Based on archeological, historical and cultural evidences, rice has been cultivated in Iran since 126 BC. Nowadays, in spite of this deep historical journey, rice is not only the staple and strategic crop but also an integral part of many cultural beliefs in the rice growing area of seventeen provinces in Iran. Iran is also a producer of rice in Asia with a production of 2.4 million tones. The food consumption pattern of people in Iran shows that Iranians consume an average of 100 g of rice per day per capita. To cope with the increasing demand of rice due to rapid population growth, basic rice research initiated in 1945.
Non – organized and primarily rice researches focused on increasing economic yield of local varieties through collecting of these varieties from all over the country and simple selection of higher yield varieties among them. Although attempts to find high quality and high yield rice varieties have been made for many years, they have consistently failed because of genetically limitation, non-organized and aimed researches, and climatic constraints. To overcome multiple complex challenges such as continued population growth; scarcity of land, water, and labor; rapid urbanization; and climate change, the rice research institute of Iran is a nationwide research institute, as a part of Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), was officially founded in 1993 by the Ministry of Agriculture – Jahad.