Mission:
The mission of the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center is to conduct research to help the U.S. rice industry remain competitive in the global marketplace by assuring high yields, superior grain quality, pest resistance, and stress tolerance in rice cultivars. Specific objectives include: 1) determining the inheritance of important characters through conventional and genomic techniques; 2) evaluating and rejuvenating over 18,000 rice cultivars collected from around the world that are part of the USDA-ARS gene bank; 3) developing improved genetic stocks, germplasm and cultivars for use by breeders, researchers, and farmers; 4) identifying biological properties that will facilitate control of barnyardgrass, red rice, and other weeds commonly found in rice production fields; 5) conducting grain chemistry research to elucidate factors that improve cooking, processing, sensory, and nutritional rice quality; 6) exploring the genetic diversity found in wild relatives of rice to identify and transfer novel genes controlling disease and pest resistance and yield into cultivars; 7) utilizing molecular plant pathology to better understand plant-pathogen interactions and to identify new genes controlling disease resistance; and 8) conducting studies to learn of physiological processes that are associated with abiotic stress in plants.