Despite its ancient history in Asia, the first rice was grown in Australia in 1906 after Chinese gold prospectors arrived with the first rice seeds in 1850. Today, rice is farmed mainly in NSW and Queensland with at least one farmer maintaining strong links to the rice farms of Asia and Philippines.
We speak with Dr. Leigh Vial, Director at SunRice Australia, as he shows us around his home in Swan Hill, a town within the rice growing region of the Riverina that sits on the border of NSW and Victoria. He shares his experiences of working in the Philippine rice sector as the former Head of the Experiment Station at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines; and what he has learned from a culture that celebrates rice in every meal.
First established in the Philippines university city of Los Banos in 1960, IRRI is the world's largest and most influential center for rice research and development. Often described as the home of the Green Revolution in Asia, it has links to rice research activities in almost every rice producing nation in the world. The IRRI farm is home to some of the Institute's most important research.
