More than half the rice planted in Arkansas in 2004 was of varieties developed by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, said Dr. Karen Moldenhauer (photo), rice breeder and geneticist at the Rice Research and Extension Center.

Fifty-one percent of the rice grown in Arkansas in 2004 was of varieties developed in the Arkansas rice variety improvement program, Moldenhauer said.

“Arkansas farmers produce more than 45 percent of the rice grown in the United States under dynamic production conditions that differ from those in other rice-growing areas,” Moldenhauer said. “Because of this prominence, Arkansas rice farmers depend on the Arkansas rice variety improvement program.”

Rice breeders Moldenhauer and Dr. James Gibbons work with Division of Agriculture plant pathologists, entomologists, soil scientists, weed scientists and others in cooperation with scientists in other states and the USDA to provide a progression of improved varieties.

Seventeen varieties have been released from the Arkansas breeding program since 1980, Moldenhauer said. Genetic improvement in disease resistance, plant types, grain and milling yields, quality and other traits have helped increase yield and grain quality while controlling production costs. Each variety comes with management recommendations developed through research on plant nutrients, diseases, insect pests, weeds and other areas.

Improved high-yielding varieties like Frances, Wells and Ahrent have had a big impact on the state’s agricultural economy. The average rough rice yield in Arkansas was 4,110 pounds per acre in 1980, Moldenhauer said. A record 6,800 pounds per acre was produced in 2004.

“Assigning a conservative value of 60 percent of this 2,690 pounds per acre yield increase to new varieties, the average monetary gain in 2004 would be about $179 million for the 1.56 million acres of rice grown in Arkansas, of which some $91.3 million is due to the new Arkansas varieties,” she said.

Arkansas rice producers provide check-off funds administered by the Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board to help support a dynamic rice breeding program by Arkansas scientists in cooperation with researchers in other states and the USDA. Check-off funding for the breeding program was started in 1980 and has increased substantially over the years.

“We’re continually working toward new varieties with higher yields, improved disease and pests resistance, superior grain and milling characteristics and other traits that will give Arkansas producers advantages in the field and the marketplace,” Moldenhauer said.