Rice research gets a boost with new endowed chair

A new endowed chair for rice research was announced at the recent California Rice Field Day.

Hundreds of people attended the 104th annual field day to learn about the latest research, including the release of a new long-grain rice variety. The half-day event, held at the Rice Experiment Station in Biggs, was sponsored by the California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation, the University of California and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"This field day is our annual opportunity to highlight the research that is underway at the Rice Experiment Station," Sutter County rice grower Bert Manuel, chairman of the CCRRF, said. It is also the annual meeting for the grower/owners of the foundation.

A $1 million UC Cooperative Extension Presidential Chair for California Grown Rice was announced by Tu Tran, associate vice president of business operations at the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The endowed chair will provide a UCCE scientist with funds to support scholarly activities focused on improvement of California rice production and quality. UC President Janet Napolitano authorized half of the funds for the endowed chair; the other half was donated by the California Rice Research Board.

"We are very happy to announce the endowed chair," Tran said. "The establishment of this endowed chair strengthens the long-standing public-private research partnership UC Cooperative Extension has had with the California rice industry. Continued research advancements will help the rice industry maintain its reputation for supplying a premium product for domestic and world markets."

Rice Field Day participants toured the experiment station aboard canopied, flatbed trucks, where they learned about the latest research on rice varieties and invertebrate pest control.

Farman Jodari, long-grain rice breeder, said L-207 is a new long-grain variety released for production this year. L-207 is a high-yielding, early maturing variety with Southern U.S. long-grain cooking quality. In statewide tests, average grain yield in 2015 was 10,080 lbs. per acre, compared to 9,420 lbs. per acre for L-206 and 9,330 lbs. per acre for M-206. And in Yolo County, where cooler conditions have been a challenge for long-grain varieties in the past, L-207 compared favorably with L-206 and M-206.

Specialty long-grain breeding efforts continue at an accelerated pace, including aromatic jasmine and basmati types, Jodari noted, in order to meet market demand.

Jodari said this was his last time presenting at Rice Field Day, as he is about to retire.

Rice breeder Virgilio "Butz" Andaya said the newest medium-grain variety is M-209, an early-maturing variety released in 2015. Compared to the widely grown varieties M-205 and M-206, M-209 has higher yield potential and bigger grains. M-209 may suffer greater damage from cold temperatures, so it is not recommended for planting in cooler rice areas.

Promising blast-resistant lines include 12Y3097, which has most of the agronomic attributes of M-206; and 16Y18, which, compared to 12Y3097, heads two days later, but has better seedling vigor.

Blast resistance is also a focus in the premium-quality and short-grain breeding program, according to plant breeder Stanley Samonte. "Rice lines of the various grain types are being pyramided for blast resistance genes," he noted.

Calmochi-203 is a new waxy short-grain variety that was released in 2015. Samonte said it has higher yields than Calmochi-101. In statewide testing from 2010-14, CM-203 yielded 9,650 lbs. per acre compared to 7,590 lbs. per acre of CM-101, a 27 percent yield advantage.

Paul Sanchez became the new rice pathologist in 2015 and discussed his research on developing rice varieties with disease resistance to rice blast, stem rot and aggregate sheath spot.

Larry Godfrey, UCCE entomology specialist, discussed research on rice water weevil, midge, armyworm and other pests.

"This year, we had four times more weevils in the traps than we had last year," he said, which he attributed to climate conditions. He also reported increases in tadpole shrimp and native stinkbug populations.

Godfrey emphasized the need to manage insecticides to curb the development of insecticide resistance. This includes minimizing the number of insecticide applications and using biological controls and other integrated pest management techniques.

"We have good pyrethroids," he said. "We really need to preserve these materials as long as we can."

Godfrey noted that in the last two years, no new experimental insecticides have been available for testing against invertebrate pests of rice. Meanwhile, proposed agricultural chemical company mergers could disrupt the long-term planning for research and development of new materials. In addition, regulatory issues with insecticides seem to be ongoing; many times, these issues do not directly involve the rice sector, such as the pollinator issue, but blanket regulations are put in place and these have effects on a broad range of industries, he said.

"Fortunately," he added, "the California Rice Commission keeps track of these ongoing issues and is an effective advocate for the industry."

Field day attendees also toured the Hamilton Road Facility to learn about weed research. The weed control project seeks to assist California rice growers in the prevention and management of herbicide-resistant weeds, and to achieve economic and timely broad-spectrum weed control.

Weed scientist Kaseem Al-Khatib said rice growers may have a new tool for 2017: Butte herbicide, a premix of benzobicyclon and halosulfuron. The active ingredient, benzobicyclon, has a different mode of action than other herbicides in California. In research trials, Butte has shown effective control of ducksalad, monochoria, ricefield bulrush, smallflower umbrellasedge and sprangletop weeds.

Al-Khatib noted that Butte is not a stand-alone chemical, so it should be used in sequence with other herbicides that have different modes of action. Butte, developed by Gowan Co. of Yuma, Ariz., is pending concurrent registration by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

Shiny new tractors, combines and other rice-farm equipment and supplies were exhibited during Rice Field Day.

Poster displays highlighted research such as the interactions between rice cultivation and groundwater levels; reducing arsenic uptake in rice; and understanding salinity dynamics in rice fields.

Timothy Blank of the Davis-based California Crop Improvement Association noted the research being done on controlling weedy red rice.

"There are three characteristics of weedy rice: It has red bran, it shatters and it has dormancy in the soil, so the seed will persist in the soil for years," Blank said. "One of the reasons the seed certification program is important is that we have zero tolerance for weedy rice. We are aware of this in 15 fields, more or less, in California. We're trying to find out the extent of it so we can figure out where to go from here."

He is working on this issue with farm advisors including Whitney Brim-DeForest, the new rice advisor in Sutter, Yuba, Placer and Sacramento counties.

Hundreds of rice farmers, scientists, government officials and agricultural business people attended the annual field day.

"I'm here as a rice farmer to find out what the latest research is," Kim Erdman Gallagher of Erdman Farms in Colusa County said. "I just came back from the herbicide trials, and it was the first time I've heard really positive news about what's coming down the pipeline for new herbicides. We deal with a lot of weeds and there are resistance problems. We're looking for new opportunities in our weed control program and I'm excited to hear there are new herbicides coming down."

Dave Lohman of California Family Foods in Arbuckle said he was interested in the station's research on pest management: "As resistance builds up to the current pesticides we have and there is not a lot of new development, we could be in trouble down the road without effective pesticides, so we need to conserve what materials we have."

Jim Hill, retired UCCE rice specialist, said, "I came up here to Rice Field Day for many years and was a part of this, and since I retired this is my first year back. I'm always impressed by the great work that goes on here at the station, and all the varietal development that benefits rice growers in California. It's great to see the program getting stronger and stronger."

Following the field tours, attendees enjoyed a luncheon that featured aromatic rice and sushi prepared with rice varieties developed by breeders at the field station.

(Robyn Rominger is a reporter in Winters. She may be contacted at robynrominger@hotmail.com.)