Dismissed as a joke, UK’s first rice crop ripe for picking after hot summer 13 minutes ago Georgina RannardClimate and science correspondent Gwyndaf HughesClimate and science videographer In an ordinary field in a quiet part of east England, a unique experiment is taking root. “When I tell people what I’m doing here, they think I’m joking,” says Nadine Mitschunas, the UK’s first and only rice-grower.