Southeast Asian Rice Cultivars

Type Object Region Southeast Asia Time 1161–1170

12th-century Southeast Asian rice was grown mainly as wet-rice terraces and irrigated plains, with Angkor, Champa, Đại Việt, and Java relying on rice…

Timeline

1161–1165Angkor · AngkorThe Angkor dynasty regulated irrigation through baray reservoirs and canal systems, growing local rice varieties suited to monsoon rains and the dry season. Terrace and lowland rice cultivation ran in parallel; the rice produced supplied the capital, temples, and armies, with varietal selection emphasizing yield and flood tolerance, complementing Khmer hydraulic works.
1166–1170Champa coastal plains and the Red River Delta · Đại ViệtThe Champa kingdom maintained mixed double-cropping and upland rice along the eastern Indochinese coast, with varieties adapted to salinization and typhoon seasons. The Red River Delta under the Lý-ruled Đại Việt was dominated by irrigated early rice, exchanging rice seed and farm tools with Champa and Angkor by sea and land. Over this decade, the rice systems of Southeast Asian polities continued to evolve amid regional competition.

Sources

Rice: Origin, History, Technology, and Production — C. W. Bacon (2003)
Southeast Asian Rice https://www.britannica.com/topic/rice