The United Nations have proclaimed 2004, the International Year of the Rice ( IYR ).
Fao, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, has been chosen to coordinate the International Year activities.

Fao has invited several nations, all over the world, to create National Committees, in order to promote, locally, the production and the consumption of good quality rice and to awaken public opinion to the most important topics of this Year.

In Italy, the International Year of Rice Italian Coordinating Committee has organized and coordinated several events and information activities, locally promoted by Regional, Provincial and Municipal administrations.

The decision to devote an International Year to a single crop ( rice ) is an event with no precedent in the history of the United Nations. This is due to the fact that, rice is the vital food, for more than half world's population; this means that, all over the world , whole populations have rice for breakfast, lunch, dinner.

The main aim of the International Year has been to promote a sustainable development, in order to face a larger and larger request of food and to give the future generations the possibility to face their food needs,assuring a protective environmental rice production.
The International Year main task has been to inform a larger and larger amount of people, about the worth and the importance of rice that, mostly in the developing countries, is the best ally to fight against hunger.

Rice is strictly bound to the culture and the traditions of many countries and it has always played a leading role in the feasts, songs, proverbs and legends.

Rice, symbol of fertility, abundance, good health and genuineness, is not just a simple food but, it is an element common to different cultures.
Just like the International Year slogan: rice is life.