Above is a program organization diagram of the research on rice approved and funded by the Rice Research Board for the first year's operations. This report is organized under seven main headings: Production and Marketing Economics Rice Genetics and Varietal Evaluation; Crop Protection and Growth Regulation; Soil and Water Management; Engineering; Residue Utilization and Management; and Rice Production Systems and Miscellaneous Studies.

Studies in specialized areas are brought together. as shown in the box at the bottom of the diagram for developing improved rice production systems. All the research aims at reducing unit production costs by achieving high yields and simplifying the steps in the production process.

The Marketing Agreement established in 1969 upon passage of the rice referendum is the basis for an expanded and accelerated program of rice research in California. An unforeseen consequence of added support for rice research has been the attraction of other sources of scientific support and talent.

The program now has grown to a size where federal and private agencies are willing to become part of what promises to be a very successful and profitable program for the rice industry.

This new rice research facility at the University of California at Davis will complement the research facilities at the Rice Experiment Station at Biggs.

Eight departments in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are engaged in significant research on rice with support from the industry. These are the departments of Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Botany, Agronomy and Range Science, Entomology, Plant Pathology, Soils and Plant Nutrition, and Water Science and Engineering. All of these departments have had an interest in rice research in the past. Today, their activities are a very significant part of their departments' programs.

The Agricultural Extension Service, through specialists in half a dozen departments and county personnel in rice-growing areas, are carrying out field programs essential to the departmental efforts. Every department which has rice research under way is working with extension specialists on the campus and in the counties to bring the studies to the stage of farm operations as soon as possible.

We deeply appreciate the support from the rice industry, including special gifts of equipment which made our first year's operations possible.

Blackbird damage to rice is being studied by scientists of the U.S. Department of Interior (Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife).

Primary responsibility for the breeding program rests with the California cooperative Rice Research Foundation and the Rice Experiment Station at Biggs. Cooperative with the Foundation at Biggs are the recent developments summarized as follows

1) A new rice research facility has been established at the University of California at Davis. Fifty acres will be developed for rice research by the fall of 1970, with expansion to 100 acres anticipated,

2) A winter nursery has been established with the cooperation of the Hawaiian Agricultural Experiment Station. Then two crops can be grown per year (one in California and one in Hawaii), doubling progress in breeding and genetics.

3) A quarantine introduction nursery has been established at the Imperial Valley Field Station, at E1 Centro, to permit the importation of new sources of breeding materials from other parts of the world. Rice seeds can be imported only under carefully regulated and supervised arrangements for growing the first crop in isolation from all other rice.

4) The U. S. Department of Agriculture has employed a rice geneticist and a rice production specialist, who began their activities at the new rice research facility at Davis in June 1970.

5) A contract has been negotiated with the U. S. Regional Laboratory at Albany to support studies on utilization of rice straw for animal feeds. The contract will be for about $20,000, supporting a two-year study in cooperation with the Department of Animal Sciences at Davis.

6) Deere and Company, of Moline, Illinois, is providing support for research on developing new concepts in rice harvesting using stripping techniques which are anticipated to be usable on the new dwarf-type rice varieties.