RICEWORLD
By: Susie Borerro

Welcome to the World of Rice!

Have you ever wondered …

… Where rice comes from?

… How many people in the world eat rice?

… Where rice is planted in other parts of the world?

… How versatile the rice plant is ?

… How many kinds of rice there are ?

The answers to these questions and many more will be revealed as you embark upon your journey through Riceworld.

Riceworld is a science museum. It is only museum and learning center in the world that is dedicated to rice. And no wonder! Riceworld was established by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in 1994 in Los Baños, Laguna. (IRRI is an international rice center established to help farmers in developing countries grow more rice on limited land with less water, less labor, and less chemical inputs, and to do so without harming the environment.)

In pagdiwata, the baylana communicates with supernatural beings to ask them to cure illness of any sort.

Riceworld was designed with a careful mixture of touch, feelings, and thought. The exhibits here present opportunities that encourage curiosity, questioning, discussion, and exploration. In this way, visitors, both children and adults, can share in the excitement of the learning process as they explore the world of rice.

The museum is divided into 12 sections. The display area contains a large collection of rice artifacts, farming tools, farm machineries, rice products and by-products, illustrations of rice ecosystems, samples of rice seeds from different parts of the world, replicas of rice granaries, farmers’ clothing, insects that are friendly and harmful to rice, photographs of women rice farmers, representations of rice biotechnology. There are also sections in the museum, which have computer terminals and “hands-on” models to enhance the learning experience.

Alpana is rice calligraphy that dates back to the time rice was domesticated as a crop in eastern India.

 

Interesting exhibits include carbonized rice grains dating 900-500 B.C., which were discovered in Ban Na Di site in Thailand; farming tools, such as punuptop hi luta (tamper), patun galeqqun (mallet), and puhiq (pounding stone), which were used to build and shape the world famous Ifugao Rice Terraces; and samples of rice seeds, including the high-yielding rice variety IR8.

The momi sculpture shows the vitality of wild rice at germination stage.

The alpana and momi are among the curious exhibits in the museum. Alpana is a traditional art of Bengal and Orissa in East India. It uses rice paste to depict favorable events, such as the rice harvest and other Hindu festivals. The alpana in the museum was made by Dr. Savitri Singh. The momi is a wooden sculpture of wild rice at germination. Created by Japanese sculptor Mitsuaki Tanabe, the sculpture shows the rice seed that is partially out of the ground.

There is also an intriguing depiction of the pagdiwata of the Tagbanwas, a tribal group living in central Palawan island. Pagdiwata is a healing ritual performed by a baylana, a priestess.

In the Bug Room, young visitors look into the minute world of insects inhabiting the rice plant.ty of wild rice at germination stage.

The Bug Room provides an opportunity to investigate the relationships that link insects, both friendly and harmful, to rice. This section is equipped with microscopes, not the sophisticated laboratory models but ones that can be used by kids. Slides of insects are mounted on large slabs that make them easy to position under the lens. The images are bright and easy to see.

Visitors learn about rice biotechnology.

The Rice Biotech Section gives a glimpse of the complexities involved inenvironmental decision-making and genetic engineering. It helps visitors understand how transgenic plants, such as rice, impact the future of rice-eating people and their environment.

Riceworld is also distinctive because it is also a virtual museum. It can be viewed at www.riceworld.org. The site was launched in September 1998. In its first year, more than 24,000 visitors have taken a virtual tour of the museum.

Science museums have gone a long way from its old concept of display cases. Today, science museums preserve heritages by informing, training, and even teaching visitors through the experiential process. In this sense, Riceworld fits the description of a modern science museum.