The LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station recently developed a new variety of rice, Jazzman 2, to compete with other rice breeders across the globe.
Despite the fact that the U.S. is a major rice exporter, Xueyan Sha, rice breeder at the AgCenter Rice Research Station, said about 12 percent of the country’s domestic rice consumption is imported from other countries, including Jasmine rice from Thailand and Vietnam, and Basmati rice from India and Pakistan.
Sha said the development of adapted aromatic rice varieties, including Jasmine, will provide support for the U.S. rice industry, which hopes to stay involved and seize the rapidly growing market both domestically and internationally.
“I hope Jazzman rice not only has the superior quality to foreign imports, but also provides significant economic return to [the] U.S. rice industry for [a long time,]” Sha said in an e-mail.
Rice is a major agricultural crop in Louisiana, with more than 400,000 acres of land dedicated to the industry, said Steve Linscombe, director of the AgCenter Rice Research Station.
“This project is a big economic driver for the rice industry and Louisiana as a whole,” he said.
As of last year, the state’s rice industry brought in a gross income of about $500 million, Linscombe said.
Linscombe also said the project produces positive publicity for the University.
“This generates positive exposure for not only the AgCenter, but the entire LSU System,” he said.
Sha said a bag of Jazzman 2 rice is similarly priced with the average imported bag. In some cases, he said the Jazzman rice may cost slightly more “because of the slightly inferior yield potential compared with conventional rice, relative small acreage and the need for identity brands.”
Sha said rice breeding is a time-consuming and expensive project.
“Rice check-offs managed by Louisiana Rice Research Board is the primary long-term funding source for us, which is supplemented by other short-term competitive grants including those from USDA and Rice Foundation,” he said. “So far, I have received about half a million [dollars’] funding as a principal investigator and over $6 million as a