There is a hive of activity at Leeton Mill, in the New South Wales Riverina, where workers are sorting and packing Australian-grown rice, getting it ready to ship overseas.
Nicholas Morona has grown rice for his entire adult life and is proud to be a producer of one of the world's most popular foods.
“I love it,” he said. “We grow a beautiful product that’s really admired around the world, why wouldn’t you feel good about that?”
The second-generation farmer’s rice fields reflect his Italian roots.
“We love our arancini, made from the risotto rice,” he said.
Mr Morona is beginning to experiment with a new variety of rice, in response to changes in local demand.
Opus is an Australian-bred rice with very similar qualities to a Japanese variety called Koshihikari. Commonly, it is called sushi rice.
General manager of consumer markets for SunRice, David Keldie, believes demand for both varieties of the sticky, short-grain rice is growing.
"They really started to gain momentum probably in the last five years,” he said. “We saw increasing demands as the sushi revolution took hold in major capital cities and the advent of the major sushi chains came into play."
Australia ships short-grain rice to Thailand, Hong Kong, Russia, various countries in South America and even Japan, and demand is driven locally as well
The Opus variety has been bred specifically for growing in cooler climates and shorter seasons in Australia.
David Keldie saidthe local industry is still learning how to handle the speciality rice.
Rice fields in the Riverina Source: SBS
"The growers that are growing it are growing more of it, and they're becoming more specialised at growing it,” he said. “We're becoming more specialised millers of those specific varieties."
"So we're learning how to handle it. We're gaining proficiency in handling and storage, which is important."
115 growers planted at least one of the two sushi rice varieties in the last growing season, up from just 25 growers two years before.
Mr Morona harvested 120 hectares this year - up from around 40 hectares the year before - and he plans to plant even more next season.
"Especially after this year now, I plan to grow a lot more of it," he said. "It's wonderful to establish and grow, but we're finding it handles our climate, our temperature here, very well."
