Although rice cultivation is mentioned in ancient texts by Theophrastus (botanist 370-285 BC), Dioscorides (naturalist 1st century AD), and Galen (physician 130-200 AD), who had studied rice as a plant, a food product, and a means of treating digestive system diseases, the systematic cultivation of rice in Greece began in the 1950s when its consumption gradually started to increase. Today, rice is one of Greece’s strong agricultural products, with 120,000 tons being produced annually. In the Serres region, approximately 40,000 acres are cultivated with rice, producing about 20,000 tons of rice annually. The rice from Serres is considered the most flavorful because it grows in the fertile plain of the Strymonas River.