Rice Coordinated Agricultural
Project (RiceCAP)
RiceCAP is
the abbreviated name for the Rice Coordinated
Agricultural Project. The University of Arkansas
is the lead institution on this $5 million
dollar, 4-year grant from the CSREES National
Research Initiative (NRI) competitive grants
program. Rice is an important crop for both
the United States and the world, and Arkansas
produces approximately half of the rice grown
in the United States.
The grant title is “A Coordinated
Research, Education, and Extension Project
for the Application of Genomic Discoveries
to Improve Rice in the United States.” The
project will initiate and coordinate research
on rice at several institutions in different
states. More importantly, it will combine
research, education and extension to:
- develop new technology for rice production,
- educate the next generation of scientists
in use of this technology for plant breeding,
and
- through extension efforts, will educate
the farmers and consumers of the value
of using genomic information to improve
agricultural crops.
The rice genome was completely sequenced
recently and is being analyzed using genomic
tools and resources. The RiceCAP will use
the genomic sequence, tools, and resources
to solve problems in rice production and
improvement that can not easily be solved
by traditional plant breeding. The research
goals of the RiceCAP are to identify genes
and markers for traits important for milling
yield (the amount of processed rice on which
a farmer makes income) and for resistance
to sheath blight disease. Traditional plant
breeding has not made much progress on improving
milling yield or resistance to sheath blight
disease. Thus, the RiceCAP provides an exciting
opportunity for developing new genomic and
molecular biotechnology tools for more efficient
and effective rice cultivars which, in turn,
can lead to improved economics of rice production.
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