Writer: Ana Maria Sierra, (409) 862-1556
Contact: Dr. Garry McCauley, (409) 245-4100
COLLEGE STATION — Faculty of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service and Experiment Station recently were honored with the Clean Texas 2000 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence in Agriculture.
Gov. George W. Bush presented the award to Dr. Garry McCauley, Experiment Station researcher, James Engbrock, Matagorda County Extension agent, and the Extension Agriculture Program’s Council Rice Committee, recognizing their work on a program related to pesticide and nutrient management in rice production. The committee of 15 Matagorda County rice farmers, agricultural professionals and agribusinesses began working in 1992 to evaluate the agronomic efficiency and environmental impact of nutrients and pesticides in rice production on Texas’ environmentally sensitive estuary system.
“Matagorda County rice farmers have decided that they need to know the environmental impact of management practices and to refine the management practices to eliminate or minimize negative environmental impacts,” Engbrock said.
The project involves rice farmers taking samples of the water held in their rice fields and submitting them for testing at the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center in Beaumont. The results then are used to decide which nutrients and pesticides work best and are the most environmentally sound.
“These and other practices,” said Engbrock, “ensure that the water held in the rice fields for a sufficient period of time is of the highest quality.”
The information gathered is disseminated to participating rice farmers through various field days and rice clinics.
Engbrock said that because the farmers collect the samples, the low project cost makes it self sustaining.
“The grass roots involvement and guidance makes it an exceptional program,” he said.
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