UC Rice Blog

I recently visited a field that had quite a bit of rice seed midge injury. In this case, the seedlings that were not injured were almost at the one leaf stage, and one could observe quite a few seeds still in the soil surface.

Coming out of 2022, where roughly half of all California rice fields were left fallowed last year, and others may have been fallowed for two seasons, many of us have questions about what weed management will look like in 2023.

In general, rice diseases are not a big problem in California. However, in some fields, disease pressure can be high and can result in yield losses. One disease that can be found in practically every rice field is stem rot.

This season may be a late-planted one due to the potential for a wet and cool spring. Our research has shown that delayed planting reduces yield potential (yields tend to be about 5 sacks/acre less when planted at end of May compared to beginning of May).

Last year roughly half of the rice acreage was left fallow. We have been conducting research (funded by the Rice Research Board) looking at the differences between rice grown after a fallow versus rice grown following rice. We have found that rice following a fallow has higher yield potential.