Rice is a crop from the Farmer’s Delight mod that has to be planted in water exactly one block deep rather than on 
Farmland, and your first Rice will usually come from 
Wild Rice growing in Swamps, Jungles and along Beaches. It grows as a plant that’s two blocks tall, and the 
Rice Panicles on top are the part that you’ll harvest.
Once it’s planted, you won’t need to replant it, as the bottom half stays in the water and grows a new set of Rice Panicles each time you harvest the top. Rice isn’t edible raw, so it’s used for cooking instead, and it’s the base of 
Cooked Rice, 
Fried Rice and all of the sushi rolls.
Finding It
Wild Rice is the most common of the Wild Crops, and it grows in water one block deep in Swamps, Mangrove Swamps, Jungles and Beaches. It won’t generate in Rivers, even though they look like the right place for it, so you’ll have a lot more luck in the shallow water around a Swamp.
Breaking Wild Rice gives you a Rice, which can be planted straight away. Using 
Bone Meal on it has a 30% chance to drop a Wild Rice item instead, without breaking the plant, so you’re able to keep collecting from the same patch for as long as you’ve got Bone Meal.
Wild Rice can be planted back in shallow water as a decoration, or cut on a 
Cutting Board with a Knife, which gives you a Rice and a 50% chance of 
Straw. You’ll need 
Shears to pick up the plant itself, as breaking it any other way only drops the Rice.
Rice also turns up in Desert and Taiga village chests, Mineshafts and Shipwrecks, and the Wandering Trader will sometimes sell it for an 
Emerald. You’ll find the full list on the Villages and Loot page if you’d rather not go looking for a Swamp.
Growing
To plant Rice, you’ll need water that’s exactly one block deep, sitting on top of 
Dirt, a 
Grass Block, Farmland or 
Rich Soil. Use the Rice on the block under the water and it will be planted there, whereas trying it on dry ground will give you a message saying it has to go in shallow water.
The block above the water needs to be empty as well, as that’s where the Rice Panicles will grow, so in water two blocks deep it will never finish. The bottom half will grow through four stages first, and it only needs a light level of 6 above it to keep going, which is less than most crops.
Building a Rice Paddy
The easiest way to do it is to dig a trench one block deep, put Dirt at the bottom and fill it with water from a 
Water Bucket. Each Rice you plant will hold onto its water, so the paddy won’t drain or spread when you break something in it or replant it later on.
Planted Rice counts as water, so Farmland within four blocks of a rice paddy will stay hydrated. It’s worth putting your rice in the middle of your other crops for this reason, as it does the job of a water channel and grows food at the same time.
If you use Bone Meal on the bottom half, it will push it on by a few stages, and it can even start growing the Panicles straight away. It won’t do as much on the Panicles themselves though, as it only moves them on some of the time, so it’s best used early while the bottom half is still growing.
Harvesting
Your Rice is ready when the Rice Panicles on top have reached their fourth stage and turned golden. If you break them, you’ll get a Rice Panicle, while the bottom half stays in the water and grows a new set without being replanted.
Mature Rice Panicles
If you break mature Panicles with a Knife, you’ll get a Rice and a Straw instead of the Panicle, which saves you a step later. Make sure they’re fully grown before you break them though, as Panicles that aren’t ready won’t drop anything at all.
Breaking the bottom half will give you back the one Rice you planted, and it’ll knock off the Panicles above it as well. That’s only worth doing when you want to move the paddy, as the Rice won’t regrow until you plant it again.
Rice vs Rice Panicle
The Rice Panicle is the head of the plant, and it can’t be planted or cooked until you turn it into Rice. You can craft each Panicle into one Rice, or cut it on a Cutting Board for a Rice and a Straw, which is the same result you’d get from breaking it with a Knife.
| Method | You Get |
|---|---|
| Crafting Table | 1 Rice |
| Cutting Board with a Knife | 1 Rice, 1 Straw |
| Breaking the Panicles with a Knife | 1 Rice, 1 Straw |
You can also craft nine Rice Panicles into a 
Rice Bale, which works like a 
Hay Bale and will cut your fall damage when you land on it. Nine Rice will go into a 
Bag of Rice if you want to store it, and you’ll find both of them on the Crates and Bales page.
Uses
Rice is cooked in a 
Cooking Pot, and the simplest recipe is Cooked Rice, which only needs one Rice and a 
Bowl. It restores 6 hunger and gives you 30 seconds of Nourishment, while Fried Rice and 
Mushroom Rice will give you three minutes of it.
Cooked Rice is the one you’ll want to make in bulk, as it’s an ingredient in its own right and it cooks in half the usual time, 5 seconds against the 10 most pot recipes take. The rolls, a few of the plated meals and the 
Honey Glazed Ham all call for it.
| Dish | Made In | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| Cooked Rice | Cooking Pot | Rice |
| Fried Rice | Cooking Pot | Rice |
| Mushroom Rice | Cooking Pot | Rice |
 Stuffed Pumpkin | Cooking Pot | Rice |
 Dog Food | Cooking Pot | Rice |
 Salmon Roll | Crafting Table | Cooked Rice |
 Cod Roll | Crafting Table | Cooked Rice |
 Kelp Roll | Crafting Table | Cooked Rice |
 Steak and Potatoes | Crafting Table | Cooked Rice |
 Roasted Mutton Chops | Crafting Table | Cooked Rice |
| Honey Glazed Ham | Crafting Table | Cooked Rice |
Apprentice Farmers might offer to buy 20 Rice for an Emerald, and Chickens and Parrots will eat it the same way they eat seeds. The rest of your rice dishes are on their own page, along with what each one of them gives you.
FAQ
It does, as long as the Rich Soil is the block under the water that the Rice is planted on. Every time the soil gets a random tick it has a 20% chance to grow the Rice above it the same way Bone Meal would, which can push the bottom half on and even start the Panicles.
Rice will grow on Dirt, Grass Blocks, Farmland and Rich Soil under the water, but not on 
Sand, even though Wild Rice is happy on it. You won’t need to till anything either, as the water does the job Farmland would normally do, so plain Dirt at the bottom of the paddy is enough.
Rice Panicles grow on top of your Rice once the bottom half has finished its four stages, and they’re ready to break when they turn golden. Make sure you break them by hand or with any tool other than a Knife if you want the Panicles themselves, like for a Rice Bale, as a Knife drops a Rice and a Straw instead.
Rice needs a water source block, so it won’t stay planted in flowing water, and the water has to be exactly one block deep with an empty block above it for the Panicles. It also needs a light level of at least 6 above it, so a paddy under a roof will want a few 
Torches nearby.
