Rice is an essential food for humankind and has been part of our diet for centuries. Rice farming is an agricultural activity associated with hot and humid climates and requires specific conditions for its production, and the Sado Estuary region offers ideal conditions for its cultivation.
Its origins, according to few written accounts, are believed to have occurred when Muslims entered the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century, bringing new agricultural improvements and irrigation techniques. Its adoption by the Arabs led to its further expansion to the West.
However, it was only during the reign of King Dinis, in the 13th-14th centuries, that the first written references to rice cultivation appear, which was intended exclusively for the tables of the wealthy. However, from that period until the 18th century, rice cultivation ceased.
It was then from the 18th century onward that the first incentives for the production of this cereal were given in estuary areas. But the beginning of this crop's cultivation was very complex, as it began to be cultivated under inappropriate conditions and posed a public health hazard, leading to protests from the population. Malaria and other public health issues were a problem with no end in sight...