C A L I F O R N I A
FieldCrops A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
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In California, farmers devote the vast majority of rice acreage to medium-grain varieties—many of them developed at the Rice Experiment Station in Biggs. Researchers at the station say a new me- dium-grain variety bred at the station has performed well in trials, showing the potential for higher yields than the current top-planted variety.
Rice researcher ‘super excited’ about new variety ByBob Johnson
Before release, varieties undergo trials at locations in Glenn, Butte, Colusa, Yuba, Sutter and Yolo counties, in addition to the Experiment Station fields a fewmiles south of Richvale. In years of trials at those locations, researchers said, M-211 yielded an average of more than9,700pounds,whichwasnearly600poundsbetter than the current standardM-206. The trials are used to evaluate varieties for yield, but also for other factors that could affect quality or ease of management. “Inaddition tograinyield,materials at the statewideyield-testing stagearealsoevaluat- ed for cold-inducedblanking and lodging, to get amoredetailedassessment ofmaterials in specific growing areas,” according to the 2019 Rice Breeding Progress Report issued by theResearchFoundation, the farmer-controlledorganizationthatoperates theExperiment Station. “Grainquality is alsoacomplex trait and isdependent onmany factors. Toensure 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 releaseM-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 outper-
California farmers have earned a worldwide reputation for the quality of their me- dium-grain rice by planting a series of varieties developed by researchers at the Rice Experiment Station inBiggs. 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 2004medium-grain releaseM-206. But researchers say the torch could soon be passed to a new group of three medi- um-grain releases, including the potential next superstar, M-211. “Over the last fewyears, we have been trialing a newbreeding line,M-211, that outper- formedM-206 andM-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 aboutM-211.” Rasmussen made his remarks about the next generation of rice varieties during the California Rice Virtual FieldDay. Inaddition toexcellent climateCalifornia farmersbenefit from, varietiesdevelopedand released by Experiment Station researchers achieve rice yields approaching 20% above the national average. Quality alsomatters, because a largeproportionof California’s riceharvest is exported, much of it to the highly discriminating Japanesemarket.
See RICE, Page 8
December 16, 2020 Ag Alert 7
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