Low-glycemic rice shows promise for diabetics

For people interested in keeping their blood sugar levels in check, they now have a new tool thanks to rice developed at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station in Crowley. AgCenter area nutrition agent Mandy Armentor said Frontiére is a low-glycemic rice variety developed by LSU AgCenter scientists that went to market under the Parish Rice label late in 2021. Frontiére has 5 grams of protein. Other rice varieties have only 1 to 2 grams of protein per one-half cup serving when cooked. “That is great news for people with diabetes or who have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic who need to watch the amount and type of carbohydrates they consume, which affect blood sugar levels,” Armentor said. Tobie Blanchard

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Annual awards presented to outstanding faculty, staff

The outstanding LSU AgCenter and the LSU College of Agriculture faculty and staff for 2021 were honored with the following awards:

Denise Holston, an extension nutrition specialist, received the Floyd S. Edmiston award for her leadership in statewide community nutrition education and obesity prevention programs.

Raj Singh, director of the AgCenter Plant Diagnostic Center, received the Extension Excellence Award for his work in helping people identify solutions to their plant health problems.

Daniel Swale, an entomologist helping battle tick- and mosquito-borne diseases, received the G & H Seed Company Inc. Research Award for helping battle tick- and mosquito-borne diseases.

Team members Ronald Strahan, Raj Singh, Stacia Davis Conger, Kayla Sanders, Jeff Beasley and the late Dennis Ring, who died in 2020, received the Denver T. and Ferne Loupe Extension Team Award for their turfgrass management program.

The Tipton Team Award went to a group studying nutrition, gut health and microbiomes: Michael Keenan, Claudia Husseneder, Subramaniam Sathivel, Ann Raggio, Diana Coulon, Ingeborg Langohr, Rhett Stout, Kayanush Aryana and the late Brian Marx, who died last month.

Witoon Prinyawiwatkul, professor in the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, received the Global Network Award for his international accomplishments involving 44 universities in 18 countries.

John Sonnier, a research farm specialist at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station, received the Ganelle Bullock Outstanding Service Award.

Chardcie Verret, a research associate at the Audubon Sugar Institute, was named the winner of the Outstanding Service Award for Associates. Tobie Blanchard

Researchers receive $5 million grant to study nematode threat to sweet potatoes

A team of LSU AgCenter researchers, along with researchers from four other universities, have been awarded a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant of more than $5 million to develop sweet potato varieties resistant to the invasive guava root-knot nematode. The AgCenter team, spearheaded by nematologist Tristan Watson, received a sub-grant for $990,337 to support research on sweet potato breeding and characterization of resistance mechanisms and associated genes as well as extension of research findings to regional and national stakeholders. V. Todd Miller

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Break Up with Salt program improves lives

When Carole Broussard, right, learned about the LSU AgCenter Break Up with Salt program, her mother, Novella Dugas, at left, had been in the hospital three times in just three weeks. While she thought she had reduced salt intake, it was still sneaking into their diets. Broussard took the course to try to improve her mother’s ailing health, and she found a lot of benefits. “This class has been a lifesaver,” Broussard said. Both women experienced improved health indicators — lowered blood pressure, weight loss and improved physical abilities. The program was developed by nutrition specialists Elizabeth Gollub, Sandra May, Mandy Armentor, Abigail McAlister, Becky Gautreaux and Tiffany Williams. Tobie Blanchard

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