This book explores the factors which have contributed to the sustainability of rice production over the eight or nine thousand years for which rice has been produced. The author covers a wide range of issues, including soil fertility, plant breeding, pest management, irrigation, land degradation, and social and economic factors. Greatest emphasis is placed on the special features of wetland rice production, and the importance of the nutrient balance. It is also shown that without the Green Revolution there would have been a period of mass starvation in Asia, a problem which continues to threaten and which will be unavoidable unless the successes of the Green Revolution can be sustained.