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If Texas A&M University researchers are successful, a new, ultra-high-yield variety of rice, which should be ready for market by 2010, could be the most inexpensive way to conserve enough water to meet rice farmers' needs over the next half century as the population of South and Central Texas continues to grow.
Researchers are working to develop a rice variety that yields more grain and uses less water because its longer growing season precludes farmers from growing a second or "ratoon" rice crop. The additional yield is expected to compensate for the loss of a second crop.
Water savings from this long season rice is important to long-range water planning for San Antonio, Austin and downstream communities.
A proposed interbasin transfer from the lower Colorado River to San Antonio, under study now by the Lower Colorado River Authority and the San Antonio Water System, would include four off-channel reservoirs, some groundwater development for rice irrigation and water conservation to supply water to San Antonio. Agricultural water conservation will be an important part of developing enough new water needed to for meeting the needs of the LCRA-SAWS Water Project. Developing an ultra-high-yield rice variety is a part of the project.
Agribusiness under pressure to conserve water
"As urban areas of our state continue to grow, agriculture is under increased pressure to develop practices that conserve water," said Dr. Ted Wilson, Texas A&M professor and director of the Texas A&M Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Beaumont and the Rice Research Station in Eagle Lake.
Practices such as laser leveling of farmland, improved water management and development of more water-efficient rice varieties, which A&M has developed through more than 55 years of rice research, have been responsible for increasing water-use efficiency over the last 10 years, Wilson said.
But these varieties of rice, which have a short growing season like others commonly used in South Texas, aren't enough to save enough water to meet projected population demand in South Texas and the lower Colorado River basin.
A new variety of longer-growing rice holds the promise of pulling off what now seems like a daunting prospect. The A&M experiment station in Beaumont is now testing a water-efficient, ultra high-yield variety of rice.
Water savings is estimated at 45,000 acre-feet per year, enough to supply water to a city the size of Waco for one year.
"Being able to conserve water used for agricultural use is important to the project, and it appears that one very most cost-effective way to do that is through a higher-yield rice," said Scott Ahlstrom, LCRA's manager of the LCRA-SAWS Water Project.
New variety would require less water
This variety is anticipated to require less water to grow and yields 40 to 46 percent higher than current short-season varieties. "Because it takes 10 days to two weeks longer to be ready for harvest, farmers won't have time to grow a second crop," said Dr. Jobaid Kabir, LCRA's manager of environmental compliance, who began working with the A&M experiment station as an LCRA water planner.
Water saving benefits can only be realized if rice growers are willing to sow their fields with A&M's new seed. Kabir is optimistic, however, that the rice get have widespread commercial use.
"The idea of developing new rice variety originated with our irrigation customers," Kabir said. "It was the rice farmers who came to us to develop it because it conserves water, and if they don't save water they won't be able to stay in business."
Wilson is optimistic that by 2009 -- when an estimated 250,000 to 450,000 acres of South Texas farmland will be devoted to rice production and 75 percent of that as second crops -- ultra high-yield rice could reduce water use by 147,000 to 304,000 acre-feet per year.
Though the rice variety is considered the most cost-effective way to conserve the water necessary to offset projected water shortages for agriculture, it's also one of the riskier, said Kabir and Wilson.
"Development of a commercially viable, ultra-high-yield rice plant requires a major plant breeding effort," Wilson said.
This rice will have to be larger than conventional varieties to accommodate the need for a greater leaf area to feed a larger grain crop. It will also take longer to mature. To develop such a plant, researchers will need to continue work to cross-pollinate rice types to produce a robust plant with both characteristics, Wilson said.
"Like in a mutual fund, some investments are riskier, but their potential reward is higher," Kabir said. "Of the various strategies considered for the LCRA-SAWS Water Project, this new variety of rice would have the highest risk, but dollar for dollar, potential water conservation would be the highest as well."
Lisa Trow is an LCRA writer specializing in water topics. Contact her at lisa.trow@lcra.org.
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