Mission:
The mission of the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center is to conduct research to help keep the U.S. rice industry competitive in the global marketplace, by assuring high yields, superior grain quality, pest resistance, and stress tolerance. Specific steps are: 1) determining inheritance of important characters through conventional and innovative genetic techniques; 2) evaluating and enhancing USDA-ARS rice germplasm; 3) identifying biological properties that will facilitate control of barnyardgrass, red rice, and other weeds; 4) utilizing molecular genetics and molecular biology to study genomic resources in rice; 5) conducting grain chemistry research to better elucidate factors to improve grain quality in conventional and aromatic rices; 6) conducting cytogenetic studies on wide crossing for transferring disease resistance and yield genes from wild relatives; 7) utilizing molecular plant pathology to identify new sources of disease resistance and accelerate incorporation of resistance genes into improved germplasm; and 8) conducting plant physiological studies on alleviating stresses.