Weedy Rice Resistance Survey in the Arkansas River Valley
Extension Education
Kevin Lawson
County Extension Agent - Agriculture
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Conway
Abstract
Arkansas ranks #1 in rice production in the United States. Approximately 10,000 acres are grown in the River Valley Region of Arkansas. The #1 weed of Arkansas rice fields is weedy rice which is closely related to the rice that producers grow. This makes control with herbicides almost impossible until the introduction of Clearfield rice in 2002. Over the years, producers did not adopt a 0% tolerance of weedy rice in their fields leading to weedy rice resistance to Newpath. With weedy rice again becoming a problem, there was a new herbicide resistant variety introduced in 2018 which was called Provisia rice. Provisia has provided great control of weedy rice over the years, but in 2024 a field in Faulkner County was suspected of being Provisia resistant. The goal for this survey was to determine what kind of resistant weedy rice populations were present in the Arkansas River Valley. In the fall of 2024, 25 rice fields were sampled in Faulkner, Perry and Yell County. Samples were taken before the fields were harvested, but when the seedheads of the weedy rice were mature. Results showed that 2 fields of the 25 sampled were not resistant to any herbicide, 23 fields were resistant to Newpath and 3 of the fields were resistant to Provisia along with Newpath. The confirmation of Provisia resistance is troubling. Currently there are no other technologies to control weedy rice in a rice crop. This is an opportunity for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service to work with these producers to determine best practices to be able to continue to grow rice. This information is crucial to producers when deciding what commodity to plant, and if going with rice, what variety to plant. To get the word out to other producers, these results were shared with rice producers in the region at the Arkansas River Valley Rice Production meeting held on March 4, 2025.
Poster has NOT been presented at any previous NACAA AM/PIC
This poster is being submitted for judging. It will be displayed at the AM/PIC if not selected as a State winner. The abstract will be published in the proceedings.
Click to view Poster
Authors: Kevin Lawson, Bob Powell, Blake Erbach
-
Lawson, K. County Extension Agent - Agriculture, U of A Division of Ag, Arkansas, 72032
-
Powell, B. County Extension Agent - Staff Chair, U of A Division of Ag, Arkansas, 72833
-
Erbach, B. County Extension Agent - Staff Chair, U of A Division of Ag, Arkansas, 72126