On August 21st 2019 the third annual Florida Rice Growers Training & Field-day was conducted in South Florida. The event was co-organized by UF-IFAS extension agent Dr. Matthew VanWeelden and Soil and Water Sciences department faculty Dr. Jehangir Bhadha; and co-sponsored by Florida Growers Inc., US Environmental Protection Agency, and UF/IFAS extension. The event attracted 48 registered guests, including local growers, students, and public who were interested to learn about flooded rice cultivation in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). The day began at 8:30 am; perfect weather conditions, slightly overcast, a great day to be outdoors. The program comprised on two field stops, where several talks and demonstrations were conducted followed by lunch and two indoor presentations at the Everglades Research and Education Center (EREC). Some 20-odd trucks with guests maneuvered itself to the first site – a rice field at the EREC. Here Dr. Bhadha presented an overview of rice cultivation in the region and its benefits to the local agroecosystem. This was followed by Dr. George Snyder who discussed response of manganese (Mn) on rice cultivation in the EAA. Drs Andres Rodriguez and Timothy Lang spoke about the effect of pH on rice, and provided updates on newer varieties that could potentially be planted in the region.
Dr. Calvin Odero (Associate Professor, Weed Science) provided a hands-on demonstration on the topic of weed management in rice. Weeds are a major pest, particularly on “muck” soils during the summer, and the rice growers benefited from hearing what Dr. Odero had to say.
The group then travelled 11 miles south to the Okeelanta sugar mill, where one of the rice variety trials is being conducted. Here Dr. Julien Beuzelin (Assistant Professor, Entomologist) discussed the complex of insect pest management in rice. Wire worms, and stink bugs are two common pest that affects rice in the region. Dr. Beuzelin discussed techniques on scouting the insects, the application of various insecticides and its timing.
Dr. Matthew VanWeelden provided an update on the rice cultivar assessment trial for 2019, and also led a group to see how different rice varieties were performing this year.
The fleet of trucks then returned back to EREC where there were treated to two presentations, in addition to lunch. Dr. Ronald Cherry (Professor, Entomology) spoke on additional perspectives on insect pest management in rice, and Dr. Sangeeta Mukhopadhyay (Quality Auditor, Florida Crystals) captivated the audience with her presentation on rice post-harvest processing, safety, and quality.
Overall it was a fun event, lots of new ideas and concepts were discussed and we all left with a “goodie bag” provided by Florida Crystals. Hope you can join us next year on this tour. For more information about rice cultivation in the EAA contact Dr. Jehangir Bhadha (jango@ufl.edu)