Volume 30 · Number 3 · Spring 2013
The Campaign for UC Davis: Bringing better rice research to the table
Rice growers will get expert help to improve their crops and address environmental needs, thanks to a $1 million endowment from the California Rice Research Board.
The endowment will support a new Cooperative Extension specialist position in the Department of Plant Sciences who will provide growers, small business owners and consumers with research-based information on rice.
James Hill, Ph.D. ’72., associate dean for International Programs in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and an expert on rice, said the specialist will collaborate with leading researchers in a variety of disciplines across campus to address rice production issues.
“The rice industry recognizes their need to work with scientists from broad areas to develop solutions to problems that may affect rice crops,” Hill said. “It may be production, but if there’s an issue with toxicology or an issue with waterfowl, they know they can be connected to the right expert.”
California is the nation’s second largest rice-producing state, with annual rice production nearing 4.5 billion pounds. And UC Davis is located in the heart of rice country, with more than 95 percent of the state’s rice crops cultivated within 100 miles of Sacramento.
The partnership between the California Rice Research Board and UC is a longstanding one, with the rice board collaborating with UC to advance research on weed control, pest management and crop varieties while helping to keep California growers competitive in the marketplace. At UC Davis, scientists, including Hill, are studying how global warming and greenhouse gas emissions affect rice production. Hill and his colleagues have worked on various rice research initiatives, including developing alternatives to rice-straw burning, reducing pesticide use and preserving the expansive wildlife habitat in California’s wetlands — research advanced because of support from the California Rice Research Board.
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