Rice Farming

Within six years of its release, the rice variety Cocodrie has become the king of Mid-South rice production, occupying more acres than any other single variety.

Based on the limited amount of seed acreage planted in 2003, Louisiana State University rice breeders believe Cheniere, which they released as foundation seed in 2003, may eventually dethrone Cocodrie, also a LSU release.

Not only does Cheniere have similar yield potential and straw strength as Cocodrie, but the newcomer appears to have less kernel chalkiness and fewer problems with sticky bran during milling. It also appears less susceptible to straighthead.

“I think that both Clearfield 161 and Cheniere will take a noticeable amount of the Cocodrie market in 2004 because of their superior grain quality,” says Jacko Garrett, a Danbury, Texas, seed producer who planted Cheniere for seed increase in 2003. “Even though the supply is limited, there will be an adequate amount of seed available this year for farmers to plant and get a good idea of how it will perform relative to the other varieties that are available.”

Seed producers planted Cheniere as foundation seed in 2003 and harvested registered seed. The registered seed will be available this season to grow fields of certified seed.

What to expect in the field
Cheniere is a semi-dwarf, long-grain variety that has similar height and lodging resistance to Cocodrie, says Steve Linscombe, LSU rice breeder and regional director of the LSU AgCenter’s Southwest Regional Office. In trials, it also appears less susceptible to straighthead than Cocodrie.

Cheniere matures about four to five days later than Cocodrie, more in the range of Cypress, Linscombe says. If you plant the newcomer by early to mid-April and harvest it by early August, it still has the potential to produce a second crop.

Based on the limited amount of the new variety grown so far, Linscombe says it appears to yield as good or better than Cocodrie and have as good or better milling turnout.

G&H Seed Co. of Crowley, La., had two fields of Cheniere in 2003, and Earl Garber was pleased with the outcome.

One field yielded 42 barrels per acre dry, the other 46 barrels per acre dry for the main crop. That’s about 6,800 pounds and 7,450 pounds per acre, respectively.

The field yielding 42 barrels per acre was water seeded at about 100 pounds per acre. The field yielding 46 barrels per acre was drill seeded at 65 pounds per acre.

The water-seeded field also was ratooned and yielded about 11.5 barrels dry per acre—or about 1,860 pounds—for the second crop.

The milling yields were 103 and 107 pounds of head rice per barrel—about 63.5 and 66 pounds per hundredweight—respectively.

“The milling looks like it will be better than Cocodrie—more in line with Cypress,” says Garber, G&H’s product support specialist.

Garrett is hesitant to discuss yields because he says his seed fields don’t reflect growers’ typical commercial production practices. Garrett uses a vacuum seeder, plants at unusually low seeding rates—3.5 to 10 pounds per acre—on new releases and babies the fields throughout the season.

“Our operation is really not the norm,” Garrett says. “When planting very low seeding rates, it’s like taking care of a 3-pound infant in an incubator situation.”

Nevertheless, Garrett says the variety appears to have a good yield potential, based on what he’s seen in his fields.

“One thing I observe when planting low seeding rates is how well a variety tillers,” he says. “It is difficult to cut 45 barrels on ultra-low seeding rates unless the variety tillers well.” And Garrett says Cheniere is a strong tillerer.

Like Cocodrie, Cheniere is susceptible to sheath blight and blast, and most years growers should budget a fungicide application, Linscombe says.

As far as other cultural practices, such as fertility, Cheniere can be managed the same as you would Cocodrie, Linscombe says.

A winner with the millers
Where growers and particularly millers will see the difference is in grain quality compared to Cocodrie.

Linscombe says LSU didn’t realize milling was going to be an issue until two years after it released Cocodrie.

“Cocodrie is not a bad miller from the standpoint of head rice yields,” Linscombe says. “The problem we run into is it very often has grain appearance issues. It has more of a gray than Cypress, and it’s more difficult to mill in terms of bran, which tends to be a bit oilier, and it’s difficult to get off in some loads.”

The variety also tends to have more chalky kernels than Cypress, considered the benchmark for milling quality.

Based on his experiences with Cocodrie, Linscombe sent samples of Cheniere to mills in Louisiana and Texas and to Producers and Riceland Foods in Arkansas to have them mill the grain.

“They all gave us favorable reviews,” Linscombe says.

Garrett also sent samples to Texas mills before he planted any Cheniere to be sure they would accept the variety.

“Every one of them came back saying it certainly was a good quality rice, and it was one they would use as a package rice,” Garrett says. “The mills like a clear/white grain with minimal chalk for package rice, and that has been a problem for the mills with Cocodrie.”

Pirogue, a new short grain
At the time LSU released Cheniere in 2003, it also released Pirogue, a true short-grain rice intended for specialty packaged markets. It has a pearl-like appearance and is resistant to both blast and sheath blight. It also is tolerant to straighthead.

Linscombe initially believed it would be grown on a limited basis under contract for one, perhaps two, local mills.

Instead last season, he says, a few other mills also were interested in it. Nevertheless, he warns growers to make sure they have a home for Pirogue before they plant it. It is not a proprietary variety.

“I don’t think we will have a tremendous acreage grown, but it met our expectations,” Linscombe says. “Yields were very good. Although we were a little bit concerned about lodging, it wasn’t a problem this year [2003].”

Contact Vicky Boyd at (209) 571-0414 or vlboyd@att.net.

Agronomic characteristics and yields of varieties in Louisiana, 2001-2003
Variety	Grain type	Lodging	Days to 50-% heading	Plant Ht. (inches)	Milling % (whole-total)				Grain Yield (pounds/acre)
					2001	2002	2003	Mean	2001	2002	2003	Mean *
Cheniere	long grain	R	81	36	64-70	65-70	68-73	66-71	7,767	7,862	6,995	7,477
Cocodrie	long grain	R	78	36	64-69	64-69	67-72	65-70	7,297	7,709	7,227	7,381
Cypress	long grain	MS	82	37	67-70	67-71	69-73	68-72	6,812	6,766	6,416	6,637
Francis	long grain	MS	79	40	62-69	61-68	64-70	63-69	8,569	7,800	7,113	7,764
Wells	long grain	MS	80	41	63-70	62-70	64-71	63-70	7,901	7,616	7,422	7,627

Clearfield
CL 121	long grain	MR	75	34	66-71	62-70	69-72	66-71	6,891	6,789	5,731	6,389
CL 161	long grain	MS	82	39	66-70	67-71	70-73	68-72	6,892	7,272	6,076	6,662

* Mean is the average of 22 yield trials conducted over the three-year period. Mean is not the average of the three years (2001-2003) since there were different numbers of trials each year.
Abbreviations: HR=highly resistant; R=resistant; MR=moderately resistant; MS=moderately susceptible; S=susceptible; HS=highly susceptible

Source: Louisiana State University AgCenter