Mountain Rice

Overview

Mountain Rice is a crop in Starsand Island that grows in all four seasons and matures in two and a half days. It is one of the earliest grain crops available, unlocked at the Apprentice Farmer tier of the Farming profession. Mountain Rice is planted on standard farmland or in a Planting Box, making it much easier to grow than its higher-tier relative, Rice, which requires a dedicated Paddy Field.

While Mountain Rice is not used directly in cooking recipes (those call for the Senior-tier Rice crop), it is a reliable early-game income source and can be processed into Rice Flour at the Grinder. Its all-season availability, low seed cost, and short growth time make it a solid choice for Apprentice Farmers looking for a steady year-round crop.

Quick Stats

How to Obtain Seeds

Mountain Rice Seeds are purchased from Graminova at the Happiness Seed Shop for 80 Coins per seed bag. The seeds become available once you reach the Apprentice Farmer tier, which is one of the earliest farming certifications in the game. If you have not yet completed the Apprentice Farmer quest, Mountain Rice Seeds will not appear in Graminova's inventory.

You can also convert harvested Mountain Rice back into seeds using the Grinder. This lets you replant without spending Coins at the shop, though the Grinder blueprint is unlocked at a higher farmer tier. Until you reach that point, purchasing seeds from Graminova is the only option.

Growing Mountain Rice

Mountain Rice is planted on regular farmland tiles or inside a Planting Box. Unlike Rice, it does not require a Paddy Field, so you do not need the Powered Hoe tool to grow it. Simply till a patch of soil with your standard hoe, plant the seed, and water it daily.

The crop takes 2 days and 12 hours to reach maturity. Water it every day for growth to proceed on schedule. If you skip a day of watering, the growth timer pauses until the next time you water. Once the plant is fully grown, harvest it to collect 4 units of Mountain Rice.

Mountain Rice is a single-harvest crop. After picking, the plant is removed and you need to replant from seed. This is the same behavior as most farmland crops such as Wheat, Garlic, and Potato. Setting up sprinklers near your Mountain Rice plots eliminates the need for manual watering and keeps the growth cycle consistent.

Comparison with Rice

Mountain Rice and Rice are two distinct crops that share a name but differ significantly in their requirements, growing conditions, and uses. The table below highlights the key differences.

The most important difference is the planting surface. Mountain Rice grows on standard farmland, which every player has access to from the start. Rice requires a Paddy Field, created with the Powered Hoe. This makes Mountain Rice far more accessible in the early and mid game.

Mountain Rice also grows in half the time and costs less than a third of the seed price. However, Rice has much greater value as a direct cooking ingredient. Recipes like Yangzhou Fried Rice, Seafood Wontons, Forest Treasure Bowl, and Fisherman's Rice Bowl all call specifically for Rice, not Mountain Rice. If your goal is to cook high-value dishes, you will eventually need to invest in Paddy Field infrastructure and unlock Senior Farmer to grow Rice.

Both crops can be processed into Rice Flour at the Grinder, so Mountain Rice still has culinary relevance as a source of this processed ingredient.

Sell Prices

Each unit of Mountain Rice sells for 37 Coins at base quality. Since each harvest yields 4 units, a single plant produces 148 Coins in raw crop value. After subtracting the 80 Coin seed cost, the net profit per harvest is 68 Coins, or approximately 27.2 Coins per day.

Mountain Rice is a mid-range earner among all-season crops. For comparison, Potato earns about 34 Coins per day (faster growth, lower per-unit sell price), while Peanut takes longer to grow but has similar overall returns. For a full breakdown of every crop's profitability, see the Crop Profitability Rankings page.

Selling raw Mountain Rice is not the most efficient use of the crop. Processing it into Rice Flour at the Grinder and using that Rice Flour in cooking recipes will yield significantly higher returns. You can also sell goods at the Merchant Ship on Mondays for double the standard price.

Processing

Mountain Rice can be placed into the Grinder to produce Rice Flour. This is the same output that regular Rice produces at the Grinder. Rice Flour is a secondary ingredient used in various cooking recipes and is one of the key processed materials to keep stocked in your kitchen.

The Grinder can also convert Mountain Rice back into Mountain Rice Seeds, giving you a way to replant without returning to the seed shop. This is especially useful if you are farming in bulk and want to minimize trips to the Happiness Seed Shop.

Mountain Rice can also be fed into the Separator to produce Vegetable Juice, one of the base cooking ingredients. Most vegetables and grains can be processed this way, and Mountain Rice is no exception.

Everlasting Mountain Rice Seeds

Like all plantable crops, Mountain Rice has an Everlasting variant. Everlasting Mountain Rice Seeds produce a plant that regrows after each harvest indefinitely, removing the need to replant. This transforms Mountain Rice from a single-harvest crop into a perpetual one, saving seed costs and replanting effort every cycle.

There are two main ways to obtain Everlasting Mountain Rice Seeds.

1. Eternal Blessings skill: The Eternal Blessings passive skill gives every regular harvest a small chance of dropping an Everlasting seed instead of a normal crop. The more Mountain Rice you harvest, the more chances you get.

2. Islandpedia and quests: Some Everlasting Seeds are awarded through Islandpedia milestones or specific quest rewards. Check your Islandpedia progress and the quest board for any that offer Everlasting Mountain Rice Seeds.

Once you have an Everlasting Mountain Rice Seed, plant it in regular farmland just like a normal seed. Water it daily and harvest as usual. After picking, the plant stays in the ground and starts its next growth cycle automatically. If you accidentally remove an Everlasting crop, the game refunds the Everlasting seed to your inventory, so you cannot lose it permanently.

Tips

• Mountain Rice grows in all four seasons, so you can plant it year-round without worrying about seasonal restrictions. This makes it one of the most reliable crops for a consistent income stream at the Apprentice Farmer level.

• Because Mountain Rice does not need a Paddy Field, you can start growing it immediately on your existing farmland. No special tools or plot conversions are required.

• Set up sprinklers to automate daily watering. Since Mountain Rice is a single-harvest crop that needs replanting every 2.5 days, automated watering helps you focus on other tasks.

• Process Mountain Rice into Rice Flour at the Grinder rather than selling it raw. Rice Flour is a valuable cooking ingredient that opens up several profitable recipe chains.

• Mountain Rice and Peanut share the same seed cost (80 Coins) and are both Apprentice-tier all-season crops. Growing them side by side gives you a steady rotation of harvests since their growth times differ.

• Once you unlock Senior Farmer and can grow Rice, keep some Mountain Rice plots running alongside your Paddy Fields. Mountain Rice matures faster and provides Rice Flour without needing the specialized Paddy Field infrastructure.

• Sell excess Mountain Rice or processed Rice Flour at the Merchant Ship on Mondays to earn double the normal price.

• Prioritize getting Everlasting Mountain Rice Seeds through the Eternal Blessings skill. Having a few perpetual Mountain Rice plants eliminates seed costs entirely and guarantees a rolling supply of Rice Flour.

Related Articles

• All Crops

• Farming

• Rice

• Happiness Seed Shop

• Grinder

• Separator

• Cooking Ingredients

• Everlasting Seeds

• Sprinklers and Irrigation

• Crop Profitability Rankings

• Paddy Fields, Trellises, and Planting Boxes

• Merchant Ship