The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas A&M AgriLife Research will host the 50th annual Eagle Lake Rice Field Day on June 25 in Eagle Lake.

Rice plants in a field. Producers will hear the latest rice research and commodity market updates from agency experts during the June 25 Eagle Lake Rice Field Day.
Producers will hear the latest rice research and commodity market updates from agency experts during the June 25 Eagle Lake Rice Field Day. (Michael Miller/Texas A&M AgriLife)

The event will begin at 4 p.m. at the David R. Wintermann Rice Research Station, Farm-to-Market Road 102, followed by an evening program at 6 p.m. at the Eagle Lake Community Center, 100 N. Walnut Ave.

Agency experts will provide updates on specialty rice breeding, plant physiology, plant nutrition, and insect, weed and disease management.

Two Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units will be available to private pesticide license holders and a catered meal will be provided during the evening program.

Tour topics, speakers

The following are scheduled tour stops:

  • Specialty rice breeding — Stanley Omar Samonte, Ph.D., AgriLife Research rice breeder and associate professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Beaumont.
  • Inbred rice breeding — Shyamal Talukder, Ph.D., AgriLife Research hybrid rice breeder and associate professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Beaumont.
  • Alternate wetting and drying on rice and opportunities for those interested in climate-smart production — Fugen Dou, Ph.D., AgriLife Research scientist in crop nutrient management and professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Beaumont.
  • Rice kernel smut spore release over a cropping season and management strategies using effective fungicides and resistant varieties — Xin-Gen “Shane” Zhou, Ph.D., AgriLife Research plant pathologist and professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Beaumont.
  • Invasive rice planthopper monitoring — Lina Bernaola, Ph.D., AgriLife Research entomologist and assistant professor in the Department of Entomology, Beaumont.
  • Weed management challenges and strategies — Sam Rustom, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension agronomist and assistant professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Beaumont.

Evening program agenda

The evening program will begin at 6 p.m. with a dinner. Rustom will discuss his role in AgriLife Extension and how the utilization of Acetyl-CoA carboxylase, or ACCase, herbicide resistant rice technology will help control some the most difficult grass weeds encountered in Texas rice production.

George Knapek, Ph.D., program manager, Agricultural and Food Policy Center, Bryan-College Station, will update producers on the farm bill and other agricultural policies affecting the rice industry.

The evening program is coordinated by the Colorado County Rice Committee, which is comprised of producers who meet annually to identify relevant and applicable topics to producers.

For more information, contact the station at 979-234-3578 or call the AgriLife Extension office in Colorado County at 979-732-2082.

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