I read recently that non-native americans can now grow/harvest/sell wild rice, but the package for NA wild rice says it is NA. Looks unlikely on a large scale in temporarily flooded areas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_riceThe seeds of the annual species Zizania palustris are the ones most commonly harvested as grain. Native Americans harvest wild rice by canoeing into a stand of plants, and bending the ripe grain heads with wooden sticks called knockers, so as to thresh the seeds into the canoe. The size of the knockers, as well as other details, are prescribed in state and tribal law.
In Minnesota statute, knockers must be no more than one inch in diameter, thirty inches long, or more than one pound<1>. The plants are not beaten with the knockers but require only a gentle brushing to dislodge the mature grain. The Ojibwa call this plant "manoomin" or "good berry". Some seeds fall to the muddy bottom to overwinter and germinate in the spring. Wild rice and maize are the only cereal crops native to North America. It is a favourite food of dabbling ducks and other aquatic wildlife.
Almost always sold as a dried whole grain, wild rice is high in protein, the amino acid lysine and dietary fiber, and low in fat. Like true rice, it does not contain gluten. It is also a good source of the minerals potassium and phosphorus, and the vitamins thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. Because commercial, paddy grown wild rice is harder and denser than true rice, it must be cooked longer to become soft enough to be eaten; it generally requires cooking for at least 45–60 minutes in a ratio of wild rice to water of approximately 1 to 3. Because of its comparatively high cost and chewy texture it is often cooked together with true rice, often in a ratio of true rice to wild rice of 8 to 1 or 4 to 1. Manoomin, on the other hand, is not nearly as hard as paddy rice, allowing it to be cooked in 15–30 minutes. This is usually because of the lower temperatures and high degree of scarification used in smaller processing facilities where much of this wild rice is processed <2> Manoomin often has a softer texture than cultivated wild rice and is preferred by the traditional wild rice users of wild rice growing regions of Minnesota and Canada.
http://www.mnwildrice.com/riceinfo.htmFirst, environment. Since it is an aquatic grass, water is its environment, and proper water depth is important. If too deep, the weak sun rays of spring are diverted from the seed, if too shallow, the plant develops a weak stem. Most important, is consistent water depth. When the seed germinates in the Spring, a tiny hair root anchors the seed in place and the stalk starts to grow to the water surface, picking up air to float itself. When the plant reaches the surface, it joins and forms the float leaf, or banner leaf stage. The long leaves form, floating on the surface of the water at 90 degree angles to the stalk. This is a critical stage for the wild rice plant. Should the water level rise, the stalk is pulled up since it is very weakly rooted. Should the water level drop, the weak stalk can collapse. Also, during this stage, high winds can create large waves that will tear up a wild rice stand.
Should conditions be just right, the leaves produce plant food, the stalk and root system strengthen and create a good strong base to support more vegetative growth of the plant. With this strong base, the strong plant goes aerial, that is, it stands up. the floating leaves rise above the water, spread out to the sun and maturity takes its course. Under good conditions, an overabundance of plants reach this stage and overcrowding occurs, killing many plants, stunting the growth if others. Commercial producers have found that thinning allows the surviving plants to grow larger and stronger. Airboats have been developed with cultivator tools to effectively thin the rice beds.
The month of august is a real test for the maturing wild rice plant. High summertime temeratures and very high humidity conditions around the water environment of wild rice create ideal conditions for Helminthosporium disease development. This and other blight conditions can wipe out a weak overcrowded stand in a matter of days.
As harvest approaches, prodcuers try to time their harvest activities to maximize yield. They drain the water from the fields to dry the ground so that special, high flotation combines can operate in the boggy soils.
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