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Rice in Arkansas*	ngythanh	::	2006-08-16 5:12
. Rice in Arkansas* A World Information Resource Arkansas is a national and international leader in rice production, technology, and information. The University of Arkansas (UofA) offers comprehensive programs in rice research, extension, education, marketing and policy developments to farmers, scientists, students, and governments. Through its partnership with Arkansas farmer-owned cooperatives, the Rice Research and Promotion Board, and other groups, UofA is a major resource of technical information, education, and training for the world's most important food crop. First in the nation for rice production in 1994, the state's farmers harvested 1.4 million acres of rice, with 43 percent of the total U.S. rice acreage. Arkansas is home to the world's largest rice processing and exporting company, Riceland Foods, Inc., a farmer-owned cooperative at Stuttgart, now a Fortune 500 company. Other major farmer-owned cooperatives include Producers Rice Mill, Inc. and eight other rice milling companies. Arkansas' reputation as a world leader in rice research has attracted interest from scientists, governments, and private companies from throughout the world. In 1994, for example, Riceland Foods and a Japanese company built a $10 million mill in Stuttgart to extract oil from rice bran, the part of the kernel removed from white rice during milling. Most of the oil is exported to Asian markets, while the protein-rich bran left over after the oil is extracted is sold primarily as livestock feed. Arkansas also has become a leader in the seed industry and provides a premium market for farmers and suppliers of high quality seed. The Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station's Foundation Seed program provides a genetically pure source of public varieties of not only rice, but soybean and small grains. Global Activities The University of Arkansas has more than a decade of involvement in global activities, including those on rice, through the Office of International Agricultural Programs. Research and technology transfer activities relating to rice have been carried out in Panama, Haiti, Bolivia, Egypt, Mali, Rwanda, Burundi, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, among others. Since rice has become one of the most value-added crops, the Division and the College have established a new Center for Food Processing and Engineering to enhance value-added research and education on rice and other products. Researchers with the Institute conduct studies on the physical and chemical properties of the rice kernel and its components to develop new uses and improved processing efficiency. Faculty also works cooperatively with rice breeders to develop varieties with more valuable quality characteristics. Other major rice uses under investigation have included soups, precooked meals, breakfast cereals, baby foods, and animal rations. Rice hulls have a variety of uses as a pressing agent in the fruit juice industry, in the manufacturing of synthetic rubber and rayon, as poultry litter and as fuel for rice parboiling. Rice kernels that break during milling, called brewers rice, are used in the recipe for popular brands of beer. The College maintains the L.C. Carter Chair for Rice and Soybean Marketing and Policy. Economists specialize in international trade, development, policy and economics. Faculty have developed a global rice model for projecting rice production and have evaluated specific rice programs in countries throughout the world, including Asia, Latin America, the Mideast, and Pacific regions. The Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service help farmers at home and abroad to meet the challenges of growing rice. Some objectives include improving yield and quality, reducing costs, and assuring that production practices are cost effective, sustainable and safe for farm workers, consumers, and the environment. Improved methods developed through research are then delivered to farmers by extension, education, and other media. The Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station conducts research programs at seven locations in the state, including the world-renowned Rice Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart. The Center also houses a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) laboratory-greenhouse complex for the National Rice Germplasm Evaluation and Enhancement Center. There USDA scientists conduct breeding, genetics, and cooperative research projects with Station scientists. Arkansas scientists also conduct rice production research at two Centers in Keiser and Monticello and at the Branch Experiment Stations in Marianna, Pine Tree, and Rohwer. Major research areas of international interest include the following: Breeding and Genetics The National Rice Germplasm Evaluation & Enhancement Center is a 46,000 square-foot facility containing offices, laboratories, seed storage, and greenhouse space. As part of the USDA's National Plant Germplasm System, the Center complements activities of the working collection of cereals in the National Small Grains Collection at Aberdeen, Idaho, and the base collection of all seed crops at the National Seed Storage Laboratory at Fort Collins, Colorado. The Center, when completed, will conduct germplasm-based research directed at meeting the needs of the U.S. rice industry, in the rice-producing states of Arkansas, California, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas. The research needs include high yield, superior grain quality, pest control, and stress tolerance. Planning for the Center began in 1988, ground was broken at the University of Arkansas Rice Research & Extension Center at Stuttgart in 1996, and completion expected in December 1997 for this $11.2 million facility. Rice varieties developed in Arkansas over the past 20 years have improved the plant's genetic yield potential. Yields reached new highs in the late 1980s and a record 6.4 tons per hectare in 1994. Kaybonnet, the most recent release from the University's breeding program, combines high yield potential and genetic resistance to rice blast disease. The new LaGrue variety released in 1993 has provided yields of more than 10 tons per hectare on some farms. Other varieties released by the University have provided timely defenses with enhanced disease resistance, early maturity, stiff straw, and other traits needed to meet specific field challenges. Extensive research also goes into providing recommendations about the field conditions and management practices needed to realize each variety's highest potential. Rice researchers evaluate promising selections from advanced breeding lines in a year-round nursery in Puerto Rico. Prior to release of any new variety, advanced lines also are tested for several years in an Arkansas Rice Performance Test and in regional Uniform Rice Nurseries in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. (To be cont'd)			United StatesUnited States Rice — my endless lesson /29/ ngythanh (8496)
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Thread	Username		Date
Rice in Arkansas*	ngythanh (8496)	::	2006-08-16 05:12

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