UC Rice Blog

This year we saw severe blast in some areas of the Valley. I did not see any leaf blast during tillering and only noticed blast during heading. After talking with some growers and PCAs, it seems that this was common in several areas.

Richvale: Tuesday, January 9, 8:00 am, Evangelical Church, 5219 Church St., Richvale Willows: Tuesday, January 9, 1:00 pm, Glenn County Office of Education, 311 South Villa Avenue, Willows Colusa: Wednesday, January 10, 8:00 am, CIP Conference Room, 100 Sunrise Blvd.

I wrote in a previous Newsletter article about some new research we are doing testing no-till drill seeded rice production. Why are we doing this? It is one way to save considerable amounts of irrigation water. We estimate that up to 0.5 ac ft/ac of water could be saved.

Certified seed production returned to normal levels in 2023. The CA Crop Improvement Assn. passed 27,818 acres for seed. Field inspections were initiated in early August and the last inspections took place in early October.

Rice production in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region has been steadily increasing in recent years (Table 1). While Delta acreage is only a fraction of that in the Sacramento Valley, Delta yields are consistent with statewide averages.