World Wide Web Site on CA Rice Production 98

A World Wide Web Site on California Rice Production-98
Project Leader and Principal UC Investigators Richard E. Plant, Professor, Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis James E. Hill, Cooperative Extension Specialist and Chair, Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis Julie A. Young, Staff Research Associate, Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis Stacey R. Roberts, Post Graduate Researcher, Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis	The University of California Cooperative Extension Rice Web Site, originally developed in 1997, continued to make refinements to this extremely useful "information age" tool. Located on the Agronomy Department's computer server at http://agronomy.ucdavis.edu/uccerice/index.htm the website provides information in the following categories: News -- blast update, current happenings, and farm advisor newsletters Facts -- agronomy fact sheets, California rice statistics, cost of production analyses Management -- information on cover crops, disease and invertebrates, rice production in California, rice quality, varieties, waterfowl, water quality and management People -- who's who in UC rice, with e-mail links to researchers Publications -- UC rice publications Research -- progress reports Links -- links to related websites Glossary -- rice terms Editor's Corner -- recipes, news item Three key documents were added in 1998. The first two are Sample Costs to Produce Rice, 1998, Rice Only Rotation and Sample Costs to Produce Rice, 1998, Multiple Crop Rotation, with related tables added to the "statistics" section. The other major addition was the 1998 Rice Quality Workshop document, which contains 14 chapters of detailed information (including tables) on rice quality, drying, storage and pest management. Four new categories were added to the website -- rice quality, progress reports of current research, diseases and invertebrate pests and the editor's corner. Field day and meeting notes are being updated regularly. The "Research in Progress" section was created for projects that have preliminary results which may be of interest to growers but have not been completed or have inconclusive findings. New material has also been added to the ôfrequently asked questionsö section, including where to find more information on straw bale construction. New links have been added to Riceweb, an award winning educational site produced by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in association with Centro Internacional Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) and West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA). It tells the history of rice, where and how it is grown, has recipes and more. Also linked is the California Rice Promotion Board's website, which contains an industry economic analysis and information for new industrial users of California rice, as well as promotional information translated into Japanese, Korean and Mandarin. E-mail inquiries from people browsing the website this last year included questions ranging from "Where can I buy rice seed?" to "Where can we obtain rice straw to be used in mushroom production?" to "Has rice blast been found in Maxwell this year?" The website editor was also contacted by a New York Times food editor writing a column on rice. People visiting the site indicated they found it useful. However, some areas need more thorough coverage. There is a great deal of interest in rice straw -- sources of straw bales, machines to compress bales, use in papermaking and mushroom cultivation. Also, there were frequent inquiries about where to obtain rice in small quantities to plant in the backyard or for a school project and in large quantities for export.

A World Wide Web Site on
California Rice Production-98

Project Leader and Principal UC Investigators

Richard E. Plant, Professor, Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis

James E. Hill, Cooperative Extension Specialist and Chair, Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis

Julie A. Young, Staff Research Associate, Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis

Stacey R. Roberts, Post Graduate Researcher, Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis

The University of California Cooperative Extension Rice Web Site, originally developed in 1997, continued to make refinements to this extremely useful "information age" tool. Located on the Agronomy Department's computer server at http://agronomy.ucdavis.edu/uccerice/index.htm the website provides information in the following categories:

News -- blast update, current happenings, and farm advisor newsletters
Facts -- agronomy fact sheets, California rice statistics, cost of production analyses
Management -- information on cover crops, disease and invertebrates, rice production in California, rice quality, varieties, waterfowl, water quality and management
People -- who's who in UC rice, with e-mail links to researchers
Publications -- UC rice publications
Research -- progress reports
Links -- links to related websites
Glossary -- rice terms
Editor's Corner -- recipes, news item

Three key documents were added in 1998. The first two are Sample Costs to Produce Rice, 1998, Rice Only Rotation and Sample Costs to Produce Rice, 1998, Multiple Crop Rotation, with related tables added to the "statistics" section. The other major addition was the 1998 Rice Quality Workshop document, which contains 14 chapters of detailed information (including tables) on rice quality, drying, storage and pest management.

Four new categories were added to the website -- rice quality, progress reports of current research, diseases and invertebrate pests and the editor's corner. Field day and meeting notes are being updated regularly. The "Research in Progress" section was created for projects that have preliminary results which may be of interest to growers but have not been completed or have inconclusive findings. New material has also been added to the ôfrequently asked questionsö section, including where to find more information on straw bale construction.

New links have been added to Riceweb, an award winning educational site produced by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in association with Centro Internacional Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) and West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA). It tells the history of rice, where and how it is grown, has recipes and more.

Also linked is the California Rice Promotion Board's website, which contains an industry economic analysis and information for new industrial users of California rice, as well as promotional information translated into Japanese, Korean and Mandarin.

E-mail inquiries from people browsing the website this last year included questions ranging from "Where can I buy rice seed?" to "Where can we obtain rice straw to be used in mushroom production?" to "Has rice blast been found in Maxwell this year?" The website editor was also contacted by a New York Times food editor writing a column on rice.

People visiting the site indicated they found it useful. However, some areas need more thorough coverage. There is a great deal of interest in rice straw -- sources of straw bales, machines to compress bales, use in papermaking and mushroom cultivation. Also, there were frequent inquiries about where to obtain rice in small quantities to plant in the backyard or for a school project and in large quantities for export.