with six planeloads of CIP supporters travelling at a subsidised cost of $20 each, and two planeloads of Democratic Party supporters, who paid the full fare. Around 800 supporters of the CIP were transported on Ansett planes, with Democratic Party supporters travelling by Air Nauru.

Results

Aftermath
Immediately after the elections, the electoral law was amended to prevent Cook Islanders living overseas from voting, with a requirement to have been resident for three months prior to election day introduced.

The results of the three Rarotonga constituencies were challenged by the Democratic Party. The petitions were heard in an electoral court presided over by Chief Justice Gaven Donne, which sat in Auckland, Rarotonga and Wellington in May and June. It was revealed that Henry had paid $290,000 for the flights for CIP supporters back to the Cook Islands to vote using a specially founded government company.

The votes cast by the CIP voters who flew in were annulled, resulting in eight of the CIP MLAs elected in Rarotonga losing their seats and being replaced by the losing Democratic Party candidates including Tom Davis. The result in Mitiaro, where David Tetava of the CIP was elected, was also overturned due to corrupt practices and a by-election ordered.

With the Democratic Party now holding a 15–6 majority in the Legislative Assembly, Davis formed a new government. He retained the portfolios of Finance and Economic Development for himself, and appointed Pupuke Robati as Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Vincent Ingram as Minister of Justice and Police, Papamama Pokino as Minister for Supportive Services, Iaveta Short as Minister of Agriculture and Tourism, Tangata Simoiona as Minister of Education and Tangaroa Tangaroa as Minister of Internal Affairs. Titi Tetava Ariki won the subsequent by-election in Mitiaro.

References

Elections in the Cook Islands
General election
Cook Islands
Cook Islands
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results


Portland Beavers Ballpark was a description of a new stadium in Portland, Oregon, or in an outlying city that was being planned for the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League of Minor League Baseball.  The ballpark idea was abandoned in October 2010, with no location ever determined for it; several locations were rejected due to public criticism.

Background
Until 2010, the Beavers played in PGE Park, now Providence Park and shared it with the Portland State Vikings college football team and the Portland Timbers soccer team, which played in the USL First Division, the second division of American soccer.

In 2009, the city of Portland was awarded a  Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchise for 2011, also to be named the Portland Timbers. Due to MLS requirements about the playing surface, seating configuration, and scheduling, PGE Park was to be renovated as a soccer- and football-only stadium and a new stadium was to be built for the Beavers. Merritt Paulson, whose Shortstop LLC organization owned both the Timbers and the Beavers, estimated that a new baseball stadium with a capacity of 8,000 to 12,000 seats, along with the renovation of PGE Park for MLS, would cost about $85 million.

On February 3, 2010, the Portland City Council approved a $31 million agreement with Beavers' and Timbers' owner Merritt Paulson to renovate PGE Park, meaning that the Beavers had to find a new place to play their home games by 2011.

Location

In the initial proposal, funding for the new soccer team was dependent on a replacement Beavers stadium being found in Portland. Initially, the ballpark was to be built at the site currently occupied by the Memorial Coliseum, which would have been torn down. But public outcry about demolishing a Portland landmark led Portland mayor Sam Adams to propose a second site in the Rose Quarter area north of Memorial Coliseum, which proved to be too small.

Attention then turned to a third site, Lents Park in the Lents neighborhood in southeast Portland, which had been considered in the early planning stages but rejected due to less-accessible location. After a series of contentious public hearings in which neighbors objected to construction of the stadium in a city park, the Lents site was removed from consideration.

On June 24, the Portland City Council voted to separate the soccer and baseball projects, allowing renovation of PGE Park to proceed without completed plans for a baseball stadium in place. Other locations that were considered included a vacant terminal at the Port of Portland, Delta Park, the Portland Expo Center, Portland Meadows, the Westwood Corporation Heliport site, and a building owned by Portland Public Schools near the Rose Quarter.

Other locations outside the Portland city limits were also under consideration. In Beaverton, preliminary plans included building the park next to the Beaverton Central MAX station. Clackamas County promoted a location near the Southeast Fuller Road station on the recently completed MAX Green Line light rail,
and Vancouver mayor Tim Leavitt indicated interest in bringing the team to his city. None of these proposals gained enough momentum to proceed to the planning stage.

Abandonment of project
Unable to find either a suitable site, public support, or a source of funding, and with time running out before the start of the next season, Paulson sold the Beavers in October 2010. The new owners, the San Diego Padres, found a home for the team, renamed to the Tucson Padres, in Tucson, Arizona until the 2013 season, when it was planned that they would move to a new stadium in Escondido, California, a San Diego suburb. After those stadium plans were placed on indefinite hold, the team remained in Tucson for the 2013 season and moved to El Paso as the El Paso Chihuahuas for the 2014 season.

See also

Delta Dome
List of sports venues in Portland, Oregon

References

External links
Ballpark plans

Portland Beavers
Sports venues in Portland, Oregon
Unbuilt stadiums in the United States


Tampiquito is a neighborhood in San Pedro Garza García, a city and a municipality of the Mexican state of Nuevo León.
Tampiquito is one of the most traditional areas of San Pedro Garza García and is known for its craftsmen workshops. The first Tampiquito Craftsmen Fair took place on March 14 and 15 2009.

The symbol of Tampiquito is a white plaster lion with a golden mane, an object that can be encountered on the streets and houses of the neighborhood.

External links
 El Narval - El colectivo de talentos de Tampiquito
 Viven bajo el resguardo del gran rey de la selva, 16.03.2009, Francisco Zúñiga Esquivel, Milenio.com, Monterrey

Populated places in Nuevo León
Monterrey metropolitan area


CPBL recognizes save champions in the each season. The champions have been awarded from 1990. If players' holds is equal, the player whose ERA statistic better would be awarded.

Champions

External links

Chinese Professional Baseball League lists
Chinese Professional Baseball League awards


Events in the year 1747 in Norway.

Incumbents
Monarch: Frederick V

Events

Arts and literature

Births
14 April - Peder Jørgen Cloumann, bailiff and representative at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly (died 1817)
17 November - Carsten Anker, businessman, civil servant and politician (died 1824)

Deaths

See also


Headscan is a Canadian music duo, composed of electronic musician Claude Charnier and singer Christian Pomerleau, based in Montreal, Quebec. The pair combines dark trance and industrial dancefloor-oriented electronic and acoustic music.

History
Charnier and Pomerleau have been active in Montreal’s local alternative music scene, particularly within the techno industrial outfit Insurgent.  Their first album, Shaper and Mechanist, was released in 2001, and was a theme album based on work of novelist Bruce Sterling.

In 2005 they released two singles, as well as an album, Pattern Recognition. Reviews were mixed. Their music was released on Artoffact Records and licensed in Europe to Alfa Matrix.  In 2008 the band played at the Kinetik Festival, and their single "Lolife" was included on a compilation CD, KINETIK FESTIVAL VOLUME 2.

Discography

Albums
 Shaper and Mechanist (2001)
 Uturn 2: An Exploration in Techno (2002, split album with Implant)
 Pattern Recognition (2005)

EPs
 High-Orbit Pioneers (2000) Limited CD release, approximately 100 copies
 Dead Silver Sky (2004)

Singles
 Lolife 1 (2005)
 Lolife 2 (2005)

References

External links
 Official Website
 Headscan on Bandcamp
 Headscan on SoundCloud
 Headscan on MySpace
 Headscan on Discogs

Canadian electronic music groups
Musical groups from Montreal
Canadian industrial music groups
Cyberpunk music
Musical groups established in 1986
1986 establishments in Quebec


Rice production in India is an important part of the national economy.

India is the world's second-largest producer of rice, and the largest exporter of rice in the world. Production increased from 53.6 million tons in FY 1980 to 120 million tons in FY2020-21.

Rice is one of the chief grains of India. Moreover, this country has the largest area under rice cultivation. As it is one of the principal food crops. It is, in fact, the dominant crop of the country. India is one of the leading producers of this crop. Rice is the basic food crop and being a tropical plant, it flourishes comfortably in a hot and humid climate. Rice is mainly grown in rain-fed areas that receive heavy annual rainfall. That is why it is fundamentally a kharif crop in India. It demands a temperature of around 25 degrees Celsius and above, and rainfall of more than . Rice is also grown through irrigation in those areas that receive less rainfall. Rice is the staple food of eastern and southern parts of India.

Rice can be cultivated by different methods based on the type of region. But in India, traditional methods are still in use for harvesting rice. The fields are initially plowed and fertilizer is applied which typically consists of cow dung, and then the field is smoothed. The seeds are transplanted by hand and then through proper irrigation, the seeds are cultivated. Rice grows on a variety of soils like silts, loams and gravels. It can tolerate alkaline as well as acid soils. However, clayey loam is well suited to the raising of this crop. Actually, the clayey soil can be easily converted into the mud in which rice seedlings can be transplanted easily. Proper care has to be taken as this crop thrives if the soil remains wet and is underwater during its growing years. Rice fields should be level and should have low mud walls for retaining water. In the plain areas, excess rainwater is allowed to inundate the rice fields and flow slowly. Rice raised in the well-watered lowland areas is known as lowland or wet rice. In the hilly areas, slopes are cut into terraces for the cultivation of rice. Thus, the rice grown in the hilly areas is known as dry or upland rice. The yield of upland rice per hectare is comparatively less than that of wet rice.

The regions cultivating this crop in India are distinguished as the western coastal strip, the eastern coastal strip, covering all the primary deltas, Assam plains and surrounding low hills, foothills and Terai region- along the Himalayas and states like West Bengal, Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, eastern Madhya Pradesh, northern Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. India, being a land of the eternal growing season, and the deltas of the Ganges-Bramhaputra(in West Bengal), Kaveri River, Krishna River, Godavari River, Indravati River and Mahanadi River with a thick set-up of canal irrigation like Hirakud Dam and Indravati Dam, permits farmers to raise two, and in some pockets, even three crops a year. Irrigation has made even three crops a year possible. Irrigation has made it feasible even for Punjab and Haryana, known for their baked climate, to grow rice. They even export their excess to other states. Punjab and Haryana grow prized rice for export purposes. The hilly terraced fields from Kashmir to Assam are ideally suited for rice farming, with age-old hill irrigational conveniences. High yielding kinds, enhanced planting methods, promised irrigation water supply and mounting use of fertilizers have together led to beneficial and quick results. It is the rain fed-area that cuts down average yields per hectare.

In some states like West Bengal, Assam, and Orissa two crops of rice are raised in a year. The Winter season in northwestern India is extremely cold for rice. Rice is considered as the master crop of coastal India and in some regions of eastern India, where during the summer and monsoon seasons, both high temperature and heavy rainfall provide ideal conditions for the cultivation of rice. Almost all parts of India are suitable for raising rice during the summer season provided that water is available. Thus, rice is also raised even in those parts of western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana where low-level areas are waterlogged during the summer monsoon rainy season.

Winter rice crop is a long duration crop and summer rice crop is a short duration crop. At some places in the eastern and southern parts of India, rice crop of short duration is followed by the rice crop of long duration. Winter rice crop is raised preferably in low-lying areas that remain flooded mainly during the rainy season. Autumn rice is raised in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. Summer, autumn, and winter rice crops are raised in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, and Orissa. Summer rice crop is raised on a small scale and a small area. However, the winter rice crop is actually the leading rice crop accounting for a major portion of the total Hectare under rice in all seasons in the country. Moreover, in the last few years, several steps to augment yield per hectare were taken up very seriously at all levels. India ranks fourth in the production of wheat & second in the production of rice in the world. Favorable Geographical Condition for Wheat Cultivation: In India, wheat is a winter crop. Wheat requires a moderately cool climate with moderate rain. In India, it is grown in winter. It needs a temperature of 10 degrees C to 15 degrees C for its cultivation. It thrives well at an average temperature of 16-degree C. Warm and sunny weather is essential at the time of ripening.

Rice Production by Year

Source: http://drdpat.bih.nic.in/HS-B-Table-01.htm.

Rice production by state

Rice export from India
India is one of the biggest exporters of rice in the world.

Basmati rice
India is the leading exporter of the Basmati Rice to the global market. In the financial year 2018-19, India exported around 4.4 million metric tons of Basmati rice worth USD 4.7 billion.

The Indian states with the highest areas of Basmati rice under production are Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Western Uttar Pradesh.

Basmati rice is major ingredient in Biriyani,Ghee Rice in India.

Non-Basmati rice
According to APEDA, "any rice other than Basmati Rice is named as Non-Basmati rice." In 2018-19, India exported 7.5 million metric tons of Non-Basmati rice worth USD 3 billion. The main export destinations were Nepal, Benin, Senegal, Bangladesh and Guinea.

References

India


The Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals (ICCP) is a non-profit (501(c)(6)) institution for professional certification in the Computer engineering and Information technology industry. It was founded in 1973 by 8 professional computer societies to promote certification and professionalism in the industry, lower the cost of development and administration of certification for all of the societies and act as the central resource for job standards and performance criteria.

The initial certification administered by ICCP in 1973 was the Certified Data Processor (CDP) which was originally created by the Data Processing Management Association (DPMA) in 1965. The institute is a society of Professional Associations, and affiliates across the world with other like organizations with similar goals.

The institute awards a professional certification, Certified Computing Professional (CCP), to individuals who pass a written examination and have at least 48 months experience in computer based information systems.  Post secondary education can be substituted for up to 24 months of this requirement. The ICCP created the Certified Business Intelligence Professional (CBIP) in 2003 and the Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) in 2004.  Today the ICCP administers the CDMP as the Certified Data Professional (CDP). ICCP also offers Certified Data Scientist (CDS), Certified Big Data Professional (CBDP) and recently added the Certified Blockchain Professional (CBP).

The institute was responsible for creating the Systems Security Exam (today known as the Cyber Security Examination) for the Information Systems Security (ISC) organization which then became the ISC2 organization offering the CISSP.  ICCP has also assisted Network Professional Association (NPA) to create and develop its certification program - Certified Network Professional. ICCP also created the Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) in 2004 on a request from one of its constituent societies DAMA International. In 2015 the ICCP renamed the CDMP to be the Certified Data Professional to make it inclusive of data science and the myriad of data specialty jobs that were emerging.

Creators and Developers of the CDMP program were: Kewal Dhariwal, Patricia Cupoli, Brett Champlain.  The Data Management Body of Knowledge (DMBoK v1 and v2) are based on the ICCP Examinations for each of the 11 areas of the DMBoK Wheel.  Editors of the DMBoK were Patricia Cupoli, Deborah Henderson and Susan Earley (all members of the ICCP Certification Council).  Patricia Cupoli was the ICCP Director of Certification during this development as well as representing DAMA International on the ICCP Board of Directors.  Deborah Henderson was the President of DAMA Education Foundation who then fostered the development and editing of the DMBoK publication.

ICCP examinations are used by the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) towards the Canadian Information Systems Professional (I.S.P.) credential which has received recognition by various Provinces as a recognized Public Occupation, under The Professional and Occupational Associations Registration Act which that regulates professions and occupations.

ICCP Examinations test for stringent industry fundamentals and assesses for expert mastery skills, along with work experience requirement and/or education.

See also
Constituent Societies of the ICCP:
 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Association of Information Technology Professionals  (CompTIA-AITP)
Buchanan Edwards - R2C
Canadian Information Processing Society
CPCI - Council of Professional Informatics Societies of Argentina
 DAMA International
 Global Institute for IT Management
Marketing Research & Intelligence Association (MRIA)
Affiliate Societies of the ICCP

 TDWI - Transforming Data With Intelligence
 Big Data International (Beijing)
Hong Kong Computer Society (HKCS)
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China & Hong Kong (3), Ghana, India, Nigeria, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Sultanate of Oman, Tunisia, USA (9)

External links
Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals official website
Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals Records, 1960-1993, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota.  Contains information relating to the Certificate in Data Processing (CDP), the Certificate in Computer Processing (CCP), the Registered Business Programmer (RBP), and the Certified Systems Professional (CSP) programs (includes meetings held before 1973 under the auspices of the Data Processing Management Association (DPMA), predecessor to the Association of Information Technology Professionals)

Professional titles and certifications
Organizations based in Illinois


The 25th Biathlon World Championships were held in 1990 for the third time in Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union (present-day Belarus), in Oslo, Norway and in Kontiolahti, Finland. Due to unconducive weather conditions during the season it was only possible to hold the individual competitions in Minsk. The sprints, the women's relay and team events were held in Oslo and the men's relay was finally held in Kontiolahti.

Men's results

20 km individual

10 km sprint

Team event

4 × 7.5 km relay

Women's results

15 km individual

7.5 km sprint

Team event

3 × 7.5 km relay

Medal table

References

1990
Biathlon World Championships
International sports competitions hosted by the Soviet Union
International sports competitions in Oslo
International sports competitions hosted by Finland
1990 in Soviet sport
1990 in Norwegian sport
1990 in Finnish sport
Kontiolahti
Sport in North Karelia
Sports competitions in Minsk
1990s in Oslo
Biathlon competitions in Finland
Biathlon competitions in Norway
Biathlon competitions in Belarus
Biathlon competitions in the Soviet Union
Holmenkollen
1990s in Minsk
1990 in Belarusian sport


Events in the year 1753 in Norway.

Incumbents
Monarch: Frederick V

Events

Arts and literature

Births
2 September - Johan Michael Lund, lawyer and Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (died 1824)
30 October - Henrik Carstensen, businessman, timber merchant and shipowner (died 1835)

Deaths
4 November – Iver Elieson, merchant (born 1683).

See also

References


Tony Sbalbi AKA "Tony the tiger" (born 4 September 1969) is a French ski mountaineer and non-commissioned officer of the chasseurs alpins corps.

Sbalbi was born in Aix-en-Provence. He attended the Lycée Jean Raynouard in Brignoles. At the age of 18 years he joined the army, where he became instructor at the École militaire de haute montagne (EMHM) in Chamonix. In 1989 he participated in his first ski mountaineering race, and has been member of the French national team since 2002.

Selected results
 2001:
 6th, European Championship team race (together with Laurent Fabre)
 2002:
 2nd, World Championship team race (together with Patrick Blanc)
 3rd, French Championship single
 6th, World Championship combination ranking
 2005:
 4th, European Championship relay race (together with Florent Perrier, Bertrand Blanc and Grégory Gachet)
 8th, European Championship vertical race
 2006:
 2nd, World Championship vertical race
 2nd, Swiss Championship vertical race
 2007:
 3rd, European Championship relay race (together with Yannick Buffet, Bertrand Blanc and Fabien Anselmet)
 5th, European Championship vertical race
 9th, European Championship team race (together with Patrick Blanc)
 2008:
 8th, World Championship long distance race
 2009:
 2nd, European Championship vertical race
 5th, European Championship relay race (together with Didier Blanc, Nicolas Bonnet and Martial Premat)
 2010:
 7th, World Championship team race (together with Grégory Gachet)
 9th, World Championship vertical race
 2011:
 1st, Sellaronda Skimarathon, together with Alain Seletto

Patrouille des Glaciers

 2000: 6th (international military teams ranking), together with Sgt chef Laurent Fabre and Adj Patrick Rassat
 2006: 6th (and 1st "seniors II" ranking), together with Olivier Nägele and Alexander Lugger
 2008: 6th (and 5th in the "international men" ranking), together with Alexandre Pellicier and Didier Blanc
 2010: 7th (and 6th "ISMF men" ranking), together with Adrien Piccot and Philippe Blanc

Pierra Menta

 1999: 9th, together with Laurent Fabre
 2002: 6th, together with Patrick Blanc
 2003: 1st, together with Patrick Blanc
 2004: 6th, together with Patrick Blanc
 2005: 8th, together with Cyril Champange
 2006: 4th, together with Denis Trento
 2007: 5th, together with Denis Trento
 2008: 6th, together with Ivan Murada
 2009: 4th, together with Didier Blanc
 2012: 9th, together with Jean Pellissier

Trofeo Mezzalama

 2003: 9th, together with Patrick Blanc and Cédric Tomio
 2007: 4th, together with Martin Riz and Alain Seletto
 2009: 3rd, together with Didier Blanc and Alain Seletto

References

External links
 Tony Sbalbi at SkiMountaineering.org

1969 births
Living people
French male ski mountaineers
French military patrol (sport) runners
Sportspeople from Aix-en-Provence


Sidney Green may refer to:
Sidney Green (basketball) (born 1961), American basketball player
Sidney Green (politician), Canadian politician
Sidney Faithorn Green, British clergyman
Sidney Greene, Baron Greene of Harrow Weald
Sid Greene (1906–1972), comic-book artist
Sid Green (writer), comedy writer with Dick Hills


Willie Green (born 1981) is an American basketball player and coach.

Willie Green may also refer to:
Willie Green (American football) (born 1966), American football player
Willie Green (baseball), Negro leagues third baseman
Willie Earl Green, sent to prison in 1983 for murder but released in 2008 after a change in testimony

See also
Willie Greene (born 1971), American baseball player
Will Green (disambiguation)
William Green (disambiguation)


The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, PJSC (TAQA) is a government controlled energy holding company of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

TAQA (Arabic for Energy) is one of Abu Dhabi's flagship companies and as such has an important role to play in helping to deliver the economic strategy of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The company currently operates in 11 countries across four continents.

History
The beginnings of TAQA lie within Abu Dhabi's 1998 government initiative, seeking to privatize the Emirate's water and electricity sector. Following the establishment of the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA).

TAQA was founded in June 2005 pursuant to the provisions of an Emiri Decree in 2005 as a public joint stock company. ADWEA served as the founding shareholder, holding 51% of the company.

In May 2006 TAQA appointed Peter E. Barker-Homek, an American businessman, as its first CEO.  TAQA expanded quickly under the guidance of Barker-Homek, making several key acquisitions in Africa and North America. In Canada, TAQA acquired Northrock Resources Ltd.(US$2 billion), Pioneer Natural Resources Canada Inc (US$540 million) and PrimeWest Energy Trust (US$5 billion).

In 2008 TAQA acquired several North Sea assets from Shell U.K. Limited and Esso Exploration and Production (UK) Limited. The purchase included all equity, associated infrastructure and production licenses relating to the Tern, Eider, Cormorant North, South Cormorant, Kestrel and Pelican fields and related sub-sea satellite fields.

In late 2009, Barker-Homek relinquished his position as CEO and was replaced by Carl Sheldon. Sheldon had joined TAQA as General Counsel in 2008.

In 2010, Barker-Homek sued TAQA under breach of contract allegations, claiming that he was fired because he spoke out against "fraudulent and unethical practices" at TAQA and was threatened with arrest and imprisonment if he had not signed his severance agreement to leave the company. The lawsuit was dismissed by Michigans District Court Judge John Corbett O'Meara in 2011.

In 2010, following huge investments and an asset increase of more than 300% between 2005 and 2008 (to $23 billion), Sheldon announced a "period of consolidation" and "organic growth", focusing on operational profitability.

In 2012, TAQA sold their Tesla shares in order to finance investments into a power plant in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

In 2014 Carl Sheldon left the company and handed over his responsibilities to Edward LaFehr, who took on the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer. LaFehr was previously President of TAQA's North America business. In 2016, LaFehr left TAQA and was replaced by acting COO, Al Dhaheri.

In 2019, TAQA reported for Q1 a 95% decline profit because of foreign exchange losses and revaluation of its power assets in the US. In H1 2019 revenues by 5% compared to H1 2018.

In July 2020, TAQA and ADPower announced the successful completion of their merger. This created one of the largest utilities in the region. Its total assets are estimated at AED 200 billion, making Taqa the third largest listed company in the UAE and one of the top ten utilities in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

In December 2021, TAQA and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced a $3.6 billion project to aim to reduce the carbon footprint of ADNOC's offshore production operations by more than 30%.

Massar Solutions
Massar Solutions is a publicly traded global transportation and logistics company headquartered in UAE. It was formed as a limited company in 1998. A majority of the company's stock is owned by Abu Dhabi Investment Company and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA). Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) bought 49% shareholding in Massar solutions earlier called Al Wathba Company for Central Services PJSC. Massar Solutions started its operations in the year 1998 and manages a fleet of 16000 vehicles. In 1998, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi moved the water and electricity sector into the private sector, Massar was integrated as an exclusively owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority. In the year 2005, Abu Dhabi Investment Company purchased 51% shares of Massar from Abu Dhabi Power Corporation, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority. Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) bought 49% shareholding in Massar.

Corporate structure

Overview of personnel
Notable members of the board of directors of the company are as follows:
 Mohamed Hassan Al Suwaidi, Chairman
 Jasim Husain Thabet, Chief Executive Officer
 Saeed Mubarak Al-Hajeri, Vice Chairman
 Khaleefa Al Qamzi, Vice-Chairman
 Khaled Abdulla Al-Mass, Board Member
 Mohammed Sahoo AlSuwaidi, Board Member
 Salem Sultan Al Daheri, Board Member

Shareholders
TAQA is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. The company is 75.1% indirectly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi. The government of Abu Dhabi through ADWEA owns 51%, ADWEA transferred 21.7% of its shareholding to the Fund for the Support of Farm Owners in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi Shareholders.  0.3% are owned by other Government related entities. The balance (25.9%) is traded publicly on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market, which is limited to Emirati nationals.

Finance
Standard & Poor's has assigned A+/A-1 corporate credit ratings to TAQA. Moody's has assigned a rating of Aa3 to TAQA's long term foreign and local currency obligations.

Operations
TAQA's main focus of investments is the companies engaged in power generation, water desalination, and production and storage of oil and gas. In addition, it has invested in the mining, metal, and service sector.

TAQA has investments in over 60 companies. Its principal wholly owned subsidiaries include Emirates Power Company, Gulf Power Company, Arabian United Power Company, Al Shuweihat Power Company, Taweelah United Power Company, Union Power Holding Company, TAQA Bratani Limited, TAQA Energy B.V., TAQA North Ltd. and Takoradi International Company, operator of the Takoradi Power Station II. Through the acquisition of CMS Generation, TAQA has assets in the UAE, Ghana, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and India.

Persian Gulf Region

Abu Dhabi
TAQAs business roots lie in the local power and water desalination plants in Abu Dhabi. The company supplies around 85% of the Emirates power and 90% of water demands, through the operation of eight power and desalination plants in the UAE. The plants are 54% owned by TAQA, 6% by ADWEA and 40% by various international shareholders. All productions is sold under fixed power and water purchase agreements (PWPAs) to Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company (ADWEC).

Further power plants operated in other countries currently consist of one plant in Morocco (85.79% ownership), one in Oman (40%), one in India (99.9%), one in Saudi Arabia (25%), one in Ghana (90%) and two in the USA (JV with output rights / 50%).

Oman
TAQA owns a 40% stake in the Sohar Aluminum smelter and the connected 1,000 MW Sohar Aluminum Power Plant (SAPP), whose output is mostly used to power the aluminum plant, that has a production of around 360,000 tons of aluminum per year. The stake was acquired in 2010.

Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, TAQA owns a 25% stake in the 250 MW Jubail power plant, which powers the SADAF Petrochemical Plant.

In addition to the Persian Gulf region, TAQA has assets in Europe, Asia and Africa and America, including investments in Canada, Netherlands, the UK and the USA. It has interests in the Tern Alpha, Eider Alpha, Cormorant North, Cormorant Alpha, Kestrel and Pelican fields and related sub-sea satellite fields in the North Sea.

Africa
Through the subsidiary Jorf Lasfar Energy Company (JLEC), TAQA supplies around 50% of Moroccos electricity demands and operation at the Jorf Lasfar power station was expanded from 1,356 to 2,056 MW capacity in 2014.

In Ghana, TAQA operates a 220 MW power plants in Takoradi, 220 km west of Accra. The plants capacity was increased to 330 MW with construction starting in 2013 and finishing in 2015. The plant now provides around 15% of Ghanas total generation capacity.

India
In India, TAQA operates a 250 MW lignite-powered plant in Neyveli, Tamil Nadu, and has interest in the 100 MW Sorang hydro power project in the northern Himachal Pradesh state. The plant is powered by the Sorang Khad river. The stakes were acquired by TAQA in 2014 for around $600 million from the Indian Jaypee Group.

Iraq
TAQA holds a majority share (53.2%) and is operator of the Atrush block located 85 km northwest of Erbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Initial production is expected to be approximately 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. TAQA acquired the interest for $600 million from an affiliate of Aspect Holdings in 2012.

North America
TAQA operates different assets in Canada and the United States. Operations on the continent are focused on conventional oil and gas exploration, and production and power generation. In the US, the company has invested in the Red Oak Power plant in Sayerville, New Jersey (85%) and the Lakefield wind farm in Jackson County, Minnesota.

In Canada, its investments lie within the oil and gas development of fields around Calgary and British Columbia, which began with the acquisition of Northrock Resources for $2 billion, Pioneer Natural Resources Canada (Pioneer Canada) for $540 million and the PrimeWest Energy Trust (PrimeWest) for C$4.6 billion in 2007.

Turkey
On January 3, 2013, TAQA signed an agreement with Turkey to invest about $12 billion to develop the coal fields in the Southern Turkey. This deal is considered as the second biggest Arab investment in Turkey in the energy sector. In August 2013, TAQA said it would delay the planned investment amid difficult financing conditions at a time of currency volatility in emerging markets including Turkey.

UK and Netherlands
TAQA started operations in Europe by acquiring different gas exploration and production (E&P) assets from BP Netherlands in 2007. Further investments followed in the UK and Scotland in subsequent years (2008-2011).

In August 2009, it bought a 15% interest in North Sea assets from the L11b Group and took over the operatorship of the L11b-A production platform.
On 3 August 2009, TAQA took over operatorship of the North Sea Brent Oil Pipelines System.  In addition, in 2006 TAQA acquired BP Nederland Energie B.V. Through this acquisition, TAQA now holds onshore and off-shore production assets, including the Piek Gas Installatie facility in Alkmaar, the project of the largest offshore LNG Regas facilities utilizing the depleted field P15/P18 just off the port of Rotterdam, and partnership in the Bergermeer gas storage project. TAQA operates Gas Storage Bergermeer, which is Europes largest, open-access, gas storage facility with 46-terawatt-hours (TWh) of seasonal storage capacity. The facility is operated in cooperation with Gazprom.

In November 2012, BP sold its stakes in several U.K North Sea oil and gas fields (with a production capacity of  equivalent) to TAQA for just over $1 billion.

TAQAs production in 2016 totaled 17,410 megawatt in power generation, 917 million gallons per day in water desalination and  equivalent.

See also
 Economy of the United Arab Emirates

References

External links
 Company website

Companies listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange
Electric power companies of the United Arab Emirates
Oil and gas companies of the United Arab Emirates
Companies based in Abu Dhabi
Companies established in 2005
2005 establishments in the United Arab Emirates


Michael Cia (born 3 August 1988) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for SSV Naturns.

Club career
A native of South Tyrol, Cia joined Atalanta in joint-ownership bid on 30 January 2007, he then loaned to Sambenedettese and Triestina.

Atalanta bought the player outright in June 2009. In July 2009, he was sold to city "rival" (in fact the club had many player transfer) AlbinoLeffe of Serie B along with Dario Bergamelli in another co-ownership deal in 5-year contract, as part of the deal that Nicola Madonna was re-signed by Atalanta in co-ownership deal for €550,000. Half of Cia was tagged for €400,000, while Bergamelli was for €150,000.

In June 2011 AlbinoLeffe bought Bergamelli, Cia and Karamoko Cissé outright from promoted Atalanta.

On 31 August 2011 Cia left for Benevento and Domenico Germinale moved to AlbinoLeffe also in temporary deal.

On 31 August 2012 he left for club again to Calcio Como along with Francesco Luoni. Circa 2012 Cia's contract was also extended. In June 2013 Como did not excise the option to sign Cia outright.

In 2013 Cia was signed by Pisa in temporary deal, with option to sign him in co-ownership.

International career
Cia has represented Italy at every youth level from Under-15 to Under-20. He played 3 times (one in third place match) in 2005 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and twice in 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship.

On 25 March 2009 he made his debut with the Italy U-21 squad in a friendly match against Austria. That match was the fourth round of 2009–10 Four Nations Tournament. The tournament usually played by U-20 but Pierluigi Casiraghi used the match to prepare for the final round of 2009 U-21 Euro, selecting junior players (player born in 1988 or after) for that round (players born in 1986 or after were eligible).

References

External links

1988 births
Living people
Italian men's footballers
Italy men's under-21 international footballers
Italy men's youth international footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Sportspeople from Bolzano
Footballers from Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Atalanta BC players
US Sambenedettese players
US Triestina Calcio 1918 players
UC AlbinoLeffe players
Como 1907 players
Pisa SC players
FC Südtirol players
Delta Calcio Porto Tolle SSD players
Serie B players
Serie C players
Eccellenza players
Promozione players


Rice production in Laos is important to the national economy and food supply.

Rice is a key staple for Laos, and over 60% of arable land is used for its cultivation. Only around 4% of Laos’ total area is arable, which is the smallest amount of arable land of any country in Southeast Asia, due its mountainous terrain (see Geography of Laos). Rice is primarily produced in the country’s lowland areas, with only approximately 11% of production taking place in highland areas. Many of the leading rice-producing provinces are located along the Mekong River (e.g., Vientiane, Khammouan, Bolikhamxai, Savannakhet, Salavan, and Champasak). Average rice farms are small, averaging only around .

As of 2019, approximately 1.5 million metric tons of rice were produced in Laos. Production can vary significantly between years but has been improving due to the adaption of higher-yield varieties and increased irrigated acreage. However, almost 90% of rice production occurs during the wet season, as only about 12% of the cultivated rice area is irrigated. There is no irrigated acreage in the highland area, limiting highland rice farmers’ growing season to one crop per year (April–November), while some lowland rice farmers have been able to cultivate rice twice a year with irrigated farms near the Mekong River. The lowland main rice crop is usually planted in June and July and harvested from October to December. The lowland off-season crop is usually planted in December and January and harvested in April and May. Glutinous rice production makes up around 80% of all Lao rice production, with most of the remaining production consisting of white and fragrant rice. Mechanization remains quite limited but is becoming more common in major rice-producing provinces.

As rice is critical to rural income and food security, the government regulates the value chain for rice quite closely (e.g., setting price floors for farm gate paddy rice purchases). Similarly, traders seeking to export rice must register with both the national government and the provincial government.

As of 2020, the Lao government was drafting its Agricultural Development Strategy taking into account the new atmosphere presented by the outbreak of COVID-19. COVID-19 came after two years of troubled agricultural production in Laos due to adverse weather conditions and pest infestations, which made the Lao government rethink its current agricultural policies. The Lao government was looking to focus more on small farmers and invest in more research and extension. The Lao government was also placing an emphasis on green and sustainable growing techniques. The government has prioritized increasing rice production and exports with the objective of increasing total paddy rice production to  with  of exports by 2025. The Lao government was focusing on increasing irrigated acreage and improving seed varieties to meet its goal.

References

Agriculture in Laos
Laos


HMS Dido was one of the twenty-seven Enterprise class of 28-gun
sixth-rate frigates in service with the Royal Navy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Dido was commissioned in September 1787 under the command of Captain Charles Sandys. She participated in a notable action for which her crew would later be awarded the Naval General Service Medal; her participation in a campaign resulted in the award of another. Dido was sold for breaking up in 1817.

Vrai Patriote

On 9 August 1793 Dido was patrolling off Norway when she encountered a French privateer. She drove the vessel ashore, and Lieutenant Edward Hamilton took a boat and eight men to take possession. The privateer was the Vrai Patriote, of 13 guns and a crew of 45 men, whose crew had set her on fire before escaping ashore. Hamilton and his men extinguished the fire, the setting of which Hamilton considered a "base attempt" as had it been successful it would have deprived the British of prize money. Unwilling to let the matter go, Hamilton and his men pursued the privateers inland and captured 13 of them. The British then brought out the prize, for which prize money was paid in July 1799.

Hamilton and his prize crew of two midshipmen and twenty sailors were taking Vrai Patriote back when they encountered the cutter . Nimble had been looking for privateer, and not realizing that the Dido had captured her, attempted to take Vrai Patriote. Hamilton hoisted British colors over the French and sent his crew below decks while he attempted to convince Nimble that the French vessel was now in British hands. Nimble, unconvinced, fired several broadsides into Vrai Patriote causing damage but no casualties. Eventually Nimble was convinced and ceased fire. Nimble herself suffered casualties when one of her guns burst.

Dido was the only ship of the Mediterranean Fleet to exchange fire with French ships during Martin's cruise of 1794, but was unable to prevent the French escaping into Gourjean Bay.

Dido captured Révolution, a French vessel possibly a navy corvette, on 8 October 1794 off Porto Mauruzio between Nice and Genoa.

Dido captured the xebec Témėraire on 14 March 1795. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Temeraire, later renamed to HMS Transfer.

Dido and Lowestoffe vs. Minerve and Artemise

Admiral Hotham sent Dido under Captain George Henry Towry and , a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate under Captain Robert Middleton, to reconnoiter the French fleet at Toulon. While off Menorca on 24 June 1795 the two British frigates encountered two French frigates, the 42-gun Minerve and the 36-gun Artémise.

The French were initially wary, but when they realised that they were larger and stronger than the British vessels, the French captains manoeuvred to attack. Minerve attempted to run down Dido but when Dido turned to avoid the impact, Minerves bowsprit became entangled in Didos rigging, costing Dido her mizzenmast and colours. Lowestoffe came along the port side of Minerve and her broadside carried away Minerves foremast and topmasts, crippling her. Lowestoffe pursued the retreating Artémise, which eventually escaped. Lowestoffe returned to Minerve, firing on her until she struck. Lowestoffe had three men wounded, the Dido six killed and 15 wounded. Minerve lost about 10 percent of her crew of over 300 men.

The British took Minerve into service as the 38-gun frigate HMS Minerve. The weight of Minerves broadside alone was greater than that of the two British frigates together, making the battle a notable victory; the Admiralty duly awarded the two captains a Naval Gold Medal each. In 1847 the Admiralty issued to all surviving claimants from the action the Naval General Service Medal with the clasps "Dido 24 June 1795" and "Lowestoffe 24 June 1795".

Because Dido served in the navy's Egyptian campaign between 8 March 1801 and 2 September, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal.

Fate
Dido was sold to break up on 3 April 1817.

Notes

Citations

References
 Gardiner, Robert (1992) The First Frigates. (London: Conway Maritime Press). .
 Goodwin, Peter (2002) Nelson's ships: a history of the vessels in which he served, 1771–1805. (Stackpole Books.
 Lavery, Brian, Geoff Hunt, Nikolai Tolstoy (2009) The Frigate Surprise: The Complete Story of the Ship Made Famous in the Novels of Patrick O'Brian. (W. W. Norton & Company).

 Lyon, David (1993) The Sailing Navy List. (London: Conway Maritime Press). .

External links

1784 ships
Sixth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy


William James Turner (born March 5, 1960) is a former American football guard who played for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Boston College.

References

Living people
American football guards
Boston College Eagles football players
1960 births
New England Patriots players
National Football League replacement players


The Jardin des Plantes de Poitiers (1.5 hectares) is a municipal park and botanical garden located at 1 rue du Jardin des Plantes, Poitiers, Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is open daily without charge.

Poitiers' first Jardin des Plantes was established in 1621 by Le Coq Paschal, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, but the garden was relocated 8 times before its establishment in 1869 on the former grounds of the Hôtel Dieu, its current location.

Today's garden is landscaped as an English park with winding pathways and pond, waterfall, and grotto. The park contains about one hundred species of trees and shrubs, including notable specimens of Cedrus atlantica, Cedrus deodara, Diospyros kaki, Ginkgo biloba, Quercus ilex, Quercus robur pyramidalis, Sequoiadendron, and Taxodium distichum.

The botanical garden was created at the initiative of Professors of Medicine for student instruction, and consists of thirty beds (total area 1700 m2) of labeled plants, set within a larger, fenced collection of plants (4800 m2). A tropical greenhouse (200 m2), rebuilt in 1994, houses 145 plants including bromeliads, cacti, and several species of orchids.

See also
 List of botanical gardens in France

References

 Jardin des Plantes de Poitiers
 Jardinez entry (French)
 Gralon entry (French)
 Je Decouvre La France entry (French)

Jardin des Plantes de
Poitiers, Jardin des Plantes de


Margaret Loo Agnes Kennedy (1892–1953) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. She was an officer in Cumann na mBan, Inghinidhe na hÉireann Branch, serving in the Jameson Distillery, Marrowbone Lane, Dublin in 1916, she was made captain in 1920, and later Commandant. Following the Rising she was detained in Kilmainham Gaol and Richmond Barracks. She took the Anti-Treaty side in the Civil War.

She was nominated by the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera to Seanad Éireann in 1938. She was re-appointed in 1943 and 1944 and served until 1948. Kennedy was involved with Association of Old Cumann na mBan.

The daughter of Patrick Kennedy and Mary Kennedy, they lived in Dolphins Barn, South Circular Road, Dublin.

References

1892 births
1953 deaths
Cumann na mBan members
Fianna Fáil senators
Members of the 2nd Seanad
Members of the 3rd Seanad
Members of the 4th Seanad
Members of the 5th Seanad
20th-century women members of Seanad Éireann
Politicians from County Dublin
Nominated members of Seanad Éireann