The Agricultural Research Council (CRA) is a National Research Organization which operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, with general scientific competence within the fields of agriculture, agroindustry, food, fishery and forestry.

CREA-RIS has 30 ha of experimental fields located in the main rice growing areas. The small farm equipment necessary for all operations (sowing, harvesting, threshing, drying) and to monitor soil water potential and water fluxes are available. CREA-RIS team has expertise and equipment for pre- and post-harvest phenotyping to evaluate rice accessions grown under different water management systems and association mapping procedures.