Posts Tagged: rice
$1.3 million donated to fund UCCE specialist
“This is a pioneering step in a new direction for funding public research,” said Allen-Diaz. “I want to thank the California Rice Research Board for being the first. This innovative partnership between the agricultural community and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources recognizes the immediate importance of rice research and the need for this new funding model.”
The $800 million rice industry makes California the nation’s second largest rice producer. UC conducts research on weed control, pest management and variety testing for rice crops to keep California growers competitive in the world marketplace.
“The rice specialist was identified as a priority position for UC ANR in our position planning process, and the Rice Research Board has taken a bold step to enable us to launch this position sooner rather than later,” Allen-Diaz said. “This generous gift by the Rice Research Board will enable UC ANR to begin recruitment immediately and the six-year commitment gives the position stability. After six years, UC ANR will assume financial responsibility for the position.”
The board will donate $212,000 each of the next six years for a total of $1.272 million to support a UC Cooperative Extension specialist to conduct rice-related research. The Rice Research Board is funded by grower assessments that are based on the amount of rice each grower produces. This specialist position, which will be based in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, will help UC ANR fulfill its mission as well as serve the rice industry’s needs.
“The Rice Research Board recognized the value of having a rice specialist serving the industry,” said Dana Dickey, executive director of the California Rice Research Board. “This service includes acting as a bridge for the efforts of the rice ‘team’ at UC Davis and ANR, performing research on issues vital to the industry, being a resource for linking new research directions with researchers, and overseeing the variety trials for the industry.”
Dickey added, “The Rice Research Board chose this avenue to ensure the position will continue without interruption and be filled in coordination with the retirement of the present specialist.”
“Hiring outstanding academics to do research and deliver new knowledge is critical to the sustainability of farmers and to the future of California,” said Allen-Diaz. “This new funding model will enable us to act now to work on needed research and deliver science-based solutions.”
To discuss potential partnership opportunities to fund academic positions, contact Cindy Barber at Cynthia.Barber@ucop.edu or (510) 987-9139.
Transgenic rice? Not any time soon
In contrast, genetically modified crops such as soy, corn and cotton have received widespread adoption by U.S. farmers.
Debate continues over whether genetically modified rice would be a plus or minus for the environment. While herbicide-tolerant varieties could reduce herbicide applications overall — they could also contribute to herbicide resistance in weedy rice.
For the time being, however, market considerations have trumped the debate over environmental costs and benefits.
A recent article in California Agriculture featured a literature review and extensive interviews with California rice growers explaining why.
“Although several studies suggest that transgenic rice would benefit California rice growers — particularly the herbicide-tolerant varieties — transgenic rice also presents economic risks,” writes Dustin Mulvaney, lead author, and now assistant professor at San Jose State University.
For one, California growers rely on exports for half of their sales. At present, Japan alone constitutes 41 percent of the state’s export market. Japan purchased more than $421 million in 2009 — over 40 percent of the industry's exports.
“While it is difficult to determine whether protectionism, culture or biosafety are the main forces driving such policies, all play a role in discouraging the deployment of transgenic rice,” Mulvaney said
California growers manage risks to marketability through the California Rice Certification Act. The act targets “characteristics of commercial impact,” including those of transgenic rice. The act states that growers rely upon identity preservation in the “production, handling and marketing practices that maintain the integrity and purity of agricultural commodities.”
Identity preservation is used to manage “genetic pollution” risks from transgenic crops (California Agriculture July-September 2006), particularly those not approved for human consumption or used to make pharmaceuticals (California Agriculture April-June 2007). In these latter cases, identity preservation must be 100% effective.
Mulvaney notes, “The commercial approval of transgenic rice in California is unlikely until there is widespread market acceptance and growers are assured of no sales interruptions. “
Entomologists profiled in LA Times
Reporter Amina Khan with the LA Times profiled husband-and-wife entomologist team Christina and Mark Hoddle of UC Riverside (Mark is also a UC Cooperative Extension entomology specialist). The pair travel the world seeking parasitoids that can serve as biological control to invasive California pests and then test the results at the Center for Invasive Species Research at UC Riverside. "Bugs don't take weekends," Christina Hoddle told the reporter, "so neither do we."
Weed threatens rice-growing areas
Heather Hacking, Chico Enterprise Record
Photos and more details about the weed are also available from Luis Espino on the UC Rice Blog.
Autumn is for Apples: An Interview With Carol Fall
Jennifer Jewell, aNewsCafe.com
As apple season approaches, this article examines the Trinity Heritage Orchard Project through an interview of Carol Fall, program representative for UC Cooperative Extension Trinity County. The project has identified and mapped century-old apple trees from Gold Rush-era homesteads that are now on public lands and available for gleaning. Fall also evaluates how fruits of these heirloom varieties are best picked and used—whether for baking, cider-making, eating fresh or storing for winter months—and takes cuttings from the most significant varieties to plant elsewhere in the community. The article says Fall will provide apple samples Oct. 8 at Weaverville's annual Salmon Festival.
Rice growers optimistic; seeking biomass growers
Harvesting jet fuel
Kathy Johnston, (San Luis Obispo) New Times
Reporter Kathy Johnston examined both government and grower interest in camelina sativa, an oilseed crop that can be used in jet fuel. Growers interested in camelina can sign up for USDA's Biomass Crop Assistance Program, the deadline for which has been extended. The reporter talked with Steve Kaffka, UC Cooperative Extension agronimist in Davis and director of the California Biomass Collaborative, who is seeking cooperating growers for trial plantings of camelina under local conditions this winter. “It hasn’t been adapted specifically for California. We’re trying to figure out what conditions it likes, the range of rainfall and soil types where it might be suitable in San Luis Obispo County,” Kaffka told the reporter.
She also talked to Royce Larsen, UC Cooperative Extension natural resources advisor in San Luis Obispo county, who explained that though meetings about the crop have been well attended, no San Luis Obispo growers have signed up for the program yet. “A lot of people showed up [at a meeting about camelina in Templeton] with great interest, but they left, I think, a little downhearted,” Larsen told the reporter. “The bottom line is it’s too new, with too many unknowns for people to want to jump on board and give this a try."
(Though this article is about San Luis Obispo county, other California counties included in this project area are Butte, Colusa, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Riverside, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, Stanislaus, Riverside, Tehama, Tulare and Yolo, according to an article on the California Ag Network website.)
Dan Marcum encourages farmers to 'diversify their portfolios'
Since the 1970s, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor for Shasta and Lassen counties, Dan Marcum, has been working alongside farmers - particularly the risk-takers and early adopters - to test new crops and pest controls, according to a feature in the Redding Record-Searchlight.
He won their trust, the story said, with his practical knowledge of farming and work ethic.
"Dan works harder than most of the farmers in his area," the story quoted fourth generation Fall River grower Travis Corder.
Over the years, Marcum has undertaken myriad efforts to help the region's farmers diversify their crops, wrote reporter Tim Holt. For example:
- He took farmers on a field trip to the University of Minnesota to learn how to grow short-season wild rice
- He led a field trip to Central Oregon to look into the possibility of growing peppermint
- He has worked closely with farmers to develop economically viable organic pest control methods
- He is experimenting with cold-weather winegrape varieties that can be planted successfully by smaller growers for personal use and possibly to sell to wineries
"Crop diversity is like diversifying your stock portfolio. It helps growers survive the ups and downs of wholesale prices for any one crop," Marcum was quoted.
Wild rice is a crop Northern California farmers can use to diversify their portfolios.