<P> Rice production is important to the economy of the United States . Of the country's row crop farms, rice farms are the most capital - intensive, and have the highest national land rental rate average . In the US, all rice acreage requires irrigation . In 2000 - 09 approximately 3.1 million acres in the US were under rice production, while an increase is expected in the next decade to approximately 3.3 million acres . US Rice represents rice producers in the six largest rice - producing states of Arkansas (The nations's number one rice producer .), California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas . </P> <P> African rice (a separate species from Asian rice, originally domesticated in the inland delta of the Upper Niger River) was introduced to the United States in the 17th century . It is mentioned to have been under cultivation in Virginia as far back as 1609, although it is reported that one bushel of rice had been sent to the colony later, in the summer of 1671, on the cargo vessel William and Ralph . In 1685, a bag of Madagascar rice known as "Gold Seede" was given to Dr. Henry Woodward . A tax law of 26 September 1691 had permitted payment of taxes by the colonists by way of rice and other commodities . </P>

What state produces the most rice in the us