In the last post I described some experiments I was conducting to determine if the redshouldered stink bug could be the cause of some "mysterious" cases of pecky rice. The result is clear: when caged on heading rice plants, this stink bug can definitively feed on developing kernels and cause peck.
Every year for the past 3 or 4 years I've been hearing of rice that is graded No. 2 because of "peck". It's always been just a few isolated cases, except in 2011 when we had some early rains during harvest. The free water on the surface of the the grains may allow fungi to grow and stain the kernel.
Japanese millet is not a weed of rice in our area. However, a PCA recently noticed it in an organic rice field. Japanese millet is in the same genus as our common watergrasses, and looks similar, but is much more robust. It seems to grow well under flooded and dry conditions.
RICE FIELD DAY Wednesday, August 28, 2013 Rice Experiment Station, Biggs, CA The annual Rice Field Day will be Wednesday, August 28, 2013, at the Rice Experiment Station (RES), Biggs, California.
This is the first time since I moved to California that I've seen leafhoppers actually injuring rice. Leaf tips turned yellow, and from the road it looks like salt injury, but once you get in the field you can see leafhopper nymphs and adults jumping and flying around.
