**1. Introduction**

Rice is an important crop as half of the world's population depends on it. The year 1966 was declared as Year of Rice by FAO and again in 2002, United Nations General

Assembly declared 2004 as International Year of Rice. Milled rice is the third most produced crop after wheat and maize in world. Rice cultivation is source of employment to billions of people in rice cultivating countries. The global rice consumption is dominated by the countries in the Asia-Pacific region, like China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. There are different types of rice cultivated around the world, but if we talk about global rice trade, then there are four types: long grained *Indica* (80%), short grained *Japonica* (15%), aromatic rice *viz*., Basmati and Jasmine (4%) [1] and glutinous rice (1%). Among different types of rice, aromatic rice occupies a very small group but they possess excellent quality traits of rice. However, the word aromatic literal meaning is pleasant or sweet smell, though the aromatic rice is more than aroma. They are known for soft cooked rice texture, sweet taste and tenderness which make them class apart and command premium price in comparison to non-aromatic type of rice. From Glaszmann [2] classification of rice types, aromatic rice falls under three groups; **Group I** (Jasmine, aromatic rice from South East Asia and China); **Group V** (Basmati); and **Group VI** (aromatic rice from Indonesia, Philippines, and China). Aromatic rice is cultivated in all rice growing countries; each having their own indigenous collection: like *Basmati* of India and Pakistan; *Dulhabhog* of Bangladesh; *Khao-Dawk-Mali* (*Jasmine*) from Thailand; *Azucena* and *Milfor* of Philippines; *Rodojolele* of Indonesia and *Sugandhi* of Myanmar [3] *Della* rice of USA. Major aromatic rice producing and exporting countries in the global market are India (Basmati types), Pakistan (Basmati types) and Thailand (Jasmine types). In this chapter we will learn about aromatic rice varieties of India it economic importance to India and breeding strategies used to develop these varieties.
