The goal of the DREC rice program is to develop long-grain rice varieties with high yield, excellent physical, milling, cooking, and eating qualities as well as resistance to major diseases and insect pests, using both classical and modern approaches. Other traits of interest include tolerance to specific herbicides and non-biological stresses such as heat and salinity. The program also conducts the statewide Mississippi Rice Variety Trials and collaborates with other rice-growing states to ensure superior adaptability, yield stability, and marketability of rice varieties released for the Mississippi Delta. The rice breeding program's strategy is to apply the advances made in genetics, molecular biology, cereal chemistry, plant pathology, entomology, agronomy, weed science, and allied sciences, in its day-to-day operations.
Contact: Bobby Golden, 662-686-3215 or Ed Redoña, 662-686-3284.
2016 Research
- Performance of Mississippi Rice Breeding Lines in U.S. Mid-South Yield Trials
- Yield of Hybrids and Pureline Varieties in Mississippi Rice Variety Trials