As a cereal grain, Rice is the most important staple food for a large part of the world"s human population, especially in Asia and the West Indies. It is the grain with the second-highest worldwide production, after maize and is the most important with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species. Rice provides 27% of dietary energy and supply 20% of dietary protein intake in the developing world. Asian farmers produce about 90% of the total, with two countries, China and India, growing more than half the total crop. Global rice production has been rising strongly since 2002.