<P> Special varieties of rice such as jasmine rice and basmati rice which are of the aromatic variety are imported from Thailand, India, and Pakistan, as such varieties have not been evolved in the US; this demand for import is quite substantial and largely to meet the increasing population of the rice - eating ethnic community . </P> <P> Harvested rice is subject to milling to remove the husk, which encloses the kernel . Before this process is started, the rice from the field is subject to a cleaning process to remove stalks and any extraneous material by means of special machinery . In the case of parboiled rice, a steam pressure process is adopted for milling . After drying, the rice is subjected to further processing to remove the hull and then polished . Brown rice is processed through a shelling machine which removes the hull . The resulting brown rice retains the brawn layer around the kernel . In the case of white rice, the hull and the brawn are removed and polished in a polishing machine, producing a polished kernel . </P> <P> The first export of rice from Carolina was 5 tons in 1698, which rose to 330 tons by 1700 and jumped to 42,000 tons in 1770 . However, as a result of the abolition of slave labour, export from Carolina eventually ceased . </P> <P> While the rice production in the US accounts for about 2% of world production, its exports account for about 10% of all exports . The export is mostly of high - quality rice of the long and combined medium / short - grain varieties of rice . The type of rice exported is rough or unmilled rice, parboiled rice, brown rice, and fully milled rice . Exports to Mexico and Central America are mostly of the rough rice variety . Other countries to which the US exports rice include Mexico, Central America, Northeast Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, Canada, the European Union (EU - 27), and Sub-Saharan Africa . </P>

How much of the world's rice is grown in california