77th Beaumont Rice Field Day set for July 10
Field day will feature latest rice breeding, disease weed and pest management research
Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will host the 77th annual Beaumont Rice Field Day on July 10 in Beaumont.
The free event will be held from 8 a.m. to noon at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Beaumont, 1509 Aggie Drive, and will conclude with a barbecue lunch.
“Empowering Texas Rice Producers for Marketability and Competitiveness” will showcase recent developments in inbred and hybrid rice breeding, plant physiology, and nutrient, disease, weed and insect management.
Morning field tour topics
Tours will begin at 8 a.m. and the following are scheduled stops and speakers from the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Beaumont:
- Specialty rice breeding and digital rice — Omar Samonte, Ph.D., AgriLife Research rice breeder and associate professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Yubin Yang, Ph.D., AgriLife Research integrated cropping systems management researcher and assistant professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences.
- Physiology and inbred breeding — Lee Tarpley, Ph.D., AgriLife Research plant physiologist and professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Shyamal Talukder, Ph.D., AgriLife Research hybrid rice breeder and assistant professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences.
- Nutrient management and entomology — Fugen Dou, Ph.D., AgriLife Research scientist in crop nutrient management and professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Lina Bernaola, Ph.D., AgriLife Research entomologist and assistant professor, Department of Entomology.
- Disease and weed management — Shane Zhou, Ph.D., AgriLife Research plant pathologist and professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, and Sam Rustom, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomist and assistant professor, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences.
Indoor program agenda
The indoor program will begin at 10:45 a.m.
Mithila Jugulam, Ph.D., director of the Texas A&M AgriLife center at Beaumont and professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, will provide an overview of the center’s research.
Other topics and speakers will include:
- Growing together: The road ahead for the Texas A&M AgriLife center at Beaumont and our rice producers — Jugulam.
- Factors affecting the U.S. rice industry — Brad Watkins, Ph.D., professor, Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Arkansas.
- The basics of crawfish production and economics — Kurt Guidry, Ph.D., professor and associate director, Louisiana State University AgCenter, Louisiana State University.
For more information, contact Brandy Morace, senior administrative coordinator at the Texas A&M AgriLife center at Beaumont, at 409-752-2741 or [email protected].
