Upland rice growing on an Amazon river floodplain in Loreto, Peru. Most people think of rice as growing in flooded fields or paddies. However, there are also much less water-intensive varieties that thrive in unflooded conditions. Large amounts of this upland rice is grown along the seasonally exposed and nutrient rich floodplains of the Amazon River during the low water season. Scientists are studying the more widespread cultivation of these dry land varieties as a food source in regions where flooded paddies aren't possible.