East countries. He possesses a wide experience in the field of the weed eco-biology and weed control in rice systems. He has been co-ordinator of European research projects funded by the European Union. He currently co-ordinates the project "EU-India Rice districts network promotion through agroeconomical, cross cultural, and technical actions" (RICE-NET) aimed at studying agro-economical, cultural, and historical traits of the rice cultivation in the European and Indian rice districts, in order to improve socio-economical relationships between the two geographical areas. He is referee and member of the editorial board of several international journals.Abstract Rice is the second most widely grown cereal crop and the staple food for more than half the world's population. More than 3 billion people consume more than 100 kg of rice per year. Rice is cultivated on 155.5 million ha with an average growth rate of 0.39% a year, in the last 30 years. In the near future, the possibility for expanding areas under rice-based systems will remain very limited because of the scarcity of global water resources for agri-2 culture, the expansion of urban and industrial sectors in Asia where land is already limited and the high costs of developing new lands that are suited for rice production in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. The average growth rate of rice yield was 3.68% per year in the early 1980s, but it has decreased to 0.74% per year in the late 1990s. Several factors may contribute to the decline of the area under cultivation and in yield growth. The most important of these factors are: limited returns as we approach the yield potential of the high yielding varieties, declining productivity in intensive rice production systems, pressures from abiotic and biotic stresses, low returns in developing countries, increasing production costs in industrialized countries, and increasing public concern for the protection of environmental resources. One of the most effective means of addressing the issues in rice cultivation and raising the average yields at the farm level is through research and subsequent dissemination of the resulting data. Rice science has made considerable progress. In the area of rice varietal improvement, recent advances in hybrid rice and the new rice for Africa (NERICA) are just two examples of the successful contributions of science to the development of rice. Research could also help reduce the gap between the potential yield obtained on experimental stations and the actual yield obtained in the fields. This could be possible by developing and promoting rice integrated crop management (RICM) systems for improving productivity and reducing the production cost per unit of output. The need for a sustainable increase in rice production affects everyone. The International Year of Rice provide us with a chance to improve food security, alleviate poverty and preserve the environment for the billions of people for whom Rice is Life.

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Weedy rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the most widespread and problematic weeds in rice cultivation; it spans the globe and can cause high yield losses. In 2008, seeds of 149 weedy rice populations were collected from the major Italian rice cultivation area. In 2009, these populations were sown in a single field to determine their morphological characteristics, including plant height, flag leaf attitude and length, panicle attitude and length, auricle and node colour, seed weight and size, awn length and germination rates at 0, 10 and 30 days of after-ripening (DAR). Of the collected populations, c. 56% were awned, 17% mucronate and 27% awnless. The morphological characteristics among the awned populations varied widely and displayed the highest average lengths of flag leaf (27.6 cm) and seed (8 mm). Mucronate populations were mainly characterised by small seeds and low germination rates. Awnless populations showed higher germination rates at 30 DAR (20%) and wider seeds (3.7 mm). Awn length and distribution, seed length, 1000 seed weight and germination rates were the most important traits influencing the variability among populations. Awned populations are expected to adapt better to differing environmental and cropping conditions, because of their larger variability.

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The relationship among 80 different Echinochloa accessions were studied in 2000–2002 by applying amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis and examining the main morphological traits of these plants. The plants were collected from 40 different areas in which the main rice-growing region of northern Italy was divided on the basis of uniform environmental and agronomical conditions. Echinochloa accessions were grouped in three different species (E. crus-galli, E. erecta, E. phyllopogon) according to Pignatti's classification key and in four different species according to Carretero's taxonomy (E. crus-galli, E. hispidula, E. oryzicola, and E. oryzoides). The E. crus-galli accessions clustered as a specific group under both AFLP analysis and morphological traits analysis carried out according to Pignatti's and Carretero's keys. AFLP analysis revealed a separate group containing two accessions with a green basal stem section. These were classified as E. crus-galli by Pignatti's taxonomy and E. oryzoides according to Carretero's taxonomy. A red basal stem section, a trait not considered by either morphological classification, was the main morphological trait that characterizes all E. crus-galli accessions. All other accessions with green basal stem section clustered in a group that included E. erecta and E. phyllopogon according to Pignatti's taxonomy and E. hispidula and E. oryzicola according to Carretero's taxonomy. All species were evenly distributed in the monitored rice area, except the two E. oryzoides accessions, which were found only in the southwestern zone.