The earliest evidence of rice (paddy) cultivation in the Ganga valley has been reported from:

Lahuradewa, in the Sant Kabir Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, has given some of the earliest evidence of rice in the Ganga valley.

About Lahuradewa:

• It is located near a lake in the middle Ganga plain, in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
• It was excavated by the Uttar Pradesh State Archaeology Department in the early 2000s, under Rakesh Tewari.
• Radiocarbon dating of rice remains from the earliest levels suggests dates of about 7000-6000 BCE, according to the excavators.
• These early dates make it one of the oldest sites with rice in South Asia, though the exact date of the domestication of rice there is still debated.

Finds at Lahuradewa:

• Charred rice grains and husks.
• Cord-impressed pottery, among the earliest pottery in the region.
• Bone tools and microliths.
• Later layers of the Chalcolithic and Iron Age.

Rice in Indian history:

• Rice may have been domesticated independently in the Ganga valley.
• Rice became a major crop in the later Vedic period, when the Ganga valley was cleared for agriculture.
• In Vedic texts, rice is called "vrihi".
• Today, India is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of rice.

Other early rice sites in the region:

• Several sites in the Vindhyan hills of the Prayagraj region.
• Sites in Bihar, such as Senuwar and Chirand.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Koldihwa is another early rice site, in the Vindhyan region.
• ✗Chopani Mando is a Mesolithic site.
• ✗Hastinapur is a Painted Grey Ware site in the Meerut district.