Archaeologists have unearthed large quantities of rice that they say is 3,115 years old in the town of Zhongshui in southwest China's Guizhou Province.

"The rice was found in numerous pits and it's believed to be upland rice, since the rice grains are much smaller and rice shoots are much shorter than those of paddy rice." said Zhao Zhijun, a researcher with the Archaeology Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS).

The discovery shows that rice was being systematically cultivated more than three thousand years ago, said a source with the Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage.

Experts believe the rice, the oldest ever excavated in southwest China, will provide valuable insights into the evolution of rice strains.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006)