Development of Superior Medium-Grain and Long-Grain Rice Varieties for Arkansas and the Mid-South.

Reflecting recent changes in the Arkansas rice industry and streamlining the delivery of new and improved rice varieties to Arkansas rice growers, the medium-grain rice breeding project has expanded its research areas and breeding populations to include conventional, Clearfield®, and Provisia® medium-grain and long-grain rice as well as hybrid rice. The newest elite breeding lines/varieties from collaborating programs, as well as lines with diverse genetic origins, will be actively collected, evaluated, and incorporated into current crossing blocks for programmed hybridization. In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the program, maximum mechanized-operation, multiple generations grown in the winter nursery, and new technologies such as genomic selection are vigorously pursued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]