Rice

Global average water footprint: 3400 litres for 1 kg of rice.

The rice fields in the world consume about 1350 billion cubic meters of water annually, which is 21 % of the global water use for crop production.
Paddy rice (the rice as harvested from the field) has consumed 2300 litres of water per kg.

One kg of paddy rice produces 0.67 kg of milled rice on average.
In the shop we buy milled rice in the form of white rice or broken rice.
In this form, rice costs 3400 litres of water per kg.
This total volume of water refers to a mix of rainwater (‘green water’) and irrigation water (‘blue water’).
The ratio of blue to green water depends on the production circumstances at the place of growth.
In China for example, most rice is irrigated, which means a relatively high ratio blue/green, while in India irrigation of rice is much less common.

International rice trade brings along large international virtual water flows.
The sum of virtual water flows between countries related to rice trade is about 75 billion cubic meters of virtual water per year.

Links
Africa Rice Centre

International Rice Research Institute

UNCTAD

Oryza - rice trade