This detailed case study explores the dramatic economic and social changes that the rice belt of Laguna Province has experienced in the last quarter-century. Besides major advances in rice technology, increasing population pressure, land reform programs, growing infrastructure, and urban economic activities have accelerated the pace of change. Utilizing a unique data set built from numerous surveys from 1966 to 1997 in a typical Laguna village, the authors illustrate a pattern of socioeconomic development shared by irrigated rice areas throughout Asia.