Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important food crops in the world and forms the foundation of the diet of over 3 billion people that constitute over half of the world’s population (Zhang et al., 2016). It is widely cultivated throughout the world and occupies about 163.2 million hectare of land with 751.9 million tons production (in form of paddy) worldwide (FAO, 2017). Asia is the leader in rice production accounting for 678.6 million tons during 2016 which is about 90 percent of the world’s production (FAO, 2016).
