By John Lovett
Research by the Arkansas Rice Processing Program is showing valuable insights for rice farmers that affect their take-home pay and the quality of rice for food makers.
Over the past two years, in cooperation with the global food corporation Mars and several rice farmers in Arkansas, researchers with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station’s Rice Processing Program have dug into the problem with declining head rice yields, or the total weight of unbroken rice kernels after milling.
All signs point to the effects of commingling cultivars with variable milling rates as a primary cause for lower head rice yields, said Griffiths Atungulu, an agricultural engineer, professor of food science and director of the Rice Processing Program for the experiment station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. Atungulu is also part of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas.
“In general, head rice yields have been declining over time,” Atungulu said. “Rice acreage has also decreased. However, grain yield per acre has continued to increase, particularly with the adoption of hybrids.”
Milling rates evolve
While it was known that different rice cultivars have different milling rates, Atungulu said the rates are constantly evolving with the development of new varieties that improve yield and environmental adaptation. Milling rates are dictated by bran layer thickness, other husk characteristics and sometimes the inherent resistance of cultivars’ rice kernels to breaking.
To obtain representative data for the two major rice-growing regions of Arkansas, the research included the most popular rice varieties grown in the state on test plots at the Division of Agriculture’s Rice Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart and Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center in Harrisburg.
Source : uada.edu