Rice (Oryza sativa L.) plays a pivotal role in the economy of developing nations of Asia as the staple food for citizens of countries bereft of any substitute crop of sustenance. It is an ancient crop older than 8000 years, but its ancestry is shrouded with mystery. Domesticated rice evolved with man and nature adapting to widely contrasting ecological niches most prominently present in the undulated river plains of the Ganges in India and the Yangtze in China. Genus Oryza has 27 species belonging to 11 genome groups: Oryza sativa L. (Asian rice) and Oryza glaberrima Steud. (African rice) are cultivated and the rest are wild. Geographical diversity is more in Asian rice than in African rice because of its diffusion to various ecological conditions. To meet the demand of an ever-growing number of rice consumers, the Green Revolution was introduced into rice cultivation in the late 1960s through the adoption of semi-dwarf high-yielding lodging-resistant traits. This remarkable achievement breached the yield potential of rice and increased grain production, but the success of bountiful production vanished in the 1980s owing to a significant rise in population growth. As of now, population growth continues unabated. Matching with the level of population growth the demand for production is expected to rise in the forthcoming decades. Bereft of discoveries, our food security will be at stake.