Rice Content

California Rice and Conservation

Andy Fell — April 07, 2025 - 4:12pm

In 1991, the state of California largely banned burning of rice straw after harvest, and farmers turned instead to winter flooding of fields to break down straw. As a result, wildlife has flourished in rice fields which reproduce, to some extent, the wetland habitat that once covered most of California's Central Valley. Rice fields now support some 200 species including fish, birds and reptiles.

California Rice and Wildlife Report Released

Katherine E Kerlin — February 27, 2025 - 9:00am

How many acres of rice are needed to support wildlife? 51�ԹϺ�� Davis outlines a conservation footprint for the state's rice in a report for the California Rice Commission.

Making High-yielding Rice Affordable and Sustainable

Andy Fell — November 20, 2024 - 10:53am

Rice is a staple food crop for more than half the world’s population, but most farmers don’t grow high-yielding varieties because the seeds are too expensive. Researchers from the University of California’s Davis and Berkeley campuses have identified a potential solution: activating two genes in rice egg cells that trigger their development into embryos without the need for fertilization, which would efficiently create high-yielding clonal strains of rice and other crops.

Genome Editing Used to Create Disease Resistant Rice

Andy Fell — June 15, 2023 - 10:11am

Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and an international team of scientists used the genome-editing tool CRISPR-Cas to create disease resistant rice plants, according to a new study published in the journal Nature June 14.

Growing Cereal Crops With Less Fertilizer

Amy M Quinton — August 05, 2022 - 9:47am

51�ԹϺ�� Davis researchers have found a way to reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed to grow cereals such as rice, wheat and corn.

Discovery Increases Likelihood of Growing Food Despite Drought

Andy Fell — May 18, 2021 - 8:35am

University of California scientists have discovered genetic data that will help food crops like tomatoes and rice survive longer, more intense periods of drought on our warming planet.

Rice Plants That Reproduce as Clones From Seed

Andy Fell — December 12, 2018 - 1:21pm

Plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, have discovered a way to make crop plants replicate through seeds as clones. The discovery, long sought by plant breeders and geneticists, could make it easier to propagate high-yielding, disease-resistant or climate-tolerant crops and make them available to the world’s farmers.

The researchers published their findings Dec. 12 in the journal Nature.

Study: Floodplain Farm Fields Benefit Juvenile Salmon

Katherine E Kerlin — June 07, 2017 - 4:54pm

A new study offers a beacon of hope for a cease-fire in the Golden State’s persistent water wars.

Surface Ozone Pollution Damages Rice Production in China

Patricia Bailey — March 13, 2017 - 11:00am

Researchers at 51�ԹϺ�� Davis and in China have quantified rice-yield losses associated with surface-ozone pollution and pinpointed the growth stage when the plants are most vulnerable.

Nigiri Project Mixes Salmon and Rice Fields for Fifth Year on Floodplain

Katherine E Kerlin — February 23, 2016 - 3:13pm

Experiment shows how floodplains can benefit both farms and fish. Farmland can act as surrogate wetlands for salmon and be managed to mimic the Sacramento River's natural annual flooding cycle. This year, the project will compare food web productivity and fish growth in three kinds of river habitat.