Twenty-five years ago Louisiana was predominantly a medium-grain producing state. In the decade of the 1980s, we planted approximately 65 percent of our acreage in medium-grain varieties, with the reminder seeded to long-grain types. In 2008, Louisiana planted over 95 percent of our acreage in long-grain types.

One of the most important functions of the LSU AgCenter’s Rice Research Station is the production of foundation rice seed. The Rice Research Station produces foundation seed primarily of varieties developed by the station.

“Proceedings of Symposium on Current Status of Coastal Wetland Plants Research and Restoration Efforts at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station, November 14, 2008. Meeting overview, Agenda, Presentation abstracts, Author information, and List of registered attendees are provided”.

The Rice Research Institute located at the Guangxi Academy is renowned for its expertise in rice research, and this is the primary purpose of our visit. We hope to establish long-term collaborative research efforts between this Chinese research facility and the Rice Station that will ultimately benefit the Louisiana rice industry.

The 2008 Louisiana rice planting season started out with a general air of optimism. However, as the rice cropping season draws to a close, it will be remembered as one of the most diverse and surprising.

A common misconception is that the only research conducted at the Rice Research Station relates to improvements in technology for Louisiana rice production. research area that holds great potential for the state is the research being conducted on the improvement of plant species and technology for restoration of Louisiana coastal areas.

Research at the Rice Research Station, Crowley, Louisiana, is conducted by scientists with the LSU AgCenter's Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station. Projects at this station are conducted under the supervision of research scientists from the Rice Research Station and also by cooperating personnel from certain departments of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station.

The annual field day was held on July 2 at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station near Crowley. This is an event held at this time each year that showcases technological advances that have come about from research conducted at this facility.

The 2008 LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station’s Rice Cam will show a number of images of the seed production field of the variety Catahoula.

As a rice plant grows and develops, it progresses through a number of different growth stages until it reaches harvest maturity and is ready for the combine. Most of our currently grown rice varieties need approximately 120 days from seed germination until the grain is ready for harvest.