Imagine that you were back in 1926 and that you had the power to say yay or nay to the establishment of new crops in Australia. Someone comes to you with a proposal to start growing rice in one of the driest continents on earth – what would you say?
On the face of it, it does seem quite incongruous that one would grow rice in Australia. Rice needs water – and lots of it. In any case, Australia does a have a rice industry, one that has been operating for around a century.
Rice farming is located where you would expect it – between two of the country’s most important rivers – the Murray and the Murrumbidgee.
Most rice in Australia has been marketed under the SunRice label – a company listed on the ASX.
As far a rice cultivation goes, Australian rice is generally more water-efficient than that found in other countries. Yield tends to be comparatively high. Most rice grown here is medium grain.
The Riverina area features heavy soils that hold water well and the region receives plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures.
According to oec.world, Australia’s rice exports amounted to $281 million in 2023.1
The top destination was Japan ($63.8 million).
Australia was the 15th-largest exporter of rice in the world. We also send a lot to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan and the U.S. Exports to the U.S. alone were $20.3 million.
In 2023, the fastest growing market was Japan.
Interestingly, we also import a large amount of rice from overseas – $226 million in 2023. Perhaps these are grain varieties that can’t easily be grown here. Most of rice coming in from overseas originates in India or Thailand.
SunRice has just undergone one of its biggest changes in its history. The company has, for along time, pooled the crops of individual farmers and marketed Australian rice under one label. From this year, individual producers will be responsible for marketing their own product. Thus, the market has moved towards greater deregulation.
One issue facing the rice industry is the availability of water.
Historically, water for irrigation has been drawn from major waterways. This has reduced water levels in the rivers, decreased “environmental flows” and has had environmental effects on the river system.
The government adopted the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in 2012. According to the MDBP report card of this year, 2,100 gigalitres was returned to the environment.2
The rice industry is facing lower water allocations, higher water prices. Drought is another factor that growers need to contend with.
Australia and the World Past and Present 
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