Final answer:
Rice primarily needs nitrogen for growth, alongside other essential nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur. Wet rice cultivation allows continuous crop production and sustains soil nutrition over time.
Step-by-step explanation:
The element that rice needs to grow, and which often acts as a limiting factor for its growth and crop yield, is nitrogen. Rice is a photosynthetic autotroph using the C3 photosynthetic pathway and requires at least 14 mineral elements for growth. While arsenic is not required by rice and can be toxic, rice can accumulate it, especially when cultivated in aquatic environments which promote its availability. In addition to nitrogen, other essential elements include calcium, magnesium, and sulfur, though nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are needed in greater amounts.
Wet Rice Cultivation
Rice is a staple food crop that is predominantly grown in South and East Asia. It thrives in flooded conditions, which helps regulate temperature, control weeds, and make nutrients more available to the plant. Through wet rice cultivation, rice fields can sustain continuous crop production, improving the nutrition of the soil over time, and can be cultivated to produce more food per acre than any other grain.