 The Riverina produces the vast majority of rice grown in Australia , particularly in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area ( MIA ) , but also around the Finley , Coleambally and Deniliquin areas . The first commercial rice crops in the Riverina were grown in the Leeton and <unk> district in 1924 , expanding to <unk> during World War II , the <unk> and <unk> Irrigation Areas in the 1950s and Coleambally and Finley in the 1960s . In recent years , rice is also grown in the Hay , Carrathool and Hillston areas . 
