Isaburo (Jo) Takasuka can be considered the father of the Australian rice industry. His experiments with rice, including types of seed and sowing methods, contributed to trials at Yanco Experiment Farm.
In 1914 Mr Takasuka produced a rice crop for commercial sale and also sent some of the seeds to Leeton with his son Sho, where it was delivered to the NSW Department of Agriculture.
Mr Takasuka's rice became the first seed to be sown at the Yanco Experiment Farm and contributed to the development of the industry. In 1924 a commercial crop was grown by eight farmers around the townships of Leeton and Griffith, using seed provided from California by the NSW Government.
Today rice is Australia's third largest cereal grain export and the industry generates around $800 million revenue per annum. Local innovations include developing breeds of rice that have reduced the water needed for cultivation by 60% in the last decade.