United States of America

General Information

· Main climates: Temperate Continental, Temperate Steppe and Semiarid, Subtropical Humid, Subtropical Steppe and Semiarid, Temperate at 1 000 m above sea, Subtropical Desert and Arid, Temperate Oceanic, Subtropical Dry summer, Temperate Desert and Arid

· Total land area: 936 352 000 ha

· Internal renewable water resources: 2 478 km³

· Incoming water flow: km³

· GNP per capita, 1998: PPP$ 29 240

· Main food consumed: Oil & Fat, Sugar & honey, Wheat, Meat, Milk

· Rice supply, 1999: 13.5 kg paddy/capita/year

Basic Statistics

Producing Zones and Cropping Seasons

Rice is planted only in California and in the Gulf States. The following table shows the harvested area from different producing zones.

The following table shows the rice cropping seasons.

Production Practices

Rice is planted once a year and mostly under irrigated conditions. Rice production is on large scale and intensively mechanised. Most of rice production and post-production operations are mechanically operated. Direct seeding is the popular method of crop establishment. Aeroplanes are often used for seeding and application of agro-chemicals. Large number of improved rice varieties of japonica type has been released for cultivation.

Farmers normally applied high rates of fertilizers in rice production. The following table shows the responses of rice to fertilizer application.

Constraints and Issues of Sustainable Production

There are several constraints to sustainable rice production in USA. Following are the majors:

• High production cost.

• Low temperature during early and reproductive stages.

• Blast, stem rot, rice water weevils.

• Weed and red rice competition.

• Yield potentials of present day have reached a plateau.

• Increasing pressure from legislation due to government concern for environment, especially the burning of rice straw.

The following table shows the rice production costs

Research and Development Institutes

· Alter Seed Rice Co. P.O. Box 101 AR 72042 Dewitt Arkansas Phone: (870) 946-1370

· Arkansas State Plant Board P.O. Box 1069 No. 1 Natural Resources Drive AR 72205 Little Rock Arkansas Phone: (501) 225-1598 Fax: (501) 225-7213

· Beltsville Agricultural Research Center USDA Plant Genetics and Germplasm Institute,

· 10300 Baltimore Avenue MD 20705 Beltsville 2350 Maryland Phone: (301) 504-5328 Fax: (301) 504-6305

· Black Rice Company P.O. Box 391 508 South Monroe AR 72042 Dewitt Arkansas

· Phone: (870) 946-4567

· California Co-operative Rice Research Foundation Inc., Rice Experiment Station P.O. Box 306 CA 95917 Biggs California Phone: (916) 868-5481

· Cargill, Inc. P.O. Box 5645 1433 Cargill Building MN 55440 Minneapolis Minnesota

· Phone: (612) 742-7237 Telex: 290625 Fax: (612) 742-7235

· Department of Agriculture P.O. Box 12847 TX 78711 Austin Texas

· Minnesota Crop Improvement Association University of Minnesota, St. Paul Campus 1900 Hendon Avenue MN 55108 St. Paul Minnesota Phone: (612) 625-7766 Fax: (612) 625-8173

· Mississippi Rice Growers Association P.O. Box 2045 MS 38722 Arcola Mississippi Phone: (601) 827-2243

· Rice Growers Association of California P.O. Box 958 CA 95804 Sacramento California Phone: (916) 371-6941

· Rice Research and Extension Centre P.O. Box 351 AR 72160 Stuttgart Arkansas Phone: (501) 673-2661

· Rice Research Station Louisiana State University Agricultural Center P.O. Box 1429 LA 70527 Crowley Louisiana Phone: (318) 783-7531 Fax: (318) 788-7553

· Rice-Pasture Research & Extension Centre P.O. Box 999 Route 7 TX 77713 Beaumont Texas

· Ricetec Seeds, Inc. P.O. Box 1305 TX 77512 Alvin Texas Phone: (713) 393-3502

· University Colorado State USDA, ARS - National Seed Storage Laboratory 1111 South Mason Street CO 80521 Fort Collins 4500 Colorado Phone: (970) 495-3200 Fax: (970) 221-1427

· University of Arkansas Research and Extension Center Box 351 AR 72160 Stuttgart Arkansas

· University of California Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences CA 95616 Davis California Phone: (916) 752-1605 Fax: (916) 752-1819

· University Texas A & M Research & Extension Service Route 7 TX 77713 Beaumont Texas

· USDA-SEA, AR, SR Rice Branch Experiment Station P.O. Box 287 AR 72160 Stuttgart Arkansas 'Phone: (870) 673-2661

· US Department of Agriculture, USDA-ARS, Route 7, Box 999 Beaumont, Texas 77713, USA

· National Rice Germplasm Evaluation and Enhancement Centre (USDA-ARS), P.O. Box 287, Stuttgart, Arkansas 72160; Tel 501 6732661; Fax 501 6734315