Project Overview

Reports

Commodities

• Agronomic: wild rice

Target Pests

Practices

• Pest Management: chemical control, cultural control, mechanical control, pesticide application timing, pesticide resistance management, pesticides, prevention

California wild rice (Zizania palustris L.) is a thriving and promising industry. By 1997, there were 11,780 acres of wild rice in California that produced 8,835 tons of green rice and 4,417.5 tons of finished product with a farm value of $12,810,750 (Regional IPM Centers 2000). The cultural management practices of wild rice are largely based on the production of rice. Although both species are annual cereals, wild rice grows taller and has different seeds and growth patterns than rice.

Over the past few decades, wild rice production has faced new pest issues. For example, in the summer of 2012, researchers discovered a novel pathogen, identified as a Pythiogeton sp., in Big Valley, Lassen County, California. This pathogen was responsible for causing root and basal stalk rot in wild rice. The infected plants displayed symptoms such as rot and dieback of both roots and stalks, with varying degrees of severity, ranging from early stages of decline to complete death (Doan et al., 2014; Doan & Davis, 2019). Wild rice is a preferred food and habitat for blackbirds, which cause the most vertebrate damage to wild rice. Researchers have observed a notable increase in the blackbird population, leading to a rise in crop damage, primarily manifested in the form of increased shattering. Furthermore, their feeding habits also contribute to the degradation of the crops, compounding the overall impact on wild rice production (Gorenzel 1994; Meese, R.J. 2017). In contrast to white rice, the availability of pest management tools, particularly pesticides, for wild rice is limited. In 2020, the Pest Management Strategic Plan (PMSP) was conducted for rice production in California, which improved the ability to solve important pest issues in California rice production. However, despite the significance of wild rice in the state, no PMSP exists for California's wild rice cropping system. 

To address this, we propose to hold a day-long stakeholder listening session for California wild rice production in January 2024. The session will include growers, pest control advisers, University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), and industry representatives. UCCE staff and academics will facilitate and record the stakeholder listening session for wild rice production. This will help us develop and publish a PMSP for California wild rice production and lead to a substantial improvement in the availability of effective pest management tools, including pesticides, for the wild rice industry in California.

The primary aim of this project is to:

1. Assess and characterize the current critical pest management requirements within the California wild rice industry, as well as the existing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools.
2. Conduct an analysis that outlines the major objectives for the future of IPM in California's wild rice production, leading to a substantial improvement in the availability of effective pest management tools, including pesticides, for the wild rice industry.
3. Conduct a stakeholder listening session in 2024 and follow-up conversations for developing a PMSP for California wild rice production.
   1. The PMSP will comprise three key components: an analysis of critical pest management needs for the California wild rice industry, comprehensive information on California wild rice production, and detailed descriptions of pests affecting California wild rice.