The National Rice Research Institute was established in since1966 under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) but it was set on April 23, 1946 at Bidhyadharpur, Cuttack, Odisha with an experimental farm land of 60 hectares.

The institute's scientists have many research results to their credit in various disciplines of rice research, including:

• Biochemistry
• Blue green algae
• Entomology
• Food technology
• Nematology
• Physiology
• Plant breeding and genetics
• Plant pathology and mycology

The site occupies approximately 250 acres (1.0 km²). Many of the scientists are housed on the campus, which includes a co-operative store, a co-operative dairy, and a CGHS^{[clarification needed]} dispensary. There is also a hostel and in-transit accommodation.

The research institute is divided into various departments, each headed by a Departmental Head. After the implementation of the Gajendragadkar Commission report, working conditions (in terms of pay) improved greatly for the research scientists. Most of the scientists stay in houses on the campus.

• Ex-Directors
  • Krishnaswami Ramiah - Founder director^[1]
  • Dr.R.H. Richharia -
  • Dr S.Y.Padmanabhan, D.Sc.--Plant Pathologist
• Senior Administrative Officer
  • S K Sinha
• Scientists:
  • Dr S. S. Jain - Senior Plant Pathologist & Mycologist ( the pioneer scientist who first grew button mushrooms in India in a laboratory established by him in Solan, Shimla Hills, HP between 1959 and 1961).
  • Dr R. N. Misra - Geneticist
  • Dr B. K. Rao - Rice Breeder( Winner of Hooker Award)
  • Dr M. Seetharaman - Geneticist
  • Dr J. P. Kulshreshtha - Entomologist
  • Dr Devdath - Plant Pathologist
  • Dr P. K. Singh - Algologist
  • Dr. S. N. Ratho - Genetics and Plant Breeding
  • Dr. Shri Gopal Sharma- CPB Division
  • Dr. Onkar Nath Singh- Crop Improvement Division ( Head of Division)
  • Mr.Rakesh Kumar Jain, IRS (CE) (1976) (s/o Dr. S.S.Jain) was TA to director (1972–75).

• Central Rice Research Institute Archived 2015-04-01 at the Wayback Machine