University of California launches new rice website
The University of California Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources has launched a new website designed to be a one-stop shop of production-related information and research.
Found at http://www.rice.ucanr.edu, University of California Rice Online contains information on variety trials, herbicide resistance, degree-days, fertility management, pest management, past Extension presentations and upcoming meetings, among other subjects.
The site also has interactive decision tools, such as the degree-day model that projects the date of panicle initiation, 50 percent heading and R7 — about three weeks after heading and typically the time to drain fields.
Users simply click on a nearby weather station displayed on a map and input their variety and planting date. The tool, drawing from historic weather data, projects the three plant growth stages.
Mississippi State updates insect guide
Mississippi State University has published “2016 Insect Control Guide for Agronomic Crops” in a free, downloadable version or in a print edition available at county Extension offices.
The updated guide has removed pyrethroid insecticides for bollworm control for all crops because of resistance and poor control. Based on a large, multi-state project, researchers also have added a dynamic threshold for bollworms, also known as podworms, in soybeans.
The guide covers cotton, soybeans, corn, grain sorghum, wheat, sweetpotatoes, rice, peanuts and pasture. Download a copy from http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2471.pdf.
University of Arkansas publishes disease guide
The University of Arkansas has published its latest guide to diseases of tree and row crops ranging from apples to zucchini, including soybeans and rice. The 95-page manual, known officially as MP154, is available free for the download at http://bit.ly/1QBWTdX.
With rice, for example, the guide provides disease-control measures from seed treatments to kernel smut and neck blast.
The soybean section addresses seedborne pathogens and continues through to foliar problems, such as soybean rust. It also contains a chart so you can compare efficacy of various products against specific diseases.
In addition, the guide contains information for cotton, wheat, corn, peanuts, vegetables, small fruit and tree fruit.
LSU AgCenter releases two new rice varieties
The Louisiana State University AgCenter has released two new Clearfield rice varieties that are tolerant to imadazolinone herbicide. They come from the breeding program of Dr. Steve Linscombe at the AgCenter’s H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station near Crowley.
CL 153 is an early maturing semi-dwarf long-grain with excellent grain yield, good grain quality and very good resistance to blast disease. CL 153, however, is susceptible to sheath blight and moderately susceptible to bacterial panicle blight.
In trials, CL 153 yielded an average of 200 pounds per acre more than CL 151, which has the highest yield potential among current Clearfield pureline (not hybrid) varieties.
The other release, CL 272, is an early maturing semi-dwarf medium-grain with excellent grain yield and good grain quality. It averaged about 300 pounds per acre more than CL 271, the current high-yielding medium-grain, and also has much better grain quality.
CL 272 shares similarities with CL 271 for plant height, lodging susceptibility and resistance to major Louisiana rice diseases.
In 2016, acreage seeded to the two new varieties will be devoted primarily to registered and certified seed producers. Certified seed of both varieties should be readily available in 2017.