Mission:
The mission of the Rice Research Unit is to develop improved culitvars that will help sustain agriculture in the south central U.S. Development of a better understanding of the genetic mechanisms that control yield, disease resistance, and grain quality traits will result in the creation of improved rice varieties that will benefit the U.S. rice industry. Molecular genetics studies using rice as a model system will result in the development of genetic markers that are associated with important production and cereal quality traits and will enhance our understanding of how genomes are organized in other crops. Development of alternatives to conventional rice cropping systems will lead to conservation of natural resources and higher economic value to farmers. New cropping systems will be identified that enhance the sequestration of atmospheric carbon and nitrogen in plants and soils which will help to mitigate the negative environmental effects of greenhouse gases.