Rice researcher 'super excited' about new variety

California farmers have earned a worldwide reputation for the quality of their medium-grain rice by planting a series of varieties developed by researchers at the Rice Experiment Station in Biggs.

With 90% of the state’s 550,000 acres of rice planted in varieties developed at the Biggs facility, the current leading variety is the station’s 2004 medium-grain release M-206.

But researchers say the torch could soon be passed to a new group of three medium-grain releases, including the potential next superstar, M-211.

"Over the last few years, we have been trialing a new breeding line, M-211, that outperformed M-206 and M-202," said Russell Rasmussen, incoming CEO of the Experiment Station. "There should be plenty of M-211 seed available for you to try in your fields next year. We’re super excited about M-211."

Rasmussen made his remarks about the next generation of rice varieties during the California Rice Virtual Field Day.

In addition to excellent climate California farmers benefit from, varieties developed and released by Experiment Station researchers achieve rice yields approaching 20% above the national average.

Quality also matters, because a large proportion of California’s rice harvest is exported, much of it to the highly discriminating Japanese market.

Before release, varieties undergo trials at locations in Glenn, Butte, Colusa, Yuba, Sutter and Yolo counties, in addition to the Experiment Station fields a few miles south of Richvale.

In years of trials at those locations, researchers said, M-211 yielded an average of more than 9,700 pounds, which was nearly 600 pounds better than the current standard M-206.

The trials are used to evaluate varieties for yield, but also for other factors that could affect quality or ease of management.

"In addition to grain yield, materials at the statewide yield-testing stage are also evaluated for cold-induced blanking and lodging, to get a more detailed assessment of materials in specific growing areas," according to the 2019 Rice Breeding Progress Report issued by the Research Foundation, the farmer-controlled organization that operates the Experiment Station. "Grain quality is also a complex trait and is dependent on many factors. To ensure high grain quality of rice varieties developed and released by RES, lines are evaluated for desirable grain attributes."

In addition to outstanding yields, M-211 had a 26% lodging rate in recent trials, only slightly behind the leader and new release M-209, which scored 20%.

But Rasmussen indicated the higher M-211 yields should more than compensate for the slight difference in lodging, and both of the new varieties easily outperformed M-206 in this regard.

In addition to M-211, the Experiment Station is also releasing M-210, a high-yielding, medium-grain variety with resistance to blast, a fungal disease that starts at the leaves and can spread to the panicles, at some cost to crop yield.

The third relatively new medium-grain release is M-209, a high-yielding, early-maturing variety that first became available five years ago.

"Those three will replace M-206 as leading varieties," Rasmussen predicted.

Researchers also continue to experiment to see if significant issues with some older medium-grain varieties can be overcome through proper management.

"M-105 is a nice variety," said Bruce Linquist, University of California Cooperative Extension rice specialist. "It is earlier than M-206 and has a little higher yield potential, but it is susceptible to lodging."

Released by the Experiment Station in 2011, M-105 is a very early, high-quality, medium-grain variety that may be most suitable in areas where early harvest is important.

Linquist is working to learn if a fertilizer program can be used to moderate the lodging problems.

"Lodging slows down the harvest and gives back the M-105 advantage of earliness," he said. "Can you control this with nitrogen management?"

Because nearly 90% of California rice acreage is planted in medium-grain varieties, researchers give them the most attention.

But California is a major player in rice, second only to Arkansas in production nationwide, and the Experiment Station also develops and releases long-grain, short-grain and specialty varieties.

Last year, the station released S-202, an early-maturing, very high-yielding, short-grain variety, because farmers still put in around 50,000 acres of short grain every year.

Long grain is even more of a specialty, with a little fewer than 10,000 acres planted every year.

The Experiment Station’s most recent long-grain release is L-208, which yielded well more than 10,000 pounds in more than 40 trials.

This new release comes as Rasmussen prepares to take over leadership of the station from outgoing director Kent McKenzie, who is retiring this month after 32 years at the Biggs facility.

The Experiment Station is a unique facility, operated by the grower-financed and -controlled California Rice Research Foundation, which cooperates with UC and U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers to develop new varieties and help find solutions to pest, disease and weed issues.

Variety choice is a complex decision, depending on microclimates within the rice-growing region, markets and the desired planting and harvest dates.

UC researchers have developed free software to help farmers decide which rice variety to plant in a particular field, available at rice.ucanr.edu/Guidelines/Variety.

(Bob Johnson is a reporter in Sacramento. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)