Several grains of cultivated rice at least 12,000 years old have been found during an archaeological dig in Hunan province in China. Yuan Jiarong, chief of the Archaeology Research Institute of Hunan province, said the rice and a piece of pottery were found at the Yuchanyan ruin site in Dao county of Hunan province.
     “Six grains of rice and one piece of pottery were found. This rice was embedded in the layer beneath the pottery, about one meter deep. It is estimated that the date for the cultivated rice could be from about 12,000 years ago, the transition period from the Paleolithic Period to the Neolithic Age," Jiarong said. "This is the earliest known sample of cultivated rice in the world, and an important resource for research on the origin of agriculture," he added.

Source:The Epoch Times (12 February 2005)