Transgenic
rice uses weed gene to combat drought effects
Field performance of unmodified Curinga rice (left) and
promising transgenic strain 2580 (right) (Credit: Riken)
The CSRS scientists say that plants are able to adapt to drought
by generating chemicals called osmoprotectants that include various forms of
sugar. By increasing the concentration of the protectants in cells, they retain
water better – much in the same way, to make a crude analogy, a damp salt cake
dries out more slowly than a dish of water.
The key to producing one protectant sugar called galactinol is
the enzyme Galactinol synthase (GolS). Working with the International Center
for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia and the Japanese International
Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), the CSRS has introduced the
ability to produce GolS in rice by splicing in a gene from the drought- and
saline-resistant weed thale cress.
"The Arabidopsis GolS2 gene was first identified with basic
research at RIKEN," says RIKEN scientist Fuminori Takahashi. "Using
it, we were able to improve resistance to drought-related stress, and increased
the grain yield of rice in dry field conditions. This is one of the best model
cases in which basic research knowledge has been successfully applied toward
researching a resolution to a food-related problem."
To produce the new strains, the team started with Brazilian and
African rice, and through gene splicing they made them over-express the GolS2
gene. They then grew the new rice in greenhouses under various controlled
conditions and tested the enzymes produced by the transgenic plants compared to
an unmodified control group.
The team then tested the transgenic plants under simulated
drought conditions, where they found that the modified rice showed less
leaf-rolling – an indicator of drought stress. Finally, the test plants were
subjected to field tests in Cambodia and in different locations and seasons
over a three-year period. In each case, the modified rice produced higher yields,
less leaf-rolling, greater biomass, better fertility, higher water content, and
more chlorophyll even in mild to severe drought conditions.
"Now, we have begun our next collaborative project, in
which we will generate useful rice without [genetically modified]
technology." says Takahashi. "It might take five to ten years to
reach our goal, but we must keep pressing forward because droughts and climate
change might get worse in the future."
http://newatlas.com/transgenic-rice-drought/48852/
2017/19 Rice Leadership Class Tours the Gulf
Coast
By Chuck Wilson
USA Rice
Daily, Friday, April 7, 2017
HOUSTON, TEXAS -- Last week, the 2017/19 Rice
Leadership Development Class attended the first session of the two-year program
traditionally held in the Gulf Coast area of Texas and Louisiana, making stops
that include examination of rice production practices, milling, and marketing
as well as other aspects of the U.S. rice industry.
"Our class was announced at the USA Rice
Outlook Conference in Memphis back in December and we are excited to finally
get started," said Scott Franklin, a rice farmer from Rayville,
Louisiana.
Texas highlights included sessions at Riviana
Foods, RiceTec, Inc., the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), Rice Belt
Warehouse, Doguet Rice Mill, and several rice farms.
Californian Brian Greathouse was most impressed
with Texas reservoir construction to capture excess water flowing through the
Colorado River and said, "Being from California means you're naturally
sensitive to water issues. That
reservoir being constructed by the LCRA near Lake City, Texas, is one big
rascal and will not only benefit agriculture but industry as well."
During the three-day visit to Louisiana, the
class met with Farmers Rice Milling Company and toured the bioenergy plant that
supplies the company's electricity. At
the South Louisiana Rail facility in Lacassine, Mark Pousson, an alumnus of the
program, hosted a tour of their state-of-the-art rail facility. Following a tour of the bagging facility at
Crowley's JohnPac, Inc., the group met with Dr. Steve Linscombe, also an
alumnus, at the Louisiana State University Rice Research Station, to review the
latest rice research information.
Rice farmer Kim Gallagher from Davis,
California, noted the different production practices used in the South compared
to California. "Talking to rice
farmers about how crawfish production in Louisiana is so important to the rice
industry here made me realize how integrated farmers are, no matter their
location, with the surrounding ecosystem," said Gallagher.
Safety first on
Russell Marine tour
The final stop on the tour was in New Orleans
to learn about river and barge logistics from Russell Marine Group and about
DNA and GMO testing in rice from Eurofins.
"One of the great things about this
Leadership Program is seeing aspects of our industry that are important but we
just don't think about, like JohnPac manufacturing rice bags or all that's
involved in shipping the product," said Missouri rice farmer David Martin.
Class members are rice producers Scott
Franklin, Rayville, LA; Kim Gallagher, Davis, CA; Alan Lawson, Crowley, LA;
David Martin, Bernie, MO; and Ross Thibodeaux, Midland, LA. Rice Industry representatives are Brian Greathouse,
Sutter, CA with Bunge Milling, Inc., and Dr. Jarrod Hardke, Carlisle, AR, with
the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
The Rice Leadership Development Program is
sponsored by John Deere Company, RiceTec, Inc., and American Commodity Company
through The Rice Foundation and is managed by USA Rice.
From
left: Jarrod Hardke, David Martin, Scott
Franklin, Ross Thibordaux, Alan Lawson, Brian Greathouse, and Kim Gallagher
Weedy Red Rice’
could threaten Yolo crops
POSTED: |
The name
might be cute, but the pest it belongs to could seriously damage Yolo County
rice acreage.
“Weedy
Red Rice,” also known as simply “Red Rice” has been reported on over 10,000
acres of California rice crops. The pest has a history of seriously reducing
crop yields in Southern U.S. regions, and has since been identified in nearby
counties such as Butte, Glenn, Colusa, Sutter, Yuba and Placer. Small amounts
of the infestation have also been seen in Yolo, according to the University of
California’s Agronomy and Research Information Center.
During
Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Agriculture Commissioner John Young
said the pest could mean trouble if it spreads into prime Yolo farmland. His
department is still working with emergency regulations to determine the best
way to curb the growth.
“We’re
going to be required to check some equipment,” he said. Other counties have
already set up checkpoints and trained them to spot the distinctive red color
the pest leaves on raw rice.
Weedy
Rice is the same species as domesticated rice; as of now, the weed can only be
destroyed by literally pulling it out of the ground by hand, which makes for
significant trouble in the fields.
Rice
takes seventh place on the list of Yolo County’s top commodities. 2015 reports
state rice earned the county about $36 million. In 2013 and 2014, rice yields
brought in an average of $65 million. Such large yields have led to a wide span
of buyers.
“We do a
lot of exporting,” Young said in a later interview. “The pest is of concern to
those other countries.”
The
10,000 infested acres make up about 2 percent of California’s total rice
allocation, but Weedy Rice has been known to reduce crop yields by up to 60
percent, according to AGFAX, a website devoted to the market.
“Exclusion
is the best way to prevent something from coming in,” Young said. “Then you
don’t have to deal with it.”
Growers
can learn about the pest and how to identify it on the AGFAX or Agronomy
Research Information Center websites.
Contact
Hans Peter at 530-406-6238.
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/business/20170406/weedy-red-rice-could-threaten-yolo-cropsLouisiana Rice
Planting Gets Off To A Good Start
Rice is drill-seeded on the Lounsberry Farm near Lake Arthur, Louisiana, in early March.
Planting in south Louisiana is considerably ahead of the usual planting time
because of warm weather.
Photo by Bruce Schultz/LSU AgCenter
CROWLEY,
LA.
Louisiana rice farmers have taken advantage of
warm weather to plant their 2017 crop exceptionally early.
“We had a lot of people that started planting in mid-February,” said
Steve Linscombe, director of the LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research
Station. Some farmers with large acreage had completed
planting by the first week of March, Linscombe said, estimating that as much as
70 percent of the crop had been planted by March 28.
All off-station research trials in south
Louisiana have been planted, and the first plots at the station were planted
Feb. 17. “It just jumped out of the ground,” he said. Warm
temperatures since February and dry fields that allowed drill seeding have made
planting easier for farmers to get started on this year’s crop. “The
environmental conditions we are dealing with are ideal,” Linscombe said.
Most stands look good, even in fields where
farmers used seed with low germination rates, he said.
Normally, seed has a germination rate of 80
percent or better, but environmental conditions last year affected the seed
crop and reduced the germination percentage. In response, the Louisiana
Department of Agriculture and Forestry issued an emergency ruling to lower the
seed germination standards.
“It’s really been a great start to the season,”
said AgCenter rice specialist Dustin Harrell.
By now, a little less than half of the crop
would be planted in south Louisiana, but farmers have eclipsed that because of
the warm weather. “The only reason it’s not 100 percent planted is
because people are holding out to space out their planting for harvest,”
Harrell said.
North Louisiana farmers are waiting for their fields to dry
to start planting, he said.
Linscombe said acreage planted with hybrid seed
from RiceTec is down because the company had decreased seed production last
year.
A considerable amount of two new varieties – CL153, developed
at the Rice Research Station, and CL172, developed by the University of
Arkansas – have been planted. “I’ve been very impressed with the vigor and
germination of the two new lines,” Linscombe said.
The new Provisia line of rice, also developed at
the Rice Research Station, has been planted on 500-700 acres of farmers’ field
for seed production. “This is with the expectation that the technology will be
available on a limited basis for commercial production in 2018,” he said.
Charles Reiners, who farms near Crowley with his
sons Cole and Clint and brother Pat, planted almost 300 acres of Provisia rice.
That crop will generate seed for the expected release of Provisia next year.
The herbicide-resistant Provisia technology is
needed on many farms, including the Reiners operation. “I think it’s going to
be well received,” Reiners said.
Provisia also is being planted on 350 acres of
the 2,000-acre farm of Philip, Bill, Paul and Fred Zaunbrecher, also near
Crowley. “We’re eager to see what it does,” Fred Zaunbrecher said.
Yields may be low in the first versions of
Provisia, just as yields were low in the initial Clearfield releases,
Zaunbrecher said. “The technology is definitely going to have a fit for helping
us with resistant red rice,” he said.
The Zaunbrechers also are growing the new
varieties CL153 and CL172. All varieties planted on the farm have established
good stands, with no problems evident from low germination, he said.
The good planting season is welcome news in
light of low prices. “We need an outstanding crop because we don’t see a light
at the end of the tunnel for a significant increase of prices,” Linscombe said.
South Louisiana acreage probably will be equal
to last year’s total, but north Louisiana farmers who have more flexibility in
what they plant may decrease their rice planting, he said. Louisiana rice
farmers planted 432,000 acres last year.
Planting is just getting underway in north
Louisiana. This time last year, that area was dealing with major flooding that
complicated planting for many farmers, Linscombe said.
Todd Fontenot, LSU AgCenter county agent in
Evangeline Parish, said about two-thirds of the crop is planted there.
“We usually have some acreage in the north part
of the parish that’s planted late,” he said. A large percentage of fields were
water-planted because more farmers have switched to conventional varieties to
save on seed costs.
Fontenot expects the acreage to be about the
same as 2016.
Andrew Granger, LSU AgCenter county agent in Vermilion
Parish, said farmers are almost finished in his area. “Just about all the
drill-planted rice has been planted,” he said.
Granger said he doesn’t expect much of an
acreage decrease for Vermilion.
Blackbirds eating rice seed has been a big
problem in Vermilion Parish in prior years, but that doesn’t seem to be the
case this year. “I haven’t heard a single farmer complain about it down here,”
Granger said. The bird repellent AV-1011 appears to be working.
The widespread use of the product south of I-10
could explain why the birds have become more of a problem north of the
interstate where farmers haven’t used the chemical as much, Linscombe said.
Birds have been a problem, Zaunbrecher said,
especially in one field that was flushed. “Those birds were pulling the sprouts
up and eating the seed,” he said.
A few pounds of seed treated with the bird
repellent AV-1011 were flown onto a field, and the birds left after a few
hours, Zaunbrecher said.
Jeremy Hebert, county agent in Acadia Parish,
said one farmer who planted 700 acres in mid-February had to replant much of
the crop. “A good percentage got beat up real badly by birds,” he said.
Acreage in Acadia Parish should be about the
same as last year’s 83,000 acres. “I don’t think the acreage is going to fall
off much,” Hebert said. Frances Guidry, county agent in
Jefferson Davis Parish, said it’s likely that rice acreage there won’t drop
much below the 81,000 acres of 2016. “I guess it will be about the same,” he
said. Vince Deshotel, LSU AgCenter county agent in St.
Landry Parish, estimated 50-60 percent of the acreage there is planted. He said
more farmers are returning to water-seeding conventional varieties to save
money on seed costs. ∆
Rice plants grow near Crowley,
Louisiana, in March.
The field will soon be fertilized and floodedhttp://www.mafg.net/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=5101&utm_source=April+7%2C+2017+issue+14&utm_campaign=17-14+enewsletter&utm_medium=email
Domestic price hike hurts VN rice exporters
The abnormal surge in domestic rice
prices in this year’s winter-spring crop has caused some rice exporters, who
had signed export contracts before the harvest season, to suffer losses during
the first quarter.
Rice packages being processed at
the Phuoc Thanh Production Trading Company Limited in the southern province of
Vinh Long.
This represents a decrease of 18.1
per cent in volume and 17.3 per cent in value from figures during the
corresponding period last year.
Do Ha Nam, general director of the
Intimex Group Joint Stock Company, said most exported rice was destined for the
Philippines, China and Africa, which are also the largest rice importers in
Viet Nam.
However, enterprises that were not
among those companies allowed to export to China under the protocol on plant
quarantine for Viet Nam’s rice and rice bran exports to China, found it
difficult to find markets to sell to.
Further, businesses usually signed
export contracts early, so when local rice prices declined in the harvest
season, they would buy rice from farmers, said Lam Anh Tuan, director of the
Thinh Phat Foodstuffs Co Ltd in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre.
However, the situation changed this
year when rice prices remained too high throughout the winter-spring crop, even
higher than export prices, causing the companies to lose money on those
contracts they had inked, he added.
According to rice traders in the
Mekong Delta region, the paddy price in mid-March was VND300,000-400,000
(US$13-17.8) per tonne higher than in the same period last year. The price hike
was attributed to unfavourable climate and diseases that caused paddy output to
plummet.
Nam from Intimex company said that
many enterprises were unable to respond to the sudden price hike, failing to
purchase and ship rice as scheduled.
Some even refused to deliver goods,
as stated in contracts, as they did not want to incur losses, he added.
Soaring domestic prices also led to
an increase in export prices, causing prices to reach a level $10 – 15 per
tonne higher than those offered by Thailand and India. As a result, it is
difficult for Vietnamese rice to compete with Thai or Indian goods in the same
market segment, Nam said.
Nguyen Van Don, director of the
Viet Hung Co Ltd in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, said his firm did
not sign any new export contracts from late February to March 20, while waiting
for market changes.
It is unlikely that importers would
buy Vietnamese rice, whose prices are higher than those in Thailand and India.
Meanwhile, the company would suffer from losses if it lowered prices that could
not make up for material purchases and delivery expenses, Don said.
Most of the surveyed businesses
said the market is still unpredictable, but there may be more favourable
conditions for rice exports in the third and fourth quarters when Thailand will
have finished selling its stockpiled rice.
Early this year, the Thai
government announced it would sell eight million tonnes of rice stockpiled in
the first half of the year.
Regulation changes
Rice exporters are not only
vulnerable to unexpected changes in the market, but also hurt by regulations
that create unfair competition, experts said during a recent workshop on
changes in management institutions to improve the rice value chain.
They highlighted the necessity to
repeal regulations stated in Decree 109/2010/ND-CP, which they say are
hindering the development of rice businesses.
Under the decree, only a few large
companies which satisfied strict requirements of storage and production
capacities are allowed to export rice.
According to the Central Institute
of Economic Management, before Decree 109 was issued there were 200 rice
companies exporting rice, but currently, the number of eligible firms was
reduced by half, despite the more active involvement of private firms in the
market.
Due to the decree, the major market
share of rice exports is in the hands of State-owned enterprises (SOEs), such
as Vinafood 1, Vinafood 2 and some locally-based SOEs.
Expert Pham Chi Lan said that the
decree was the worst export policy, as it offered more favourable conditions to
SOEs, and caused small, private firms and farmers to be impeded, thereby
erecting obstacles to the country’s rice exports in the context of increasingly
fierce competition in the world market.
Dao The Anh, deputy director of the
Field Crops Research Institute, said that the urgent concern was to shift the
mindset in export management from quantity-based to quality-based. To do this,
the country has to rebuild standards of Vietnamese rice, because the existing
criteria from the 1960s-1970s is out of date.
Enterprises that meet the standards
of rice quality and successfully sign contracts with foreign partners must be
permitted to export.
Currently, some firms producing
quality rice in the southernmost province of Ca Mau had to empower other intermediaries
to export their products because they were not licensed to do so, said Anh, who
offered examples.
VNS
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/176081/domestic-price-hike-hurts-vn-rice-exporters.html
Sugar, rice
prices to decline starting mid-April: Rice Division
Importers, distributors compelled to write factory sale price on
packages to eliminate random pricing, says Shehata
Ragab Shehata, head of the Rice Division at the Chamber of
Cereal Industries in the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), said that the
price of rice and sugar in the local market will be declining starting
mid-April.
He explained in a statement to the Middle East News Agency that
the decision made by the Minister of Supply and Internal Trading Aly Meselhi to
compel importers and distributors to write the factory sale price on the
packages of products as well as to ban trading goods that have no prices stamped
on them starting mid-April. This will consequently eliminate random pricing and
stocking goods, eventually benefiting consumers, according to Meselhi.
He pointed out that those who violate the new decision will be
subject to punishment, where the ministry will confiscate goods. He added that
distributors will get rid of the amounts of rice and sugar that are not priced
to avoid their confiscation.
http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2017/04/07/sugar-rice-prices-decline-starting-mid-april-rice-division/
Egypt's rice
reserves enough for six months
File Photo: A laborer transplants
rice seedlings in a paddy field in the Nile Delta town of Kafr Al-Sheikh, north
of Cairo May 28, 2008. (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt's strategic supply of rice
will cover more than six months' worth of domestic consumption, state news
agency MENA reported on Friday.
The average price stands at EGP 6.5-7.5 per kilogram, and the
food staple will be available in amounts to meet consumer needs, MENA reported
Ragab Shehata, the head of the rice division at the Egyptian Federation of
Industries, as saying.
He added that the [rice] market is currently stable and will not
see a price hike before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins in May.
Egypt's annual consumption of rice is about 3.95 million tones. while production is around 5.1 million tonnes, according to a United States Department of Agriculture report.
Egypt's annual consumption of rice is about 3.95 million tones. while production is around 5.1 million tonnes, according to a United States Department of Agriculture report.
Last month the government reached an agreement with private rice
mills to produce white rice domestically, potentially ending a standoff over
the buying price of last year's crop that has led to millions of tons of paddy
sitting idle since the harvest.
The supply ministry has said that it had agreed to pay private
mills EGP 6.3 per kg of white rice, which the government would then sell at its
outlets for EGP 6.5 per kg.
The new agreement means that private mills will instead buy up
the paddy at the current market price of about EGP 4,200, before selling it on
to the government.
Last year the irrigation ministry decreased the land area used
for the production of the water-consuming crop in the 2017 season to 704,500
feddans, in comparison with 1,076,000 feddans in 2016.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/262494/Business/Economy/Egypts-rice-reserves-enough-for-six-months.aspx
Paddy production hit by flood in
the Haors
Published at 01:10 AM April 08,
2017
Last updated at 01:11 AM April
08, 2017
People watch from one side from a
dam in Sunamganj that broke down, letting the flood into paddy fields DHAKA TRIBUNE
Many farmers have been voluntarily
participating in dam repair and reinforcement, but their efforts are mostly in
vein
Paddy production is at peril in
the Haors and low-lying areas of of the northeast as heavy rainfalls as well as
onrush of water from the upstream Meghalaya hills in India have led to the
inundation of a vast areas of croplands.
Floods have occurred in at least
four of the five districts in the region.
In Moulvibazar, which experiences
the most rainfall in Bangladesh, at least 12,800 acres of Boro paddy went under
water. Our correspondent Saiful Islam reported that farmers were seen
collecting peanuts, pumpkins and yams from the inundated fields.
Our Kishoreganj correspondent
Bijoy Roy Khoka reported that the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE)
had found around 23,300 hectares of paddy fields completely inundated. The DAE
is projecting a harvest loss of about Tk291cr there, but locals said the real
figure could be double of that.
In the Haor areas of Itna,
Mithamoin, Austagram and Karimganj upazilas, this correspondent was told by
locals that about 45,000 hectares of paddy had been spoiled till Thursday and
the total loss would stand at about Tk625cr.
All big and small rivers,
including the Meghna, Kalni, Kushiara, Dhanu, Ghorautra and Dhaleshwari had
spilled over the banks following several days of heavy rainfall.
Flash floods are a common
incident in the Haor region in the pre-monsoon period, but poor management of
the rivers and embankments and the decline in the navigability of the rivers
have worsened the situation over the years, locals say.
Most of the paddy fields at
Berachapra and Changnoagaon haors in Sutarpara union of Karimganj upazila had
been inundated by the spill over of the Duba River, claimed the farmers. Many
of them are now putting their last effort to cut the unripe paddy that can only
be used as fodder for the cattle.
Deputy Director of Kishoreganj
DAE, Md Shafiqul Islam, told the Dhaka Tribune that Austagram had been the most
adversely affected upazila in the flash flood.
“The paddy is still unripe in the
fields and getting inundated by the spill of river water. We are preparing a
list of the flood affected farmers,” said Shafiqul.
In Habiganj, almost 13,500
hectares of almost ripe paddy have gone under water. Agriculture authorities
fear that more damage would be done if the rain continues and have asked
farmers in the risky areas to harvest their paddy in its current half-ripe
state.
The officials told our
correspondent, Md Noor Uddin, that the estimated loss at this point was
Tk172cr.
Affected farmers allege corruption
In Sunamganj, farmers affected by
the flood are alleging that their losses were caused by irregularities and
delays in Water Development Board’s dam building works.
Flood entered the region on March
28 and has been growing since. Many farmers have been voluntarily participating
in dam repair and reinforcement, but their efforts are mostly in vein.
Our correspondent Himadri Shekor
Vodro, who travelled to the Haor areas in Dharmapasha, Jamalganj, Dirai,
Shalla, Bishwamvarpur and Jagannathpur, saw many farmers crying in front of
their wasted harvests.
Officials said at least 27,000
hectares were already under water.
Farmers said the Water Development Board received a Tk55cr
budget in 2016-17 fiscal for the repair and construction of Boro protection
dams in 48 Haors in the district. Although this work was scheduled to begin in
December, it began in February and therefore most were incomplete when the
flood struck
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2017/04/08/paddy-production-hit-flood-haors/
Furrow-irrigated rice may save more
than dollars and cents
Father-son team finding row rice can save on wear and tear on
equipment, rice producers.
For some rice farmers, the decision to try furrow-irrigated rice may come down
to a question of water availability or expense. For Arkansas producers Mike and
Ryan Sullivan, the issue was trips across the field.
That figures into expenses, as
well, but it can also result in a lot of wear and tear on producers and their
employees – the challenge of having to do something over and over again with no
reasonable expectation of it getting easier.
That was one of the primary
factors in Ryan Sullivan’s decision to try furrow-irrigated or row rice after
hearing Louisiana rice producer Wendell Minson discuss the concept during a
presentation at the National Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference in
Baton Rouge, La., in 2015.
“Levee gates, levees and all that
manual labor is one of the struggles we have on our farm,” says Ryan, who
operates Florenden Farms with his father, Mike Sullivan, near Burdette in
northeast Arkansas. Ryan Sullivan
joined the operation after graduating from
Arkansas State University in 2015.
The Sullivans rotate rice with
soybeans on the 13,000 acres they farm in the northeast Arkansas Delta near
Burdette. That creates a cycle of building up the 38-inch beds for twin-row
soybeans, tearing them down, constructing levees for rice, smoothing out the
ruts after rice harvest and building the beds again.
Build levee – repeat
“There’s not very much rice
behind rice so every year we were having to do all this field work,” he said.
“It was just a tradition that when you cut the rice you had to knock the levees
down; you had to work the ruts out and do all the things you had to do to get
the land ready for next year.
“When I heard Wendell speak about furrow-irrigated rice, it just clicked that
maybe we could grow rice without all that field work,” said Ryan, who was a
speaker at the 2017 National Conservation Systems Cotton and Rice Conference.
The younger Sullivan included a
video shot from an unmanned aerial vehicle or drone showing one of the 80-acre
fields where the Sullivans grew row rice in 2016. (To watch the video, click on http://bit.ly/2nSqnsr.)
The ease of transitioning from
one year to the next may be the biggest advantage for row rice on Florenden
Farms.
“The way that it fits into our
system is the last trip before that drill (to plant the row rice) there was the
combine cutting the beans,” he said, referring to a photo of a tractor pulling
a grain drill to plant rice across a field of 38-inch beds.
Two trips saved and more
“In the field beside it, our
comparison field, after we cut the beans, we ran a scratcher, a field
cultivator, and a Kelly Diamond to smooth it out behind that to get it ready to
plant rice. So that’s already two trips we saved on this row rice field.”
Then there’s building the levees
after the rice is drilled. “In our kind of dirt, you can’t put up a good strong
levee with less than five trips (with a levee plow). It’s just gumbo clods, and
it takes that many times to get a good levee built. That’s a big deal for us in
that you’re not having to do all those trips across the field when you’re
putting up levees. There’s also no more harvesting in the mud.”
Eliminating the levee gates in
conventionally planted and flooded rice also reduces the amount of manual
labor.
Sullivan settled on drilling the rice at an angle to the rows to help with the
down pressure on the drill, which, in turn, helps provide better coverage of
the seed. “It probably depends on the soil, but this worked better for us.”
The father and son use the Delta
Plastic Pipe Planner software program on all their fields, including the row
rice. They punched a hole for each 38-inch row middle in the furrow-irrigated
rice to make sure they put out enough water. (They water ever other middle in
the soybeans planted on the 38-inch beds.)
Pushing water to the end
“We were able to put a deep
enough flood on the young rice on that .10-of-an-inch slope with the furrow
system,” he said. “The water covered all but the top 25 percent.”
As they do on most of their rice,
the Sullivans applied a standard rate of Roundup and 16 ounces of Command
behind the grain drill on their row rice fields. Because of cold temperatures
and the slow emergence of the rice, a week later they applied two ounces of
Sharpen.
“That was to try to hold the
pigweeds back,” he noted. “That’s what we put out before the rice came up. Then
we came back with half a pound of Facet and another 8 ounces of Command before
we applied the flood.” (To learn more about herbicides in row rice, click on http://bit.ly/2ogXitL.)
Rice growers usually don’t worry
about Palmer amaranth in their rice bays because the pigweed won’t come up in
the flood water. “In a traditional environment, you just flood them out –
that’s what I’ve always been taught.”
The situation is different in row
rice, and Sullivan is hopeful researchers like Bob Scott, University of
Arkansas Extension weed scientist who appeared on the program with him at the
National Conservation Systems Conference, can provide some answers about
controlling Palmer amaranth in a low-flood environment.
Heaven for pigweeds
“The top end of the field in row
rice is just staying muddy,” he said, showing a photo of an 18-inch pigweed
that put out new roots after it was pulled up in the field. “So you can’t flood
them out. This environment is heaven for them.”
The Sullivans received a
five-inch rain after they applied the 2 ounces of Sharpen pre-emergence “so I’m
not sure how much activity we actually received from that application.”
Sullivan said he applied slightly
more water (40 acre inches compared to 36 acre inches) and made one more
herbicide application (the 2 ounces of Sharpen) in the furrow-irrigated rice
vs. the comparison field (in which he used alternate wetting and drying).
Nevertheless, the
furrow-irrigated rice had lower costs ($336.14 an acre compared to $369.70 an
acre for the more conventional rice) and produced more revenue ($635.00 an acre
vs. $609.30 an acre) than the alternate wetting and drying field they compared
with the row rice.
“We did not get much assistance
from rainfall in this first year of row rice,” he said. “That figure for
irrigation water (40 acre inches) might seem alarming, but more normal rainfall
conditions probably would help offset the water usage.
“And I think might have used too
much water. We applied the water each time it started looking dry,” he said.
“We had soil moister meters in the research projects on our farm, but we didn’t
use them this first year. I think we can use less water with closer management
of the furrow-irrigated vs. flood-irrigated rice.”
Horticulture
exports jump, cereals contract in Apr-Feb period
India's exports
of fresh fruits have jumped by a staggering 20.95 per cent in volume terms
Dilip Kumar Jha |
21
Dehydrated
onion exports decrease by 50% this yearGrapes bump up fruit exports by 40%US
cut in anti-dumping duty on shrimps to boost exportsDemonetisation puts brakes
on agri-commodity exportsAgri input companies on fertile ground
•
India is
making big inroads in horticulture (fruits and vegetables) exports with an
improvement in quality and a special focus on market-specific approach to reach
out to customers according to their requirement.
Data
compiled by the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development
Authority (Apeda) showed India’s exports of fresh fruits have jumped by a
staggering 20.95 per cent in volume terms and 17.4 per cent in value terms
during the period between April 2016 and February 2017.
This
shows a sharp reversal in trend until last year when overseas importers were
cautiously monitoring souring of horticulture products from India. In fact,
many overseas buyers, including countries in the European Union and the Middle
East, had imposed temporary suspensions on imports of fruits and vegetables
from India. The reason cited for these suspensions was that Indian products
were of an inferior quality when compared to global standards.
However,
it appears that Indian exporters have become quality conscious. Horticulture
shares 10 per cent in India’s overall agri and processed food exports recorded
by Apeda.
“India
has become more quality conscious by maintaining products’ standard according
to market requirement. Indian horticulture products like fruits and vegetables
were not allowed in a number of countries earlier. For example, Indian grapes
and mangoes were not exported to European countries earlier. But, market access
has been provided now. Most importantly, Indian exporters are focusing on
organic products that have greater demand overseas and also fetch higher
realisation. All these issues put together have helped India perform so well.
Still, India is nowhere near to its potential and we can look for a quantum
jump in horticulture exports going forward,” said Ajay Sahai, director general
and chief executive officer, Federation of Indian Export Organisations.
India’s
exports of fresh vegetables declined steadily to 699,600.34 tonnes, valued at
$323.87 million, for 2015-16 from the level of 953,731.22 tonnes, valued
$374.07 million, in 2013-14. Similarly, fresh mango exports declined to
156,218.34 tonnes, valued at $49.54 million, for 2015-16 from 192,616.91
tonnes, valued at $50.55 million.
The
entry of large corporates, including Mahindra and Mahindra, into the
farm-to-fork business, along with advisory on sowing, harvesting and selling,
has ensured huge strides in grape exports. In fact, India’s fresh grape exports
shot up to 156,218.34 tonnes, valued at $232.07 million, for 2015-16 from
107,257.81 tonnes, valued at $203.44 million, in the previous year.
“Apart
from fresh fruits, India must explore exports of processed horticulture
products also. The phenomenal growth in horticulture products is a nice blend
of the government’s policy and entrepreneurship of Indian exporters. India’s
exports of horticulture products would continue to witness a phenomenal growth
in future as well,” said a senior industry official.
Meanwhile,
India’s exports of cereals have declined or witnessed marginal growth, with
shipments of basmati rice falling by a marginal 3.4 per cent in volume terms
and over 14 per cent in value terms in the period between April and February.
Exports of non-basmati rice, however, rose by a marginal 2.2 per cent and 4.94
per cent in volume and value terms, respectively. Apart from rice, exports of
wheat and other cereals also fell sharply during the 11-month period ending
February 2017.
“While
exports of horticulture are promoted by the government to fetch better
realisation than domestic price, shipment of cereals and other agri products
are politically driven. Hence, exports of cereals, including wheat and
non-basmati rice, might continue to fall going forward,” said another industry
official.
Data
compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations showed
global markets in oversupply for cereals resulting in lower imports.
