Rice cultivation is considered to have begun simultaneously in many countries over 6500 years ago. Two species of rice were domesticated, Asian rice (Oryza sativa) and African rice (Oryza glaberrima).

It is believed that common wild rice, Oryza rufipogon, was the wild ancestor of Asian rice. O. sativa appears to have originated around the foothills of the Himalayas, with O. sativa var. indica on the Indian side and O. sativa var. japonica on the Chinese side.

African rice has been cultivated for 3500 years. Between 1500 and 800 BC, O. glaberrima propagated from its original center, the Niger River delta, and extended to Senegal. However, it never developed far from its original region. Its cultivation even declined in favor of the Asian species, possibly brought to the African continent by Arabs coming from the east coast between the 7th and 11th centuries.

Dry-land rice was introduced to Japan and Korea circa 1000 BC. Later wet-paddy intensive rice agriculture occurred in Korea during the Middle Mumun pottery period (c. 850-550 BC) and reached Japan by the Yayoi circa 300 BC.

O. sativa was adapted to farming in the Middle East and Mediterranean Europe around 800 BC. The Moors brought it to the Iberian Peninsula when they conquered it in 711 AD. After the middle of the 15th century, rice spread throughout Italy and then France, later propagating to all the continents during the great age of European exploration. In 1694, rice arrived in South Carolina, probably originating from Madagascar. The Spanish brought rice to South America at the beginning of the 18th century.